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Advice for Orlando Newbie

Sep 10, 2012
21
1
Hi everyone, I'm off to Orlando from England for the first time in July for two weeks and would like a bit of help in planning my trip. I arrive in Orlando on the 7th of July and fly home on the 22nd so overall I have 14 full days in the park. I also have the FlexTicketPlus so entry to the six parks. I was planning at least one day at each park as well as an extra day at universal/ioa, is this enough time at each park? How many rest days do you think will be needed and where is good to go, we are not using a hire car so will be relying on the i-ride and shuttle buses. Also we don't have tickets for Disney as the other parks were a priority and we figured we could buy are passes over there if we feel like we have time, is this a good idea?

sorry for all the questions but as this is my first (and probably only) time in Orlando I would like to make the most of it.

Dani1234
 
These are the parks your ticket covers, I just had to look up since I wasnt familair with this ticket :lol:
Universal Studios
Universal Islands of Adventure
Universal CityWalk
SeaWorld Orlando
Aquatica
Wet ‘n Wild
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay

14 full days is a lot of time to hit all the parks on this ticket and then Disney also. I would most def take 2 days for Uni/IOA. Rest days don't exist when you go to Orlando :pound: You could always go to the parks 2-3 days in a row and then the following day take a break at the water parks, you could also do split days between the parks and water parks. Make yourself a loose itinerary before you leave on what parks you want do do on what days but also be prepared for changes of plans, especially how the weather is in Florida in the summer
 
Dani, from my past experiences, we've planned day on day off for a 2 week holiday in Orlando. Although you'll find that won't be enough time to do everything.
So days at water parks as Hockeyman has said above is a great idea for a 'break' day. They tend to be really relaxed.
You'll have a great time, its awesome.
One book I have purchased in the past is the 'Brit Guide to Orlando' had a lot of really good tips in it for parks, restaurants etc.. would recommend it.
 
If you can, I would definitely visit at least two of the Disney parks, such as Magic Kingdom and Epcot. You'd be really missing out if you didn't. Especially since Universal's CityWalk isn't a park, it's just a shopping/entertainment district before you walk to US/IOA. So you won't need a day there! :lol:
 
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Yes, for 14 days I would recommend also buying a 2-4 day Disney ticket, depending on what you want to see there. For first timers, Magic Kingdom and Epcot are both 2-day parks usually. Disney Studios and Animal Kingdom are one day parks. Also do you have transport to Busch Gardens Tampa? That's approximately one hour away from Orlando, and would require some kind of bus or van service. I believe there is one that leaves from Universal and goes over to Busch.
 
Yes, for 14 days I would recommend also buying a 2-4 day Disney ticket, depending on what you want to see there. For first timers, Magic Kingdom and Epcot are both 2-day parks usually. Disney Studios and Animal Kingdom are one day parks. Also do you have transport to Busch Gardens Tampa? That's approximately one hour away from Orlando, and would require some kind of bus or van service. I believe there is one that leaves from Universal and goes over to Busch.


Agreed, you could even spend 4 days at USF/IOA and ride your favorite rides a few times. With that and the other parks, it would still only be half of the trip.

You can spend some time on I-Drive, there are a few huge malls as well as other shops and mini-attractions. So you may want to spend at least a couple days at Disney.

The tickets at the gate are the most expensive. If you have a laptop, bring it as most hotels have internet access and you can get the cheaper tickets. But if you get the tickets here be careful and make sure they are Authorized.
 
I would do an itinerary we always do and do it realistically. for example our first day we get there we go swimming in the hotel and shopping at a wal-mart for essentials. It will be too much to do a park on top of the flight and clearing customs etc.

I think you should probably decide before you go if you want to go to disney or not as prices will be a lot more on gate then ordering them early. If your going for a couple of days check undercover tourist for Magic your way tickets.
 
If you visit Aquatica, your in for a little present... This park is filled with tons of kids:thumbs: The park is somewhat small it could be done in half of a day, then you can relax. A great place to go around universal is called anthony's coal fired pizza. I think there pizza is amazing:p Also you might want to check out Tijuana Flats(a cool orlando tex mex chain) If you have any freetime you can see if there are any events going on at the new amway center, the center is a very nice area! Have fun on your trip here! Stay Safe!:doggie:
 
I did a 10 day trip for my honeymoon a couple of years ago. I would suggest adding a day at each Disney park and utilize your flex ticket. The diversity will make for a better time.
 
thanks for the advice guys, a friend of my mums went to Orlando last year and said that there were stalls around the international drive that sell of other people unneeded Disney tickets is this still the case? also how reliable are the shuttle buses/ i-ride for times i.e does the bus still run after the park closes so we can stay till the end of the day?
 
Definently stay away from those places that sell unused attraction tickets. There has been a lot of issues with the tickets they sell being unuasable. The best and most reliable places to buy tickets are at the parks themselves. As far as the Lynx buses go yes they usually run until around 1or2am coming from the Transportation and Ticket center back out to Sea World (that's bus line #50) however on Saturdays and Sundays the buses do stop running earlier. Check www.golynx.com for complete schedules. Also the I-Ride trolley only runs along International Drive, Vineland Avenue (up to the outlets) and Major Boulevard (along the back of the hotels over there) You can also buy I-Ride passes at most of the Walgreens drug stores. There are I think 5 Walgreens on International Drive between Vineland Avenue and Universal Boulevard. :cheers: I hope that helps. One more thing...the I-Ride trolley runs from 8am until 10:30pm everyday.
 
thanks for the advice guys, a friend of my mums went to Orlando last year and said that there were stalls around the international drive that sell of other people unneeded Disney tickets is this still the case? also how reliable are the shuttle buses/ i-ride for times i.e does the bus still run after the park closes so we can stay till the end of the day?

Yeah I would definitely stay away from these as captainjack said, when we were last in Orlando on the local news there was a big article about these on I-drive and people getting ripped off with expired tickets/no days left right through to fake tickets. Your best buying before. Check out Pilinger world travel, Attractions Direct, Undercover tourist are all very competitive prices. And much cheaper then the park gates.

I think your best getting the Lynx's they run later then the I-rides. We sometimes had to cut summer nights shows short for the I-Ride at sea-world. You can get i-ride tickets at several hotels on I-Drive as well, we stayed at Rosen Inn at pointe orlando and they sold them. You can get lynx tickets at Orlando's Official Visitor Centre on I-Drive, it is behind boston lobster feast :thumbs:
 
Here's a link to allears, they are great help sorting out the Disney side of it. The link is to the opening times of each park as well as parade times ect. Have a great time over there

http://allears.net/tp/ohours.htm

I would do a day at sea world then a day at aquatica and go back to sea world after for the night time shows. It can be a bit much for a long day there in the heat
 
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