Orlando with kids
Discussion
Potentially looking at a trip to Orlando next year. Self catering villa and will have a car.
Haven't been for about 25 years so not really sure what is worth doing anymore. Looking for suggestions and recommendations for pretty much everything!
Last time I went we ate at Bill Wongs and Blazing Pianos, visited Race Rock and you could do Disney in 3 days!
Is Wet & Wild still there? How about Sea World?
Haven't been for about 25 years so not really sure what is worth doing anymore. Looking for suggestions and recommendations for pretty much everything!
Last time I went we ate at Bill Wongs and Blazing Pianos, visited Race Rock and you could do Disney in 3 days!
Is Wet & Wild still there? How about Sea World?
CSR Performance said:
Those are great photos!! 
Loved that place.
Now I just need figure out how many days you need at Disney and how many multiples of thousands it costs
Depends on numbers, kids / no kids etc. For a family of 4 I'd start at 5 days and 10k USD on property as a ballpark, probably half that staying off-property. It's very easy to spend an awful lot. Lightning lane passes are worth it despite the price, VIP tour if you're balling out or have a larger party to divide the cost. Loved that place.
Now I just need figure out how many days you need at Disney and how many multiples of thousands it costs
I'd also keep a day in hand for rest, pool, that sort of stuff if you're taking kids. I don't much care for Orlando outside of the parks but Gatorland and the science center are cool.
SeaWorld is still there but it's very different from 25 years ago, it's coasters more than animal park - very different experience these days.
CSR Performance said:
Those are great photos!!
Loved that place.
Now I just need figure out how many days you need at Disney and how many multiples of thousands it costs
How old are the kids? We stopped going to Disney parks once ours could ride the bigger stuff at universal.Loved that place.
Now I just need figure out how many days you need at Disney and how many multiples of thousands it costs
Back then we could get a 2 park pass (Universal and IOA) with 14 day access for about £200 each. We would alternate a day in the parks with days somewhere else.
Just checked and the equivalent 3 park 14 day universal studios pass is about £360.
Edited by 98elise on Tuesday 6th October 17:14
CSR Performance said:
Potentially looking at a trip to Orlando next year. Self catering villa and will have a car.
Haven't been for about 25 years so not really sure what is worth doing anymore. Looking for suggestions and recommendations for pretty much everything!
Last time I went we ate at Bill Wongs and Blazing Pianos, visited Race Rock and you could do Disney in 3 days!
Is Wet & Wild still there? How about Sea World?
I was in Orlando a couple of weeks ago for work and Mrs Redcoat and our two came out as well. They did Acquatica and SeaWorld during the week and had a great time. We got a two park pass with all day dining which, on the face of it, was pretty good value. There was no queuing due to the schools all being back. Haven't been for about 25 years so not really sure what is worth doing anymore. Looking for suggestions and recommendations for pretty much everything!
Last time I went we ate at Bill Wongs and Blazing Pianos, visited Race Rock and you could do Disney in 3 days!
Is Wet & Wild still there? How about Sea World?
I've lived in metro Orlando for many years and tend to do less of the touristy stuff these days. The reality is that most visitors don't actually make it to the city, with the exception of Universal/Islands of Adventure/Epic Universe. Nothing wrong with that, but central FL has much to offer, other than theme parks, which have now become obscenely expensive.
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is impressive - and close by.
Launches from the Cape are now very frequent and routine - you might want to coincide your trip with such an event.
On the subject of obscenely expensive, this is my Grandson at Discovery Cove a couple of weeks ago.
The little bugger takes all this for granted, living so close to it.
Slightly less grandiose - kayaking at Shingle Creek is really fun and not crazy spendy.
My daughter is law enforcement and often does off-duty at the parks - she thinks SeaWorld is the best for the mix of wildlife and coasters.
There is a LOT of uninhabited wilderness in this part of FL. You can get up to this kind of nonsense in Ocala State Forest, Holopaw and other less publicized places....
A lot of people seem to think Orlando is just plastic, contrived and unappealing, but there are some truly pleasing areas to visit and spend a little time in, away from the tourist oriented districts. This is the neighborhood I live in. It is quiet, safe, close to downtown and with some nice restaurants and bars that are not heaving with sunburned tourists.
If there is anything I can suggest, that is slightly less tourist-obvious, I'd be happy to help.
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is impressive - and close by.
Launches from the Cape are now very frequent and routine - you might want to coincide your trip with such an event.
On the subject of obscenely expensive, this is my Grandson at Discovery Cove a couple of weeks ago.
The little bugger takes all this for granted, living so close to it.
Slightly less grandiose - kayaking at Shingle Creek is really fun and not crazy spendy.
My daughter is law enforcement and often does off-duty at the parks - she thinks SeaWorld is the best for the mix of wildlife and coasters.
There is a LOT of uninhabited wilderness in this part of FL. You can get up to this kind of nonsense in Ocala State Forest, Holopaw and other less publicized places....
A lot of people seem to think Orlando is just plastic, contrived and unappealing, but there are some truly pleasing areas to visit and spend a little time in, away from the tourist oriented districts. This is the neighborhood I live in. It is quiet, safe, close to downtown and with some nice restaurants and bars that are not heaving with sunburned tourists.
If there is anything I can suggest, that is slightly less tourist-obvious, I'd be happy to help.
CSR Performance said:
Potentially looking at a trip to Orlando next year. Self catering villa and will have a car.
Haven't been for about 25 years so not really sure what is worth doing anymore. Looking for suggestions and recommendations for pretty much everything!
Last time I went we ate at Bill Wongs and Blazing Pianos, visited Race Rock and you could do Disney in 3 days!
Is Wet & Wild still there? How about Sea World?
Wet & Wild shut about 10 years ago....It was replaced by a water park called Volcano Bay which is pretty good. Haven't been for about 25 years so not really sure what is worth doing anymore. Looking for suggestions and recommendations for pretty much everything!
Last time I went we ate at Bill Wongs and Blazing Pianos, visited Race Rock and you could do Disney in 3 days!
Is Wet & Wild still there? How about Sea World?
I suggest you head over to YouTube and start with the Frugal Brit or maybe DFB Guide.
I would book the Villa with AirBnB and then book car and flights separately.
It's Orlando Time on Facebook is a very good resource and most questions can be asked there via the search button
If you are going for two weeks, I would focus on either Disney and Universal and don't try and do both in 14 days. If you want a villa, then Disney might be best as that area is zoned for villa rental...unlike Universal
Probably the biggest change from your last visit is Star Wars land (Galaxies Edge) at Hollywood Studios. This is Disney at their very best. I was blown away by the theming.
Kennedy Space Centre is very good, but the queuing experience can be a bit of a struggle when you compare it to Disney and Universal. As in, very dry and generally speaking quite poorly managed and slow.
I really enjoyed it when I went in 2013, but my two kids (11/8) didn't really gel with it at all.
Go with Hertz or Alamo for car hire as you can skip the counter with either.
I really enjoyed it when I went in 2013, but my two kids (11/8) didn't really gel with it at all.
Go with Hertz or Alamo for car hire as you can skip the counter with either.
bakerstreet said:
Kennedy Space Centre is very good, but the queuing experience can be a bit of a struggle when you compare it to Disney and Universal. As in, very dry and generally speaking quite poorly managed and slow.
I really enjoyed it when I went in 2013, but my two kids (11/8) didn't really gel with it at all.
Go with Hertz or Alamo for car hire as you can skip the counter with either.
With Alamo you can pick your own car from the class of car you've rented.I really enjoyed it when I went in 2013, but my two kids (11/8) didn't really gel with it at all.
Go with Hertz or Alamo for car hire as you can skip the counter with either.
We've had some great cars
As its America I prefer an American car
Edited by 98elise on Saturday 10th October 13:09
I went to Florida last year and hadn't been for about 10 years.
We had a day at Seaworld for our son and I felt the place had grown into a tropical vegas. Really felt Busch garden was better value and fun.
Everything is so expensive.
Guessing it's what kind of mood you are in going to Florida, we prefer the beaches and gulf life.
Kennedy was on our list to go with our son but never got round to it. I saw Endeavour take off when we went before magical.
We had a day at Seaworld for our son and I felt the place had grown into a tropical vegas. Really felt Busch garden was better value and fun.
Everything is so expensive.
Guessing it's what kind of mood you are in going to Florida, we prefer the beaches and gulf life.
Kennedy was on our list to go with our son but never got round to it. I saw Endeavour take off when we went before magical.
fourstardan said:
Kennedy was on our list to go with our son but never got round to it. I saw Endeavour take off when we went before magical.
There are lots of opportunities to see a rocket launch now especially with SpaceX. We were lucky enough to see the Artemis Launch when we were there earlier this year. We were eating at Cheesecake Factory and the waitress kindly advised where to look and loads of people were in the car park watching and tbf the majority of us were looking the wrong way until a kid shouted at everyone to look and we saw the rocket trail and everything. My eldest got a good video of it. It was brilliant and definitely a pinch me moment. Must have been about 200 people who had paused in the car park and many people were on their phones in the restaurant watching the live stream
But yes, it is an incredibly expensive trip. Disney and Universal 14 day tickets are now £500-600pp per resort.
Eating out and food in the supermarkets was more than the tickets for us and we never eat at posh places either. Funnily enough I usually enjoy the low rent places such as CiCis and iHop as the pizza buffet has died a death here in the UK.
Epic Universe is on another level and feels several steps up in terms of design when compared to Magic Kingdom. Epic Universe was clearly designed to deal with huge crowd volumes...Magic Kingdom seems quite cramped in comparison, especially main street which is still scaled to a normal street!
As we walked through MCO, we asked the kids which they preferred and Disney still did it. My eldest just said its more magical and in some ways I agree. I've already planned our 2028 trip and know exactly when I'm booking too.
bakerstreet said:
fourstardan said:
Kennedy was on our list to go with our son but never got round to it. I saw Endeavour take off when we went before magical.
There are lots of opportunities to see a rocket launch now especially with SpaceX. We were lucky enough to see the Artemis Launch when we were there earlier this year. We were eating at Cheesecake Factory and the waitress kindly advised where to look and loads of people were in the car park watching and tbf the majority of us were looking the wrong way until a kid shouted at everyone to look and we saw the rocket trail and everything. My eldest got a good video of it. It was brilliant and definitely a pinch me moment. Must have been about 200 people who had paused in the car park and many people were on their phones in the restaurant watching the live stream
But yes, it is an incredibly expensive trip. Disney and Universal 14 day tickets are now £500-600pp per resort.
Eating out and food in the supermarkets was more than the tickets for us and we never eat at posh places either. Funnily enough I usually enjoy the low rent places such as CiCis and iHop as the pizza buffet has died a death here in the UK.
Epic Universe is on another level and feels several steps up in terms of design when compared to Magic Kingdom. Epic Universe was clearly designed to deal with huge crowd volumes...Magic Kingdom seems quite cramped in comparison, especially main street which is still scaled to a normal street!
As we walked through MCO, we asked the kids which they preferred and Disney still did it. My eldest just said its more magical and in some ways I agree. I've already planned our 2028 trip and know exactly when I'm booking too.
Came back from Orlando last Tuesday. Hadn’t been there since 2018. Prices have gone to the moon. I was really taken aback. Gone are the days of entering the numerous outlets and buying Ralph Lauren work shirts, polos, shorts etc for $30 ish. Polos more like $70. Very little in the way of offers.
Americans go nuts for Halloween. I’d been to Halloween Horror nights at Islands of Adventure some 25 years ago. Back then I’d never seen anything like it. Loads of actors in proper make up hiding and looking to give you a fright. I remember loads of them wearing hockey masks holding what look like chainsaws and sound like chainsaws (but obviously aren’t chainsaws!) running up and revving them. My girlfriend of the time didn’t care for it at all. Dry ice (or something like it) pumping knee deep everywhere and the lighting and sound and dialled in to full on horror mode. Amazing what difference lighting makes alone.
They had a woman dressed as a bride in a glass coffin with rats crawling all over her and that lizard guy with horns and a forked tongue. Also a load of dead creepy haunted house attractions. You walked through slowly and there were hidden steps, mirrors, gauze unexpectedly touching your face and the actors stepping in front of you with movie quality make up. Fun times. But that was then.
Decided to take the Mrs as she hadn’t been. Bought tickets at the gate (they start running horror nights at the end of August now I think) $350!!!! I could have saved $60 if I’d bought in advance but that was absolutely grasping. The parking was $35.
Now the haunted houses are themed around films. Stranger Things, Hellraiser and Sinners were the three big attractions.
25 years ago it was busy, but when you walked through the haunted houses, there was no one in front of you. Adding considerably to the tension. Now- massive lines to get in , not helped by the fact they sell ‘fast passes’ which very much mean you can have a much better time IF you are willing to pay. The lines into the attractions are conga style. As you are ushered through there are people right in front of you. This means the actors might get to scare those in front/ but you inevitably see it coming and watch them reset. Which diminishes the entire experience.
It wasn’t nearly as good as I remembered it. Far, far too many people and without the same attention to detail.
I was comped tickets for Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM Studios) and saw Galaxies Edge and got to pilot the Falcon with the Mrs, which was fun. Lines weren’t long either. They are apparently removing the new trilogy stuff and going to theme around the classic trilogy. Which seems wise.
Spoke to some of the staff in stores and restaurants. They are all struggling. Same outward super friendliness but scratch a little with some questions outside corporate programming and they are keen to tell you how tough things are. One girl told us her rent had jumped from $800PM in 2020 to $2300 PM now. She blamed the pandemic, hormuz and tariffs. But curiously not Trump.
Got $1.30 to the £ which is vaguely awful as well. Weather was good and I still like Daytona Beach (now $32 to enter with car!!) but I will never return to Florida.
Final observation- over the many trips we’ve had, I’ve never not bought whisky/bourbon at tax free on the way home. Even domestic brands were more expensive there than buying via UK supermarkets. Utterly bizzare.
Americans go nuts for Halloween. I’d been to Halloween Horror nights at Islands of Adventure some 25 years ago. Back then I’d never seen anything like it. Loads of actors in proper make up hiding and looking to give you a fright. I remember loads of them wearing hockey masks holding what look like chainsaws and sound like chainsaws (but obviously aren’t chainsaws!) running up and revving them. My girlfriend of the time didn’t care for it at all. Dry ice (or something like it) pumping knee deep everywhere and the lighting and sound and dialled in to full on horror mode. Amazing what difference lighting makes alone.
They had a woman dressed as a bride in a glass coffin with rats crawling all over her and that lizard guy with horns and a forked tongue. Also a load of dead creepy haunted house attractions. You walked through slowly and there were hidden steps, mirrors, gauze unexpectedly touching your face and the actors stepping in front of you with movie quality make up. Fun times. But that was then.
Decided to take the Mrs as she hadn’t been. Bought tickets at the gate (they start running horror nights at the end of August now I think) $350!!!! I could have saved $60 if I’d bought in advance but that was absolutely grasping. The parking was $35.
Now the haunted houses are themed around films. Stranger Things, Hellraiser and Sinners were the three big attractions.
25 years ago it was busy, but when you walked through the haunted houses, there was no one in front of you. Adding considerably to the tension. Now- massive lines to get in , not helped by the fact they sell ‘fast passes’ which very much mean you can have a much better time IF you are willing to pay. The lines into the attractions are conga style. As you are ushered through there are people right in front of you. This means the actors might get to scare those in front/ but you inevitably see it coming and watch them reset. Which diminishes the entire experience.
It wasn’t nearly as good as I remembered it. Far, far too many people and without the same attention to detail.
I was comped tickets for Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM Studios) and saw Galaxies Edge and got to pilot the Falcon with the Mrs, which was fun. Lines weren’t long either. They are apparently removing the new trilogy stuff and going to theme around the classic trilogy. Which seems wise.
Spoke to some of the staff in stores and restaurants. They are all struggling. Same outward super friendliness but scratch a little with some questions outside corporate programming and they are keen to tell you how tough things are. One girl told us her rent had jumped from $800PM in 2020 to $2300 PM now. She blamed the pandemic, hormuz and tariffs. But curiously not Trump.
Got $1.30 to the £ which is vaguely awful as well. Weather was good and I still like Daytona Beach (now $32 to enter with car!!) but I will never return to Florida.
Final observation- over the many trips we’ve had, I’ve never not bought whisky/bourbon at tax free on the way home. Even domestic brands were more expensive there than buying via UK supermarkets. Utterly bizzare.
Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff