Allright guys. I've secured a time share in Orlando for June 26th through July 3rd. I am going to order 3 day passes with Park Hopper for my family (3 adults/3 children) for Disneyworld and two day passes for Universal Studios. I also want to see the Lion Country Safari, but I think that it's a good drive from Orlando...about 3 hrs there and another 3 hrs back. What are the "must sees" while I will be there. Disneyworld? Universal? Local Attractions?
I think Universal has the better thrill rides. I haven't been to the Magic Kingdom park at WDW in a while, but I think your kids (if young) will enjoy it there. I always enjoy going to the MGM Studios at Disney. The Tower of Terror ride is a must. I think Epcot is a bit overrated. Disney does have a new wildlife park that is pretty cool.
Just got back from Universal (Portofino Bay Hotel for me!) and... GASP... I liked it better than Disney. Better rides, better food (except for the California Grill), easier to manage crowds, better hotels, easier on your feet, and a more adult experience (bars in the park rocks!). Unfortunately, Universal can be done in 2 days. Universal MUSTS (in no order): The Hulk (Islands of Adventure) Dueling Dragons (IoA) - "Fire" is better than "Ice" The Mummy Spider-Man 3D Back to the Future Shrek 4D Terminator 3D Jurassic Park River Adventure The only ride I didn't like at Universal was the ET one. It must have been designed by Richard Simmons. Honorable mention here: Men In Black, Jaws, Ripsaw Falls (IoA). Didn't get to ride the Bluto raft ride. Disney MUSTS: Rock N Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith (MGM) Tower of Terror (MGM) Space Mountain (Magic Kingdom) Star Tours (MGM) Splash Mountain (MK) Muppet 4D (MGM) Mickey's PhilharMagic (3D movie) (MGM) It's Tough To Be a Bug (3D movie) (Animal Kingdom) Honey, I Shrunk the Audience (EPCOT) Kilimanjaro Safari (AK) Blizzard Beach! As for Test Track (EPCOT) and Mission: Space (EPCOT), I thought they both SUCKED. Mission: Space made me sick (and I'm not prone to motion sickness at all), and Test Track was just stupid. Disney needs better rides pronto, because their ass is being handed to them by Universal in that department. EPCOT is really showing its age, and Animal Kingdom just sucks period.
Disneyworld rules! My wife and I are Disney freaks. Every time we go, we never have enough time. Would love to go to Universal but we can never peel ourselves away from Disney. Over Christmas we went to Orlando for 4 days and met my Mom and Sis there. They live in Tampa. Not enough time. Especially if you have kids. Magic Kingdom deserves 2 full days. MGM can be done in a day. Epcot can also be done in a day but I prefer 2. Animal Kingdom can also probably be done in a day but deserves 2. You'll be there in the summer so you also have the Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon water parks. Both are excellent. Blizzard Beach usually rates in the top 3 water parks by the Travel Channel. Must rides: Tower of Terror - MGM Aerosmith Rock and Roller Coaster - MGM Mission: SPACE - Epcot Test Track - Epcot Soaring (should be open by May) - Epcot Buzz Lightyears Space Ranger Spin - Magic Kingdom Splash Mountain - Magic Kingdom Dinosaur - Animal Kingdom Kilimanjaro Safaris - Animal Kingdom Kali River Rapids - Kali River Rapids These are our favorites. Everyone has their own. All rides are good. All rides and attractions have the full Disney touch. You really can't go wrong. There is a book called the Unofficial Guide to DisneyWorld that is very helpful. It's written by people who constantly go to Disney to identify trends and all that. The book is not affiliated with Disney so there is no bias. Their reviews are pretty much righ on. Anyway, have fun. We just went for Christmas and now we are getting ready to go to California to visit DisneyLand and Disney's California Adventure. We hope to also visit Disneyland Paris and Disneyland Hong Kong one day, as well as DisneySea and Disneyland Tokyo in Japan. I told you, we're Disney freaks.
I don't know the ages of the kids, but every kid must go to Disneyworld at least once. User the pass-hopper to see the park as fast as you can. You can only get 1 hopper-pass per ticket at a time until your time window opens on the pass you currently are holding. Confussing to explain, but you see as soon as you try to get 2 future passes. Epcot is for old folks imo. There are 2 sides to Universal - the regular and Islands of Adventure. IoA is the best park I've ever been to and I think my list is up to 15. The wife's family lives in Orlando so we've done a lot and that is the only park I want to return to. If you do go, go left early in the morning. That's where the big rides are and the lines get long as the day goes on. There are some rides that will get you wet (also on the left) so you may want to hit those later in the afternoon to cool off. And stay away from the "See the Dinosaur" or whatever as that was a lame waste of time imo. Spiderman rocks! And don't foget Gatorland!
The kiddos are 4, 5, and 8. The younger boys tend to get ratlled on the "scary rides". The 8 year old rivals me for the scary rides. Please elaborate on the "hopper" thing.
The thing to keep in mind about Epcot and Disney in general is that it's not all about thrill rides. Tower od Terror, Rock and Roller Coaster, and Space are as thrilling as you are going to get at Disney. Disney is about the magic, the total experience. Epcot is all about education. Everything there teaches you something. Most people either love or hate it. I happen to be fascianted with Epcot but I've always been into science and nature since I was a kid. World Showcase is spectacular also. VERY authentic. Each country in the showcase employees people from the actual country that is being represented. Great food and plenty of products native or specific to that country. There's alcohol in Epcot also. You can hang at the pub in England or have margueritas in Mexico. BTW, I didn't get sick in Space and loved it. It felt real. Very cool. Animal Kindom is fascinating. I've been there twice and loved it both times. I guess it depends on the person. If you just want thrill rides then I guess Universal is the place to go but if you want the total magical experience that your kids will never forget, you can't beat Disney.
They will probably be more into Disney at that age. There are kid rides at Universal but those are more to the right. The pass-hopper - You take your park tickets (1 for each person - each person will need their own hopper pass) and run them through a machine near the entrance of the ride that accepts pass-hopper (check the web - I think they have them listed if you really want to get organized). The pass will say come back during a certain time frame (eg. 10-11:00am). Then you get in the hopper line and skip the long line. And while you are waiting for (10-11am for example), ride other rides that aren't hopper rides. The 1 hopper at a time thing - You can't get 2 different rides on the same park ticket at the same time. Say you get a pass for 10-11 on 1 ride, you can't get a hopper pass for another ride until 10:01. You can get 2 pass for different rides at a time, but you have to time it just right.
Hmmm, I purchased the "Park Hopper" option. it will let you leave one park and "hop" to another. Thanks for the info on the line hopper though. Good info to have!
The Pass Hopper that Art is referring to is actually called Fast Pass. It's pretty useful on the popular or crowded rides.
I love the Fast pass! I don't know if I would have been able to go to all the great rides if it wasn't for the Fast Pass The Aerosmith ride was awesome!
IMO if you are going to Disney World, you have to stay on Disney property. If you can afford it, stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Really nice hotel, and it's great to wake up, step out on to your balcony and see animals you would usually see on an African safari.
Even the lower priced All-Star Sports, Music (and others) resorts are nice, decent hotels. Nothing fancy, but at least you are staying on the property and can take the buses everywhere you need to go.
