Advice for Florida 1st Timers!

I am travelling to Florida for a holiday with my family on the 4th November and just wanted some advice on what order to do things in, Obviously there is so much to do there but I'm one of these people who just won't know where to start, any advice from any budding holiday planners out there?

Also we would like to know where the best place is to buy theme park tickets (Cheap) and what sort of tickets are the best, (there are so many, 5-day passes, flexi etc).

your info and feedback is appreciated

Thanks Andrew

hi, we got 1 day tickets at the gate, we are not fanatical over theme parks we like them but dont like spending silly amounts of money. At Busch gardens we could buy 1day ticket get the 2nd day free, but we are talking about december, so that is 1 answer to that question, you dont have to buy 4,5 7 days but all to our own!!!!!!:)

Hi Andrew

I would certainly recommend the ticket link at the top of this page for your theme park and attraction tickets.

As to "order", there is no hard and fast rule. The thing to remember is that the parks are HUGE. So whichever you visit, do not expect to see and do everything in one go. It is impossible, but a good excuse also to return to Florida at a later date [msnwink]

I think the best advice is to build some rest days into your itinerary, when you can chill and relax.

As to ticket recommendations, we always suggest guests opt for the Orlando Flex ticket (either 4 or 5 park) as it's brilliant value for money, and then after that it's usually a case of adding your Disney Hopper or Hopper Plus passes, depending on how many days you feel you want to spend visiting the Mouse [msnsmile2].

Whatever you choose, I'm sure you'll have a brilliant vacation.

Have fun !!! [8D]

Hi Andrew

welcome to the forum, you've come the right place for advice. It might help if you give the ages of any children.

Might be an idea to make a list of everything you would like to do, regardless of order, and from that you will get an idea of what tickets to buy.

When you decide what tickets to get, there is a link at the top of the page and the prices from here are great :)

Have a great holiday

Well to be honest there is no children, it's me i'm 23, my Girlfriend (19) and strangely my mum's coming and she's a very young 45. We all want to go to Universal & IOA, Busch Gardens, Seaworld and Disney but not sure which bits of Disney as friends have told me Magic Kingdom isn't that impressive. Also we want to go to medieval nights or some other evening entertainment, and while my mum might want to relax or go to a casino (If they have them) Me and the Girlfriend my fancy a Nightclub, (Any reccomendations, we like RnB, Dance,Etc)

My mum wants to go to Miami as well, Can this be done as a day trip, we will prb hire a car a drive so may stay overnight.

Thats three big kids then Andrew!:D Don't worry we are all big kids when in Florida. Its hard to recommend a particular park as we all have our own preferences, depends if you are into thrill rides or more low key stuff. If you are driving to Miami then an over night stop would be a real plus point. FOr evening entertainment there are alot of dinner dhows, we are planning to take in Sleuths this year, we are told that you don't go for the food though as its noting spectacular. For dancing Disneys Pleasure Island is a good place to start, make sure you have ID though as they are really particular about serving under 21's with drink anywhere in Florida. Have fun.[msnsmile2]

Hi Andrew.
Universal & IOA are great with some great rides, and Universal City Walk (at Night will certainly keep you going till the early hours.[msncool]

Andrew sounds like the 'Orlando 5 Park Flex' is the one for you it lasts 14 days from when you activate it at your first park it gives you ulimited acess to US, IOA, SW, BG, W&W and City Walk at Universal which is full Nightclubs, bars etc.. all with varying themes, the flex ticket means you can flit from park to park as we do morning at Islands of Adventure afternoon at Seaworld.
As for Disney look at 4 day hopper plus this gives you any 4 days at the Disney parks (you can hop from park to park on each day using Disney's transportation system and one of the water parks, if you like thrills Tower of Terror and Rock 'n' Coaster at Disney's MGM studios is a must as is Blizzard Beach
Hope this Helps

Hi Bison and Welcome to the site. My partner and I also go to Orlando on our own ( Both over 21 ) and still do the theme parks and have a really good time. Here is a rough Itinerary of how I would plan our trip

Day 1 - Arrive
Day 2 - Sea World - Easy day not much driving
Day 3 - Magic Kingdom - Average Day
Day 4 - Kennedy Space Centre - About 1 hours drive, can do Dayton Beach at same time.
Day 5 - Water Park - Down town Disney at night for dinner and night club
Day 6 - Universal Studios - Average Day
Day 7 - Epcot- Long Day, evening show in Park
Day 8 - Animal Kingdom - Great day, love it!
Day 9 - Water Park - And possibly some shopping, Universal City Walk PM
Day 10 - Busch Gardens - Long day, drive over to Tampa
Day 11 - Universal Studios - Average Day
Day 12 - Shopping Daytona/Coco Beach
Day 13 - M.G.M Studios - Longer day, MUST see Fantasmic evening show
Day 14 - Shopping, packing. - Meal in special restaurant ready for home
Day 15 - Home

I do suggest you have some sort of Itinerary or before you know it the holiday is over and you have only see half the things you want to see - so you have to go back again next year!
I use the link at the top of the page for park passes and get a really good deal, I usually use the Orlando flexi ticket and the Disney Hopper pass. 1st plan what you want to do then you can decide what tickets you need.
And sont forget to have loads of fun!
Diane.
:D:D:D

If you want to do the disney parks I would receommend the 10 day world ticket, THIS IS ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE UK as this also give you the disney character breakfast unlimited access to the water parks and disney quest as well.

There are two 10 day tickets available the time limit one,must be used in 21 consecutive days or the undated one. if you plan to go again. use the undated one, as this can be used from year to year
I think a 4 or 5 day pass will not be enough as Epcot will take more than one day to go around and depending on how long you want to stay in the parks as the evening can go on late if you are up to doing a full day.

If you like very big scary rides then get the orlando 5 flex ticket for Busch Gardens as well this will be approx 90mins drive to Tampa get there early. If you don't want to travel that far then get the 4 park flex ticket.

We thoroughly enjoyed Kennedy Space Centre, but we went when the LAST shuttle was on the launch pad and had the up close tour, Brillant. That was an experience having the very last photos of the shuttle before it launched. Not sure what its like now as no shuttle take off and with Security and that.

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by LiesaAnna
hi, we got 1 day tickets at the gate, we are not fanatical over theme parks we like them but dont like spending silly amounts of money. At Busch gardens we could buy 1day ticket get the 2nd day free, but we are talking about december, so that is 1 answer to that question, you dont have to buy 4,5 7 days but all to our own!!!!!!:)
[/quote]

We buy our tickets at the gate now we don't take the kids.......we save hundreds anyway not having them around to pay for....and it gives us the freedom to do a park or not.......:D:D

THIS site is the best for excellent value tickets. There are several options and the best you can do is to decide what you want to see and then use the link on this page to order tickets. Hurry though! Although November is not usually a very busy month, there may be a bigger than expected crowd this year due to hurricane postponed trips by other visitors.

I also suggest you get a good GUIDEBOOK to help you plan the trip. Simon Venness' "A Brit's Guide to Orlando & WDW" is the best, in my opinion.

MK is good even for adults and is a must see to get into the mood of things. You'll like EPCOT, MGM, Animal Kingdom, Universal & IoA, each of them needing a full day. Don't forget to take into account the REST days! I suggest one every 4 days. Visit a Water park or two - Disney's Typhoon Lagoon & Blizzard Beach are equally good. Keep a whole day at least for shopping. If you can, visit Old Town in Kissimmee on a Saturday evening for some hours and stay late.

There is plenty of Night Life. Pleasue Island at Downtown Disney and City Walk at the Universal complex. Latin Quarter at City Walk is excellent on a Friday Night, with a very good Latin restaurant that transforms into a Latin Dance club at 10pm. Good cocktails too.

There is a choice of Dinner Shows and other outings like the Cirque du Soleil at DD, Atlantic dance & Jellyrols at Disney's Boardwalk, various clubs, multiplex cinemas etc at Pointe Orlando etc.

My daughter is working in Miami at the moment, and we have travelled up and down to visit her from Orlando 3 times this year. It IS a long drive but the road is very good - Florida Turnpike - with excellent service areas which are not a rip-off. But I think you would need more than a day as it's at least 4 hours journey at a steady 60 each way (about 250 miles each way). The last bit, from Boca Raton, about 40 miles from Miami, gets busier too. Only drawback is the road is so straight it can be a bit soporific. Why not pop down there and book a hotel overnight?

Miami is a fascinating city, a real melting pot of cultures and lots to do, so think you would need a little more than a day to sample its delights.

Ellie

Wow, Thanks for all your input there are loads of ideas to play with on here, I notice alot of you talk about driving everywhere, i take it all the parks are quite spread out, we aren't sure whether to hire a car or not as our hotel is said to provide daily buses to most of the parks, we were going to hire a car just to go to Miami in, ut by the sounds of it we might need one for the entire holiday, if this is the case does anyone have a rough idea of how much a Mondeo sized car is to hire with [AC]?

Follow the car hire link at the top of the page and get a free instant quote Bison. In Florida a car will give you so much more freedom.[msnsmile2]

You will definitely need a car, or how will you take the ladies shopping?????????????
[}:)]

Use the link above to car hire and you won't do better - the rates are brilliant!

Seriously, the distances between things is so great that you don't want to waste time waiting for a shuttle, free or not, and you won't want to be tied down, so it would be well worth considering it as it will give you greater freedom and convenience. Driving is easy out there, too, so you will soon get the hang of it.

Hope this helps!:)

Ellie

We considered not having a car the first time we went to Florida but were advised by some friends to have one and we were really glad we did. Unless you stay on Disney property you will spend so much time waiting for shuttle buses and sitting on them while they drop other people off at their hotels (check to see if they are multiple drop shuttles)it will really eat into your park time.The only down side is that as you are under 25 you will have to pay extra for the car hire, maybe you can persuade Mum to do the driving, that's what my son does!

As far as night life is concerned both Pleasure Island and City Walk have a good selection of bars and clubs with differnet sorts of music.Don't forget though as your girlfriend is only 19 she is not allowed to drink in Florida and she will not be allowed into all the clubs as some have a strictly over 21 rule.

I would second Nostromo's recommendation of "A brits guide to Orlando and Walt Disney World" it is packed with lots of info on all the parks plus it has lots of useful tips to make your holiday more enjoyable. We have been going to Orlando for the last 11 years and we still buy a new up to date copy every other year.

There is no question that you get more out of your holiday with a car than without. That way, you can do mundane things like popping out to get some milk, newspaper etc without thinking twice. Such 'day to day' activities that you need even on holiday would take up too much time in a vast country like the US without a car at your disposal.

Going to the parks is also a lot lot easier with a car. Even if there are buses in theory, you have be at the right place at the right time to get one and even then, you could be wasting a precious hour or two of the day - time that you could have spent in the park.

Having a car gives you flexibility, saves time, saves money and avoids aggro; GET ONE!

Hi Andrew,

A couple of ideas for you to get the best out of your trip.

First off is to not plan to do something every day. There is so much to do around Orlando that if you are out every day you can easily end up absolutely shattered. We've found a ratio of 3 or 4 days out to each day spent just relaxing and doing nothing is about the max we'd want to do.

So from that you can work out a rough guide to how to attack the theme parks. Definitely get a car as it's so much more convenient for getting around.

For theme park tickets you can spend a small fortune or spend a large fortune. The links from this site are about the best value we've found, and are backed by excellent service too. In terms of which tickets; if you are planning to do Universal, IOA, Busch and Disney then the Orlando Flexticket is going to be the best value for you by far. Add onto this a Disney Parkhopper Plus (the Plus will get you into Pleasure Island for a night or two clubbing).

When you are there your plans will undoubtably change; everyone's do. Bear in mind that any unused days on your Disney passes never expire. The Orlando Flexticket is time limited to 14 days. So if you have to chose between a Disney theme park or a Flexticket theme park, go for the Flexticket park. When you go back again (which you will!!) any days left on your Disney passes will still be valid. The Flexticket ends 14 days after it's first used.

Remember to carry ID when you are out. The age for drinking in Florida is 21 so you will be asked for it. Your girlfriend isn't going to be old enough, and they are not flexible.

I'd recommend having a read at a guidebook too. I've always got on really well with 'The Unofficial Guide to Disney' series. They do one called 'Beyond Disney' which is a guide focusing specifically on Universal, IOA, Sea World and the non-Disney attractions.

Have a great one!!

My advice is to do as much as you possibly can, come home and then plan the next trip.
I know many people who say this will be their "once in a lifetime trip" and now visit regularly.
Disney is great, but dont miss Universal or Seaworld. You don't have to visit all 4 Disney parks.

Have a great time

Can I just add, if you do hire a car, remember to check the cost of the insurance, this is what really bumps up the price.

The carhire available from the link above already incldues all the insurances and so has no added extras, the prices are unbeatable as well.


Lesley

This very much depends on how you buy your car hire. If you get it as part of a travel agents "package" then it's likely you will have to pay all local uinsurances on arrival which can easily add up to more than the price of the car hire in the first place (it's where the agencies make their money).

If you get it through our www.uscarhire.co.uk all insurances are automatically included and you have no more to pay for on arrival. Plus our rates are very competitive too.

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Madabouttigger
Can I just add, if you do hire a car, remember to check the cost of the insurance, this is what really bumps up the price.
[/quote]

Well I wouldn't listen too much to those that say such and such a park is not worth visiting. Everyone is different and whilst one person might love Epcot or Universal, someone else might tell you not to bother. I echo the above - the Brits Guide to Orlando has been invaluable with so much information in it - buy it before you go, read it thoroughly and it will give you a good idea what you are likely to want to see. Also make sure you have some rest time and like everyone else says - you will need a car! Have a great time:)

Lisi

The first time in Florida(well Orlando) can be a mixture of things, very exhausted,very enjoyable,tonnes of fun, not enough relaxtion!!!! Don't really think there is a perfect way to manage it all. I guess that could be why so many of us go back:D[8D]:)Been doing it for a while now, and still learning[:p]

My daughter if 19 too and her fav place was Millenium Mall. I could not drag her away from Macy's and Bloomingdales. If you go there just remember to ask for the visitors 11% discount at these 2 department stores.

My 26 yr old son just loved the Van Skate Park at Festival Bay Centre. So if you are into that sort of thing you might like to go there. It is near Beltz Factory Outlets.

If you are into Water Parks then Typhoon Lagoon and Buzzard Beach are great. Wet and Wild is OK but a bit small.

As for the parks the fav park for people your age has to be Universal. Both parks are great. Disney is really for younger kids apart for the MGM and Animal Kingdom Parks.

Also visit the Space Centre as it is the only place you will see something like that.

If you want a fright and are not going during October for Universal's Fright Night Season go to Skull Kingdom.

Just remember you are not going to do it all on this visit so start saving up for the next one.

Sue

The first time we went to Florida, we went for two weeks to Orlando, we needed a holiday to get over our holiday as we did so much. That was in 1996 and we've been going back nearly every year since and still finding new things to do. :)

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Bison
Well to be honest there is no children, it's me i'm 23, my Girlfriend (19) and strangely my mum's coming and she's a very young 45...... friends have told me Magic Kingdom isn't that impressive.

My mum wants to go to Miami as well, Can this be done as a day trip, we will prb hire a car a drive so may stay overnight.
[/quote]

You need to find out who's playing at the Waterhouse Center while you are here. Orlando has all the major bands and shows pass here from The Wiggles, to Shinia Twain, to Broadway shows.

Magic Kingdom is very impressive, even for adult kids like you and I. But I'd recommend Epcot over Magic Kingdom if there are no real kids with you.

Miami is a good three hour drive on a good day. It's a very large busy city. So if you go there, have an agenda because it's easy to spend a day just driving around. And there are many bad areas that you should avoid. Saying that I've spent time there and had a blast.

You gotta have a car. This is the USA. Without a car you are stuck in front of the TV.

Have a great vacation. November is a great time in Central Florida. Most of the afternoon storms are long gone. It's still warm enough to get a good tan!