Heading to Orlando

[flamefan74]

Was down in Orlando in December for a wedding. Make sure you leave lots of time for Disney as there are 5 parks and you could spend a day in each. We also hit Universal Studios, Kennedy Space Center and Daytona Beach. Kennedy Space Center was awesome but another long day. You could spend 2 days there if you wanted to see everything. Daytona Raceway was cool even if you aren't into Nascar. Lots of neat exhibits, Imax movies and tours of the race track and pit areas. As others have said, Busch Gardens in Tampa is a lot of fun and there are wineries along the way. There are lots of tours going on all around there so you don't need to drive if you don't want, although you are running on their schedule. Also, some nights we ate off the Disney property at some good family restaurants that were fairly cheap. About 10 minutes away from Disney.

[Devils'Advocate]

There are some really, really cool bus tours there. I was invited to attend a conference in Orlando and I only had one day to myself - and I took a trip to the Everglades. I wanted to see something *real*, like real alligators.

http://www.gatortours.com/NewSite2/TOURS_link.asp

(no I don't work for them, just really enjoyed the tour)

[Sample00]

My cousin is the Manager of Guest Services for Epcot. Say hi to her for me when ya see her!

[eazyduzzit]

Probably don't want to miss out on universal studios which is just up the I-4 from the Disney area.

Take Mckoy road west on to Sand Lake road from the airport and then follow it until you reach the I-4 then turn West and it will take you right to that area -without hitting any tolls. It will only save you about 2 bucks but sometimes you don't have American change when you land and this way is just as quick. I'd imagine your staying somewhere in that vicinity?

[Superflyer]

Thanks for all the tips, sorry I never got to reply yesterday but my hard drive crashed at home so I spent the night fixing that.

Anyways we are going to go to all the Disney parks so that should be cool. My wife is going nuts planning that but out side of that she does not care about much.
I would love to go to the glades but I don't think that we will have time, but that would be so awsome to see them and all the wildlife in their natural habitats.
The link for fodors is pretty good we did not find that one yet.

[Flames4LifeFLA]

Originally Posted by Superflyer

I would love to go to the glades but I don't think that we will have time, but that would be so awsome to see them and all the wildlife in their natural habitats.
The link for fodors is pretty good we did not find that one yet.

If you want to just see alligators and lots of them, although not in their natural habitat, you can go to Gatorland. It's located in Kissimmee which is relatively around the Disney area, as compared to the Everglades, that's around a 4-5 hour drive each way.

Gatorland had a big fire a few months ago, so I'm not even sure if they are re-opened. They have big feeding shows where they dangle whole chickens and the gators practically jump into a standing position to grab them. This was 15 years ago, so who knows what they do there now.

[Flames4LifeFLA]

A few months ago when I was in Orlando, a family from Calgary left a note on the windshield of my car (that is decked out in Flames logos, magnets, etc.), saying how neat it was to see that so far from home.

Know it could've been anybody, but I always thought it might be someone from CP!