Help me narrow down what to do during our Summer Orlando trip!

[jenrose66]

Hi all! Decisions, Decisions! So we will be in Orlando this Summer for 9 days. We are arriving late and leaving very early so that gives us 7 full days of fun.

We used to do exclusively Disney, then our last two trips we did Universal. This time we are torn as to what to plan.

We are a family of 5. Kids are 7, 9, and 11. My DS 9 really wants to go to LEGOLAND and DS 11 really wants to go to Clearwater to see Winter the dolphin. DD 7 wants to go back to Universal. I would like to try Discovery Cove. I'm having trouble with logistics.

So I guess I have some options. I'm wondering if I should do Discovery Cove, SeaWorld, and Aquatica and convince DS that we will skip the Clearwater Aquarium. Then we could do LEGOLAND as well and I think that's enough to fill the vacation, giving us some downtime to swim or try some touristy things like the Orlando Eye.

We could also go to Clearwater for a day or two and visit Winter and have a beach day. Then we can hit LEGOLAND on our way back into Orlando and add a few days at Universal.

We could also do Clearwater and Busch Gardens (with the Seaworld combo tix) then go LEGOLAND and do the SeaWorld parks.

When we go to Universal we like staying onsite for the skip the lines, but the hotels are really pricey for this trip. So I'm debating if we should just stay offsite and wait in lines. But my kids really like skipping the lines so I'm thinking it may be better to just leave Universal out this year, or just stay onsite for 3 or 4 nights while visiting Universal.

I'm also debating picking a single hotel for our homebase and just driving to LEGOLAND and Clearwater Beach or if we should stay at a hotel for a night or two in Clearwater, then get a hotel at LEGOLAND and then get another hotel in Orlando...

I'm probably overthinking this and know I should just make a decision, just wondering what you'd do if you were taking my trip

 

[mjhtvchick]

Hi all! Decisions, Decisions! So we will be in Orlando this Summer for 9 days. We are arriving late and leaving very early so that gives us 7 full days of fun.

We used to do exclusively Disney, then our last two trips we did Universal. This time we are torn as to what to plan.

We are a family of 5. Kids are 7, 9, and 11. My DS 9 really wants to go to LEGOLAND and DS 11 really wants to go to Clearwater to see Winter the dolphin. DD 7 wants to go back to Universal. I would like to try Discovery Cove. I'm having trouble with logistics.

So I guess I have some options. I'm wondering if I should do Discovery Cove, SeaWorld, and Aquatica and convince DS that we will skip the Clearwater Aquarium. Then we could do LEGOLAND as well and I think that's enough to fill the vacation, giving us some downtime to swim or try some touristy things like the Orlando Eye.

We could also go to Clearwater for a day or two and visit Winter and have a beach day. Then we can hit LEGOLAND on our way back into Orlando and add a few days at Universal.

We could also do Clearwater and Busch Gardens (with the Seaworld combo tix) then go LEGOLAND and do the SeaWorld parks.

When we go to Universal we like staying onsite for the skip the lines, but the hotels are really pricey for this trip. So I'm debating if we should just stay offsite and wait in lines. But my kids really like skipping the lines so I'm thinking it may be better to just leave Universal out this year, or just stay onsite for 3 or 4 nights while visiting Universal.

I'm also debating picking a single hotel for our homebase and just driving to LEGOLAND and Clearwater Beach or if we should stay at a hotel for a night or two in Clearwater, then get a hotel at LEGOLAND and then get another hotel in Orlando...

I'm probably overthinking this and know I should just make a decision, just wondering what you'd do if you were taking my trip

If you aren't too attached to Disney or Universal, then I would suggest booking Discovery Cove (which includes SeaWorld and Aquatica) and the Legoland package that includes the I-Drive 360 attractions (Eye, wax museum, aquarium). That would give you a nice relaxed vacation - everything except Legoland is in very close proximity. If you also booked a nearby hotel or resort, you could even get away without a car!

I think the beach, Universal, Legoland option is also fine but it is a lot of driving!

 

[Monykalyn]

WE have done day trips to Clearwater and it is fun-but can be for a tiring day.
Kind of in same dilemma on our June trip (except no legoland) as both want beach time, and universal time, but we have AP's to Disney. Last time we did universal we stayed onsite too-it is easy to get spoiled by the FOL access at Universal hotels!
I am considering a one nighter on-site at Universal hotel for 2 days of EP vs the high level AP to Universal which has the EP after 4 (we are going for 2 weeks so we could do this) but the price is daunting (although DH is leaning toward the Uni AP and we would take another trip early next June to get 2 trips on them.)

If we didn't already have the Disney AP I'd be booking the DC package and hitting Seaworld, BG and Aquatica this trip!

We usually change hotels/resorts at least once per trip (I love split stays; family-not so much), but I would consider just one home base for the week as Legoland and beach are easy driving distance. Unless you do Busch Gardens as well-then maybe an over nighter for a beach day, stay in Tampa and hit BG the next day. THis way you wouldn't have to haul all your stuff to over night hotel-just what you need for those days. I did this with the Uni stay-we were in our TS but way cheaper to book one night for EP so we packed an overnight bag. We are a family of 5 as well and after a few days in one hotel room we NEED our space at condo lol!