2 nights, 1 full day in Orlando with no kids, which park....
Discussion
Matt Harper said:
Freddie328 said:
Should have said that we are not into thrill rides!
Am now leaning toward Epcot as the Int'l Food & Wine Festival will have just started.
Costs a LOT of money for a pretty mediocre experience - if you are a 'foodie' you will be horribly disappointed. Epcot is looking a bit long-in-the-tooth these days.Am now leaning toward Epcot as the Int'l Food & Wine Festival will have just started.
We were on a Disney Dining Plan so the food items are included as snacks, but if you were paying as you go, and buying alchohol as well, then it would be pretty expensive.
Epcot is a relaxing park, shouldn't be too busy.
If you do choose that, then what's your hotel budget? You could splash out and stay at Disney's Boardwalk etc, or a little cheaper would be the Swan or Dolphin which are more business orientated hotels and not owned by Disney.
NPI said:
If you do choose that, then what's your hotel budget? You could splash out and stay at Disney's Boardwalk etc, or a little cheaper would be the Swan or Dolphin which are more business orientated hotels and not owned by Disney.
That is my next dilemma! We didn't want to spend too much on accommodation in Orlando as we figured we'd hardly be spending any time in the hotel so we've splashed out more on some of the other places on our roadtrip. Some of the more recent reviews of the Swan & Dolphin seem to say it is need of a refurb & update but then I guess you get what you pay for comparing it to Boardwalk!Old town is great, it's an evening thing especially Friday/Saturday (car show nights).
If I had to pick 1 park (other than the extortionately priced and tacky discovery cove
) it would be SeaWorld, then the evening at Old Town (unless you stay for the fireworks)
If you have an hour or two to spend on either the previous evening or following morning I would hit a gift shop and marvel in the junk that is on sale.
We struggled to do Orlando in 3 weeks (and this was our 5th trip) and we still have places that we haven't been to that are on the list of 'musts'.
If I had to pick 1 park (other than the extortionately priced and tacky discovery cove
) it would be SeaWorld, then the evening at Old Town (unless you stay for the fireworks)If you have an hour or two to spend on either the previous evening or following morning I would hit a gift shop and marvel in the junk that is on sale.
We struggled to do Orlando in 3 weeks (and this was our 5th trip) and we still have places that we haven't been to that are on the list of 'musts'.
pherlopolus said:
Freddie328 said:
Unfortunately we'll be there on a Sunday & Monday night!
Excuse my ignorance but when you say 'Old Town', where is that?
http://www.myoldtownusa.com/Excuse my ignorance but when you say 'Old Town', where is that?
it's in Kissimmee, in gift shop district
It's good but I couldn't spend a whole day there
Freddie328 said:
We land in Orlando late afternoon/early evening after 3 days in New Orleans. We have rented a Corvette convertible and are driving down to Miami for a couple of nights followed by the Keys, Naples and Anna Maria Island before we fly back form Tampa. Having never been to Florida before, we thought we couldn't really go there without seeing something of either Disney or Universal! Hence the 2 nights, gives us 1 full day there.
I hope you don't have a lot of luggage!Freddie328 said:
NPI said:
If you do choose that, then what's your hotel budget? You could splash out and stay at Disney's Boardwalk etc, or a little cheaper would be the Swan or Dolphin which are more business orientated hotels and not owned by Disney.
That is my next dilemma! We didn't want to spend too much on accommodation in Orlando as we figured we'd hardly be spending any time in the hotel so we've splashed out more on some of the other places on our roadtrip. Some of the more recent reviews of the Swan & Dolphin seem to say it is need of a refurb & update but then I guess you get what you pay for comparing it to Boardwalk!I would imagine at the time you're going you should be able to get a very good rate anywhere, unless you clash with a major conference, especially as you're only there for a couple of night and can be slotted in between more usual longer stays.
We've been to WDW a few times without kids. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea but we love just being there and soaking it all up.
Saleen836 said:
I hope you don't have a lot of luggage!
The only downside - no shopping!! We had one a couple of years ago on the West Coast (a C6, am really hoping Hertz will have upgraded their fleet to the C7 by September!) and we have done a couple of Alpine Tours in the R8 so have become masters of travelling light!
Matt Harper said:
The Portofino Bay at Universal is good.
I stayed here for 2 weeks and it was the worst hotel experience of my life, particularly given the price paid.It's huge so you are just another number, no personal service, the outside of the hotel looks lovely but internally it's very average, lake view room paid for not ready so we were given a carpark view room of lesser value with no apology/refund, restaurants are overpriced - just a really average hotel overcharging on the basis that the external photos look great in a glossy brochure.
Stayed here and whilst self-catering it's excellent and consistently top 10 on trip advisor and a short taxi journey to either Pointe Orlando or Citywalk at Universal for bars and restaurants - http://www.thepointorlando.com/default-en.html?gcl...
As for parks, 1 day is enough to squeeze in both Universal parks if you get up early enough and queue wisely, that would be my pick!
Freddie328 said:
We didn't want to spend too much on accommodation in Orlando as we figured we'd hardly be spending any time in the hotel so we've splashed out more on some of the other places on our roadtrip.
Easy then. La Quinta on McCoy Road - 2 minutes from MCO and next door to The Fish on Fire - win/win!Matt Harper said:
Freddie328 said:
Should have said that we are not into thrill rides!
Am now leaning toward Epcot as the Int'l Food & Wine Festival will have just started.
Costs a LOT of money for a pretty mediocre experience - if you are a 'foodie' you will be horribly disappointed. Epcot is looking a bit long-in-the-tooth these days.Am now leaning toward Epcot as the Int'l Food & Wine Festival will have just started.
KSC is tech interesting and the Saturn V hall is a mind-melter, but it's all a bit static for the less engineering enthused - you can only stare at a 50 year-old rocket motor for so long.
Discovery Cove is hugely popular, has limited access and so is very expensive - but worth it for most folks.
Boggy Creek Airboats on Lake Toho, is 'hokey', but surprisingly entertaining.
Animal Kingdom is a good call, but very child-centric - and very, very busy.
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