Orlando Trip Help

I just booked a last minute trip to Orlando for a week leaving Sept. 22 for 7 days.

Can anyone suggest what parks to go to? I've been to Disney and EPCOT when I was a teen and I went to Universal Studios 3 years ago during spring break. I figure DW, MGM, EPCOT, Sea World, Bush Gardens (we have a car for the week), IOA and a water park. Sound resonible? Is Sea World worth it? Which water park would you recomend?

Are there any ticket dicounts available for any of the parks? I've checked out their online ticket sales and there doesn't seem to be much besides 10% or $5.

Also, I belive it's the rainly/hurricain season down there. What are the ride closures like when it's pouring?

Thanks in advance.

If your interested in buying tickets before you go down, check out the AAA Auto Club as they have discounted tickets to Sea World, Busch Gardens, and the Universal Parks. I think that the only place to buy Disney tickets is at the front gates.

If you're doing Seaworld, IoA, Busch, AND are interested in a water park, you might want to look into the 5 Park Flex ticket. It's good for 14 consecutive days at Seaworld, Universal, IoA, BGT, and Wet N Wild, for ~$200. I got one when I was there in January for a week, and it paid for itself very easily.

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--Greg
"Now all I want is to find a way home, to warn Earth -- look upward, and share the wonders I see..."
My page

If you're already in WDW, check out Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon for a great water park. They're very different, so read up a little and see which atmosphere suits you best.

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You might wanna check out Discovery Cove. While it is pricy, it is definately worth it plus you get a free pass to Seaworld :)

GregLeg - after consulting their site a little more, I noticed that the 5 day USF and IOA pass includes the front of the line treatment but the 5 park, 14 day doesn't. Is this correct? Also, the site also mentioed an express bus to BGT. Any experince with it? I'd prefer to let someone else do the driving if the schedual is good.

Catherine - Are reservations absolutly needed for Discovery cove or could I call them up when I get there?

I'd go with the 2 week multi park pass. That way you can go to Sea World for 1/2 a day, and then spend the rest of the day somewhere else since there's not much to do there (unless you love shows).

All Universal ticket holders get to use the Express System, and hotel guests get front of line access all day. I'm not sure about muliti-day ticket holders, but it's really dead right now so lines shouldn't be an issue.

If you have a car, i'd drive to BGT rather than taking the bus. It's only an hour drive, and you won't be limited to the bus. Plus you can stop and get food wherever instead of eating in the park which is expensive everywhere.

The best waterpark for themeing & thrills is Blizzard Beach. The most relaxing is Typhoon Lagoon. The greatest # of slides is at Wet n Wild. I live all 3, so you should be happy.

If you're going to IOA, USF, SW, and BGT, you may not even need to go to WDW. Also, be sure to ride the Katanga and 300 ft skycoaster!

-Matt

The best prices I've found are at http://www.disneyticketswebsite.com/goto/. I used them last year and didn't have any problems.
The best deal for WDW is the 7 day Park Hopper Plus. The unused days never expire and this way you can jump to multiple parks on the same day. Also, you can go to both Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon if you have time. I prefer Blizzard Beach.
The best choice for Universal is the 3 day escape pass. I know you went to USF 3 years ago. But with this pass you can possibly hit USF for a few hours after IOA and only use one day.
I think Sea World is definately worth a visit. The park is very beautiful and Kracken is an excellent coaster. Atlantis is very fun too. The shows could use a little work, but it is a wonderful park.
One last note. If you want you can sell the unused days of your tickets on Ebay. The tickets sell VERY well.

I think you should go to IOA, Magic Kingdom, MGM Studios, Sea World and Busch Gardens. Epcot is pretty much dead and not a great place to go right now, your choice though. At Sea World when I went earlier this year I spent all the day riding Kraken and Journey to Atlantis, I also went to watch the dolphins show and the whales show. The lines were acceptable for JTA (1 hour) and Kraken about 15 minutes, they should be a lot shorter for your time of visiting. IOA great park, tons of fun, just awesome. Magic Kingdom is alright, it's kind of cool, I did sort of enjoy it. At MGM I spent the whole day between Tower of Terror and Rock'n'Rollercoaster, there are a couple more good rides but only for 1 go on them, I wouldn't really spend the whole day at this park. Busch Gardens is very cool too, go there. If you can go to Universal go ahead, but if you can't then do not worry much, you wouldn't be missing out a lot... For the water park definetely hit Blizzard Beach, it's just great.

As for the rain. I wouldn't worry. Even though it is the hurricane season, not many hurricanes make it to Orlando, most of them just keep away from the coast. You will encounter a passing thunderstorm someday, they will close JTA during the thunderstom (15 minutes) and then reopen it, this does happen somewhat frequently but it's not a big deal. I have been there many times and on only few of them I have had "pouring rain" days.

Lines are very short this time of the year. I went exactly sept. 23 a couple of years ago to Magic Kingdom, which is usually very crowded, and found that I didn't even had to leave the car on Splash Mountain (2:30 hours normally), I got like 5 rides on this whitout leaving the car. Same wih Space Mountain.

I have no clue about the discounts and that stuff...

-Daniel

*** This post was edited by daniel74 on 9/9/2002. ***

No experience with that shuttle, sorry. I just drove the hour. I believe that's correct that the 5-park Flex pass does NOT give "front of the line" benefits, since it's not strictly a Universal thing. In January, "front of the line" would have been a laughable benefit anyway, as there WERE no lines, but this time of year, I'm not sure.

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--Greg
"Now all I want is to find a way home, to warn Earth -- look upward, and share the wonders I see..."
My page

With all of your help I've come up with the following: $200 5 park pass that I'll use for IOA, Bush Gardens, Wet 'n Wild, a half day at Universal Studios, half day at SW. (Seems a shame to waste 7 of the 14 days. Anyone want it when I'm done? Are they transferable?) Then a 4 day park hopper to hit DW, MGM, and a half day at EPCOT & Animal Adventure. I get to keep the extra Disney day for future use, right? Is it good for Disneyland?

Now if I can only figure out what days for which park and how not to get too trashed at CityWalk and Downtown Disney.

No, the Disneyworld pass isn't good at Disneyland.

And a little tip if you're moving to another Disney park later in the day; drive up to the front of the lot. There's always spots up there from the people who arrived early and jumped to another park.

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Without the chaindog, you'd never get up the lifthill...

I don't have to pay for parking again though, correct?

The parking pass is good all day at all the parks.

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Without the chaindog, you'd never get up the lifthill...

I have had experience with the shuttle and while it was nice to let someone else do the driving,I would just drive the hour or so to tampa. That way you have more flexibility and don't have to follow someone else's schedule

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