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Disney World Florida

ringo

ringo

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Anyone been? The idea used to make my brain explode but my 7 year old is obsessed with the idea, the 13 year old is much more excited about it than I ever thought she'd be, and I think they need a proper, brilliant, remember forever holiday after the crap they've been through over the last year.

Is it OK or really, really horrible?

Is it best to stay somewher else so you can escape the Disneyness of it all a bit and get day passes?

What else is good around Orlando? Swamps, nature, theme parks, anything?
 
I had to go there as an Adult and I hated the place- but my (then) GF loved it. It depends on what you are used to - I travel on the cheap and sleepin ditches, so it was a bit much for me , whereas if you tolerate Disney and want to be entertained, then it may be Ok. The Kids will love it, even if they do not have any Disney bent. Orlando is central enough to find other things on either coast if you want some vanilla beaches and swmming. You will have a car I guess, so you will be able to get around. Florida can be amazing BTW, but you do need to get out of the Condo/Disney/Outlet mall vortex a bit. Anyway, its not about you is it ?
 
To be honest I can't imagine anything worse than Disney. But my brother, sisters love it. I think the difference is thy have kids. It is amazing for children. Judging by how my nieces and nephews talk about it I'm the one out of step.

As for other things in the area, there's Universal, which I love, there's all sorts there both rides and movie themed attractions.

Will you have a car? If so there's Daytona for the beach and history, there's Everglades, Kennedy Space Centre, Tampa, St Petersburg for the aquarium, for Dali museum.

You'll need more than two weeks to see everything in the area.

ETA my brother did three weeks there last summer and, apart from one trip to Universal, never left Disney.
 
I went when I was a kid and fucking loved it. My parents hated it. Huge queues for the rides. The best bit was actually the Epcot Centre in my opinion (as a 6 year old :))

You should go, take one for the team.
 
I think for my sanity I'd like to stay outside the resort and have a car. I like the idea of seeing more of Florida than just Disney. But I'm going there specifically to give the kids what they want, so will let them have a say.

I haven't been to the US since 1988, so need to go on a separate trip for me
 
worked at an event out there in 2015 , nothing to do with disney. we just took over a huge amount of the hotel complex , we got aceess to epcot for an evening which was not so bad , but not awesome either , its very superficial and plastic but im sure the kids will love it, ive also been told that universal studios with harry potter world is a much better theme park
 
I was thinking one week would be more than enough to give them Disney overload and a little bit more of the area?
 
Just Googled Epcot, didn't realise there were so many places to choose from. I'll have to do some research and make sure I get the right place for what they want, ta.
 
I went as a kid and thought it was fucking amazing. Disney itself was good but we also went to some other theme parks in the area. Busch Gardens I think one of them was, and also something called circus world that wikipedia says is closed now. Also went to Wet and Wild which is a fabulous water park.
 
souljacker said:
I went as a kid and thought it was fucking amazing. Disney itself was good but we also went to some other theme parks in the area. Busch Gardens I think one of them was, and also something called circus world that wikipedia says is closed now. Also went to Wet and Wild which is a fabulous water park.
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Disney itself has some amazing water parks. I went as a kid as well, whenever the Atlanta olympics was on (94?)

We had a 5 day Disney pass, and that got you into the water parks as well, which are well worth checking out. There was one called Blizzard Beach and one called Typhoon Lagoon, and they were both excellent.

I doubt I'd be able to handle more than 5 days in Disney as an adult. Even 5 days sounds a lot, but it's absolutely huge. It's not really one theme park. It's basically a collection of them, so if you get bored of one, just go to another.
 
Also, be prepared for queing.

I remember queueing 70 minutes to get on the Jaws ride in Universal Studios :(

Universal was great, though. The rides are really well done, and then they have other stuff like set tours and behinds the scenes etc. I remember seeing some 3D films that blew me away at the time (Terminator 2!). I imagine things have moved on a lot in the past 20 years ;)
 
Prepare for a holiday of queuing! Good luck. I've never been. My ex took our d to Paris DL and she wasn't that fussed on it tbh. Think she went to DL in LA too but again she didn't rave about it.
 
after orlando i went and worked in NYC , on the sunday i went to six flags ( new jersey ) which was a great theme park and treated myself to a fast tack pass ( $99 iirc ) , although expensive i think it was worth it as i can only see myself going there once in this lifetime, i would have thought Disney do a similar thing
 
I've been a few times; I thought I'd hate it, but have always loved it. Especially as there's so much more to Florida than the theme parks. The space centre is great, as is a day trip to St Petersburg or Tampa. The beach a Fort De Soto on the west of the peninsular is amazing - beautiful white sand, backing onto forest, never crowded, shallow and calm, and wild tortoises wandering around. Best of all, I like the state parks, particularly where you can swim wild, and see some amazing wildlife. It's well worth getting out of Orlando; we tried to alternate theme park days with something else.

The kids will love Disney, but it does become a bit much. So I'd recommend staying in your own villa, somewhere off Disney property.

That said, I would book a night in the Universal Studios accommodation; that way, you get the fast passes for the two Universal Parks, and you can do one each day. (Otherwise, the fast passes cost a bomb, but without them you'll only do a quarter of it.)

If the adults can get away for an evening, go to one of the dueling piano bars in Disney or Universal. Cheesy, but good fun.

There's a great family restraunt called Tutu Tango, that's worth a visit.
 
Also, I took my Dad. One time, all these Americans came round to where I was swimming, looking anxiously behind them. I asked what the matter was, and they said that there said big male raccoon in the picnic area, and, since it should be out in daytime, we're concerned about rabies. So I went round to check on the old man, only to find him feeding it a bag of Wotsits from his hand.
 
Disneyland is amazing, just in terms of how you can't see the seams. It's not like other theme parks; a bunch of roller coasters with some half-hearted set dressing. At Disneyland, everything and everyone is "in character" and all the back-of-house areas are underground or completely hidden. It's either sickly and creepy or enchanting and magical, depending on your outlook :D

It's also phenomenally expensive, so start saving 5 years ago.

(EDIT: I went when I was 13 and yes it was a "remember forever" holiday so I can vouch for that bit)
 
Athos said:
I've stayed in a few, so can give some recommendations, if you like. How many bedrooms you need?
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That would be great, thanks. I guess two bedrooms, but I might look at three as they're going to be 8 and 14 if the price is not too much extra.
 
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