Orlando & Miami: 4/16 - 4/26 (9 days): Advise on itinerary?

[crashnburn4u]

Hello everyone seeking advise here.

TIME SCHEDULE:

I am heading down to Orlando 4/16 (evening) and have a return flight 4/26 (morning)

GOALS FOR TRIP:

Personally, I am going for this trip as I really want to take some of my extended family/ "baby" cousins all around the Orlando - Disney/Universal/ Parks thing.

They do not live in the USA, and will be coming down with one GOAL: Showing the kids the BEST time possible.

That is MY GOAL as well. I want to make sure they have the time of their lives.

TARGET AUDIENCE:
Girl: 14 years old
Boy: 9 years old
(both live outside the USA)

TIMELINE:

We have 17 to 25th for touristic activities. 9 DAYS

16 - Fri (Arrive Evening)
17 18 - Sat Sun
19 20 21 22 23 - Week
24 25 - Sat Sun
26 - Mon (Leave Morning)

QUESTIONS:


- How do you guys suggest that I can maximize the trip in terms of quality and in terms of cost between HOTELS and RENTAL CARS? (based on the following questions)


- How many days should I assign to the Orlando area in case I want to COMPLETE every Amusement Park/Disney/Univ Studio attraction ?

Miami is second priority here.

Base on the following Qs, I need to formulate a FIXED itinerary.

- Would you suggest staying near Disney when doing the Disney Parks and then changing to a hotel near Univ Parks?
Or some other centrally located place or just one that is close enough to one of them?

- Should I rent a car for these 9 days or only when I really want to head out to some other places? Since we probably will drop dead after the day at the park and in essence wont be using the car except for conveyance to & from the hotel?
(unnecessary expense)

- Would this solved or relieved by being at the DISNEY CAMPUS RESORTS? Are there any such resorts for Universal Studios that would relax the need for a car?

- Would it make it cheaper to get the rental car if we did one for the 1st weekend, one for the week and then one for the next weekend? Suggestions please ?

- Any suggestions on what days would be better for certain parks (for e.g. weekdays instead of weekends in the given schedule)?

(The reason I am asking this is..
- would it make sense to spend the energy changing between hotels
- if we stayed at some of these resorts is getting to and fro from the parks going to be FREE or cheapr or expensive compared to renting a car?)

I was wondering how many days I should give to Miami (assuming we covered Orlando quite well).

Please let me know. Need advise.

Thanks,

Crash

 

[WDSearcher]

Originally posted by crashnburn4u
- How many days should I assign to the Orlando area in case I want to COMPLETE every Amusement Park/Disney/Univ Studio attraction ?

If you want to see every single thing at every single theme park, you'll need a minimum of seven days at Disney and three days at Universal. Plus another two days at Sea World. If you want to get a good overview -- and with the realization that a 9 and 14 year old aren't going to want or need to go on some of the kiddie rides and shows, nor may they want to go on every single thing -- you need at least four days at Disney, two at Universal and one or two at SeaWorld (basically, one day per park ... wasn't sure if you were planning on including SeaWorld or Discovery Cove). I think your best bet for planning a vacation the KIDS will like is to send them a batch of Disney, Universal and SeaWorld brochures and have them mark off things they really want to see. Get an idea of what THEIR thoughts are. You may discover that they hate roller coasters, but really want to see all the parades. Or that they would go nuts for Disney Quest, but have no interest in Animal Kingdom. At least try to figure out their preferences, so that you don't end up spending a day at the Studios, only to discover that they'd much rather have gone back to Epcot. That will help you plan how many days you need.

- Should I rent a car for these 9 days or only when I really want to head out to some other places? Since we probably will drop dead after the day at the park and in essence wont be using the car except for conveyance to & from the hotel? (unnecessary expense) Would this solved or relieved by being at the DISNEY CAMPUS RESORTS? Are there any such resorts for Universal Studios that would relax the need for a car?

You won't need a car if you stay at Universal resorts ... everything is within walking or tramming distance. If you stay on-site at Disney, you can take Disney busses, boats or monorails to the parks and entertainment areas.

- Would it make it cheaper to get the rental car if we did one for the 1st weekend, one for the week and then one for the next weekend? Suggestions please ?

If you're planning on spending most of your time in the parks, then stay on-site at each park and skip the rental car until you go from Orlando to wherever you're going next. If you're planning on doing little daytrips in addition to the parks while in Orlando, then I would rent cars as you need them. Both Universal and Disney will rent you cars at your resort, so it's easy to get one when you need it. The day rate is a bit more pricey than a weekend special, but there's nothing worse than spending money to rent a car and then having it sit in a parking lot all day not being used!

- Any suggestions on what days would be better for certain parks (for e.g. weekdays instead of weekends in the given schedule)?

Avoid MK on Saturdays and Sundays. Beyond that, it honestly doesn't matter much when you do which park.

(The reason I am asking this is..
- would it make sense to spend the energy changing between hotels
- if we stayed at some of these resorts is getting to and fro from the parks going to be FREE or cheapr or expensive compared to renting a car?)

At Universal, it can really pay off to stay on property, because you get front-of-line priviledges for part of the day if you're on-site. At Disney, you have the EMH availability. At both, you have the luxury of spending a bit of time in the parks, and then heading to the pool for a few hours and then heading back into the parks, without ever having to get in a car. It's not a MUST, certainly, but it's really nice to not have to drive. And yes ... if you stay in the resorts, getting to and from their companion parks is free. Disney transportation is free all through the WDW property. Universal transportation between resorts and Universal parks is free as well.

I was wondering how many days I should give to Miami (assuming we covered Orlando quite well).

I'm not sure that a 14 year old and a 9 year old will get a lot out of Miami. When I send people down to Miami, it's for the beach and for the Art Deco architecture. Now, maybe the kids are really into Art Deco, but otherwise, it's mostly a club and beach scene. Have you thought of taking them to Cocoa Beach instead? That way you could get some great beach time, and you also have the Kennedy Space Center to see, which they are the perfect ages for. I just think Miami is too out of their demographic. Unless you have particular reasons for including it.