orlando in march, PLEASE HELP!

Old Jan 27th, 2004, 08:54 AM
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orlando in march, PLEASE HELP!

my wife and I, and our two daughets(13 and 16) are going to orlando in march-april for a week. It will be our first visit to the area so we need lots of help. We have about 6 full days for attractions and are looking for things to do besides theme parks. Some theme parks are fine, but a change in pace for the second half of our vacation would be ideal. So here are my questions-

-What places are good to go with our daughers?
-Good restaurants?
-Best theme parks?
-Perhaps attractions without the use of a rental car?

We already have our hotel near Epcot so idealy somewhere close to there....any suggestions would be heplful!Thanks
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Old Jan 27th, 2004, 10:04 AM
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Have you searched this forum for orlando? There's alot of previous posts that would cover your questions.
Alot of people on this site seem to really hate questions about Orlando, which is unfortunate when one is asking for help. If you get any comments about how you should go somewhere else besides Orlando, there are other helpful websites that you can use and that also cover info on other things besides the parks.
I will say it is hard to get around in Orlando without a car, unless you are staying on-site at the parks in their hotels and are just going to the parks. You'd need a car to get form Epcot to other attractiosn outside the parks. Taxis are expensive, it can be far btwn. things to do outside the parks.
I am going end of March and am taking my kids (yoru ages) to Kennedy Space center (hour away) for a day. Great website will cover all you can do there. We are doing maximum admission (includes IMAX films and everythign else, the close-up tour (add on that includes up close stops at the shuttle launch area, etc) and lunch w/an astronaut. All fun but educational too. We also have a day where son and father go golfing and daughter and I go horsebackriding at HorseWorld stables.
You'll have great food right there at Epcot! Coral Reef, the little French cafe, japanese, anythign you want and it's all good. Epcot is known for food.
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Old Jan 27th, 2004, 11:24 AM
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The parks will be packed the week before Easter.

If you go to Universal/Islands of Adventure, spend the money and stay on site. The expense is worth it because you don't wait in the regular park lines. Hotel guests have their own VIP/Express land.

For all things Disney, go to www.Disboards.com. It is the best source of Disney advice and information.
 
Old Jan 27th, 2004, 12:36 PM
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we love Orlando and have been many times with our children - now older teenagers. Beyond the theme parks which I think can entertain anyone of any age, you might want to consider a day at the Kennedy Space Center - you obviously will need a car but its a great trip and full of good things to see and do. Each theme park can easily be a day so.....with that being said, you'll have a full 6 days. Be sure to see the Spectro Magic Parade at Magic Kingdom and the nightly parade at Epcot. Food at epcot has a greater variety and on the whole seems to be of higher quality. MGM has some good places as well. Here are some quick suggestions: restaurants - Germany or France in Epcot; Italy is not that great; UK for snacks; be sure and get a Beaver Tail in Canada; Magic Kingdom - have dinner at Tony's on the town square and use that as a vantage point for seeing the parade at night. 50's prime time diner is OK in MGM but if you're tired, the role playing can get old. Attractions - Alien Encounter, all three roller coasters, Haunted Mansion at Magic Kingdom. MGM - rock and roller coaster, tower of terror and Indiana Jones show and Star Wars ride; Epcot - test track, body wars, cranium command, all the various street shows and films - be sure to see the American Experience. Go early, stay late, use the fast pass!
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Old Jan 27th, 2004, 05:59 PM
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Thanks for the advice so far! a couple more things though-

-weather in late march?
-what should I plan on packing?
-are water parks worth the money, or are we better off at the pool?
-I have heard Epcot and Islands of Adventure are the best for kids my age, do you agree?
-where is the titanic museum i heard about?
-about how far is KSC from Epcot?



thanks
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Old Jan 27th, 2004, 06:11 PM
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-Weather in late March will be nice, Rainy season possible, and everybody at parks will don flimsy parkas and keep on having fun.

-Plan on packing only comfortable clothes. Nobody looks great at the theme parks, and the tourists in high heels look ridiculous. Pack 2 pair of tennis shoes because one will get wet and walking around the next day in soggy shoes is not fun.

-IMO, water parks are not worth the money if you really get your money out of the park admissions. You'll be too tired to go to the water parks and the hotel pool will be dandy

-Your kids will enjoy any of the parks if they have never visited before. In answer to your question, Epcot can be boring for a high energy thrill ride kid. IOA seems to be the teen fave now.
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Old Jan 27th, 2004, 06:25 PM
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Weather should be warm - 70-80's. However, it can get cool at night so bring sweatshirts or light jackets. KSC is about 90 minutes east of Orlando and extremely easy to get to. You should probably buy Park Hopper Passes which allow you to move between all Disney Parks for as many days as the pass lasts - this is good since you can then go to MGM for the morning, over to Animal Kingdom in the afternoon and Epcot for dinner, etc. The water parks are included in this pass as is Pleasure Island. Personally, I like the thematic feeling of the disney parks. Islands of Adventure seemed to be just a collection of Roller Coasters. My lasting impression of Universal Studios was that we stood in line forever, thought we were entering the attraction only to find ourselves in another holding pen,and so on. after the first trip to Universal, we were able to do it in 3/4 of a day on return trips (9-2pm for example). Your kids might like Pleasure Island - its a collection of clubs, restaurants, etc that is fun for the evening. Also - check out cirque du soleil while in Orlando and Sea World. There are some nice golf courses in the area if you're into that. Really depends on where you're staying as to the pool vs water park question - some of the disney properties have a ton of little kids and your teens might not appreciate the noise, others have separate pools, etc. On our first trip, we used the Unofficial Guide to Disneyworld which was great - our boys were 3 and 5 at the time.
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Old Jan 27th, 2004, 09:51 PM
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Rent a car and get out to Kennedy Space Center and the beaches for a day.
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Old Jan 28th, 2004, 03:51 AM
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It's encouraging to see positive posts for this person. I have seen such ugly posts directed towards those who visit Orlando on this board in the past, and personally my family travels to alot of neat places and we always end up going back to Orlando every few yrs.
KSC is an hour and 10 min. from Epcot area (we drive the speed limit.) In my experience weather can be warm in March but I have used a light jacket/seater/sweatshirt at night, esp. on rides. PAck shorts and a pair of jeans, and if you plan on goign to a nice place to eat like Emeril's or California Grill type places, take a pair of khakis and a nice collared shirt. Otherwise, jeans are ok. We like a water park on 1 day, and our kids are same ages as yours. My kids love Epcot. There are a few good rides and they enjoy the countries after af ew days of running around the other more thrill-oriented theme parks. I will again recommend Coral Reef for lunch or dinner- you dine in a room that is somewhat underground and half the place is solid walls of glass w/a huge tank of tropical fish, turtles, etc. There are people scuba diving in the tank- it is awesome. You need to call and get "priority seating" for these types of places to eat as soon as possible- you call ahead and get a sort of reservation for a particular time and when you show up you get seated before all the walk-ins (and there's alot of those). So pick out a few places to eat at the parks and call 1-800-WDW-DINE to make priority seating arrangements or you will end up waiting for hours and eating out of the carts too much. Also Chef de France is very good. We like the sushi in Japan for lunch. Mexican food (San Angel?) is ok, but the atmosphere is nice; there is a little boat that you can take a ride in that goes through the place. My kids also love IOA. This year we are going one day each to IOA and Epcot, and are trying Animal Kingdom for a short day, a day at KSC, a day at water park and a day off for golf or horseback riding. Hotel pools are of differing quality (where are you staying? Swan/Dolphin?) but they don't have those big long slides and rides. We like to ride those as a family. We like Blizzard Beach. We couldn't spend a whole day at a hotel pool- maybe half day. This time we are renting a house 5 min. from Disney w/a private pool, for less than a hotel.
Try Mouseplanet.com for park food reviews adn other stuff. There are lots of other sites that review the food at the parks.
Can someone help him w/the Titanic question? I've heard of this but don't have details.
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Old Jan 28th, 2004, 05:55 AM
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My understanding is that in order to purchase Park Hoppers, you must being staying onsite at Disney.

I really think your kids would enjoy IOA and Universal much more than the Disney Parks. My step teenagers certainly do and they've been to Disney at least 20 times.

The only thing about the water parks that would bother me is the amount of shade. There is so much shade that it can get chilly standing in line for the next ride if you are wet.

Are you staying on site?

If you do go to Universal and IOA, I cannot stress enough the importance of staying onsite so you can skip the long lines.

Both parks will be packed when you are going.
 
Old Jan 28th, 2004, 06:53 AM
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You don't need to be staying on site at Disney to buy park hopper passes. Anyone can buy them. If you belong to AAA you can get a slight discount buying them there. I also think your children would prefer Universal/IOA. Those parks are fantastic. Mears Transportaion has runs between Disney and Universal.
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Old Jan 28th, 2004, 08:35 AM
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thanks for all the results! they have all been very helpful. We are staying at the Disney Yacht and Beach Club Resort. A few moe questions though-

-Emeril Restaurants, are they usually crowded also? Should I use the # emd recommended for such a place also?
-If you get a park hopper pass, do you go in special lines, or is it just an all in one pass over the theme parks?
-Are there different hopper passes? What I mean is which parks are covered in the pass?
-And lastly does anyone know the best place to rent a car from?


Thanks so much for all your help, I hope this vacation turns out to be as good as it looks so far!
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Old Jan 28th, 2004, 08:48 AM
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My husband and I loved the restaurant in Italy in EPCOT. Great food and great atmosphere. The sit-down restaurant in China has great take-out ice cream for a snack mid-day. My favorite restaurant (by far) was the seafood restaurant in Downtown Disney that looks like a paddleboat. Awesome service, great food, a little expensive.

I know Downtown Disney has a lot of attractions that aren't so amusement park-y. Circe de Solie (sp?) is there and the Sunday morning Gospel Brunch at House of Blues has great entertainment to start off your Sunday with, the food isn't too bad either.

have fun
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Old Jan 28th, 2004, 09:06 AM
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The park hopper pass included Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and MGM (now called Disney Studios). The park hopper PLUS includes those parks and the water parks. Emeril's is in City Walk at Universal and also at Tchoup Chop at the Royal Pacific Resort at Universal. YES, make reservations in advance for Emeril's restaurants. The Yacht and Beach Club is next to the Swan and Dolphin and one of the rental car companies (I forget which one) has a rental desk in the lobby of the Dolphin Hotel. You should go to www.disboards.com and www.wdwig.com to find out anything you ever want to know about Disney and Universal and surrounding restaurants and transportation.
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Old Jan 28th, 2004, 10:27 AM
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ParkHoppers allow you unlimited visits to the parks while you are there - otherwise, its one park/one day for about $55each. They have fastpass options for the most popular rides - you walk up, insert your pass into a machine and get a 'ticket' that tells you what time to come back and basically bypass the regular line - it's a special line for those with fastpasses.
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Old Jan 29th, 2004, 11:35 AM
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Skip the Titanic exhibit (if it's still open that is). It's stupid. Your kids would be bored.

Something fun for them that they will love and is included on the mega hopper pass (not sure of the name) is DisneyQuest. It's a 5 story arcade. Lots of virtual reality games and the latest games. One admission price and you play all you want. There's a 24 theatre movie house so you can catch a movie one night. Shop at Downtown Disney in the evenings. The atmosphere is crazy but fun.

If your kids are into alligators, Gatorland is a fun "Florida" attraction. If you're religious, The Holy Land is supposed to be nice (never been). Just Disney and Universal can easily eat up your 6 days though. Your kids will probably like MGM and IOA the best for all the thrill rides. Epcot does have some fun stuff too that they will love. Missionpace and Test Track to name a few. I think a previous poster mentioned Alien Encounter at MK but it has closed.

There are tons of restaurants located all over Disney and most are great. Just depends what you want. www.wdwig.com has menus of all the restaurants. If you want to go to Emerils I would make your reservation now. They fill up very quickly.

Unless you're staying on Disney property all the time I would recommend renting a car for the week. Check out www.mousesavers.com for some possible deals on rentals.

Think I've covered everything...lol Have a great trip!
~Allison
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Old Jan 29th, 2004, 11:41 AM
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I'm glad Alien Encounter at MK closed. That was the creepiest thing ever. It was way too intense for children and even most adults.
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Old Jan 29th, 2004, 01:28 PM
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I have to disagree with the water parks posts, I love them! I admit we did have a park hopper pass so we were able to do the water parks and then another park in the evening. Living in Oregon we don't have any water parks and I love them! I love to swim but the slides are totally different and so much better at WDW than some places because they aren't just slides with big posts they have 'rocks' and trees around them. So if you have a water park close to home then probably it isn't worth the money but I love them and wouldn't go to WDW without going to the waterpark.

I do agree that the Kennedy Center is great and well worth it. I think you can rent cars at the Dolphin hotel which isn't too far from the Yacht Club hotel if you just want to rent for the day. You may also check with your own hotel and see if they offer car rental.

Have a great time!
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Old Jan 29th, 2004, 01:45 PM
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If you live near a Disney Store you can buy park hopper passes there, before leaving on the trip. They also have discount books and coupons. It makes it easier to have these things prior to leaving. And remember that your disney passes never expire, so don't worry that you might not go to the parks for as many days as you purchased, just put them in a safe place till next time. The water parks are a blast too, we went in April and had a great time!! Lots different then your hotel pool and if you have your hopper passes you can go for just part of a day with out spending a ton of money, you don't have to feel like you must stay all day to get your moneys worth. (They are pricey!!)
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Old Jan 29th, 2004, 09:08 PM
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On the subject of Disney Stores, I live in the burbs of Washington D.C. and the two Disney stores I shopped at and bought passes at for years have closed in the last year (Springfield Mall and Downtown D.C. stores). No press on the closings. But w/what is going on at Disney Corp. (Roy Disney leaving/ousted; all the animators being laid off) perhaps this is part of the change.
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