Baffled with park tickets!! Help!

[Molly33]

could anyone please give me guidance re: park tickets as i am totally blown away and confused!!

The scene: 4 adults (all love thrill rides!)
5 kids, ages 10,9,8,6,& 4 with a 3month old baby.

Would love to fit as many parks in as poss... any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. (going middle of feb for 2 weeks)
Thanks!!!

[gromit]

Look at the links from this site to purchase them at great rates. Firstly the tickets are valid for life so if you didn't use up all of your days you could keep them for another time. We bought the 7 day park hopper plus. This allows you to hop in and out of the parks as you wish. It also allows you to get a 'fast pass' for the rides so you don't have to wait in long lines. February is not too bad, we have been to Disney that time of year and the lines are not like they are in the summer, but during half term they will be a bit busier. The plus part of the tickets also allows you into the water parks (I think). With the exchange rate so good for us at the moment. I would suggest buying these tickets whilst its good and keep hold of them until you have used up all your days.

Hope this helps and have fun.

[LiesaAnna]

i know exactly how you feel!!!!!!!! we went through this on our first visit to florida 2 years ago, we are going again in 3 weeks, we were so baffled by all the tickets for parks etc, that we decided to buy at the gate, we didnt understand all the flexi this that and the others,
if you go to the link at the top, this is about the cheapest place for any doings for orlando;) go through and see what parks you want, [msnwink]

[christhear]

Hi

I would advise the Universal Parks if you love thrill rides, you can normally pick up a 2 or 3 tickets for these, but they do expire 7 or 14 days after first use. Although the 2 youngest and baby wont get on the thrill rides there are plenty of playground type areas for them.

[linda.s]

A flex ticket would be a good idea, as you can cover both Universal parks, Busch Gardens (Great thrill rides there) and Seaworld, which is good family entertainment.
Make sure that the Disney ticket you buy is a Hopper, as this is the only ticket that lasts until you have used all the days. A 10 day world pass for example expires 20 days after the first use.
The links above are def the best place to buy any ticket needs though, we didn't use them as we bought our tickets THEN found this site! Doh. If you need a car get it here too!
Good luck!

[TINAPETERS]

I would recommend a 7 day hopper pass for Disney and then the 5 day flex ticket for Universal/Busch Gardens/Seaworld.
Fit in as much as you can, have a rest when you get home, you will have a brilliant time.

[Madabouttigger]

OK I appreciate you confusion and will try to explain as clearly as possible.

Basically there are 2 types of Parks, 1st the Disney Parks. Here you have 4 Main Theme Parks Plus the 2 Disney Water Parks. To get into these you can buy the Disney Hopper or Hopper Plus tickets. You purchase these tickets for a period of days - ie 5 days or 7 days. The hopper tickets let you into the main theme parks, the hopper plus tickets also include the water parks.
As I understand it if you buy a 10 day disney pass and only go into the parks on say 8 days, you can carry the remaining 2 days over to your next trip.

The next ticket is the Orlando Flexi Ticket. This covers Universal Studios, Sea World, Islands of Adventure, Wet n Wild, and Busch gardens. Here your ticket lasts for 2 weeks but you purchase either 4 Park or 5 Park tickets, depending on which parks you want to use. The clock starts ticking the first time you use this ticket and expires 14 days later.

They way we decide which to buy is to list what Parks we want to visit and then look at the tickets accordingly - and usually get a combination of the 2.

The link at the top of this page is excellent and as the exchange rate is so good well worth ordering now.

Sorry its so confusing and hope I have helped a little.

If Ive got any of this wrong will someone please correct me?

Diane

[blott]

The 10-Day Disney World Ticket is valid for 20 days after the first day of use and any unused days will expire.

It's only the Disney Hopper or Hopper Plus tickets that never expire and that you can keep for a visit another year.

[Nostromo]

I agree with Tina Peters that a 7-day Hopper and 5-day Flexi would give you the best options, provided you have enough holiday time to do them justice. Obviously, the baby will have to be 'swapped' between adults to avoid unnecessary waiting and the smaller kids will not be allowed on some of the more thrilling rides due to height restrictions. But there are always 'compensatory' rides for smaller kids and adults can go on those as well!

But for you 4 thrill seeking adults, I very stronly recommend several hours to be reserved for Old Town on a Saturday afternoon/evening. It is one of the highlights of the trip and the place has 2 of the biggest thrill rides in Orlando. I refer to Sky Coaster ([msnscared][msnscared][msnscared][msnscared]) and The Slingshot ([msnscared][msnscared][msnscared][msnscared][msnscared]). Unmissable, if you have bottle to go.

[Snapper]

Molly - I would look at the Orlando Flexticket (5 Park) and possibly a Disney Hopper pass, depending on how busy you want to be.

The non-Disney theme parks tend to lead for white knuckle rides, with Universal Islands of Adventure and Busch Gardens being the two best in my opinion. Sea World also has a great coaster, The Kraken, and makes an awesome day out for all age groups.

We tend to aim for no more than 4 theme parks a week, and even that can be quite exhausting. With the Flexticket giving you the 4 main non-Disney theme parks that would kind of lead to looking at a 4-day or less Disney Hopper ticket.

The general rule with the Disney Hopper passes is that the more days you buy the better value they are; and unused days never expire. So if cashflow isn't an issue and you plan on returning to Orlando again, get the biggest Disney Hopper pass you can afford.

The Orlando Flexticket is valid for 14 consecutive days from the day you first use it, so this gives you the option of reducing the number of Disney Days you buy and instead re-visiting the Universal/Busch/SeaWorld parks.

Also keep in mind that you can't really do all the theme parks in 2 weeks, so remember to have a few days relaxing by the pool as well.

[Michele L]

I think it depends on what sex your kids are!! disney is more fore girls, Universal/Islands of adventure is more for boys.

Busch Gardens/Sea World is for both.

also what height are they? for large roller coasters they have to be 54" or more i.e Hulk/duelling Dragons - Islands of Adventure and Kraken - Sea World.

Speak to the kids and ask them what they want to do and then compromise

Don't forget the Water Parks - we have just come back today and bought an ANNUAL PASS at Wet and Wild for $43 + tax Monday to Friday - the boys 9,11 and 13 all love it and it is worth every cent.

Michele

[Nostromo]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Michele L
I think it depends on what sex your kids are!! disney is more fore girls, Universal/Islands of adventure is more for boys.

Michele
[/quote]

Excuse me, but I think this is a very presumptive and sexist comment....and very far from the truth. I have seen plenty of girls enjoying white knuckle rides at IoA and elsewhere and likewise there are plenty of boys who are terrified of big rides. It all depends on their personality make-up. I would have thought that in this day and age boys and girls were treated similarly.

[linda.s]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Nostromo
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Michele L
I think it depends on what sex your kids are!! disney is more fore girls, Universal/Islands of adventure is more for boys.

Michele
[/quote]

Excuse me, but I think this is a very presumptive and sexist comment....and very far from the truth. I have seen plenty of girls enjoying white knuckle rides at IoA and elsewhere and likewise there are plenty of boys who are terrified of big rides. It all depends on their personality make-up. I would have thought that in this day and age boys and girls were treated similarly.
[/quote]

I'm with you Nostromo......... Quite honestly I see more men bag holding than women outside the rides generally! I have 2 daughters and a son, and although my son is just starting to go on the rides now (He's 11) he certainly doesn't have the same level of excitement as my girls! Both the girls have said that they don't want to "do" Disney next time we visit, but my son does....... Go figure!

[Nostromo]

The same applies to adults as well. My sister-in-law did all the big rides including Sky Coaster while her husband chickened out of the big jump.

[Kiddie001]

We went for the first time for two weeks this year, and elected to just do Disney parks, so I got a 10 day hopper.
I feel that we "did" the Disney parks pretty thouroughly without tearing aroound and gives us the next visit free for Universal IOA, Busch, Seaworld etc.
My eldest is 12 and he thoroughly enjoyed himself and found the bigger Disney rides OK, although I think he would have gone on the bigger ones in the other parks, but Disney was more than enough for my 6 & 10 year olds (and me and the wife!)
We got the 10 day pass for virtually the same price as a 7 day, and still found time to go to the beach, shopping etc as well (see my trip report http://www.orlando-guide.info/forums/topic_15336.asp and photos http://www.orlando-guide.info/forums/topic_15337.asp ), also bear imn mind that witha Disney hopper you get access to Blizzard beach, Typhoon Lagoon and Disney Quest.
Like you I was totally baffled by ebverything before we went, concentrating on just the Disny stuff worked for us!!:D

HTH

Cheers

Ian

P.S. Note : My 6 year old daughter "just" got on everything height wise (with the help of some thick soled trainers!)

[blott]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Nostromo
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Michele L
I think it depends on what sex your kids are!! disney is more fore girls, Universal/Islands of adventure is more for boys.

Michele
[/quote]

Excuse me, but I think this is a very presumptive and sexist comment....and very far from the truth. I have seen plenty of girls enjoying white knuckle rides at IoA and elsewhere and likewise there are plenty of boys who are terrified of big rides. It all depends on their personality make-up. I would have thought that in this day and age boys and girls were treated similarly.[/quote]Correct for our family Nostromo. Twin granddaughters have always gone on anything, the worse it is the better they like it, whilst their elder brother won't do anything that looks in the least bit dangerous!

[Michele L]

I did not mean to offend anybody but I am just saying what the boys thought and what I have heard from families with (little)girls have said.

Don't think that I am not being equal as I was the biggest tomboy around!! Just think about what kind of children you have and take their views into account. I think you know what I mean

Michele

[Magical Dreams]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Molly33
could anyone please give me guidance re: park tickets as i am totally blown away and confused!!

The scene: 4 adults (all love thrill rides!)
5 kids, ages 10,9,8,6,& 4 with a 3month old baby.

Would love to fit as many parks in as poss... any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. (going middle of feb for 2 weeks)
Thanks!!!

[/quote]
It depends on how much time you are devoting to the parks.
Some of the parks need more than one day to do and see everything without rushing around too much.
This is only a sample of things you may want to do.......
Animal Kingdom - 1 day
Magic Kingdom - 2 days
Epcot - 1 day
MGM - 1 days
Universal Studios - 1 or 2 day(s)
Island of Adventure - 1 or 2 day(s)
SeaWorld - 1 day
Gatorland - 1 day
Busch Gardens - 1 day
Discovery Cove - 1 day
Blizzard Beach - 1/2 day
Typhoon Lagoon - 1/2 day
Water Mania - 1/2 day
Wet 'n Wild - 1/2 day
Thats at least 11 days out of 14
You will need at least one day off just to look around and go shopping


We are there from 22nd Feb until 4th Mar too!

[minnie29uk]

Get some brochures...have a chat through them with your children and find out which of the parks appeal to them.Dont go overboard on buying tickets(unless its those that dont expire).nothing worse than paying for something you dont get to use!
You may want to go everywhere and do everything,but it will be impossible youll be exhausted and not enjoy it as much...remember youll want some time enjoying your villa too
I suppose it may also depend on whether you will be lucky enough to go again in the future as I only went to Disney the first 2 times,Universal the 3rd time and now I like to try other parks too.
Either way,youll have a great holiday,

Lynn

[Lynne S]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by pontelad
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Molly33
could anyone please give me guidance re: park tickets as i am totally blown away and confused!!

The scene: 4 adults (all love thrill rides!)
5 kids, ages 10,9,8,6,& 4 with a 3month old baby.

Would love to fit as many parks in as poss... any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. (going middle of feb for 2 weeks)
Thanks!!!

[/quote]
It depends on how much time you are devoting to the parks.
Some of the parks need more than one day to do and see everything without rushing around too much.
This is only a sample of things you may want to do.......
Animal Kingdom - 1 day
Magic Kingdom - 2 days
Epcot - 1 day
MGM - 1 days
Universal Studios - 1 or 2 day(s)
Island of Adventure - 1 or 2 day(s)
SeaWorld - 1 day
Gatorland - 1 day
Busch Gardens - 1 day
Discovery Cove - 1 day
Blizzard Beach - 1/2 day
Typhoon Lagoon - 1/2 day
Water Mania - 1/2 day
Wet 'n Wild - 1/2 day
Thats at least 11 days out of 14
You will need at least one day off just to look around and go shopping

Diane, new villa don't you need more than 1 day off to shop around [msnwink][msnwink][msnwink][msnwink][msnwink][msnwink][msnwink]
Or do you shop from 9am till 10 pm ????[msnwink] What a woman !!![clap][clap][clap][clap][clap][clap][clap]

We are there from 22nd Feb until 4th Mar too!
[/quote]

[Magical Dreams]

This was not our schedule for Feb!!
A few days in the park at the most I think!!

We will be too busy with the villa!
It was more like ours last year!!

Diane could shop 24/7 like most women!!

The tree at the bottom of the garden does not produce enough though!! LOL (Cash that is!)

[angel]

[Lynne S]

Wish we all had one of those, we are out in Dec to close, so shop till we drop then [msnwink]

But in Feb we will be at the parks, just trying to pick the kid's fav parks at the moment.