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byChris
United States99 Posts
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Live2Win
United States6657 Posts
If you like theme parks then I strongly suggest you take a day to drive down to Tampa and spend a day at Busch Gardens. The rollercoaster rides are 10 times better than anything Disney has to offer. Of course Disney has it's own attractions, but in terms of pure rollercoaster entertainment, Busch Gardens beats it by far. It's only an hour west of Orlando, and is very easy to get to (just drive west on I-4). Disney World: Which theme park do you plan on visiting? Disney has multiple theme parks, the most popular being Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Magic Kingdom has nice rides, but they're not very extreme and target younger audiances. Although I must say Space Mountain is still a great ride, no matter when I ride it. Epcot is also very cool. I have to recommend you ride Test Track. When my friends and I last went to Disney we bought a "park-hop pass". Its a ticket that allows you to go to any of Disney's theme parks (they're all connected through monorail or boat) and spent 1 day going to Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studios. Universal Studios: I'm assuming you're going to Islands of Adventure. This theme park is just so much fun. You HAVE to ride Spiderman and the Hulk. Spiderman is probably the coolest ride ever that's not a rollercoaster. Busch Gardens: Yes. If you like rollercoaster rides, you must visit this place. Gwazi, Montu, Kumba, and Sheikra are the most popular rides. These 4 are rides you just can't miss if you go. Other than that, I'd say Florida beaches are always good to go to. | ||
zXk3
Mexico1178 Posts
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iheartgna
United States184 Posts
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DanceCommander
United States1808 Posts
Of course, your going to want to check out the theme parks. I assume you have all the Disney parks covered, but what I recommend is at least 1 day checking out a water park. Orlando has several, majority of which are Disney parks. Top three, I'd say are Typhoon Lagoon (Disney), Blizzard Beach (Disney), and Wet n' Wild (Not Disney). But I also hear that Sea Worlds new park, Aquatica, isn't half bad either, so do some research and make a smart choice. Now as for theme parks, I'd have to say my favorite is Islands of Adventure, just because I absolutely love roller coasters. If you do too, your not going to have much luck at the Disney parks because the only 2 that have one is MGM, with Rockin' Roller Coaster, and Magic Kingdom, with Space Mountain, but it's kind of a baby coaster. Busch Garden's would be the perfect place for the roller coaster lover, but it's out in Tampa, which is about an hours drive from Florida. Now the other main Tourist area in Orlando is called International Drive, or I-Drive. Ton's of restaurants and miscellaneous attractions there it will most likely keep you busy. What you might be interested in, assuming you are 21 and can drink legally, is Universal City Walk, which is a cut off section that leads to Universal and IOA, sort of. But what this section has is a host of bars, restaurants, and even a club. What I recommend in City Walk is Margaritaville, a delicious restaurant that is Jimmy Buffet themed (Yea, who knew?). The other good restaurant I can think of at the top of my head that is close is called Bahama Breeze on I-Drive, not in City Walk. There are other good places, but are kind of far if your going to keep to that area of Orlando. Now as a warning, there are Tourist traps in I-Drive you should stay away from, as they take your money with overly-expensive entree fees and food prices and crappy attractions. The 3 that come to mind is Wonder Works, Ripley's Believe it or Not, and Fun Spot (although they do have Go-Carts and other carnival rides). But yea, if your more into drinking and such, check out City Walk, and maybe even swing by Downtown Orlando because its swamped with bars as well. But if your more into the parks, stick with Disney and Sea World and Universal. If you have any questions man just ask I'll be happy to answer them. | ||
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dancefayedance!~
396 Posts
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251
United States1401 Posts
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SayaSP
Laos5494 Posts
On Topic: Yea Busch Gardens is rox | ||
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sillyboy_tomato
United States157 Posts
Sea world, epcot and universal studios Sea world: So freaking fun and enjoyable. There are many attractions that can keep you occupied for a good whole day. And if you plan it well enough using the show schedules provided. You can see all of them with a good allowance time in between each one which can be better used for lining up for a good seat. Also wear clothes that you can get wet in. Getting wet in shamu and the other rides just makes sea world much much better. You just have to see Shamu if you are going there. Epcot: Personally maybe because im 16, why i probably didn't appreciate it as much. But it is a great cultural thing. The food place their sucked by the way. You get to learn about many different things not only about different countries but agricultural developments. Universal Studios: Really really awesome. Absolutely awesome. Island of adventure is a MUST. I'll go kill you if you don't go. You can spend 3 days in all the attractions with a blast in each of it. Going here should be your priority. Other places considerable to go to: The Mall of millenia - Such a big big big mall. It is too hard to even try to go to each store  Well if you wanna shop (probably not since you live in the US already)Premium outlets/prime outlets - Cheap and really good apparel. I personally go to the Nike, Adidas , Brooks and Brothers and Lacoste stores there. hope this helps | ||
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city42
1656 Posts
I've lived in Orlando for 13 years or something (currently not there due to college) and since my entire extended family lives overseas, I'm somewhat of an expert on our tourism sector, so here are some tips: First of all, staying in Disney for five days means you need to face an important reality: it's physically impossible to do everything Disney has to offer in that time frame. Two weeks wouldn't even do it. To do everything in a single Disney park probably takes 3 days because each and every attraction has a line. Magic Kingdom is fairly fun but overall is aimed at more of a child audience so if you're pressed for time and can't do all the parks, this should be the first to be sacrificed. MGM Studios has some of the better thrill-seeking rides like splash mountain, space mountain, etc., and is generally worth going to. EPCOT has its merits as well if you're looking to have a good time. It's basically an internationally themed place with each major world country having an area (complete with local cuisine and merchandise). There aren't many actual rides in EPCOT...a few countries have small rides and there's test track/spaceship earth. Animal Kingdom is pretty awesome but some of the lines are absurd. Please also be aware if you're planning on switching parks on the same day: there is a strong chance that you will encounter an afternoon thunderstorm in August, and that can really slow the transportation down. The parks have a surprising distance between them and walking isn't much of an option, so you're at Disney's mercy to get around. I went last year when family was over, and we were essentially stuck in a gift shop for 90 minutes due to nonstop pouring rain and lightning. My tip for you, then, is to get there early in the morning and get as much done as possible before the mid afternoon (say, 4 p.m.) when the skies can really open up. For your situation (sounds like it's just you and your girlfriend), Universal Studios is probably better than Disney. It's got two parks and each of them has a plethora of fun rides, most of which are actually aimed at people over the age of 10, which Disney can't match. Islands of Adventure is the better of the two, but the original Universal has some great old school rides as well. To enter either park you have to go through an area called Citywalk which is just a collection of restaurants and shops selling stuff at insane prices. I really don't recommend buying merchandise here unless you really want it, because the prices are unfair. There are some nice places to eat and supposedly there's good nightlife. Not much to say about Sea World. It's the third most popular place behind Disney/Universal, and I guess it can entertain you for a day. It has that new place now where you can pet dolphins and such, but I've never been there because the ticket prices are pretty high. Busch Gardens is probably the best place to find purely thrill-seeking rides, but it's an hour's drive from Orlando, and there isn't too much else to do in Tampa. There's another popular place in Orlando for tourists called International Drive, or colloquially I-Drive. I don't really know how it would be for a tourist who is already from the states. Almost all the stuff there is aimed for tourists coming in from Britain. Most people you see there will have nylon soccer jerseys, three-fourth pants, black socks and sandals, either ghost white or deep red with sunburns. Essentially it's a big road with tons of shops, restaurants, attractions, and other things on both sides of the road for miles. If you stay a bit from there, you can find a ton of outlet stores with ridiculous prices on goods. I believe the largest one is called the Belz Factory Outlet, but there are hundreds more shops in the vicinity. There is a ton to do here, but be sure to get started early in the day because rain really can mess up your afternoon, and it rains every day in the summer. Oh, and leave the long sleeved shirts and jeans at home because every day is going to be above 90 with Amazon-rainforest-level humidity. I don't mean to sound like a worried mother but be sure to drink a ton of water when you're outside in the theme parks. People get heat stroke or severely dehydrated in Disney/Universal every day. Wear some sunblock too if you aren't particularly tanned already (hell put some on regardless). Don't underestimate the sun because it will kick your ass. Good luck! | ||
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SayaSP
Laos5494 Posts
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byChris
United States99 Posts
i really .. . really hate shopping. with anyone. since disney has all those parks hopefully we won't have time to go shopping............^^ basic plan is to go to one park a day in disney for four days and then island of adventures for the last day . .. so I guess my next question is which disney park is worth skipping? city 42: thanks for the weather . . thunderstorms wth | ||
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fusionsdf
Canada15390 Posts
On July 29 2008 19:28 Live2Win wrote: Wow the resorts are pretty expensive. If you like theme parks then I strongly suggest you take a day to drive down to Tampa and spend a day at Busch Gardens. The rollercoaster rides are 10 times better than anything Disney has to offer. Of course Disney has it's own attractions, but in terms of pure rollercoaster entertainment, Busch Gardens beats it by far. It's only an hour west of Orlando, and is very easy to get to (just drive west on I-4). Disney World: Which theme park do you plan on visiting? Disney has multiple theme parks, the most popular being Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Magic Kingdom has nice rides, but they're not very extreme and target younger audiances. Although I must say Space Mountain is still a great ride, no matter when I ride it. Epcot is also very cool. I have to recommend you ride Test Track. When my friends and I last went to Disney we bought a "park-hop pass". Its a ticket that allows you to go to any of Disney's theme parks (they're all connected through monorail or boat) and spent 1 day going to Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studios. Universal Studios: I'm assuming you're going to Islands of Adventure. This theme park is just so much fun. You HAVE to ride Spiderman and the Hulk. Spiderman is probably the coolest ride ever that's not a rollercoaster. Busch Gardens: Yes. If you like rollercoaster rides, you must visit this place. Gwazi, Montu, Kumba, and Sheikra are the most popular rides. These 4 are rides you just can't miss if you go. Other than that, I'd say Florida beaches are always good to go to. disney world is the most overrated themepark ever the lineups are long and the rides are mediocre busch gardens and universal are the places to go also space mountain sucked. the highlight of the ride (other than the hour spent standing in line) was the pretty stars on the ceiling almost any roller coaster in the world is better than that | ||
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byChris
United States99 Posts
final question anyone heard anything about this thing called 'disney pleasure island'? some kinda bar/club hopping deal. i expect mile high drink prices+weak drinks...hows the music? genre? dj quality? is the shit even worth it ? i heard its getting shut down pretty soon... | ||
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