Visiting Orlando - Need Tips 2
 

I posted this in the Florida forum, but this one gets much more traffic.

Any tips / ideas are appreciated:


" Hi everyone. We're going to visit the wonderful (overhyped) world of Disney in November. I could use a few tips on what to do, where to go and what to avoid.

So far the plan is to land, get the rental and drive around since our plane lands at about 10 and the hotel won't let us in until about 2ish.

I only plan to be in wally world for one day, while my wife and little one will get the three day pass.

What can I do other than visit a local gun range (I can handle a rifle but never handled a handgun before) to practice and learn something

I also thought about visiting a couple of the local bike shops, check out your low low prices (I get 1.01 for every dollar. This has not yet happened in my lifetime

So Floridians, what should we do?

Where is the best place to buy disney tickets? Would direct from the web be the way to go or is there somewhere where they have a better discount?

Any advice appreciated.

BTW we will be spending 7 full sunny days eating your oranges"

Thanks
Wes

Orlando is pretty much the poster child for urban sprawl and soulless development. The traffic is ridiculous and there are lots of dangerous neighborhoods. I wouldn't ride a bike there----unless you're allowed to ride IN DISNEY WORLD. Your gun range idea is a good one. Leave the kids and wife at the park and go see some of Orlando's world class strip clubs. LOL

See the super big bullets at Kennedy Space Center, especially in the Saturn V caliber. Take the tour of the old launching sites for the Mercury launches, too. Also Sea World was fun for an adult for a day.

Couldn't agree more.

I've lived in Florida my entire life, and been to Disney more than ten times.

I recommend staying in Kissimmee rather than actually staying in Orlando.
you'll save a bit of money that way.

if you're into music, the House of Blues in Orlando is one of many great venues.
there's great food, too.

you could always spend an evening at Lazy Moon pizza and try to eat an entire pizza.
only a handful of people have ever done it.

there's always a lot of cool stuff going on at the University of Central Florida.

I always liked Epcot.
if you're into technology, it's a great park.

Yeah, Orlando has some positive things going for it, like busmute mentions. Not too far from some great beaches too. Florida has great weather in November, but Orlando will be packed that time a year. I'm sure your family will have fun at the theme parks, don't forget about Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, or Seaworld if you get tired of Mickey Rat.

Go to the beach -- Cocoa Beach, Melbourne, New Smyrna Beach, etc.

Avant de commencer vos grandes vacances au Monde de Disney, il faut que vous ayez un plan. Les sections critiques sont vos réservation extrêmement tôt, vos décision au sujet du nombre de Parcs et lesquels pour visiter pendant quels jours, vos système de promenade pour chaque parc, et vos plan á manger.

Une bonne référence avant de prendre toutes les décisions, lisez, un an á l'avance, «le guide non-autorisé» et faire quelques plans expérimentaux sur le nombre de jours, lequel Parc «*jour par jour», où manger, et les divertissements spécialisés comme «Hoop-Dee-Do Revue» (ma proposition la plus haute, pour votre premiere soir). Voice un exemple de mon voyage récent, mais fassiez attention du budget:

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...mmary_Plan.jpg

Une bonne référence d'Internet pour tous les détails est www.allearsnet.com, où vous pourriez trouver des détails comme les menues de restaurant, les tailles de chambres pour plusieurs auberges «*avec photos*», et quelques sorts de FAQ par sujet . . .

Puis, quand il est temps pour votre préparation détaillée, je recommande forte des plans individualisé pour vos préférences particulières en ce qui concerne le parc, le jour de la semaine, le temps d'arrivée, l'âge de vos membres de groupe . . . Voici un exemple de mon voyage récent :

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...uring_Plan.jpg

Soyez sûr d'employer la methode de FastPass autant que possible, et obtenez l'autant de comme possible parce qu'aujourd'hui, les membres de Disney n'imposent pas le temps d'expiration ainsi vous pouvez les employer n'importe quand après le temps commençant. Voici un photo de FastPass:

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...c/FastPass.jpg

Si vous faites tout de celui, vous allez voir tout le Disney doit offrir et se sentir bien satisfait quand vous retournez à la maison. Malheureusment, je pense que vous ayez besoin de plus que cinq dollar par heure par personne du debut a la fini «*sommeil inclus*», , peut-être en range to huit dollar, maximum.

That's what I would do. I would rather have root canal rather than go back to Disney. All so commercial with product placement everywhere you turn.

Thanks for the reply, looks interesting but it seems to be in something other than I understand. I do understand SOME french, but not enough to read that.

For some areas to ride near Orlando try:

http://floridafreewheelers.com/maps.php

Well, you could visit the Catrike factory, it's only 15 miles west of Orlando.

Seriously though, you may as well get a three-day pass for yourself, there is enough there to keep you entertained. If you get bored with the Magic Kingdom you just have to hop a (free) bus or monorail to Animal Kingdom, Epcot (my fave), MGM studios or even Downtown Disney.

A shooting range? Are you serious??

Yeah, I lived there 20 years ago and it was the same way then. I went to visit my folks there about two months ago and was suprised to see there are some bike lanes. And they have a bike trail now.

http://www.orangecountyfl.net/images...T_TrailMap.pdf

Which connects to the Lake County bike trail on the left of the map. And that one will supposedly connect to the van Fleet trail. I saw at the Killarney Station trail head (lower right on the map) they had bike for rent if you wanted to give it try. I think they were all Raleigh mountain type bikes. Sorry, I don't know the rates.

When I lived there, Orange Cycle was one of the better bike shops. Though I don't really know what's up now.

http://orangecycleorlando.com/page.cfm?pageID=30

One problem navigating in the area is that most homes are in sub divisions that have only one entrance. So there are only a few options for "cross town" traffic and those all have heavy traffic. And then there are all the lakes so there aren't many long straight roads. Other than that I can't help you much because everything I knew has been cut down, ripped up, built up, then torn down and rebuilt again.

but, but, but, . . . your profile says Canada! Another of my stereotypes is now lost.

Anyhow, sorry for that, it could very well be my text is unreadable as its a report I had to write for a French class I was in a year ago. Seeing as how English is so much briefer and to the point than French, here are the main points:

Plan ahead. Which park. Travel time (stand at the rope when the park opens or roll in at 11 am). Travel method (car, boat, bus, train). Which restaurants and at what time. Which attractions and in what order. A couple hours planning will make your family a lot happier. My kids were skeptics until day two when we repeatedly walked by people raging at the line keepers about the hours they'd been waiting and our waits were 5-15 minutes because we planned ahead and used the facilities and tips provided. There is a book out there you can get at your library or LBS (bookstore in this context)- The Unofficial Guide to Disney. It has everything you need to know and is not sponsored by Disney but is written by people who live for Disney, more or less. I am not a contributor to that book, but I did find it extremely useful.

The first picture was my outline plan for a week on-site. The second one was a so-called "touring plan" from a website specializing in that, whereby you pick a park (like Animal Kingdom), a group style (like adult, or adult with kids, senoirs, or toddlers) and a timeframe (like start at rope drop, or late arrival) and which date and they produce a sequence in which you visit all attractions at the park. Turns out only a few percent of people attending use a tour plan, so your use of it doesn't bias the result. It means you go get a fast pass (advance ticket putting you in a special line) for a main atttraction like Expedition Everest and only then go back and tour some of the richly detailed walk through attraction like the tree of life. Touring plans are very usefull and keep everyone immersed in the Disney detail and limit your wait times to something like 5-15 minutes while keeping you moving at a reasonable pace. Admitedly I went in the middle of summer when crowds were horrendous, and you won't have that in Novemeber, but it can only help. A touring plan will make sure you see everything, even some good things you might skip unless you saw them on the list.

www.allears.net has lots of detail, advice on coupons, discounts, and off-site pass purchases, all the restaurant menus (choose ahead of time and then make reservations ahead of time), and lots of other advice. It's like BF.

Lastly, despite the hype and the expense of everything Disney, my main and only important advice is make reservations now to go to the Hoop-Dee-Do-Revue on your first night. It's a two hour dinner theater and it will put you in the mood to enjoy the remainder of your visit, at least the Disney portions. Expensive, but a great meal your kids will eat and ridiculously funny and entertaining.

Since I travel often for business to Orlando area,
I went to Disney after all our friends pushed us to go. It's a once in a lifetime experience they said.
I found Disney the most, fake, plastic, overgroomed, crowded and commercial place on earth with really abusive prices. It has all the elements I dislike of some unethical business practices, like Mcdonalds, get the parents money through the children. Yes I agree with my friends, its a once in a lifetime experience, never again. Mr. Walt Disney must be turning so much in his grave must probably he could do a wonderful fan!!!

Try to have time do something real with your kids.... go to Kennedy Space Center..worthwhile spending the day taking the tours.. Its a short drive from Orlando. See the amazing Coca Cola cans they used to go to space and the moon and realize these guys really had guts.... See the amazing mercury rocket and all the other boosters.. these are giant firecrackers that go under the Coca Cola cans... Its a wonderful experience. This place will inspire any kid to study science and math and have true dreams that actually will become a reality....

Ck the NASA site and ck to see if there are any rockets taking off. Several times a year they take satellites up and/or experimental rockets.... I saw the shuttle once and even at the 5 mile mark its truly an exciting experience...

I also recommend a ride on an air boat... these are exciting and will take you very close to nature....Floridas nature is unique and although may denizens in the state fight off nature by living in artificial well insulated air conditioned structures..it does offer an incredible array of varieties and ways to enjoy it ....

And since you are going to Disney I always heard... dont waste your time... organize and plan your daily activities well and yes by all means get a fast pass... or you will waste hours on cues....