How long?

[Colleen27]

I'm in the very early stages of planning a US/IoA/SW trip for fall 2010 but need to get our dates nailed down because a relative is letting us use her rental villa and needs to know which nights to block out for us. We've never been to any of the non-Disney parks in Orlando, and I'm not sure how many days to allow for each park.

We're a group of 6 - grandma, 60-something and doesn't do big rides, DH & I, 30-somethings and into thrill rides, DS11 and into Harry Potter, DD8 just discovering the fun of coasters, and DD16mo along for the ride. We may also have my brother & his fiancee, both 20-somethings and into scary rides and nightlife, joining us. So basically, the age and interest range for our group has us doing just about everything at Disney and I suspect Universal will be the same.

Given that, how many days should I plan for Universal Studios? Islands of Adventure? Sea World? Are Aquatica or Wet n Wild worth a day?

Thank you all for any help you can offer this US newbie!

 

[Metro West]

Given that, how many days should I plan for Universal Studios? Islands of Adventure? Sea World? Are Aquatica or Wet n Wild worth a day?

Thank you all for any help you can offer this US newbie!

You should allow a full day for each park you attend and since you're wanting to go to SW and maybe Aquatica along with US & IOA, definately look into the Orlando Flex Ticket that includes admission to all those parks...it's probably going to be cheaper than purchasing the tickets separately.

 

[Colleen27]

You should allow a full day for each park you attend and since you're wanting to go to SW and maybe Aquatica along with US & IOA, definately look into the Orlando Flex Ticket that includes admission to all those parks...it's probably going to be cheaper than purchasing the tickets separately.

We're definitely doing the Flex Tickets, because we do want to go to US, IoA, Sea World, and probably at least one of the water parks. Since we decided to skip Discovery Cove for now (waiting until the baby can swim too), the Flex Ticket looks like our best bet.

Another question - are the crowd seasons about the same as Disney? We're tentatively thinking about the week before Labor Day (coming home Sun of the holiday weekend), because we've had great luck with low crowds at Disney in late Aug/early Sept. Is that as good a time for US/IoA?

 

[Metro West]

Another question - are the crowd seasons about the same as Disney? We're tentatively thinking about the week before Labor Day (coming home Sun of the holiday weekend), because we've had great luck with low crowds at Disney in late Aug/early Sept. Is that as good a time for US/IoA?

Well...this year will be interesting. Historically...Late August/early September is not that busy but with Harry Potter opening this spring, the parks should be really busy...we just don't know yet. We locals will have to check out the crowds from opening until summer to see what's going on and report back.