[Travel] Orlando advice

[Cheggers]

If you want a break from the parks, you could take an airboat ride at Lake Toho to see alligators and other wildlife. It is lovely there. And you could visit Indian River Lagoon to kayak with manatees and dolphins. It is beautiful. Both within driving distance. We booked it up shortly before we went. Far more relaxed than at the parks, which were also great but very busy.

 

[and smith must score]

Many thanks for all the advice so far, it really is appreciated.

The beaches sound great and even a restaurant recommendation.

The 14 day ticket looked to be the cheapest option but I have no intention of spending 14 days in the parks, particularly with Blizzard Beach shut. Good advice on Genie + and I’m sure it’s not as complicated as it sounds . Universal sounds great but not enough time to do everything and chosen Busch Gardens and Seaworld over it as I have great meyof those from 20+ years ago. It

 

[Arthritic Toe]

.... And you could visit Indian River Lagoon to kayak with manatees and dolphins. It is beautiful. Both within driving distance. We booked it up shortly before we went. Far more relaxed than at the parks, which were also great but very busy.

We did something similar at Crystal River. Many years ago now, but was absolutely the best thing we did - and a cheap day out too when compared to the parks (relatively speaking).

 

[Fignon's Ponytail]

I am going to Florida with my wife and 3 kids ages 11, 14 and 16 for the first time in mid October. As it is their first time, we will mostly be doing the parks; Disney 14 day ticket and then Sea World, Busch Gardens and Aquatica.

One thing I will add is dont limit yourself to JUST doing the parks for 14 days. There is so much more to Florida than Disney (and that comes from someone whos wife worked for the Mouse for over 15 years and got married out there!) If you only stick to doing theme parks every day you will be SHATTERED....they really take it out of you day after day. When the kids were young we used to mainly do the parks, but add on all the driving etc (I would regularly rack up over 1000 miles on our trips there) and its essential that you get some down time and quiet days mixed in imo.

 

[Iggle Piggle]

Many thanks for all the advice so far, it really is appreciated.

The beaches sound great and even a restaurant recommendation.

The 14 day ticket looked to be the cheapest option but I have no intention of spending 14 days in the parks, particularly with Blizzard Beach shut. Good advice on Genie + and I’m sure it’s not as complicated as it sounds . Universal sounds great but not enough time to do everything and chosen Busch Gardens and Seaworld over it as I have great meyof those from 20+ years ago. It

If you haven't booked the Disney ticket yet, phone up Attraction Tickets (They sometimes pull some extra deals out on the blower if you don't commit straight away) They do - well at least they did a few months back - a 7 day Disney ticket but over a 14 day period which is slightly cheaper than whatever is on the Disney website but with the park hop etc still included. The flip side is that you can only do 7 days in Disney but I doubt you'd want to do more anyway given what you have planned.

https://www.attractiontickets.com/e...EnynRCMqtfM5bEdh7OIC-SVZWwv5gLIxoC6iIQAvD_BwE

They also do bundle deals if you want Busch Gardens and Aquatica.

 

[Bozza]

Many thanks for all the advice so far, it really is appreciated.

The beaches sound great and even a restaurant recommendation.

The 14 day ticket looked to be the cheapest option but I have no intention of spending 14 days in the parks, particularly with Blizzard Beach shut. Good advice on Genie + and I’m sure it’s not as complicated as it sounds . Universal sounds great but not enough time to do everything and chosen Busch Gardens and Seaworld over it as I have great meyof those from 20+ years ago. It

Late to the party, sorry...

Even if you have no intention of doing a Disney park every day, you absolutely SHOULD make a park reservation for every day...

1. Your plans may change. Parks, particularly Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, can become fully booked, meaning you can't enter them if you want to (without park hopping first anyway).
2. You may have a day where you do something else, but when you return to your hotel then fancy popping into a park for the evening, maybe to catch some fireworks.

We visited in the summer when they still offered the fixed price Genie+ deal for length-of-ticket so we bought it, as it reduced the price to about £8-9 per day. It worked very well for us, but we were there when the parks were busy. I've read plenty from those who have visited since the end of the school summer holidays who have found wait times considerably shorter and not felt the need to have Genie+ at all. I'd suggest trying each park without it and, if you find the wait times long and/or you're not getting as much done as you'd like then get it for when you re-visit that park.

The tip to try the big-hitters (Rise, Flight of Passage and Seven Dwarfs) immediately before park closing is a good one. Typically quoted wait times are somewhat inflated at that time of day. We rode both Rise and FoP with less than a 30-minute wait doing this. The risk with this approach is the ride goes down and doesn't come back up. Rise, particularly, is very unreliable.

The new Guardians of the Galaxy ride in Epcot is outstanding. There's currently no option to just queue for this, you either join a "virtual queue" or you pay-to-ride. We had a 7/7 success rate at getting virtual queue slots on our visit. You can either do this at 7am or 1pm. If you are intending to be in Epcot then you absolutely should try for the 7am slot. If you miss out you can try for 1pm - you need to be in the park to try this. If you get a 7am slot, you can't try again at 1pm.

My process was...

- Open the Disney World app up at least 15 minutes in advance and to into Tip Board, access Guardians and make sure your group is correct and includes all your family.

- At 6:58:00 open the app again and navigate to the same place. The button at the bottom of the screen will say "Refresh".

- On another device, open the time.is website.

- When the timer hits 6:59:57 bang that refresh button. After one or two presses it will change to "Join the queue" (or similar).

- Just keep banging to join the queue.

- If your phone seems to hang, just leave it. On another device for your group, check to see if you have snagged a spot.

You will be given a boarding group and return time. This will almost certainly get earlier as the morning progresses. For example, on one occasion we had an initial 11:15 return time actually result in us being called around 9:30.

You can be late. We turned up quite late for some of our rides - sometimes we were well over an hour late - and we were always allowed to ride.​

I don't think anyone has mentioned Kennedy Space Centre yet. If you can find the time, I doubt you'll be disappointed - it's an excellent day out. The Atlantis exhibit, in particular, is just incredible. You may just find you catch something in your eye!

You could round off a day at KSC by heading to one of the Atlantic Coast spots before driving back to Orlando. We really like Cocoa Beach and often have a bite to eat and a drink at Rikki Tiki Tavern on the end of the pier - it's a lovely spot to watch the world bobbing by.

 

[Bozza]

Oh, your 14-day ticket will include Disney's Photopass.

You may well know all about this, but in case not, it means Disney's photographers will take as many photos as you want and you get the resultant photos for free. Use it as much as you can - you'll get some great family shots without having to ask a stranger to take a photo with your phone.

They also have quite a range of "magic shots" where they impose something on the photo after it's taken, so pay special attention to the photos where the photographer asked you to do a particular thing or look in a particular place.

This also includes ride photos which should auto-upload to your account based on your magic bands and/or phone, but always tap the screen post-ride to ensure you get your photos.

 

[dazzer6666]

We were in Disneyland California back in June, & I actually preferred it to Florida tbh. Loved the California Adventure Park, but even with a 16yr old and a 19yr old, they still loved things like the Cars ride, & everything in Magic Kingdom lol. As huge Star Wars fans we paid the extra to do the rides as the queues for it were so big, and I reckon it was worth it. Absolutely amazing what they've done. As you say though - 2 days is enough...we did pretty much everything we needed to in that time (but we are seasoned Disney travellers, so know what to do and where to go etc).

Six Flags Magic Mountain kicks Disney and Universal’s arses for rides though

 

[razer]

I am supposed to be travelling to the Keys next Friday for five days then on to Captiva Island for another ten. Captiva, however, is unfortunately right in the firing line of Ian so I'm hoping, for the Floridians as well as selfishly, for my holiday hopes, that it isn't smashed to pieces.

 

[dazzer6666]

I am supposed to be travelling to the Keys next Friday for five days then on to Captiva Island for another ten. Captiva, however, is unfortunately right in the firing line of Ian so I'm hoping, for the Floridians as well as selfishly, for my holiday hopes, that it isn't smashed to pieces.

Looking a bit blowy on some of the live webcams

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

Way back in 2005 - Discovery Cove - swimming with dolphins was a memorable [and expensive] day
Daytona Beach / raceway broke up the routine of the parks.
As per others, Kennedy Space Centre was a good day even for my girls who weren't really into space travel/tech stuff

When I went it was ~1:95 USD to a GBP and we lived well - we came back with bargain clothes, golf kit, etc that we paid in USD and found to be an absolute bargain, will be very different now at 1:1 - ouch!

 

[and smith must score]

Oh, your 14-day ticket will include Disney's Photopass.

You may well know all about this, but in case not, it means Disney's photographers will take as many photos as you want and you get the resultant photos for free. Use it as much as you can - you'll get some great family shots without having to ask a stranger to take a photo with your phone.

They also have quite a range of "magic shots" where they impose something on the photo after it's taken, so pay special attention to the photos where the photographer asked you to do a particular thing or look in a particular place.

This also includes ride photos which should auto-upload to your account based on your magic bands and/or phone, but always tap the screen post-ride to ensure you get your photos.

Thanks for all the great advice Bozza, I knew that you couldn't resist your specialist subject.

Is the fixed price Genie +no longer available to you knowledge as those prices sound a lot cheaper than I had seen?
Is the Disney's Photopass.the same thing as Memory maker?

 

[Iggle Piggle]

Thanks for all the great advice Bozza, I knew that you couldn't resist your specialist subject.

Is the fixed price Genie +no longer available to you knowledge as those prices sound a lot cheaper than I had seen?
Is the Disney's Photopass.the same thing as Memory maker?

To answer those 1) They have removed Genie + purchase in advance. You can now buy only on the day (And lightning lanes as well which is another $15 on top of that).
2) Yes.

 

[PTC Gull]

Late to the party, sorry...

Even if you have no intention of doing a Disney park every day, you absolutely SHOULD make a park reservation for every day...

1. Your plans may change. Parks, particularly Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, can become fully booked, meaning you can't enter them if you want to (without park hopping first anyway).
2. You may have a day where you do something else, but when you return to your hotel then fancy popping into a park for the evening, maybe to catch some fireworks.

We visited in the summer when they still offered the fixed price Genie+ deal for length-of-ticket so we bought it, as it reduced the price to about £8-9 per day. It worked very well for us, but we were there when the parks were busy. I've read plenty from those who have visited since the end of the school summer holidays who have found wait times considerably shorter and not felt the need to have Genie+ at all. I'd suggest trying each park without it and, if you find the wait times long and/or you're not getting as much done as you'd like then get it for when you re-visit that park.

The tip to try the big-hitters (Rise, Flight of Passage and Seven Dwarfs) immediately before park closing is a good one. Typically quoted wait times are somewhat inflated at that time of day. We rode both Rise and FoP with less than a 30-minute wait doing this. The risk with this approach is the ride goes down and doesn't come back up. Rise, particularly, is very unreliable.

The new Guardians of the Galaxy ride in Epcot is outstanding. There's currently no option to just queue for this, you either join a "virtual queue" or you pay-to-ride. We had a 7/7 success rate at getting virtual queue slots on our visit. You can either do this at 7am or 1pm. If you are intending to be in Epcot then you absolutely should try for the 7am slot. If you miss out you can try for 1pm - you need to be in the park to try this. If you get a 7am slot, you can't try again at 1pm.

My process was...

- Open the Disney World app up at least 15 minutes in advance and to into Tip Board, access Guardians and make sure your group is correct and includes all your family.

- At 6:58:00 open the app again and navigate to the same place. The button at the bottom of the screen will say "Refresh".

- On another device, open the time.is website.

- When the timer hits 6:59:57 bang that refresh button. After one or two presses it will change to "Join the queue" (or similar).

- Just keep banging to join the queue.

- If your phone seems to hang, just leave it. On another device for your group, check to see if you have snagged a spot.

You will be given a boarding group and return time. This will almost certainly get earlier as the morning progresses. For example, on one occasion we had an initial 11:15 return time actually result in us being called around 9:30.

You can be late. We turned up quite late for some of our rides - sometimes we were well over an hour late - and we were always allowed to ride.​

I don't think anyone has mentioned Kennedy Space Centre yet. If you can find the time, I doubt you'll be disappointed - it's an excellent day out. The Atlantis exhibit, in particular, is just incredible. You may just find you catch something in your eye!

You could round off a day at KSC by heading to one of the Atlantic Coast spots before driving back to Orlando. We really like Cocoa Beach and often have a bite to eat and a drink at Rikki Tiki Tavern on the end of the pier - it's a lovely spot to watch the world bobbing by.

[MENTION=6886]Bozza[/MENTION] "ahem" post #12

 

[and smith must score]

Way back in 2005 - Discovery Cove - swimming with dolphins was a memorable [and expensive] day
Daytona Beach / raceway broke up the routine of the parks.
As per others, Kennedy Space Centre was a good day even for my girls who weren't really into space travel/tech stuff

When I went it was ~1:95 USD to a GBP and we lived well - we came back with bargain clothes, golf kit, etc that we paid in USD and found to be an absolute bargain, will be very different now at 1:1 - ouch!

When the trip was originally booked for 2020 Discovery Cove was on the agenda for my birthday whilst out there but sadly the new budget doesn't stretch to it. Maybe one day.

 

[and smith must score]

To answer those 1) They have removed Genie + purchase in advance. You can now buy only on the day (And lightning lanes as well which is another $15 on top of that).
2) Yes.

They don't miss a chance to make extra do they

 

[dazzer6666]

When the trip was originally booked for 2020 Discovery Cove was on the agenda for my birthday whilst out there but sadly the new budget doesn't stretch to it. Maybe one day.

Don’t know how the price compares but we did a similar thing in Key Largo with DolphinsPlus……….much less of a commercial feel to it. https://www.dolphinsplus.com/

 

[Iggle Piggle]

They don't miss a chance to make extra do they

They sure don't. Genie+ I think is currently fixed at $15 per day per person (which can give you a time slot for 3 or more rides). Lightning Lanes are also $15 per person but are for one ride only. That ride, however, is the one you will most likely want to do above all else at that park (i.e Flights of passage or Rise of the resistance). I'd just go early or late (We tend to go early with jet lag and later as we time shift towards the end of the holiday)

If you do do Genie +, pick and choose where you use it. It's more useful in Hollywood Studios (Slinky dog especially) and Magic Kingdom than it is at Epcot and Animal Kingdom where the queues are shorter.

 

[Mr Bridger]

Lucky you're not going today. Ian might have had other ideas.

Obviously [MENTION=6886]Bozza[/MENTION] is the expert, but having been to the States last week I can tell you that the dreadful exchange rate makes everything feel very expensive (it was nearly as bad at our stop off in Houston as Vegas) with a minimum 18% tip on everything.

I kept reading that and couldn't figure out what it meant.
In my head I was trying to relate it to Harty's 'Serious question' thread this morning and Florida and all I was coming up with was "going to Tampa with the kids"

 

[dazzer6666]

https://www.mysanibel.com/live-stre...utm_medium=referral&utm_source=SanCapChamber#