Florida - USA - First Time

ShadowMan

ShadowMan

ShadowMan

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So I have finally for the first ever time managed to book a holiday with my kids outside of the UK. After a crap year we needed a break so I have decided to just use money I was saving and spend it.

Looking for thoughts and ideas for Florida USA outside of the main bits worth doing. Anywhere worth eating etc? Anything off the beaten path worth a visit?

So far we have the following booked:

Virgin Flights to and from MCO.
Universal Cabana Bay Resort Hotel - Room Only - 14 nights.
Universal tickets for 14 days with 1 day of Epic.
Discovery Cove with Dolphin Swim plus 14 days of SeaWorld, Aquatica and Busch Gardens Tickets.
Kennedy Space Centre Guided Tour with transport and an airboat ride whilst out that way including travel to and from Universal.
Gatorland - 1 day
Hollywood Studios Disney - 1 day to allow us to see Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.

There is a lot there so I know we have stuff to do but worried the Universal parks may get a bit samey. Couldn't justify a 14 day Disney ticket on top of the rest so just did the 1 day.

I was not planning on getting a car rental and was just going to use Uber/Lyft where necessary. Weirdly my youngest wants to go to Target and Walmart as he's 8 and its too common on YouTube.

Some have mentioned Disney Springs for eating but would like some other options and ideas.

As mentioned, have not been out of country except for work since 2004 myself and the kids have never been. They are 16 and 8 so old enough to enjoy it.

Any thoughts/experiences and advice is welcome. Travelling in about 6 weeks so its all a bit last minute booking.
 
I wasn’t too keen on Kennedy space centre, it should have been much better than it was.

You’ve got a good age gap between your kids so might be juggling the rides a bit but between universal and sea world, plus a day at Hollywood studios and discovery cove you have more than filled 14 days when you factor in rest days. Although if it was me I would be doing a day at Disney Magic Kingom as it really is magical and the fireworks show is immense!

If it’s you first time in the states then just eat at as many American places as you can! Cracker Barrel is great for breakfasts, Olive Garden is immense for the “breadsticks” and unlimited salad. Longhorn Strakhouse. Plenty of options on International Drive. Disney Springs has plenty of options but it’s expensive.
 
Also, Busch Gardens is good but it’s going to cost you a fair amount in a taxi as it’s quite far out and it’s mainly aimed at roller coaster fans so will depend on your 8 year old. They are all really big coasters!
 
thanks for that. The Busch Gardens transport is included apparently with a coach from universal. Worst case I can hire a car for the day but tbh want to avoid it.

I’ll try and make a list of restaurants nearby and add those you mentioned to the list
 
You're going to be knackered lol that's an awful lot to do.
The Terminator ride at Universal is the most amazing thing I've ever experienced
First time I went I had a hire car which wasn't too bad as I'm the world worst driver and managed to get back alive. Second time I went we just used the free hotel buses and taxis
Restaurants are plentiful, huge portions and quite cheap (except in the parks), but mostly fried food, don't think they have green veg over there, think both times I came back with scurvy :cry:
The 8 year old might be young for some of the rides at Universal as a few of them have height restrictions
Have a great time
 
Pretty much yeah. The SeaWorld 14 day is included with the dolphin experience and discovery cove and I wanted at least a couple of days to give options on parks. It worked out cheaper mostly.

The one day Disney entry to Hollywood studios was £430. Their 14 day ticket was £1400ish. If I had booked 3 weeks I would have just added that too but at the ages they are I didn’t want magic kingdom really and think universal is a better fit for us for the majority of the time.
 
A couple years ago we did a 3 week Florida holiday, I'll say one thing, be prepared for extremely expensive food. From memory even cheap cuts (like chicken wings) were just crazy like £10 a pack. I just remember when I was a kid everything being so cheap, now it's crazy expensive...I just wasn't ready for that.
 
I might add that one day of Hollywood seems tight, there's loads of youtube guides worth watching, I think we went to Hollywood 3 times in the end...you might need to book some of the things now (like the Star Wars bar, lightsabre/droid building etc). If it's just Star Wars you may be ok, but I'd buy fast passes...it's something you want to enjoy and soak in, without worrying about the queues...there's so many photo ops.
 
I have fantastic memories of Florida when we went close to 30 years ago! We did Disney, but at age 10-11 I enjoyed Universal much more and Busch gardens had epic rollercoasters!

Interestingly when we went to Anaheim Disney a few months ago with our slightly younger kids we had an absolutely brilliant day and I enjoyed it way more than I was anticipating.

It sounds like you’ve got a brilliant itinerary with loads to do! Driving over there is pretty straightforward and car hire is very painless. Parking is plentiful but costs a lot, so might work out just as economical to do taxi rides.

Be prepared to need larger waisted trousers by the end of two weeks though! :cry:
 
NF7-S said:
A couple years ago we did a 3 week Florida holiday, I'll say one thing, be prepared for extremely expensive food. From memory even cheap cuts (like chicken wings) were just crazy like £10 a pack. I just remember when I was a kid everything being so cheap, now it's crazy expensive...I just wasn't ready for that.
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2 years ago when we went I was suprised (relatively) by the cost of food in Disney. The quality is way higher than what we call theme park food and when you factor in that you don't need to tip it's actually pretty decent value. I think most complaints on value come from portion sizes being small for the USA but they are not small.

Did lots of watching of Disney Food Blog and other food reviews for Disney/Universal to work out what is good and what to avoid. If you had asked me before I started planning I would have never thought I would have been buying so much park food!
 
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Not sure if its still the same as i went almost 20 years ago now but a good idea is to go to somewhere like sizzler/ponderosa(I am sure there are new version of these about now) and they do all you can eat breakfast for pretty cheap. Nice to get full on that and then go to the parks. It saves on the silly money they charge inside the park for food/drink.

I enjoyed Gatorland.. People go on about how its not much fun (there wasnt a great deal of activity as it was late feb to be fair) but i thought it was pretty interesting and you get a idea of the real scale of those monsters.
 
Capt Doufos said:
2 years ago when we went I was suprised (relatively) by the cost of food in Disney. The quality is way higher than what we call theme park food and when you factor in that you don't need to tip it's actually pretty decent value. I think most complaints on value come from portion sizes being small for the USA but they are not small.

Did lots of watching of Disney Food Blog and other food reviews for Disney/Universal to work out what is good and what to avoid. If you had asked me before I started planning I would have never thought I would have been buying so much park food!
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Order from the app and just get kids meals, great value :D
We went in April and while I was apprehensive about driving over there it was really good to have a car and the freedom, although with parking at $30 a day + car rental costs it might be cheaper to uber.
 
If the water parks are still a thing including Blizzard Beach and Summit Plummit, get on that. Prepare to have an almighty wedgy along with some brown stains though.
 
As other said - budget A LOT for food - and tips.

It's expensive even in supermarkets etc. Eating out for 14 days will cost a small fortune.

Sounds like a great holiday but remember to consider/budget for fast pass for rides as well. Otherwise depending on the time your going - the queues can be hours at a time.
 
Building Candy said:
I cannot imagine doing it without a hire car. Once you get past the initial difficulty of driving on the other side of the car and road its a lot easier than driving in the UK.
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This really. We went to Florida again in January (Miami), and the cabs were sooo expensive. But the trolly was fun and free :)
 
I used to go most years to Florida. Last went two years ago with a 7 year old, I would still recommend but be realistic with expectations.

* Most (if not all) hotels in the area wil have shuttle buses to all major parks, but yes hiring a car does make things easier to do on your own terms.
* Your going to need at least a recovery day a week - the parks take a lot out of you.
* If you think the cost of living is bad here, your going to be in for a shock there. Its wild how much they are paying for things.
* The 'Disney magic ' doesn't exist anymore, staff are overworked, underpaid and it shows across all parks, however that said I would be getting a Disney 14 day over a Universal 14 day. You can just get a two day universal to cover everything. Whereas the Disney 14 day will give you access to the two (genuinely great) water parks.
* Account for the weather, it is brutally hot a lot of the year and when its not hot its raining.
* Disney Springs is basically just one big outside shopping mall now, still cool but the food is catered to the tourism market. Your not really going to find amazing cuisine in Florida anyway!
* For the three of us we spent about £10,000 all in and that was with free hotel accommodation!
* Park queues are savage. Make sure you have lots of things to do in the queue even if its just drawing on a phone for the kids. We were in-line for 3 hours for Rise of the Resistance ride, that's the extreme end but even things like avatar flight of passage are 1.5 - 2 hours.
* If you do get a hire car, Go to Clearwater Beach!
 
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So we go every couple of years......(however it is usually for 6 to 7 weeks at a time).

Here is my take on on the parks :

1)Universal Studios Florida (1 day max is all thats required here)......its by far the worst park with the worst rides.....the only noteworthy ones are :
-Escape from Gringotts
-Revenge of the Mummy

and Diagon Alley is good as well if you like Harry Potter

2)Islands of Adventure......this is probably the best theme park ride in Orlando (Busch gardens is also good but without a rental you wont wanna go there).

a lot of the rides are brilliant and I think it has Orlando's best coasters with:

-Velocicoaster - DO NOT MISS THIS
-Hagrids Bike Ride (Cant remember the full name)
-Hulk

Its easy to spend a few days here.

3)Epic Universe......not gone yet.....but booked already for next year when the 14 day Universal pass isn't limited to 1 day at Epic.
My initial view is that 1 day wont touch the sides because it will be queued to hell.

4)Volcano Bay (1 day).....Orlandos best water park

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Disney

1)Magic Kingdom.... I know you are booked for Hollywood studios (which does have the best rides) but I cant imagine going to Disneyworld without going here. Its always the first Disney park we do. The rides are ok......however Tron is great and the evening firework show "Happily Ever After' should not be missed.

2)Hollywood studios.....So many great rides........Galaxy's Edge is brilliant and Toy Story land is also pretty good and Mickeys Run Away Railway.....DO NOT MISS THE EVENING show Fantasmic.....its Disneyworlds best evening show IMO. Couple of days

3)Epcot.....good park.....one brilliant ride the Guardian of the Galaxy one.......1 day max

4)Animal Kingdom.....apart from Everest and the Avatar ride very little to do here .....1 day max.

We always book the 14 day pass......its too much....

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Discovery Cove (Seaworld and Busch)

Used to be great....now its good......the Dolphin Swim is good but if your budget allows you do the sea adventure helmet dive......brilliant.

We have it booked next year but the ONLY real reason we are doing it is for the 14 day Seaworld and Busch Gardens pass.

Busch Gardens is amazing for rides (2 days here the park is massive! Your feet witll hurt with all the working)

Seaworld has some good rides (Mako etc) but the park feels dated.

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Looking at your itinerary I would ditch Gatorland. We did it last year (because we got free tickets) we left after a couple of hours.

Kennedy I cant comment on.....last time I did it was in 1988 with my parents.....we are considering next year.


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Disney Springs is good for shopping and eating out and the scenery is amazing.....but so is Universal City Walk.


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I would not want to do Orlando without a rental, so I would really consider that, it opens up so many options for you.

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There is my two pence.
 
doodah said:
If the water parks are still a thing including Blizzard Beach and Summit Plummit, get on that. Prepare to have an almighty wedgy along with some brown stains though.
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Typhoon lagoon was open when we went (it alternates) The size of the waves from the wave machine had me just cackling it's ridiculously large. I have never been to a water park with such active life guards!
 
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