Florida Theme Park Recommendations

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Lemlin

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Going to Florida and New York in April next year for honeymoon. Looking at buying tickets now on undercovertourist.com or one of the other ticket websites.

We're only going to have 5 full days in Florida and are aware that there are alot of parks available including:

Magic Kingdom
Epcot Centre
Hollywood Studios
Animal Kingdom
Universal Studios
Islands of Adventure
Sea World
Busch Gardens
Aquatica
Wet 'n' Wild

A 3 day plus extra day free ticket for Disney would be €185. That's without park hopping. Hopping is €30 extra.

A 2 day universal ticket is €93 without hopping. Hopping is €16 extra.
The hopping seemed like a good idea but then alot of people are saying its very hard to get through even near a full park in a day.

Having looked at the parks we were thinking about visiting the following over the 5 days:

Magic Kingdom
Epicot
Universal Studios
Islands of Adventure

From reading threads on here, it looks like Islands of Adventure seems to be the best with stuff like The Simpsons, The Hulk, Harry Potter etc. Is Universal Studios itself good?

Then we want to go to the Magic Kingdom because we have a 2 year old so wanted to pick up some Disney stuff for him.

I read a description of Hollywood Studios and it seemed to be very based around 30s and 40s cartoons and we wouldn't be mad into those. Would it be worth visiting?

Animal Kingdom is definitely out as we just don't seem interested in it from the descriptions given.

Is there anything people would say they definitely wouldn't miss in the other parks?
Anyone fit to give a brief overview of what types of rides etc. are in parks.

Was wondering what if we skipped Epicot and just went to Magic Kingdom for a day and then got a flexticket so could go to Sea World, Islands of Adventure and Universal. A flexticket would be €197 and then whatever the cost of the Disney ticket to the Magic Kingdom.
 
I preferred Epcot to Magic Kingdom. Are you bringing the 2 year old with you? If not I would skip it.
 
You'll be wrecked if you try to do one theme park a day for five days!

For adults who like rollercoasters/rides, I think Islands of Adventure/Universal Studios would be better than any of the Disney parks. It is very feasible to hop back and forth between the 2 as they are walking distance from each other. Unless you are going during Easter or Spring Break, you should get everything done in these two parks in one day in April.

You won't have a problem getting Disney stuff for your 2-year-old anywhere in Orlando so don't go the Magic Kingdom just for that. That said, I do have a soft spot for the Magic Kingdom and if it's your first time to Orlando, I would recommend it (how can you go to Orlando and NOT do the Magic Kingdom...) - and it's huge and there's loads to do there. Park hopping isn't really a good idea at the Disney parks as they are so huge and you'd have to drive/bus/monorail back and forth.

Have you thought about Discovery Cove to swim with dolphins? - expensive but might be worth it for your honeymoon - and you get free entry to Sea World (or Busch Gardens, an hour and a half away from Orlando) with your ticket.

If I was going for 5 days, I would do one day at Universal/Islands of Adventure, one day at Magic Kingdom, a day at Discovery Cove (almost a rest day...), a day at a water park (Typhoon Lagoon has the best wave pool) and a day at Sea World.
 
Based on my experience. I think you're better off going for the Universal Studios parks. They include Universal Studios, Island of Adventure, Busch gardens (the best, in my opinion, but based in Tampa) Sea World and Wet and Wild.

Regards
Homer
 
Like the others said, Universal parks are better for adults. Disney are fun but moreso for children. We bought a ticket that allowed us to visit Seaworld, Universal and some other parks as often as we liked for 5 days and it worked out very well (we were there off-peak so some parks didn't take long to do.)
 
Just back from that very trip and had a ball. I would recommend Universal for adults, both Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios. We also spent a day in Disney Magic Kingdom and had a fabulous day. It really is fairytale stuff. However if you have already been to Disney in Paris, I would skip the Magic Kingdom.

If your plans allow you to stay at a hotel on the site of Universal, I would recommend this. The fast past ticket (your hotel room key) is worth its weight in goal if there are queues and is included in the price of your hotel. Also, the park is open an hour earlier for guests which allows you early access to the likes of Harry Potter which had 3 hour waits at times.

We also went to Wet and Wild and did all the rides in about 1.5hours. Day wasn't great and there was no-one there. Flew around it. Good fun.

Also had a trip to Kennedy Space Centre which was really interesting.

We bought our tickets for Universal from Tourist Attractions at the top of Harcourt Street and found them really friendly, and expert on the topic. I spoke with Teresa and would recommend her to anyone.


New York was also brilliant but cold! If you are doing a city tour, do it with Grayline (the red bus) as they have a downstairs for shelter if the weather is bad. We did it with CitySights and nearly froze to death. Still enjoyed it. You can include your trip to the Empire State Building and the Statute of Liberty in your ticket if you want.

Lucky you. Have a great time.
 
Based on my experience, I would def go to Magic Kingdom, I went there when I had no children and now the fact that I have a two year old who loves the disney channels, I would def go there.........although you'll be spoilt for choice on what to bring back for your little one, I'm def taking my two year old to Magic Kingdom when he's old enough to appreciate it.
if you go to Epcot - make sure you do soaring, although q is always very long so be prepared, it is fantastic though, i would skip this park if I was going back again but it was good, I think islands of adventure woud have been a better choice for us.

Good luck with your decisions becuase there is so much to choose from, I agree with the other poster that 5 parks in 5 days is too much, you need a lot of energy, you can stay in the parks from morning til very late at night so they are well worth the money in my opinion!
 
dont waste your time going to wet and wild. if any threataning clouds come over they have to clear the rides for safety reasons but it was always jammed
 
donee said:
dont waste your time going to wet and wild. if any threataning clouds come over they have to clear the rides for safety reasons but it was always jammed
Click to expand...

I loved Wet and Wild and went there on every visit to Orlando. Yes there's a risk but it depends on what time of year that you go. If you have the flexi-card, you could go to W&W and, if it closes, go somewhere else for a few hours.
 
where are you staying? have you considered car hire it will give more time in the parks as the hotel shuttles tend to leave the parks early in the evening
 
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