We went when the Halloween stuff started at Universal Studios, must've been late September, it was hot enough to go to the water parks but most days weren't "too hot". Just needed to carry water and wear a hat basically. Awesome holiday.
Florida Theme Parks Holiday
- Thread starter bazzabear
- Start date
Sort of on topic but you can do a slightly less bombastic version of a Florida trip by spending a couple of days at the Europa Park resort in Germany.
You may think I’m mad unless you’ve been but Europa Park for me is actually the best theme park I’ve been to, including all of the Disney Parks. Not on the basis of rides, but just the beautifully kept flower areas. It really is just lovely. Staying 2 nights there would be really fun for anyone looking to do a quick version of the same thing. It’s not Disneyworld obviously but for those who have done Florida to death it’s a cool trip.
You may think I’m mad unless you’ve been but Europa Park for me is actually the best theme park I’ve been to, including all of the Disney Parks. Not on the basis of rides, but just the beautifully kept flower areas. It really is just lovely. Staying 2 nights there would be really fun for anyone looking to do a quick version of the same thing. It’s not Disneyworld obviously but for those who have done Florida to death it’s a cool trip.
I’d take death by alligator over the staycation, and I’d prefer Baghdad over a Disney theme park, but Florida’s too good to miss.
I’d go in April/May or September/October, it may be afternoon downpours later in the year, but it’s warm rain.
Research vacation pool homes in West Florida, anywhere between Hudson in the north, all the way to Marco Island in the south.
If you go not much further south than Punta Gorda, (a great place), or maybe Sarasota or Bradenton, it’s an easy drive to Busch Gardens, Tampa, lots of rides, a zoo, kids of all ages will love it.
A good tip for universal if they still do it is going to the help desk and blagging a mobility fast pass when you first grab your tickets. just tell them one or two of your group (up to 6) cant stand for the lines and they'll give you a card that you show to the line attendants. sometimes the write a time to come back at but most of the time they just let you straight on. been twice 2015/18 and managed get one both times after heads up from a friendly local. they don't ask for any proof just have to be convincing.
Eh... feigning disability doesn’t sound like a very cool thing to do :/
+1, Europa Park is an under appreciated gem. It doesn’t have the scale of Orlando obviously but it scratches a similar itch to the Disney parks and executes it better in many ways.
Soldato
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Phantasialand also in Germany looks good. Always wanted to go to both, maybe one day..
Phantasialand is good although I sort of have a mixed view of this park and it’s hotels - the staff were just a bit difficult for no particular reason and it somewhat blighted my experience. Probably the language barrier.
I do think Taron is excellent but overrated. Black Mamba is just a B&M invert and I can’t really get very excited about it. Chiapas, Talocan, the spinning coasters and the drop tower are all superb though.
Haven’t managed to get on Fly yet.
Europapark is probably 4-5 times bigger than Phantasialand and has far more to do - it is definitely the one I’d prioritise out of the two.
Also another great one - two trip is Energylandia and Legendia in Poland, which are really close to each other. The parks are ultimately a bit crap unless you’re a coaster enthusiast but Energylandia is easily the park with the best “top two” rides in Europe with Zadra and Hyperion.
Legendia however has Lech coaster which is the best coaster I’ve ever been on... requires a full train and hot summer day unfortunately (another enthusiast went on it the day before with an empty train and when we compared the videos it was 4 seconds slower).
Here’s a video capturing my real time reaction.... dat airtime
Legendia however has Lech coaster which is the best coaster I’ve ever been on... requires a full train and hot summer day unfortunately (another enthusiast went on it the day before with an empty train and when we compared the videos it was 4 seconds slower).
Here’s a video capturing my real time reaction.... dat airtime
Soldato
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Oooh err getting technical with your coaster knowlege, fortunately i do know what a B & M invert is though as i was hooked on the RCT games as a teenager and theme parks in general ha.
Hah sorry didn’t mean to come across as a snob
The mad hype these days is for the RMCs. There are a few of these in Europe but none in UK sadly. Zadra at Energylandia is an RMC and it is WILD
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Europa park looks good. Did you drive there? Is the language barrier a problem? And where did you stay?
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Did Florida/Disney at Christmas time, was great, not too busy, warm rather than hot(though was still hot a few times), warm enough to use the pool and water parks.
Going to theme parks in 28 degrees and high humidity seems like a bad idea.
Going to theme parks in 28 degrees and high humidity seems like a bad idea.
Soldato
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I can't wait to get back to Florida, I've got 4 kids now so haven't been since 2010, I used to go every year before that.
Just got to plan for when my youngest will be tall enough to go on everything. Most likely I'll have to go in the summer to get them all out of school. I used to always go in March, May or October and it was bliss!
Just got to plan for when my youngest will be tall enough to go on everything. Most likely I'll have to go in the summer to get them all out of school. I used to always go in March, May or October and it was bliss!
I flew there as park to a multi-theme park mega trip (on honeymoon.... so you know I’m serious
).No language barrier at Europapark, it’s very much for all Europeans and English is therefore widely used (at hotels etc).
I stayed in the Collesium hotel but I’m going back later this year and staying in the Bell Rock hotel which seemed much nicer.
The restaurants there were very good. I went in August (during the lockdown break) and they were super strict at the breakfasts and it was really well policed with only the chefs serving items to plates etc. Phantasialand (different theme park) was comparatively terrible, a free for all with sharing serving spoons... blergh!!
The captains resteraunt at Bell Rock hotel had one of the best steaks I’ve ever had. Really impressed.
One downside of the Europapark hotels, unlike the Disney ones, is that there are no ‘shops’ for instant food or drinks, so you’re sort of forced to eat out but it’s not the end of the word.
Europapark is actually quite expensive to stay on site, but it is a really good park. It just goes on forever!!! I’m going with my mum and dad this year after going with my wife last year, which should give you an indication of my levels of approval.
Edit - I went to Europapark and then drove up to Phantasialand which was around ~4 hours away. If you’re a coaster mad lad you can also drop in on the way at Holiday Park which is utter **** except that it has expedition GeForce which is world class / epic... here’s me on that!! Making all sorts of strange noises....
Bucked out of my seat like never before.
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I suppose it is a bit obtuse...For me, a layman, this paragraph is pretty wild!
I've no idea what's being said
By way of explanation, there is a legendary ride called Maverick at Cedar Point where it did a “barrel roll” over water... but it was judged to be too intense and was actually taken out of the ride before it opened to the public. Coaster fans have always speculated what this element would have been like...
Now the company that built Maverick is building a similar coaster in Florida at Islands of Adventure and the coaster community is very excited as they included a very similar type element to the one that got ‘deleted’ from Maverick. Obviously it won’t be as crazy but it’ll be amazing no doubt.
Maverick (with the deleted roll - it goes CGI at that point):
Velocicoaster:
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I flew there as park to a multi-theme park mega trip (on honeymoon.... so you know I’m serious
No language barrier at Europapark, it’s very much for all Europeans and English is therefore widely used (at hotels etc).
Thanks for the info, very useful.
Soldato
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I'm a frequent visitor to Florida and I would recommend staying at a Disney hotel if you plan to spend most of your time at their parks. There is usually an option to snag free dining and although it has been somewhat downgraded over the years upgrading it to include dinners is a must. Yes, you need to book your tables three months out but it is a welcome break from stomping around the parks all day and you have some fantastic restaurants to choose from. If you also purchase your park ticket when booking, you'll also get access to the water parks for the duration of your stay. Disney also do early morning openings and late night closures just for resort guests, one hour in the morning and three hours at night.
If you have kids you can also book an 8:00 am breakfast at one of the Magic Kingdom restaurants and they will allow you entry 15 minutes before your slot. This gives you access to an extremely empty Main Street to wander up and enjoy lots of photo opps.
If you have kids you can also book an 8:00 am breakfast at one of the Magic Kingdom restaurants and they will allow you entry 15 minutes before your slot. This gives you access to an extremely empty Main Street to wander up and enjoy lots of photo opps.