Orlando Travel Forum

Hi, We (myself, my wife and 10 y.o. daughter) are traveling to Orlando for a 5 days in May 1st week. We wish to explore the best of the theme parks As 5 days is too short a time to cover all the attractions in Orlando and want to know which parks we should not miss. If any one can give me an idea of budgeting and pricing of tickets it would be great.
Ashley

it's difficult to tell you the best parks without knowing your personal tastes. I guess to break it down simply, if you like rides then Universal would be a good bet. If you like exhibits, there is Seaworld, ANimal Kingdom, Epcot. All of these have a couple of rides (very good ones) but concentrate on exhibits.

As for prices, they average $75 for a day pass but there are deals for multiple park tickets that vary by time of year.

Thanks for your reply, We are a family and of course we will have varied interests. But out of 5 days, we intend to give 2 days for our daughters' entertainment and other 3 days in such a way that we all 3 can enjoy. Like a 3 day hopper ticket to disney and 2 day flexi ticket for Universal, seaworld and other attractions. Now in such tickets, would like to know what are the best attractions for children and some adventure, some fun, some water & technological parks...Something we should not miss.

I don't have kids, but the friends who do like both Magic Kingdom and Epcot for kids.
Most agree that Seaworld is the best for both their enjoyment and the kids, followed by Animal Kingdom. I personally love Seaworld.
For a water park, BLizzard Beach at Disney gets great reviews. I don't go to water parks, but everyone I know who does raves about Blizzard Beach.

Thanx a ton Buddy

Thanx a ton Buddy

Best Thrills:

Islands of Adventure
Busch Gardens

Best family:

Disney's Magic Kingdom

Best water park:

Disney's Blizzard Beach

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I'd recommend buying the 1 or 2 day park hopper pass at Disney World. If you buy the 2 day pass, split the 2 days as such:

Day 1: First Animal Kingdom, then finish at Epcot, watch the night show.
Day 2: First MGM Studios (now known as Hollywood Studios), then finish at Magic Kingdom, watch the night show.

I'd also recommend buying the 2 park/1 day pass at Islands of Adventure and Universal, and then purchasing the fast pass for Islands of Adventure.

Blizzard Beach is still to date the best water park in terms of rides and atmosphere I've been to worldwide.

If you have a car, Busch Gardens is great for everyone. It has it all.

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I worked at Islands of Adventure and Universal, and had annual passes to Disney World, so if you have any specific questions feel free to ask.

You might want to consider one of Disney's value vacations. They have a couple of hotels which are not too pricey, and with a full Disney package, you get entrance to their parks with your hotel. That way you can go to Disney in the am, back to hotel for some swimming, the afternoon and early evening at another park. The Disney package allows you to entrance to the park one hour earlier than other people, so there are shorter lines, etc. Don't miss Epcot. It may seem not so much for the kids, but it really is great. Also, you may want to eat in the "World Showcase" when you're in Disney World. You get all the atmosphere, reasonably good meals (at a cost) and you don't have to leave and return for meal times. The fast food at Disney isn't so hot. Sea World is not to be missed. Everyone here has already recommended it, and they are right. Just be sure to get the programme, and then check it out. It's really frustrating to arrive and find out you just missed the last showing of the one thing you'd really like to see.

Sea World and Epcot are my favorites, but I also love Universal Studio, and although I haven't been to the Magic Kingdom, I have been to Disney World in California, and understand that the two are pretty similar, so that would also be a winner. I would suggest you pick your parks, then do a web search for their official web sites. The various parks will have information about their ticket price and special deals. Sometimes you can purchase package deals that will save you money. Walt Disney World always has deas where you can purchase ticket to their various theme parks, including Epcot at a special rate. Be aware that if you drive yourself to the parks, there will be an additional fee for parking. As an example of cost, if you purchase a one day ticket to Universal at the gate, at this time you would pay $69 per person for anyone over age 9, and $58 for younger. It would cost you another $11 for parking, plus your meals whild in the park. Again, check the park web-sites, if you purchase tickets on line you usually get a small discount, plus you can see all the possible combinations that will save you even more.

In one thread covering Disney World, one response was to NOT buy park-hopper passes, but to decide how many days you plan to spend, and then just buy the one park only passes, on a three or four day passport. Apparently it's a bit less expensive that way, and unless you're going to be flitting back and forth for days on end, not practical. Whenever we've gone, we have always seemed to stay in one park at a time. The only exception being that we love eating in the World Showcase, so I think we have gone from Magic Kingdom to Epcot for supper, but I can't be sure. I know there's more than enough in each of the parks -- Magic Kingdom, Epcot & World Showcase, MGM Studios, and Animal Kingdom to keep you busy for at least a full day each.

Yes, you do have to be very careful with the park-hopper passes. We have never used them, but some folks seem to like them and others not. The problem is that the park-hopper passes often have too many parks listed for too few days. With this type of an offer,it is really impossible to do justice to all the parks on the list, so if you don't go to all the parks on the pass, you may actually loose money. So it is really important to do a careful price comparison before purchasing any "deal", as a "deal" may turn out to be no deal afterall. We didn't really get through Epcot in a long day, so I wouldn't plan to do more than a full day per park, and even at that rate you may not see everything you would like. When we went to the CA Disney Land we spent two days at it.