What to do in Orlando for a week

Coming up in August I am taking a family vacation with my in laws. The people on the trip include: my wife and myself - avid coaster lovers. My brother in law (5'11" 325 ok with coasters), his wife (5'7" "thin enough" ok with coasters), their 2 year old daughter, my father in law (5'8" 375? would ride if he could), and my mother in law (5'6" "thin enough" and scared of coasters).

So our problem is that my wife and I really want to hit some of the more thrilling stuff while we are there but obviously we are stuck with this motley crew for most of the time. We are thinking of taking 1 day and going to Busch Gardens by ourselves. Also the group wants to go to SeaWorld, so we can ride Kraken there. Universal is out since most of us have been there in the last couple years. So we are down to Disney Parks. We are thinking 2 days at Disney. Any suggestions for where we should go? Also, has anyone ever bought a partially used park hopper ticket off of Ebay and had good luck with it? Finally if you had to pick one Florida waterpark to visit which would it be?

Thanks
*** This post was edited by Dbmjrider 5/22/2003 1:06:40 PM ***

Wet-N-Wild. awesome mat slides named Mach-5. Nuff said.

Waterpark? Easy...Blizzard Beach. It is the best waterpark I have been too.

As for two days at Disney, I guess I would say Disney-MGM b/c there are thrills for you and other attractions to keep the rest of your group happy. I would probably say Magic Kingdom for the other park since there are a few thrills there.

Have you been to IOA? That might be an option instead of the second day at Disney.

I can't help you with the Park Hopper stuff. I haven't paid to go to Disney in a decade.

Yeah , sorry. Never been to Disney parks. Wet-N-Wild was awesome that day that I went.Perfect weather.

Blizzard Beach and Typhoon lagoon (2 Disney waterparks) are both nice. Blizzard has more to do as far as slides but Treasure Island has a great lazy river and is geared more towards relaxation than Blizzard Beach. Typhoon and Blizzard are both included as an option on the Disney Multi-Day Park Hopper Plus Pass. Also Wet and Wild is known not to disappoint too many. This waterpark is a great day out for all ages with its emphasis on multi person rides that groups can enjoy together. Wet and wild cost about $30.00 per person. Your deciding factor on where to go should be what type of park are the others going to be comfortable at. This is key because you don’t want someone eles bordom bringing you down.

With the rag-tag group you've got, I'd say Typhoon Lagoon would be a much better waterpark choice. It's a much better place to just 'chill out' and there's more non-thrilling activities than either BB or W-n-W. Plus, it's beautiful. Plus, it seems to handle crowds better than Blizzard Beach.

As for the Disney Parks, the best thrills are obviously at MGM (Tower of Terror and RockNRoller Coaster) but there's tons for non thrillseekers there as well. I can spend hours goofing off in the Honey I shrunk the Kids playground alone. As for the other day, If you did get a partially used Park Hopper you could do Animal Kingdom in the morning for a few hours and Magic Kingdom at night.

I once bought a partially used park hopper from a guy on the street in Kissimee and had no problem. I'd feel okay about doing the same on Ebay.

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Maihama, Maihama Desu

simple:

HIT THE BEACHES

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Colossus [1]
Nemesis: Inferno [6]

yes, we went to universal studios and islands of adventure before. Also, we have 3 or so days at the beach planned already which is way too much for me since I can't swim and sunburn really easily.

How long do you think a run through Animal Kingdom would take? Some of the family had mentioned going there already. I wouldn't mind riding my first spinning mouse either
*** This post was edited by Dbmjrider 5/22/2003 2:57:14 PM ***

Animal Kingdom isn't much more than a half day park. In fact, they close at 5:00 pm.

The only reason I suggested Blizzard over Typhoon is that you would have more fun at Blizzard. If they are going to drag you to the beach for 3 days then they can cope with Blizzard. There is a great wave pool and lazy river at Blizzard which they will likely enjoy and the slide are more fun for you.

It depends on what you want to accomplish there. Here's your game plan for the 'must do's and do them as quickly as possible'

Get there first thing in the morning. While your group is walking back towards Harambe for the Safari, you RUN to Dinosaur! to get a Fastpass.

Meet them at the Safari and go for a ride (This line moves very fast) When you get off, if your window for Dinosaur! has opened walk through Asia and as your group crosses the bridge towards Dinosaur! you take a slight detour to pick up Fastpasses for Kali River Rapids (You can get a new fast pass once your first one's return time comes around, you don't have to wait till it's done). If you still have a several minutes until your Dinosaur! window is closed, and there's not much of a line, hop onto Primeval Whirl (Personally, I refuse to ride this, as well as Mulholland Madness at DCA, as I think they're both copouts. Spinning Mice ARE way fun, though, I admit).

Now do Dinosaur! and head back over to ride Kali River Rapids. If you need to kill some time, take in the Maharajah Jungle Trek (The bat house is the coolest, and the Tigers are gorgeous) On your way out you can catch 'It's Tough to be a Bug' in the tree of life, though it could be TERRIFYING to a 2 year old, be warned. I enjoy the queue, though, as you get a good close up look at the roots of the tree of life. Amazing work.

Now, if you want to be a little more leisurely, make sure to do the Pangani Forest Exploration trail (Gorillas) and perhaps a show or two (The Bird show is okay, though not AMAZING compared to any other in a normal theme park. I have never bother with Tarzan, I hear mixed reviews) If you follow this schedule, you can be out of there by lunch (which is good, because the fodd choices at this park SUCK.)
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Maihama, Maihama Desu

If you want to go to busch gaerdens and don't have a car or don't feel like driving sea world offers a shuttle down to busch everday. Cosit is 5.00 without a flex pass and free with one. I used it the last time I was there and it worked great.

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I hope they kill that iron yuppie. Thinks he's so big. The great homer simspon

Wow, Theme Designer and I are going to disagree a lot when it comes to Animal Kingdom. He hates the food there, I think it offers the best counter service food anywhere (the McDonald's notwithstanding). From Tusker House (in Africa) to some solid fast food BBQ to one of the few Disney sandwiches that aren't tastless (at Pizzafari) -- and, of course, you have Rainforest Cafe there too.

Okay, this would be my touring plan for AK. The park opens at 9am and the crowds make a beeline for the Safari. Bah! Take everyone with you to Dinoland. Hit the Dinosaur ride, Primeval Whirl and Triceratops Spin. The toddler can do Triceratops Spin and then hang out with the least adventurous of the lot in the Boneyard -- either going through slides or hanging out in the dig site playing with sand. You'll be done with all of Dinoland -- even doubles if you want to baby swap -- in the first hour.

Head out, walk counterclockwise to Asia where Kali River Rapids will also be a walk-on because it's still early and not too hot. Those who don't want to get wet might still enjoy the queue and just duck out and wait before it's boarding time.

At that point you keep going to the safari. If it's got a 20 minute wait or less go ahead and do it. If not, grab a FastPass. The window at that point will probably be an hour or two away. Just hop on the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch in Conservation Station to kill the time, or head out to Festival of the Lion King show (which is the one show that will be packed for most of the showings so arrive early).

Once you've conquered Dinoland, Kali River Rapids, the Safari and seen the amazing Lion King show, the rest of the park is there for the exploring. The animal walkthroughs in Asia and Africa, It's Tough to be a Bug is virtually a walk-on, maybe check out the Tarzan show. If there was one of the rides that you were extremely fond of you can always grab a second FastPass -- or wait until the park's last hour where the lines are short.

As a dining suggestion, make an early dinner reservation for Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge (you can't walk there from the park, but it's about a half-mile at most from the park exit).

As for the "other" park, if you have a toddler you will probably wind up at Magic Kingdom. That's really the park with the most "family" attractions and it's obviously the most visited park in Florida for good reason. If you hit the park when it opens you can split up into the "Take the kid to Fantasyland" group and the "Let's hit Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain" group before going as a group into Tomorrowland and grabbing Space Mountain FastPasses.