I going to Orlando in July. I will have six full days to visit Disney World, Sea World, Busch Gardens and either Universal Studios or MGM Studios and two days to go to the beach. My questions are:

1. Is one day enough for the first three parks I've mentioned?

2. Which Studio tour is better? Universal or MGM.

3. What would be the best beach to go to? We are thinking the Gulf side of Florida but are open to suggestions on either coast.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me out.

First of all, Disney World isn't just one park -- it's four(!), of which MGM Studios is one, so it is not possible to "do" Disney World in one day. You could see most of the Magic Kingdom park or all of the Animal Kingdom park in one day.

Between MGM and Universal, I think Universal Studios is a better option. While never having been there myself, I have heard good things about it. I have been to MGM and it's fine too.

Our family is going to Orlando in July as well. I have been to both Universal and MGM. I like MGM Studios a little bit better. Although both parks are nice, MGM had more for adults to enjoy than Universal I thought. That's just my opinion. I am not looking forward to the hot weather down there in July, Ihear it's brutal!

Like the previous poster noted, Disney World is made up of 4 theme parks--Magic Kingdom, Epcot, MGM, & Animal Kingdom. Magic Kingdom and Epcot would each take an entire day. You might be able to squeeze MGM and Animal Kingdom into one day if you start early. They're all great. I recommend you get a 3-day park hopper pass, which allows you to go to any of the Disney parks within a 3 day span. The other great thing about the Disney parks is that they are all connected through a monorail system. If you stay at a Disney hotel, they also provide free transportation to and between all the parks.

As for which one is better, Universal or MGM, that is just a matter of opinion. They're about equal. In your case, you may be better off sticking to MGM if you're going to do the park hopper.

Universal is in Orlando, but probably about a 1/2 hour away from Disney. They have just opened a new theme park too--it's called Islands of Adventure, and it has more roller coaster rides than most of the other parks. If you want, you could also look into Universal and their Park Hopper passes.

As for Busch Gardens, it is located in Tampa, which is on the West coast of Florida. If you are staying close to Disney, it'll take you about 1 1/2 hours to get to Tampa. But if you do decide to go to Tampa, you could spend 1 or 2 nights there and go to a nearby beach. The beaches on that coast are beautiful. Be aware that if you stay near Busch Gardens, you're about 45 minutes from the beach.

As the other's have said, the 4 Disney parks are too much for one day. I agree with the recommendation for the park hopper pass (3 or 4 day). I've been to both MGM (disney park) and Universal Studios. Not as many thrill rides at Universal (Back to the Future is a must though) unless you pay the extra to get into that new Islands of Adventure. I'd say stick with 3-4 days at Disney and head West to Clearwater beach...which for my money is tied with the St Pete beach area at the southern most tip Pass-a-grille. Excellent local eatery on the the way to St Pete beach called Woody's Waterfront...great fresh grouper at local prices! Another great place for local fish is Tom Peter's Smoked Fish in Pasadena...Smoked salmon, mackeral, or mullett...and you can't miss trying the fish spread appetizer at any of the local places...with a dab of hot sauce. I WANNA go back RIGHT NOW!!!

We were in Florida 2 weeks ago. Universal Studios over MGM. Islands of Adventure was great - great rides - but not suited for small children.
St petes and Clearwater have nice beaches. In between, Indian Shores, etc, is quiter. This time, we stayed on Clearwater Beach which is great but it is well developed and therefore not "quiet".
Have fun!!

....a "plug" for east coast beaches.....

to see what the coastline looked like 50 years ago try playlinda bch east of Titusville....its a national park and cost $$ to enter. if theres a rocket launch scheduled (its on KSC property)the area will be closed...but if theres a shuttle on the launch pad, you'll be able to see it quite well.
Also, cocoa bch (pier area)...very touristy.....or 2 miles north to jetty park (might be a state park...again $$) which should be a little less crowded. you might see the cruise ships (or sometimes a navy sub) coming and going which is kind of neat.

UNIVERSAL,UNIVERSAL,UNIVERSAL!!! MGM is in the process of trying to get new attractions to draw people. Their crowds just aren't what they used to be. If you want a park that has more to look at than do pick MGM. If you want things to do, such as rides and shows, pick Universal.
Animal Kingdom can easily be done in half a day. If you choose to do MGM that can be done the other half of the day.
The Gulf side will offer white sand and bluer water. There are hotels in the Maderia Beach area that are very reasonable. Check Treasure Island area also for good hotels. We were there last month and stayed at the Holiday Inn Maderia Beach. 59.00 per night. We waited until we arrived in the area and picked up a tour coupon book. This has coupons for all kinds of hotels. We called ahead to see if they had rooms available and stopped in. If you are willing to find a hotel this way it is the best deal. We had called from home before we left for our trip. Rooms were quoted at twice the price.
St.Pete/Clearwater area is your best bet for beaches if you don't want to have to drive too far.
Have Fun !!!!!!!!!!!!

One day to do 3 parks is not enough. Two days minimum. I liked MGM best. Golf side has whiter beaches.

An option not mentioned - Discovery Cove, owned by Anheuser Busch (also own Sea World) www.discoverycove.com Check out the website, admission here includes a 7-day pass to Sea world (good for week you visit Discovery cove only). We went last summer, got the reduced ticket since we did NOT do dolphin swim, enjoyed it immensely! Multi-day tickets that you purchase, for WDW or Universal attractions, can be saved & used another trip - they never expire. (Last year we even used a 1983 WDW ticket that had one day left on it - no questions asked!) A womderful resource is wdwig.com Deb Wills unofficial guide to WDW. Have fun!

Is there a three-day Park Hopper pass at Disney? When I looked at the web-site it looked like they had a four or five day pass, but not three.
My wife is going to a conference in June and I thought I'd go along. We'll be staying at the Royal palace I believe.

I'm sorry I didn't clarify which park I plan to attend at Disney World. I'm thinking of either Magic Kingdom or Epcot Center. Any opinions on these parks? And, can each park be toured completely in one day, that is one day per park?

We went to Orlando 4 times last year and enjoyed each trip alot.

We got an amazing deal from Liberty Travel which included airfare/hotel/car/passes for 7 nites 8 days. I think the cost was a little under $800 for each of us so $1,600 in all. It also included passes to 5 days at Disney, 2 days at water parks, 2 days at Universal. We still haven't used up all the passes. Also we got a free day at Universal, two of the rides we tried to get on broke down while we were waiting in line so we wasted almost 3 hours waiting for those rides. When we were leaving we stopped at the Customer Service and told them what happened and got 2 comp passes for a day each.

For Disney 2 parks in a day is alot but Magic Kingdom and Epcot are close enough that you can do both, but start early in the am. Check the closing time of both parks, usually Epcot closes a bit later, and stick around for the amazing fireworks at Epcot. Also the Electric Parade at Magic Kingdom is wonderful, again check the times for both so you don't miss them.

The Animal Kingdom is smaller than the other parks but the Safari ride is NOT to be missed, we enjoyed that most of all. Also inside the Tree of Life is a fun 3-D film, about bugs that we missed the first time we were there, we really liked that as well. At AK is Camp MiniMicky and the Lion King performance, that is also not to be missed.

My best suggestion is to get the info on all the parks when you get there, and do what looks most fun to your family. Also some things do change there on a regular basis, so get the most updated info when you get there.

Check the Liberty Travel website for info on packaged deals, our hotel was the Clarion (which used to be the Marriott) right at the Maingate, and there are free shuttle busses right to the parks so you can leave your car at the hotel, or we drove to the park so we could leave when we wanted.

You asked about beaches, there are several water parks right in the area and are part of the Disney passes, so you may find that will work.

There are also LOTS of shopping now in the area, an amazing amount of outlet stores, oh and coupons, there are coupons EVERYWHERE, for EVERYTHING, 2 for 1 kind of coupons for merchandise and food, so keep you eye out. Your hotel will have alot of those when you get there.

Also the outlet malls have coupon books for additional savings off prices, so pick those up as well.

Whew.......have a great time and please say HI to Micky for us, lol.

I went to Orlando Florida for the first time in 1999. I stayed 6 days and I still didn't see all of Disney World, Universal Studios, Epcot, Sea World. I had to return again in 2000 and I saw what I wasn't able to see in 1999.

I HATED MGM. If you are looking for rides, MGM is not the place for you. FYI, if you do not like the Park and leave within 30 minutes or an hour, they will refund your money and give you a ticket to come back on another date. I didn't know this until I went to Sea World and the sales clerk asked me how I was enjoying myself. I told her I didn't like MGM and she looked on my card (time stamped) and noticed I didn't stay long, she gave me a refund. So keep your tickets to every park just in case you are not enjoying yourself, because they will gladly refund your money plus give you a complimentary ticket(s) too.

Hello, we live in the UK and have visited Orlando 6 times.
Right, Universal or MGM - Universal, there is no comparison. There are only 2 or 3 rides at MGM worth going for. Have not been to IOA yet , we are going again this May, but I would say Universal definitely.
Best Beach- Clearwater on the West Coast, the beaches on this side have pure white sand.
Magic Kingdom or Epcot- both are good, Epoct mainly for adults , MK good for everyone. I would recommend them both they are completely different parks, if you had to choose though then MK. You cannot visit Orlando without going to MK.
One day enough for a theme park- Yes, you can see ANY of the parks in one day.
However, you are going in July one of the busiest and hottest times of the year. This would be my main concern.
The way to approach any park is to arrive early in the morning, have a break after a few hours and return early evening. This will not give you as much time as you would like, but believe me after 4 hours round MK in the middle of July you will be ready for a rest! The advantage though is that the parks stay open longer during the summer if you return about 4pm you will have a good amount of time to see what you missed in the morning, and it will be cooler.
The Orlando theme parks are great that's why so many visit from the UK, but in the summer you have to plan your visits carefully, what should be a great time can be a nightmare when the queues are long and the temperature is high. Take a break after a few hours and retuen later in the day, this is sound advice.