Sea World / Universal / Busch Gardens Touring Plans

[Charin]

Hi,

For our next trip we plan to also spend time in Sea World, Universal and Bush Gardens. For the SW and Univ portion we will be staying at ASMO and traveling for the day, for the BG portion we will be staying with relatives in Tampa. I have no idea how many days to allot to each park, where to find the best deals in terms of tickets, or even if they will be suitable for my then to be DD5 and DS8. Do you have any links, touring plans and just plain insight that you can offer? What is there to eat at each park and how much should I budget for a counter service meals for a familiy of two adults and two kids? anything and everything you want to share about your experience will be more than welcome. TIA

 

[AJKMOM]

Universal and Sea World have their own set of threads further down the list here at the DIS. There are forums where you can check out rides, restaurants, etc.

Not sure about Busch Gardens, though.

 

[Freaky]

Hi,

We did these 3 parks on our visit this year (July/August) with DD12 & DS8.

Universal/IOA - DD loved these as she is a big adrenalin junkie - DS on the other hand only enjoyed a few rides in Universal (particularly Men in Black). DH & I enjoyed them but to be honest preferred Disney - it's just not the same but I think DS probably swayed our opinion. We got the tickets that were on offer here on the DIS (valid for 7 days) so just spent part days in the parks at a time. Didn't really eat, except for snacks. Headed out for a late lunch at Sweet Tomatoes on I-Drive which is great value.

SeaWorld/Busch Gardens - Absolutely loved these parks - plenty for kids of all ages! We bought tickets from the SeaWorld website and got 1 annual pass as this worked out better for us (has free parking & some discounts) and then the other tickets were valid for 14 days! Once again we spent quite a number of part days in SeaWorld - sometimes just nipping in in the evening for 1 or 2 shows. As we were staying in Kissimmee we only went to Busch Gardens for 1 day (next time we will do more). Lunch cost around $50 in each park for the 4 of us but I would recommend you purchase the park mugs that are refillable for about $1 or so (they can be used in both SeaWorld and Busch Gardens).

We go back next June and will not be doing Universal/IOA - back to Disney but Busch Gardens is our favourite and perhaps we may swim with the dolphins at Discovery Cove

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

jmho but I would def. recommend a split stay and stay 1-2 nights onsite at Universal. Their hotels are within walking distance to the parks, 5-12 mins. or you can take a water taxi. All are 4* deluxe Loew's Hotels.
Most importantly is that you can just show your hotel room key to bypass the reg. lines for all rides. It's like an unlimited fast pass. It makes touring so nice and relaxed. If the kids want to re-ride, no sweat. We've never waited more than 5 mins. in an express line, even over Labor Day weekend. My ds says he feel like a VIP. We are so spoiled from this.
Even just paying for 1 night's hotel stay, gives you 2 full days with the room key. Check out the Universal boards!!