Advice on on Orlando/Disney/NASA

Wavey

Hi All,

The youngest of the 3 kids is now just old enough for a stress free flight to the US. (14, 12 & 7).

I would love to bring them to Orlando for 1 or 2 weeks to see the Space Centre and 1 or 2 of the the major theme parks and would love to hear some tips from those who have done such a trip.

1. Hotel or Self Catering?
2. Rental car or not?
3. Smartest way to purchase theme park tickets. We would not do these every day.
4. Smartest way to do the Kennedy space center. Is there more than 1 attraction/site to see here?
5. What else to do apart from 3&4 above? Is 2 weeks too much?
6. Are there any nice National parks similar?

Any other advice or tips appreciated.

Thanks,

Wavey.

whippet

I've been with the kids - a bit younger than yours.

2 weeks is doable - but it got fairly repetitive after the first week.

I'm not sure on the disney / Universal tickets - they are not cheap, the wife sorted them out but what I do know is that there are a million ways of buying them and prices vary massively. There are tickets that give entrance to both parks - you think you won't use them every day - but you will use them most days as with kids there isn't a whole pile else they will be interested in.

Car hire is a must - and in florida it is reasonable enough.

If you can - go self catering as generally the choice of resturants around orlando is pretty poor and mainly just fast food and chains - unless you go well out of your way.

Kennedy is handy to get to - just drive there early in the morning and you'll get a full day out of it.

I've been to orlando once and i've no interest in going back again!

Str8outtaWuhan

Measure the 7 yr olds height, u might get caught out in some of the rides if they a particularly small 7 yr old. Imho Ur older will b bored by Disney after a few days especially as universal has more outdoor big boy rides. We did Disney only on the ,14 day magicpass ticket youngest was 6 oldest 12. We squeezed every penny outa it. Stayed off site less than 20 mins drive from MG and only 10 from AK but 40 from universal which we didn't go to. If you want something different try Saratoga on west coast, white beaches laid back.

XLR 8

A long time since I was there but the Space center ticket was valid for a month as there is just no way to see everything in one day. Theme parks are like theme parks everywhere else. I'd suggest a drive to St Augustine and maybe the Keys. Mozzies are everywhere and relentless so get a good bug cream. There's a lot in Florida aside from the usual tourist stuff.

jmcgold

We're planning the same trip. My thinking so far is:

1) Self-catering: Seems a better option in terms of cost and comfort. Provides you an alternative to restaurants and usually you get a lot more space. Ideally going with a townhouse.

2) I normally always hire a rental car wherever we go, but for Orlando we're going to go Lyft/Uber. Overall it is cheaper as you don't have parking/toll/fuel charges and rental prices have increased substantially. Also, Uber/Lyft get to leave you closer to the entrance at several of the theme parks. I like driving in the U.S., so took a bit of convincing to sway me on this.

3) This is what I'm doing research on at the moment and there doesn't seem to be any way to avoid forking out a fortune for them. At the moment I'm looking at a 7 day pass for the disney parks and then maybe a one day ticket to universal. The cheapest price for disney tickets appears to be on the irish disney holidays site - but there's only a 100 euro or so in it. Biggest cost of the trip.

4) While not planning on doing Kennedy this time, I did it with mates over 20 years ago. We did a day trip from Orlando and it was fine. Give yourself the day, it was great back then and they've added stuff since. Always check the launch schedule before you book anything - they're great to watch, but also some stuff might have limited access during these windows.

5) Two weeks in Orlando, unless you're a theme park junkie, is probably a few days too much. Tampa/St Pete's on the coast is very nice if you want to break it up with a bit of beach holiday.

6) There's the everglades, but it's a hell of a trek. Not sure of anything near Orlando.

Wavey

Thanks all for the tips. Forgot to check back for replies!

It will be just me and 3 kids so Uber sounds like a great idea to keep the stress down. I need to focus hard when driving on the right.

Anybody done a holiday like this with only Uber?

naughtysmurf

Always had a car in the past in Orlando, we are there again in May 25 & decided it was Uber/ Lyft this time for a couple of reasons,

My own research suggests that it works really well over there, generally short wait times including on arrival at MCO

As mentioned, car rental including appropriate insurance has got very expensive, based on the rides we will need, it will be cheaper

As I was always the only driver, I can now chill back at base & not have to endure the shopping days

As regards some of your other questions,

1 A hotel room is going to get real small real quick, I’d suggest a 3 bed pool home / 2 bed condo

3 Theme park tickets are expensive, no way around it, buying one day tickets for different parks is the most expensive way to do it at park entry about $100 per person per day, better off buying a ticket bundle this side of the pond. If you are actually only going to do one or two parks then choose Universal, two theme parks plus a water park, a third park is currently under construction, probably cheaper to buy 14 day Universal park to park tickets for everyone

5 Two weeks isn’t enough for us but we love the parks

Other advice - have very deep pockets, a split stay between an on-site universal hotel & pool home or condo may be a good option

Wavey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121481686#Comment_121481686

Any ideas on how to plan the trip to catch an actual launch?

The event schedules only seem to show dates over the next month or so.

Im planning on late august.

naughtysmurf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122043856#Comment_122043856

self catering need only be breakfast before you head off for the day plus you have a lot more space, a lot of the breakfast buffet places are gone now so it’s mainly sit down, seem to remember I thought breakfast out was the least value money wise, $40/$50, dropping over $300 for breakfast for a week for four before you even get to a park, a lot of kids only want toast, cereal in the morning’s anyway, okay for your non park days,

A trip to Publix or Wallmart for some breakfast items / snack & drinks to keep in your fridge is no biggie to do & a lot cheaper plus should really hit the parks early as possible

Bring small snacks into the park with you in a small cooler bag for the kids if you want to keep them going.

some hotels have breakfast included but I’ve no experience of them

jmcgold

Just back from 10 days in Orlando. A couple of lessons learned:

• make sure you have a rest day or two included, or at least a couple of afternoons/evenings off, as the parks involve a lot of walking and planning.
• You definitely need at least a rough plan for how to approach the parks and which park you are going to visit on each day. The Youtube channels/bloggers are not over-stating the need to be prepared. You will need to understand how park-hopping, virtual queues, genie+, and individual lightning lanes work. Also, assuming you are not staying onsite at Disney, which rides to target first.
• We were there during what was supposed to be low season for the parks and we needed genie+ for Hollywood studios and magic kingdom to ensure we didn't have 60+ minute waits for even the non-headline rides. Don't think there is such thing as a quiet period for the parks anymore. Islands of adventure was rammed.
• Late evening, during fireworks shows, is a good opportunity to target the big ticket rides.
• Manage your expectations around self-catering. We did breakfast each day in the house but, between managing the parks and navigating the grocery stores, we only cooked a dinner in the house once and did takeaway twice. Cost of groceries is astronomical.
• We thought food in Disney was expensive.…until we ate in restaurants outside of Disney. Turned out food in Disney is (comparatively) reasonable value and decent quality.
• For kids under 8, Epcot does not offer as much as the other parks and could be skipped if you're short on time. Possibly Animal Kingdom also, unless your kids are into the shows and animals. Hollywood studios and universal studios were by far our kids' favourites. They did enjoy Magic Kingdom, but there are surprisingly few headline rides there and a lot of the popularity with the Americans seems to be down to the nostalgia factor (e.g. winnie the pooh, peter pan, small world). Our kids don't have much interest in Disney characters and are all about star wars and Marvel.
• The Disney water park (Typhoon Lagoon) was good for a chill day, but Universal Volcano Bay is much better. I would not pay extra for Typhoon Lagoon and would instead put the money towards accommodation with a good pool area.
• Universal studios can easily be done in a day if you have the express pass. Islands of adventure has a bit more to offer, but could likely be done in a day with express pass. We did mornings in the park and then chilled in the hotel after lunch.
  • caveat, the harry potter bike ride is non-stop busy. Only way we got to do it was queue outside at 7am for early access at 8am and then sprint to ride. This ride, and slinky dog dash, is a study in herd mentality.
• We got the universal express pass by booking two nights at the end of our trip at the loews royal pacific hotel with travelrepublic. It was very expensive, but far better value than buying an express pass directly. Fab hotel with good pool area and very good food options.
• Glad we rented a car as I would dread to think what getting an uber would be like with the crowds exiting after the fireworks shows at night. Also the flexibility suited us from the point of view of grocery shopping and finding restaurants.