ORLANDO ATTRACTIONS??

  • whittsend
    Posts: 2389
    January 19, 2011 at 11:34 pm #206858

    Planning on taking the family to FL sometime this winter/spring….

    Thinking about SeaWorld, Busch Gardens and maybe Kennedy Space Center. Kids are 3 and 6.

    1. Is Kennedy a good choice for 3/6 y.o.’s? I’ve heard its pretty cool, but its sort of secondary to seeing SeaWorld/Busch Gardens at this point. Should we upgrade it to a “must see”? (BTW, Disney, MK, Universal are out for this trip – probably will wait til the kids are a touch older)

    2. Is it best to buy park admission tickets online ahead of time, or can you get better deals after you get down there (Ex, though the hotel or using coupons you might find in FL)…

    3. Any tips / tricks for getting the most benefit out of those parks and/or saving a few bucks?

    Thanks!

    Mike

    kooty
    Keymaster
    1 hour 15 mins to the Pond
    Posts: 18101
    January 20, 2011 at 1:28 pm #99041

    We spent all our time at Disney last year. It was a great trip, but cold. Now it was unseasonably cold(rare they got snow that week), but we will not go again in February. Mid-March is the timeframe we plan to target.

    As for tickets, can’t give you any advice. The wife got our park hopper tickets through her office. It was nice being able to go to any park any day, but realistically, we only hit two parks one of the 5 days we were there. Otherwise we stayed in the same park all day long.

    How old are your kids? Mine were a bit young. Allyson turned 2 while we were there. I would say the perfect age is 4 and up.

    whittsend
    Posts: 2389
    January 20, 2011 at 2:52 pm #99050

    One is 3.5, the other 6.

    It looks like the combo tickets (Busch Gardens and SeaWorld) are length-of-stay tickets. My parents are down there for the winter (Near Tampa, which is in part why we want to go to Busch Gardens), so it might be nice to visit or re-visit the parks with them if they wish.

    Either way, should be a fun trip.

    mpearson
    Chippewa Falls, WI
    Posts: 4338
    January 20, 2011 at 3:16 pm #99052

    Our time share is this week but we didn’t go this year. We stay on St. Petes Beach and from the reports it’s been cold there this year too. We’ve done the Disney thing with the kids and they loved it, but they are older now so doesn’t pay to do that anymore. Have fun on your trip…hopefully it’s warm for you!

    kooty
    Keymaster
    1 hour 15 mins to the Pond
    Posts: 18101
    January 20, 2011 at 5:09 pm #99065

    Also, don’t travel on a holiday weekend. It wasn’t a major holiday either, but our trip started horrible due to missing our flight on Saturday because Delta couldn’t check people in fast enough. After months of planning and promising, I had to tell my 3.5 and 5 year old that we weren’t going to Disney today. Lots of tears, I felt like the worst parent ever.

    suzuki
    Woodbury, Mn
    Posts: 18789
    January 20, 2011 at 8:38 pm #99086

    Not that you’ll have any extra time but the parks down there (state and county) can be really neat. Lots of springs and stuff. Usually where you’ll see gators too.

    whittsend
    Posts: 2389
    January 20, 2011 at 10:18 pm #99091

    Quote:

    Not that you’ll have any extra time but the parks down there (state and county) can be really neat. Lots of springs and stuff. Usually where you’ll see gators too.

    Nice, maybe we’ll check those out. We probably should have a day or two “free” to tool around. The 6 year old is pretty fascinated with gators.

    Any particular parks or wildlife areas near Orlando / Cape Canaveral / Tampa that you might recommend?

    suzuki
    Woodbury, Mn
    Posts: 18789
    January 21, 2011 at 2:06 pm #99140

    I can only think of Blue Springs but that is a little ways away. Orange City. I would make the trip there if its unseasonably cold while you are there. The Manatee dump into that place when its cold.

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