Do you restrict yourself solely to Disney?

[Pigletlover]

My husband and I live in California, so we don't get to make lots of trips to Orlando like those of you who live close. We go for "longer vacations, less often" rather than "shorter vacations, very often". For each of our last 3 Orlando vacations we allocated 3 weeks or so.


I am interested to know which places you visit when you go to Orlando? I've noticed that some of you restrict yourselves to just Disney. Are you not interested in visiting other parks? I think you are missing some great stuff!


Don't get me wrong, we absolutely adore Disney and their ultra-high standards, but we enjoy other parks just as much. We have found them all to be wonderful in their own way and we keep re-visiting them.


We divide our vacations in half and stay at an International Drive hotel first, then we move over to a Disney hotel for the second half.


We hate rushing around trying to squeeze each park into one day, so we allocate 2 days each for most major parks. That way we have more time to repeat attractions and to appreciate all the details and extra little things to do.


Here is a list of what we usually do:

Universal Studios
Islands of Adventure
Sea World
Busch Gardens
Wet n Wild
Cypress Gardens
Silver Springs
miniature golf on International Drive
maybe some other attractions on International Drive

Magic Kingdom
Epcot
MGM Studios
Animal Kingdom
Typhoon Lagoon
Blizzard Beach
Fantasia Gardens or WinterSummerland miniature golf
Downtown Disney/Pleasure Island
Disney Quest
Boardwalk
Fort Wilderness recreation
see the Electrical Water Pageant
visit various Disney hotels

After doing all that we are
and we go home but


Your turn! Describe your typical Orlando vacation.
What places do you usually visit? What do you skip and why?

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I've never ventured outside of Disney, though sooner or later I do want to get around to Universal.

Most of my time is spent at Epcot, followed by MK, MGM, DTD and AK in that order.

 

[paigevz]

We've been 4 times to the Orlando area. One trip we went to Universal, Islands of Adventure, and the beach. Other than that, it's been all Disney.

We have a Sea World here in Texas, and mini golf, water sports, water parks, premier zoos, and other theme parks........also our own beaches. We only have one week to go away on vacation, and we love Disney World.

We also take trips to Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Mexico and Colorado in between Disney trips.

Our near future wishes include a trip or several to see New York, Washington D.C., Virginia, and Pennsylvania.........Hawaii.......and another trip for Universal and IOA.

Our farther away wishes include Greece, Italy, Scotland and England.......and an Alaskan cruise if I can get over my fear of icebergs (Titanic)....can anyone assure me that couldn't happen?

 

[goofie4goofy]

Do I restrict myself solely to Disney? Absolutely not. There is a huge world out there. WDW is fun, but why visit the man made version when you can see the real thing??

We travel often and go everywhere...it's a great life!

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

We still haven't quite explored all Disney has to offer yet. We'll get there though.

The only thing outside of Disney I've done is Gatorland or something like that. It's a dud.

 

[bmbmd]

We fish, we golf, we go to the beach, we shop, we eat, we hang out-Disney is almost an afterthought.

 

[BonnieA]

Ever since I started going in 1976, I have never restricted myself to only disney. Why would I want to deprive myself of all that other fun stuff? I do admit it got harder as Disney kept growing but since I go a lot I can see all I want at Disney and still have time for the offsite fun.

 

[mikesluss]

no way do we limit ourselves to only wdw there is just too much to see and do
we always seem to find something to do in Orlando besides WDW
usually try seaworld and last time ds and I did discovery cove eventually when kids get a little older will try universal but this year we are driving down and are planning on doing a few things on the road

 

[CarolA]

When in Orlando I just do Disney.

However, I don't think that I am restricted to Disney. In the past few years I have also done a few trips to Europe.

I go to the beach on other trips and have done the other parks... they just don't do it for me. I am not a park commando and when I go to another park where I don't have an AP I feel like I have to comando it so..... Disney is my relaxing vaction. The other places I go, I am on the go all the time...

 

[MouseWorshipin]

No. We also go to Universal, but we stay in their hotels for our days there, because of that FOTL pass. Love Margaritaville (but love Jimmy Buffett, too.)

I go to Sea World sometimes, but other than WDW, Universal, and Sea World, the only other off-property thing I've done is the Dolly Parton show - which I love!

I want very much to go to Skull Kingdom, even though I know it'll be cheesy, but nobody ever wants to go with me. I just love horror flicks and Buffy-type stuff, so I gotta do it!

Also wanna go do that Titanic thing. There just never seems to be time.

Of course Orlando isn't the only place we visit. I wouldn't have wanted the kids to grow up and say they never saw a mountain or the ocean or anything historical...all they saw was Mickey Mouse.

We did the black hills, Mt. Rushmore, Gettysburg, Washington D.C., the San Juan Islands, Los Angeles, a quick zip to Vegas and the Hoover Dam, Mexico, Key West, Maine, Niagara Falls, Chicago, and once took a "trip" to our own city - stayed downtown in a hotel and got around to all the tourist stuff that you never do when you live somewhere. Oh, and we went to Hawaii once! How could I forget that?!

 

[Vivianne]

We love Disney, but we venture alot. On our trips we've done.

Disney
Universal
SeaWorld
Busch Gardens
Cypress Gardens
Silver Springs
Gatorland
Holy Land Experience
Beaches on Atlantic and Gulf - Love Fort De Soto
Cape Canaveral
The Keys - Hemingway home
State Parks - Ocala and Myakka River (we stayed at a log cabin there)
Sanibel
Florida Audubon
The Florida Aquarium
Lion Country Safari
Weeki Watchie (?)
Went to a vineyard
Everglades
Caribbean Gardens - Naples
Fantasy of Flight
Tampa Area - The Pier, Museums
Edison/Ford Winter Estate
Sarasota - Ringling Museum of Art, Classic Car Museum
Historic Bok Sanctuary
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
Coral Castle
and a few other places in between...

DH does alot of driving.

 

[lclark0621]

Pre-DS, DH & I would go to Universal also on our trips. But now we are strictly a Disney family. My DS is only 2.5, and I think way to young for some of the other parks. I dont want him to spend vacation in a stroller, watching as Mommy & Daddy, switch off going on thrill rides. That is just no fun for him. And DH & I, want to do everything with him as a family. We could care less about thrill rides. We are on vacation as a family.

We have a Sea World here in TX, so going to the one in FL, is not a big deal for us. We can hop in the car and a few hours later we are at Sea World here for the weekend.

As for Busch Gardens, well the same idea as Universal. There is just not enough he is tall enough to go on yet. Why should he spend all day in his stroller just so Mommy & Daddy can get in a few rollar coasters?

My ILs live near the Busch Gardens in VA, so when he is big enough that he can ride things there, we will take him there when we visit Grandma & Grandpa. So making a trip to the one in Fl, is not going to be a big deal either, when we will visit the one in VA one to two times a year, or more, depending on how many visits to VA we make.

When DS gets older & can ride more of the stuff at Universal, we will take him there.

We are usually only in Orlando for a week. But we travel quite a bit throughout the year, all over the world. I dont like spending the bulk of our vacation time in any one place, unless we are in Europe, since there is so much we like to see. We spend a week here, a week there, a week over there, throughout the year, and 2-3 weeks in a different country in Europe a year. So we get plenty of different experiences every year.

Once DS can ride things in Universal, we will take him a day or 2 to Universal, when we go to Orlando. Until then, it will be strictly Disney World.

 

[DVC Sadie]

We have been to so many other places besides Disney. We have also been to Universal,IOA,Sea World,Cocoa Beach,Discovery Cove(one of my favorites that we have to do bi annually),BB,TL,DQ, and this is just in Orlando. Last year we also spent 2 weeks in Hawaii, 2 weeks in Washington,and 2 weeks at Nags Head. There is so much traveling that we still want to be do before we grow to old to enjoy. Oh I forgot to add Cape Canaveral and BGs in Tampa.

 

[ReninDetroit]

We've done SeaWorld and Universal once each, and since then we've only returned to WDW.

It's my opinion that there is no other theme park that can match Disney World in terms of quality and progression between visits. WDW is always changing, there's always something new each time. Universal never really changes.

And the thing about Universal is that it's all thrill rides. All about loops and drops and water splashing you - no "theme" to speak of really. None of the rides are well done. There's no Soarin', no Test Track, no POC or Maelstrom, no Fantasmic!, no Philarmagic, no Peter Pan's Flight, no Jungle Cruise, no Spacehip Earth. But you can ride a roller coaster as many times as you want!

Sorry if that's a little bit too critical.

But - I HATE those "if I have to hug a princess one more time" commercials. I've had more visits to WDW than Universal has had years of business - and I've never once even talked to a princess. The closest I've gotten is Cruella Deville. NOT a princess! If you don't want to be a princess, then ride RNRC or Tower or Terror, or Space mountain or mission:space. There's something at Disney for everyone. You could have a wonderful Disney vacation without ever stepping foot into the Magic Kingdom.

To outline my usual vacation, we spend a day at Magic Kingdom, a day at Epcot, a day at MGM/Animal Kingdom (sometimes we skip AK), and a fourth day hopping around. We don't usually do Downtown Disney unless we go to DisneyQuest, just because DTD gets kind of old. There's really nothing there, save the jewelry department at the World of Disney store (!!!) that you can't get anywhere else. We also love to hop around and just look at the onsite resorts. I think that's almost just as much fun as the theme parks.

 

[HugsForEeyore]

On my 9 recent trips in the last three years, I been only at Disney. The main reason is I like to find characters for my website, and the other reason is money! I hate to pay $60ish to get into some other park when I have an already-paid-for AP. I feel like I need to use my investment! But the other reason is I already did many off-site things years ago, and have not had the urge to get back yet. I been to:

Gatorland
Cape Canaveral
Silver Springs in Ocala
Isles of Adventure
Universal Studios
SeaWorld
Reptile World Serpentarium
St. Augustine
Daytona Beach

The only thing I want to do off-site next is Busch Gardens, so one of these days! But overall, I have so much to do at Disney, that I don't want to venture out into the rest of the world!

 

[Sylvester McBean]

florida's a great state, and it's full of incredible places to visit. it's good to see people realize that there is more outside of WDW.

 

[MAKmom]

We did Sea World & Universal in 2004. We only go for 8 days. Last year & this year we will only do Disney. I will not go back to Universal until DD9 has reached the height requirments for all the rides. We will do Medival Times this trip.

 

[joshsmom]

I've been to lots of Orlando attractions, pre-child. Since DS has been with me, we've been to US and IOA--both of which he didn't really care for. I think it was the timing--it was his Make a Wish trip and he wasn't feeling well. Next year we are doing a 3 week Florida vacation to include Cape Canaveral and *a beach* (not sure which one yet) on the Atlantic side. Then we'll stop in Orlando for US/IOA and WDW, then head over to the gulf side (Clearwater/Tampa) and go to the beach there and to Busch Gardens. I'll find other trouble, uh, I mean, attractions for us along the way!!

We also go to Branson, MO several times a year and have been to Key West, FL and other vacation destinations. In 2008 "the girls" (minus DS) are going to Hawaii for 2 weeks.

So, long answer, but NO we don't limit to Disney.

 

[kaabost]

I have done several other things in FL but in my mind, nothing compares to WDW. If I had US/IOA here in Charlotte, I'd definitely have a season pass. BUT if I'm going to Orlando, I'm going to Disney. On this next trip, DH wants to try IOA for a day. I'm such a brat, I can't decide when we should do it. If we go before WDW, our 1st day excitement momentum will be "wasted" on IOA. If we go in the middle of the trip, we will have to leave WDW and loose the "total WDW immersion"....oh, the horror. And if we, go after WDW, it will just be plain depressing. I'm a brat huh? Any suggestions?

 

[Msslaydbug]

This trip we are going to Disney first and then heading over to Universal for 4 days. I usually like to start with Universal and end my vacation with that Disney magic. This trip though we had scheduling conflicts and our AP's expire after 1/2 our stay. We also LOVE Sea World and try to go there everytime we are in Florida.

We like to do Disney but inbetween our Disney trips we go other places. We go to Vegas quite a bit. I have actually been there twice in about a month and a half. We also do Virginia, Myrtle beach, California, and the mountains (we live in Colorado) Later this year will be Mexico and then a cruise next year.