Help...Orlando outside of Disney World

[Zane_Anthony]

I am going to be in FL for two weeks next summer. Right now I have 5 nights at Disney then 4 nights at Universal then 4 nights at Disney. I am thinking about canceling the Universal part because after reading more about it I don't think my son is quite old enough to fully enjoy it (he loves coasters but isn't tall enough for most of them at Universal). Instead I am thinking about staying off-site and doing some things around Orlando. It will be just me and my son (7) during this portion of our trip so I am a little concerned about safety. How hard is it to get around Orlando? I have always stayed on disney property without a car so anything outside of WDW is foreign to me. Where is somewhere safe and reasonable to stay? We have done Seaworld and Medieval Times in Texas and my son loves both of them so I would like to try the ones there. I also saw the new Sea World water park Aquatica which looks pretty cool too? Any other ideas or suggestions on what to do, where to stay, etc?

 

[hobogary]

Sea world is good, Old Town, and lots of smaller places to do things.All these things are well south of the actual city of Orlando. There are a lot of threads her about safe and unsafe places, but most of the tourist areas arn't like your typical "inner city" areas.Not that any place can't be potentally unsafe.If you dont rent a car, there are Taxis, town cars and the Lynx bus system, their routes are at www.golynx.com. I'm sure there will be much more information forthcoming.

 

[UrsulasShadow]

I'd hit the coast, go to Cape Canaveral to check out that, hit the beaches a couple of days. I'd check out Busch Gardens (Tampa) at some point (although there's tons of coasters there, there's also animals, shows, and kid-friendly things to do).
Rent a vehicle with gps, or bring your own, and program in the places you intend to go. I brought my Garmin with me, and pre-programmed in all the addresses of the places I wanted to visit. Gave me some peace of mind that I wouldn't end up lost in a bad part of town asking directions.

 

[hobogary]

If you do have a car available, Silver Springs in Ocala is nice, and Kennedy Space center is interesting.

 

[disnut8]

Old Town Kissimmee is nice with a bunch of carnival type rides. However, you mentioned safe. While I think it's safe enough, be warned that on Friday and Saturday nights, there are car shows that attract some peple that some other people would consider "undesirables". We've been there a number of times and we've had no problems. Not sure what your seven year old son is like and what you let him be exposed to but just a warning for weekend nights.

We just went to Gatorland over Thanksgiving (I have a detailed review of that on this board) and loved it. Seven years old would be a good age for that park. Reasonably priced and a nice half day diversion.

As far as places to stay, there are hotels of every brand imaginable in Kissimmee. We stay offsite almost all the time and we prefer places that are to the east of I4 and along Highway 192. There's a Travelodge Suites (just a half wall between the beds and the living room) for under $50 a night near Old Town that we really enjoy. Free continental breakfast and an outdoor pool and kiddie pool. There's also a Days Inn right across one parking lot from Old Town that is nice (and fairly quiet). No free breakfast but a cafeteria for breakfast for $3.99. There was another hotel we really liked and it's changed into a Holiday Inn now. That's across the highway from Old Town.

If you do decide to stay in Kissimmee, don't go down too far on Highway 192. Stay within three or four miles from Disney World.

 

[lovindonald]

My kids ages (now) 16, 10 & 9 love SeaWorld. We didn't get there this year but we did last year and the year before and had a fantastic time each time we went. We stay off site from Disney and there are plenty of places right around seaworld that are reasonably priced (check that part of the disboards, it is down below). There is Old Town which is also nice, Celebration is good too to see. You could easily spend 2 days at Seaworld with a child his age. In addition, they will be opening Aquatica soon. Oh another this is the Mc Donalds on I drive was rated #2 in the world and has HUGE indoor play area with everything you could imagine, I bet he would love that as well. Wonderworks looks like it would also be fun. There is so much around that area and discount coupons for it all you can easily keep busy. Hope that helps, have fun!

 

[Zane_Anthony]

My kids ages (now) 16, 10 & 9 love SeaWorld. We didn't get there this year but we did last year and the year before and had a fantastic time each time we went. We stay off site from Disney and there are plenty of places right around seaworld that are reasonably priced (check that part of the disboards, it is down below). There is Old Town which is also nice, Celebration is good too to see. You could easily spend 2 days at Seaworld with a child his age. In addition, they will be opening Aquatica soon. Oh another this is the Mc Donalds on I drive was rated #2 in the world and has HUGE indoor play area with everything you could imagine, I bet he would love that as well. Wonderworks looks like it would also be fun. There is so much around that area and discount coupons for it all you can easily keep busy. Hope that helps, have fun!

I see in your sig that you did Caribe Royale, how was that? I came across it and it looks really nice. Also has any done Discovery Cove? Is it worth the money? Do you have to be a strong swimmer to enjoy it?

Thanks everyone else for all of your replies. Seems like I have a lot of research to do.

 

[LindaBabe]

I see in your sig that you did Caribe Royale, how was that? I came across it and it looks really nice. Also has any done Discovery Cove? Is it worth the money? Do you have to be a strong swimmer to enjoy it?
Thanks everyone else for all of your replies. Seems like I have a lot of research to do.

Discovery cove is fun - you do not need to be a strong swimmer. My husband and I thought it was worth every penny we paid for it - and the photo package too AND we wished we'd bought the video even though All were pricey.

Remember, he will probably grow some by next summer, too, so if he's just a whisker too short for Uni's rides he may make it by then. There are other things to do at Universal besides rides, and the hotel pools are fun.

 

[lovindonald]

We loved the Caribe. It was clean and the rooms were great and it was only $89 per night. We did a one bedroom suite in tower 1 overlooking the kids playground and one of the hot tubs. We had a decent sized living area with a tv, microwave, medium sized refridgerator and a desk. You then walked into the sink/mirror area with a blowdryer and on the left was the shower/toilet area. I liked having them seperate. The sleeping area had 2 queen beds and a huge dresser and armoir with the safe in the armoir. It was clean and just the right size for the four of us. We didn't spend much time in the room though since we had not one drop of rain in August this year. The pool was open until 11 every night, you could have whatever floatie you wanted. There was a sindries shop and a bar/snack shack, a decent sized water slide and a great waterfall along with a talking bird in a cage. The hot tubs were clean the lobby was beautiful. There were 3 restaurants but we only had breakfast there one morning and I thought it was a little pricey. I would have rather spent a little bit more and done another character breakfast at Disney. We were 1.5 miles from Disney, Super Walmart, Downtown Disney and a ton of restaurants. Old Town was not far and we were around the corner from I drive, the 417 and the I4. I have to say I think it was the perfect location. We really had a fantastic time. If you have any specific questions, let me know I would be happy to help.