First time planning to WDW and..

[ceo4boys]

Family has decided to plan our first trip to Florida and have a few questions.

We will be down in late May of 04. Spending a total of 5 days. We will spend 1 day at WDW and 1 day at USF. The remaining days we would like to do the following and would like some suggestions.

We will be staying off site and would love to take a swamp tour of the everglades. Another day we would like to travel to the beach to relax. I have three boys (13, 11, 9) all very active and love motorsports.

We will be renting a car for transportation so is there a better 'off site' location that would be more centrally located for what we plan on doing for those 5 days?.

Any suggestions on what beaches to go to, swamp tours etc would be appreciated.

 

[ceo4boys]

anyone?

 

[Miniefan]

Hi I hope I can give you some useful advice. I have 2 kids and we just went to Disney March 25-30, and had a great time. First of all, there aren't any beaches in Orlando, perse, unless you count some of the beaches at select Disney Deluxe Resorts, if you want a real beach your only other option is to travel. from what I understand Vero Beach is close by, there is also Cape Canaveral, and a little further, Tampa. Since you plan to spend only one Day in Disney, you are going to have to decide which park you are going to do, and possibly do some pretty quick park hopping, during that day if you guys are planning on packing them all in. Magic Kingdom was a favorite for my kids, we went back 3 times, but I do not suggest going here on a Monday, it is the busiest. Definitely take advantage of the fast passes. If you guys are thrill seekers, check out MGM's Tower of Terror, and the Aerosmith Rockin Roller Coaster, Epcot's Mission Space, and Test Track, and Magic Kingdom's Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain. I saw a place on HWY 192 that had air boat rentals, on what seemed like a swampy area. I would say you should try and get a florida travel guide or stop by a florida welcome center if traveling by car, they can give you loads of info, and discounts! I wish I had some advice on Universal, but our first trip there isn't until Sept. so Maybe You can advise me when you get back. In closing, every time I go to Orlando I have a lot of fun, and honestly there is enough stuff there to keep someone busy for well over a month. One thing that is true with every trip I take, no matter how many days we are gone, It never seems long enough. Enjoy yourselves, have a wonderful time and a safe trip.
Kim

 

[Earstou]

Here's my post from a year ago when I asked a similar question http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=339727&highlight=+airboat
I can't recommend anything because we ended up not doing the boat ride because my family wanted more beach time. I wanted to try the Melbourne area, but my husband voted for Cocoa Beach since it was closer to Kennedy Space Center. We stayed at the Holiday Inn, which I probably wouldn't pick again. While it had wonderful grounds and swimming area, our room was a bit shabby and had a strong mildew smell. But we really enjoyed the beach!
Personally, I couldn't go to WDW for just one day! With four parks and all the Disney magic, you will be missing alot with just a one day visit!
Maybe you could plan a swamp tour and visit the beach all in one day and have at least another day at WDW?! Last May we spent the day at Nasa and the evening on the beach and it was great to watch the sun set!

 

[mom of five]

Don't forget to scotchguard your sneakers.

 

[McCall]

Trying to spend one day at WDW is not even worth the effort.
You would be seriously blowing a really good thing to do it. One day is not even enough for One park really, not to do justice to it anyway. and there are four of them there Plus all the water parks, down town disney, with disneyquest etc.
I have read of people who go for one day, usually to MK, don't have a clue what they are doing, and then don't ever want to go back to WDW and can't understand why anyone else wants to either.
Also the only place I have seen the Everglades tours done is in Fort Lauderdale which is a good 4 1/2 hour at least drive From Orlando.

 

[karylrocks]

I also cannot see visiting WDW for only one day. It is 40 square miles of activities, and even a week seems barely enough. Sometimes people who have never been there don't realize the extent of it. You will only be able to go to one park because the only way to park-hop is to get a 4 or more day pass, or an Ultimate Park Hopper pass if you are staying on the property (or buy a separate ticket for each park). Since you are going to USF, you should probably stick with Magic Kingdom rather than Disney Studios and allow lots of time to drive through the property to get there, as well as parking and getting to the gate before it opens (usually 9:00). Allow an hour once you get to WDW to get to MK parking, ride the monorail to the park, get your tickets, etc.

Orlando is not really close to any beaches or everglades. It sounds like you are trying to do too many different things in a short amount of time, and I think you will just spend most of your time traveling from place to place and not much time to enjoy each activity. Is there any way you could add a day or two and/or eliminine one or two activities? We tried doing too much on our first trip (thought it would be the only time we ever went there) and I really regretted it.

 

[tboss]

I would also advise skipping the swamp tours, beaches, etc. There is just way too much fun to be had at Disney and Universal. I'll bet your boys won't want to leave once they get there.

The nicest beaches that I've been to are in the Panhandle, Destin and Ft. Walton Beach. Gorgeous white sand and emerald water, but they are 7 hours or so from Orlando. They are worth a separate vacation in themselves. We've been several times.

We are going to Disney/Universal for 8 days and I don't even think that's enough to do it like I would want.

 

[ceo4boys]

Appreciate the comments, , ,

We are staying at the HIFS and will be spending time at Universal, IOA and Busch Gardens. Should be a good time.

 

[STFXU]

Hi ceo4boys!

For our first trip to Florida we did 1 1/2 days at MK and 1/2 day at AK. We then went to Tampa and spent time at Beach and did a day at Bush Gardens.
To be honest both our boys (5 and 8 at the time) preferred Bush Gardens. MK and AK were really crowded (March). Also my younger son loves to move around and there is a huge tree fort and bouncing room at Bush Gardens and he spent thewhole time in there having a blast
My older son and DH like big coatsers and Bush Gardens has some big ones. Crowds were much smaller and you could breath! Also really enjoyed the Beach at Tampa.
We also drove down to Miami and to the Keys and did a glass bottom boat tour of Key Largo. For our first trip to florida WDW was good but it was great seeing some of the state too.
We are going on our next trip end April 04. I chose this for less crowds (hopefully). We will spend 3 days at daytona beach then 5 days at WDW and my boys are most excted about Disney Quest and the Water parks (where they can move around)