First time trip advice please

[mikemouse]

Hi

I am new to the forums- lost of great advice here and I have already learnt a lot-

I am going at the end of sept- 1 week in orlando then a week cruising round the carribean

what are the real must do's at Orlando- the unoffficial guide is on its way so I will check that out

was thinking for parks:
seaworld
universal and IOA
disney- mgm, magick kindom, epcot and animal kingdom

what are the best places to shop:

Belz any good?
i have limited time so really want to go to the best shops and outlets

also any recommendations on budget hotels on Int Drive?

I am thinkinf of Quality inn international but have heard some bad reviews?

Sorry if the answers to these questions are anywhere else- i Have looked where I can....

 

[Miffy2003]

Hi Mike,

Welcome !

I personally think you may struggle to do all those parks in one week. You can probably go for it knowing you have your cruise to relax on at the end of the week, but you may need to build a rest day into your plan.

I would probably wait for your guidebook to arrive, have a good look through and see what you think would most appeal to you and your party. For example if you have younger children, you may find it better to drop the idea of USF/IOA fo another trip and concentrate on the Disney parks. Or if you have thrill ride fans then to drop AK (for example). Obviously if there are animal lovers in your party do not miss AK/Seaworld. A lot of people say that you don't need to do USFand MGM but I find them very different experiences - but you may decide to drop one as you only have a week.

So I guess what I am saying is choose your "must do" parks according to your party!

I can't help you on the hotel question unfortunately but I would go for one near to where you will be spending the majority of your time - so if you will be mostly at Universal / SeaWorld I Drive is your best bet but if you will be at WDW more then Lake Buena Vista or the 192 would be good options. Will you have a car?

Cheers

Karen

 

[lisagirlyUK]

we just came back from our first trip out there. To put it bluntly, there is no way you will be able to do all that in a week - it will kill you!! We tried to do too much - the crowds and heat really tires you out quickly plus you have to allow for wait times on rides and times for shows and before you know it, the park is ready to close and you havent even done half of it!!

Prioritise what is important to you and what you really feel you would have to see - then you can plan the rest for your next trip !

HTH

 

[poet123]

We actually did all the parks and more in 7 days, with a 67 yr old MIL with us!!!!!!!!! Granted we didnt do everything in every park, but we worked out in advance what were must do's in each park and worked through them.
We also bought the express plus passes in IOA/US as the lines were very long.
If I had to do it again I would stay onsite universal for anight or 2 which gives you fron of line access by passing all the lines.as does the express pass. Depends on the mumber in your party may be cheaper to buy the extra pass and do single rider.
We didnt do Busch Gardens or Kennedy but all the others and the pirate show and ate in a Disney rest every night to catch the various firework displays.
It can be done it just needs to be planned well!!!!!!!!!!! afterwards we had aweek on the gulf to recover.

 

[Donna T]

Mike

we've been back a couple of weeks now and I just wanted to recommend the Crowne Plaza Universal just off I-Drive (junction of Sandlake Rd and Universal Boulevard). It was a fantastic hotel (check out reviews on tripadvisor.com), really clean, v friendly staff, v secure, etc etc. Did shuttles to Universal and Disney as well in case you're not driving. Some of the hotels on I-Drive looked a bit dark and dingy so we were really glad we had booked in here. Will definitely stay there again when I go back.

Regards,

Donna

 

[vernon]

I think you'll struggle to get all that done in a week.

You don't give a breakdown of your group. Depending on ages and sexes of kids it may alter the best mix of parks for your group. If you have thrill seeking teens , it's likely they will be able to make do with one day in the MK, if you have under 8 year olds, then you'll probably need 2 days at MK but IOA would not be worth your while. If you're going to spend most of your time on Disney, it may be worth looking at staying at one of the budget Disney hotels, there are some good deals available for September, alternatively you may prefer a budget hotel in the DTD area or the 192 which would cut down your driving time.

Best shops if you're limited on time is the Premium outlet mall and Belz. Belz is likely to be the cheaper of the two ( so go there first) Premium has slightly better quality shops IMHO.

If you've not been to Orlando before I would suggest a day each of Disney's main parks, maybe one day at a Disney waterpark ( would give you extra shopping time) , a day at SW or IOA depending on kids ages/likes and a day shopping. If you went to SW you could use the 2nd day free so that you have one day where you leave the park mid afternoon to go shopping and the other day where you shopped first and got to the park about 2.00 so you could finish the things you didn't do on day 1, you could also take in the evening Shamu show and the laser/fireworks show. That way no one who doesn't like shopping feels they have had a whole day trapsing round stores.

 

[lucy_love_]

hi

im going for the first time on 13th sep too.

love

lucy

 

[disneyholic family]

welll.....considering that we hate sea world, strongly dislike universal and Islands of adventure, and LOVE WDW (all the parks and waterparks) i guess my advice for what to visit is obvious....
if you're only in orlando for a week, you really can't spread yourself thin.....i would focus only on WDW....but then again, i've already told you i hate the other parks....

have a great trip!!!

 

[Claddagh]

Hi Mike

We have been to Orlando twice in September before and found the weather to be great. Lovely sunny days without the humidity of july/august. The longest we waited for a ride was half an hour which is not too bad considering in peak season some people can wait 1-2 hours. There is something very magical about WDW, whatever your age.

I am afraid I have to disagree with Beth (sorry Beth ) when she says that Seaworld and Universal are not worth the effort. I would not describe myself as an animal lover by any means but I really love Seaworld. There are so many different types of animals and species' that you would never get to see under one roof anywhere else. The shows are great fun and it can be a relaxing day to take at your own pace in betweent the busy parks. Universal has own unique vibe. With fabulous shows and rides. Citywalk is the entertainment part of Unviersal with loads of bars, restaurants and clubs that comes alive in the evenings. I appreciate that these are not every body's cup of tea but i really think they are as much a part of the Orlando experience as WDW. As it is your first time you should definately sample them and make up your own mind. Then you will know the next time you go what you like and don't like!!

Whatever you decide, i am sure you will have a great time.

Enjoy

 

[disneyholic family]

perfectly ok to disagree....
everyone likes different things...
as for sea world, i am an animal lover which is the reason we hate sea world....
i hate to see those animals in those little pools...

we are avid scuba divers...we scuba dive where there are dolphins living open and free....that's how i like to see animals...not contained in a tiny area.....(relatively speaking to what their natural habitat)...

we only went to sea world once, but that was more than enough for us....we were seriously disturbed by the time we left the park....

 

[Tetra]

Hi Beth,

I totally agree with you concerning seeing animals especially dolphins in their natural habitat. Wild animals should never be taken from their natural environment and placed into an artificial environment like Seaworld but places like Seaworld have their place in the modern world. The majority of the large animals in Seaworld are captive breed, been rescued from the wild after being badly hurt ( as in the case of Seaworlds manatees ) or have been inherited from other parks. Unfortunately it’s not a perfect world and mistakes have been made but if seaworld can educate people and show them what they could lose then I am willing to pay my £30.

Tetra

 

[mikemouse]

Thanks for all the advice

sorry I did not say that it is just me and my wife- we are mid 20's so lots of energy and not to worried about kiddie things

I have been to seaworld and Universal in california and loved it but the wife hasn't plus i want to go again

as for disney
AK- a must do but will try and do it in half a day
MGM- must be like universal and so will only pick a few things and go half day
magic and epcot probably need a day each

but i will wait for my guide and then decide

as for hotels- i suppose it does make sense to stay in a universal hotel or seaworld so you can get there early- what are the hotels on site that give you this early access?

 

[disneyholic family]

so with that info (mid-20s no kids) here is my take on your must sees (i'm sure i'm going to leave things out as i'm doing this off the top of my head):

MK must sees:
--Splash Mountain (my favorite ride in all WDW)
--Thunder Mountain (i hate thunder mountain, but you should try it, you might like it....i LOVE roller coasters, but thunder mountain is not the up and down kind, my personal preference)
--Space Mountain (basically a wild mouse in the dark)
--Mickey's Philharmagic (really beautiful 3D animation)
--Stitch's great escape (i think this will be open when you visit - this replaced alien encounter which was good, so maybe this will be good too)
--Pirates of the Caribean
--Haunted Mansion
--Enchanted Tiki Room (not just singing birds)
--Buzz lightyear (a cute shooting ride - you can miss it if you're short for time)
--Wishes - the fireworks display....a definite must see...

MGM (we like MGM much more than universal):
--Tower of Terror (my second favorite ride in all WDW - this one is spectacular....a MUST MUST MUST see)
--Rock and Roller Coaster - a great coaster....smoooooth
--Star Tours
--MuppetVision 4D (the preshow on the tvs is very funny...also, look around at what the boxes and stuff have written on them)
--indiana jones stunt show
--Catastrophe Canyon (not the right name but i can't remember the name....interesting and fun)
--Great movie Ride - kind of cheesy, but my 17 and 19 year old like it, so maybe you will too
--Little Mermaid (not just for kids -- the puppetry here is very impressive...i like this one a lot and i'm not a kid)
--Sounds Dangerous
--Fantasmic (the nighttime fireworks, but a whole lot more than that....)

Animal Kingdom must sees:
--Festival of the Lion King (must must see)
--Tarzan Rocks (also a good show, but if you can only see one, see festival of the lion king
--it's tough to be a bug
--Kilimanjaro safari
--Kali River Rapids
--Dinosaur (fun ride with a cute preshow)
--flights of wonder (very interesting live bird demonstration)
--there are two long animal trail walks that we love but i can't remember the names

Epcot must sees:
--Mission Space (if you have motion sickness, save this for last)
--Test Track
--Spaceship earth (only if there is NO line at all)
--Universe of Energy (ellen degenes is VERY funny)
--journey into the imagination
--Honey i shrunk the audience
--Norway (if there's no line)
--American Adventure (if you're the patriotic type - i am so i like this a lot)
--innoventions east and west (some interesting displays - the ultimate home theatre makes me drool every time....and the tour of the automated house does too)..

If you like waterparks you shouldn't miss Blizzard Beach (typhoon lagoon is also nice, but BB has the better slides/etc. -- typhoon has the best wave pool)

Islands of Adventure must sees:
--Spiderman (i hated this, but everyone else in the world loves it)
--Jurassic Park (i liked this - i love log flumes of any kind)
--dudley dooright (another fun log flume)
--Hulk Coaster - excellent coaster
--Dueling dragons (way overated - i thought this was terrible in comparison to the hanging coaster at cedar point)
--popeye and bluto's bilge barge or something like that...raft ride..you WILL get SOAKED...
--the jurassic park visitor center....a nice reproduction...

Universal Studios must sees:
--Shrek 2 (ok, but not as funny as muppetvision at MGM)....
--terminator 2 3D (everyone raves about this but i didn't like it at all)
--jaws (corny but we loved it...our boat driver must have been on uppers...he was excellent)
--earthquake
--revenge of the mummy (new....fun coaster type thing...)
--Men in Black (fun shooting game but i wish they'd take the spin out of it)
--Back to the future (people love this, but i didn't)
--gory make up show (that's not the name, but i can't remember it.....it's very funny)
Twister - (this was the worst thing i've ever seen....totally stupid , but i'm putting it in the list because everyone else i've ever talked to thinks it's great)....


i've only included the must sees....i'm sure i've left some out...
others i've left out on purpose...

 

[baz]

i myself went to florida last year for the first time, stayed on i-drive at the holiday inn international and although basic found it vety clean and all the staff were top class,
my girlfriend stayed at the quality inn the year before she's been to florida 5 times now and she really enjoyed it basic again but she said the rooms on her visit were always clean and staff again were nothing but helpful and courteous, ans that she would have no problems staying again.