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Help please with Itinerary

Advice on Florida theme parks and Itinery guide

From Kirstie Roberts
Posted March 12, 2013 at 8:44 PM
Please can you help? I am off to Florida on the 9th May for 3 weeks with my family. My husband and 3 kids (aged 14,12 and 9) This is a once in a lifetime holiday for us and we really are struggling to work out what tickets to buy. We are staying in a Villa at highgrove so we would like to eat out but not every night. Is there anyone who can with an Itinery plan..trying to stay away from Parks when too busy. We would also like a few relaxing days as i believe it can get tiring. My daughter also has a birthday whilst we are there and so i would like to take her for a nice meal.


Comments in chronological order. Most recent at the bottom. Scroll down to respond.

From Kirstie Roberts
Posted March 12, 2013 at 4:29 AM

From Kelly Muggleton
Posted March 13, 2013 at 1:52 AM
Hi Kirstie - are you renting a car?
I see you're from UK, do you mind me asking if you are going with Virgin? If so there are a few things you can take advantage of - checking in for return flight at Downtown Disney & early access to Universal. (I think one other other tour operator has the early access too but I can't remember which).

You will definitely have some relaxation time as you are going for 3 weeks. Plan your days 'off'.
My sister recently bought a 14 day Disney ticket from her tour operator which was cheaper than buying a few days when there. This gives you freedom over that 2 weeks to go as you please. Relax during the day and hit the (later opening) parks during the late afternoon/evening.

Check out Seaworld's website while youre here in the UK. I got a fantastic deal from them last year, 14 days access for £10 more than a one day ticket. They also have a UK operator number who give excellent service - dont pay to have special delivery of the tickets, mine arrived the next day first class post.
14 day tickets start from the day you first use them - so you can stagger the starts to cover all 3 weeks, if you decide to go that way.

If Disney feels a bit daunting, pop into Downtown Disney first (free entry and parking). There is a guest services office (near the shop TrenD) which will have maps and times guides for all of the parks and attractions. Take them all and have a look at what you all would like to do first/spend more time etc.

Sorry if this is a bit long, bit of a veteran - been going since 1989 :-)

From David L.
Posted March 15, 2013 at 7:42 PM
As an American, I'm not too familiar with your ticket options, but spending 2-3 days at universal, a day a seaworld, 5-8 days at Disney, and the rest of the days relaxing/going to beach/ Busch Gardens should work unless you want more days at the parks (and you seem to have the time!).

Food:
-At Universal, Mythos is pretty good (flatbread and Pad Thai are great!) as well as 3 Broomsticks.
-I'm not familiar with food at Sea World or Busch
-At Disney, your options are endless. My favorite meals on my most recent trip were at Sanaa, Le Celier, Be Our Guest, and Brown Derby(actually trip before last). All are great, but each have their drawbacks. Le Celier has the best food, but with 9 people, we splurged and spent $800. On a budget (no alcohol, super pricy food, etc..) 4-5 people can probably do it for about $200. Sanaa is pretty cheap with incredible, but unique food that may upset the stomach. It's primarily Indian food. Be Our Guest is slightly more expensive than Sanaa, but the food is just as good (French/American) and the setting is great! However, the wait has the potential to be tremendous even with reservations (We got there 20 min early, but were let in 20 min late...not fun). The Hollywood Brown Derby is slightly more expensive, but the food matches the price. There are plenty of other nice options for food, but don't go into a place without knowing what you are getting yourself into.

From Alan Hiscutt
Posted March 16, 2013 at 8:10 PM
my advice is to get the 14 day disney pass, the 14 day orlando flext ticket. If memory serves the flex gives you Uni, IOH, Busch, Seaworld, Wet n wild. stagger them so that in week 2 you have 2 tickets on the go and mix it up, I suggest Disney 1st and then the flex but its a personal thing. There are loads of options open to you for the eating, there are a number of good all you can eat buffets for day to day dining, for the birthday, try talking to the parks, we took my step daughter to a birthday meal in one of the disney hotels for a very reasoable price, plus she has the bonus of having the characters give her a card and a cake. In this life you only get if you ask.

so to reiterate, get 2 lots of 14 days, check out the all you can est places, Golden Corral was a family fave last year, the sizzler does an ok job as well. There are plenty of options, even dropping into Macdonalds or a KFC, the 192 is littered with them.

For relaxation, if your villa has a pool then take advantage, use it early evening after you been shopping, oh that reminds me, the Florida Mall is pretty sweet, there are a couple of flea markets in the area and up in Osceola you get the farmers market on a fri/sat/sunday which is good for a visit.

Try to avoid the parks on a weekend would be my big tip, your more than welcome to go of course but experience says its buiser, more crowded and you find yourself wishing you had gone to the beach instead.

Sorry, my advice has turned into a travel guide oops. Whatever, enjoy yourselves and raise a butterbeer to you friends here at TPI when your in the WWoHP.