Travel Advice: Orlando, Florida - June 2-9

[manwiches]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

When we went to Disney, my daughter was about 6 months old. We scrapped nap time and she just slept in the stroller. It was just awkward to leave the park to let her nap.

This. We've taken my son to Disneyland at 1.5 years old and 3 years old, and both times when it was nap time or he was cranky, he slept in the stroller, and we just walked through th AC shops to cool down. Some days he was so excited he would miss his nap, and then just fall asleep early. Other days he napped, and was up well past his usual bedtime.

Kids are so amped to be there, seeing lights etc, that their schedules will be messed up regardless. Enjoy the vacation, and just let it roll, whenever your kid gets tired.

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[calgarygeologist]

I don't know if this flight is still an option but we flew to Orlando in Feb via Regina. It was a Westjet flight and we went Calgary to Regina at 6:15 or 6:30pm, stayed overnight at a nearby hotel and caught a 9:15am (or something like that) to Orlando. It worked out great as we were originally planning on doing the red eye through Toronto.

[sureLoss]

For places to stay consider getting a vacation rental. Lots of options around Disney World.

You can get a nice pool house for good price. Especially if you are splitting the cost between two couples.

Our family's townhome is located here: https://windsorhillsofficialrentals.com/
There are other options from 2 bedroom apartments to 6 bedroom houses.
Windsor Hills is a good location for you as it is kind of in the center of Tampa, Kennedy Space Center, Disney and Universal.
Disney is the closest with Animal Kingdom being a 5 minute drive on a good traffic day.

I would offer you our family's townhome, but we are also heading done there the same time .

[wooohooo]

Oh Okay I figured out why people could find direct flight. I forgot to mention that I'm flying from Edmonton. I found the direct flight for Calgary

Yeah, we're not all that concerned at doing everything Disney. Would just like a few days to have fun, not sure the kiddo would even remember.

We're thinking of skipping Universal and maybe do SeaWorld and Busch Gardens. Would that be a major mistake?

I'm pretty excited to go to NASA so that's a must on my list, not sure others feel the same as me though

[wooohooo]

Originally Posted by marsplasticeraser

OK, I'm gonna be a negative nelly. Sorry in advance, but from experience your plan to go to inland Florida in summer is suboptimal.

First of all, the red-eye will be horrible. Your little one may get the best rest ironically, but on the lap she/he may be awake all night. you will all be cranky and sleep deprived when you finally get there. It will suck!

Secondly, Inland Florida can be hot and wet and generally unpleasant...in September or October. I can't imagine what the heat and humidity in June would be like, though I've heard it's punishment. We've been twice with 35C+ with 95% humidity. We lasted about 90 minutes at Disney, and were thankful it wasn't busy so we were almost always on a ride for those 90 minutes. You're signing on for unbearable heat that will make you not want to go outside.

The final issue is that you'll be swarmed with the crowds when you want to go. Here's a crowd calendar (https://www.undercovertourist.com/or...dar/June-2018/). We have found a level 4 or 5 to be about the longest waits we can tolerate. You'll spend all your time waiting in line.

Ultimately, it will be scorching hot, unpleasantly humid, expensive and you'll be outside in lines each day, lucky to get on a half-dozen rides a day.

Suggestion 1 - If you're going to florida in June skip the parks and go to the beach, where the heat is manageable and you aren't standing in line at a theme park all day.

Suggestion 2 - Go somewhere else entirely. Basically June is one of the best times of the year to travel. Almost any place is exceptional in US and Canada except for a band from inland Florida / Louisiana across the south to Joshua Tree in California, where it's entered inferno-summertime. .

Unfortunately the only times that it works to go is June. And we've done California to death. Other couple wants to do Disney so it is what it is. This should be an interesting vacation. Thanks for the input

[Barnes]

That is an aggressive plan even for someone without a 1 year old. Red eye to Toronto gets you there at 6am and now you have to change terminals and clear customs. Fly to MCO, transfer to the park area check in and get to WDW the next day? In June? Tomorrow is the day you need to start booking fast-passes as you will be 30 days out. WDW at the busiest time is intense. You need to be booked, have a plan for which park and have fast passes for the rides you want because everyone else will.

[Lubicon]

Never done it with kids which obviously is very different but I do prefer the red eyes for connecting. Get's you into your destination as early as possible and I find it simple to adapt to the time change. Plus if something goes wrong on the initial flight you likely have multiple options to get to Orlando as the entire day remains. Not so if you are planning an afternoon connection which is the other alternative. I hate arriving late in the day so the earlier arrival made possible by a red eye works for me. You probably have to get up at some ungodly hour for the morning flight anyway. Your kid will be sleep deprived either way so consider flying overnight and maybe they will sleep for a bit rather than not at all during a daytime flight.

I've done a similar routing (YEG-YYZ-MIA-CUN) years ago when American Airlines pulled out of Edmonton after we had booked our flight to Mexico. Red eye out of YEG to YYZ, then another transfer in Miami and we were still in Cancun earlier than our original flight had us scheduled.

Just looking at the other side of the equation.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by wooohooo

We're thinking of skipping Universal and maybe do SeaWorld and Busch Gardens. Would that be a major mistake?

In my opinion, yes.

The Studios park at Universal is skippable, but Islands of Adventure is one of the best theme parks in the world.

If I were to rank the parks in Central Florida, I'd put them...

1. Magic Kingdom
2. Islands of Adventure
3. Animal Kingdom
4. Epcot
5. Disney Studios
6. Universal Studios
7. Busch Gardens
8. SeaWorld

If you're big roller coaster enthusiasts, I'd do Busch Gardens because they do have a few good coasters. If you don't like coasters at all, I'd put it at the bottom of the list.

[calgarygeologist]

Figured I would revive this thread instead of starting a new one. We are thinking about going down to Orlando during the last week of August primarily to check out SeaWorld. It looks like many people here are saying that SeaWorld is pretty weak. Is it really that awful or is it just weak in comparison to Disney and Universal? We've been to Legoland, Orlando and San Diego, and the kid's enjoyed both of those parks a lot.

A week long package for SeaWorld with hotel and unlimited access to the park and water park is $700 to $1200 vs $2400 to $5000 for the same thing at Universal or Disney. My kid's a primarily interested in water slides over rides and the water park at SeaWorld looks pretty good.

Is it really not recommended to go down for SeaWorld?

[jeffporfirio]

I would say definitely worth it to stay near Sea World. About 3 years ago we were at the Renaissance Sea World, and it was a spectacular stay. The hotel has a fantastic pool area, with splash park and slides.
If you want to wander someplace non-touristy, Orlando has a really neat kids science museum just east of downtown.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by jeffporfirio

I would say definitely worth it to stay near Sea World. About 3 years ago we were at the Renaissance Sea World, and it was a spectacular stay. The hotel has a fantastic pool area, with splash park and slides.
If you want to wander someplace non-touristy, Orlando has a really neat kids science museum just east of downtown.

The Renaissance at Seaworld is the one we are looking at. It is like $150 more but the benefit of having a two bedroom suite with a kitchen could be worth it.

Edit: I was wrong. Looking at the Residence Inn and not Renaissance Inn.

[Bownesian]

For anyone considering this, we just did Disney/Orlando last month and have some actionable suggestions:

1) We rented an AirBNB in Kissimmee with a pool and would do that again 10 times out of 10. This is the one we had, but there are others:

https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/7880435?...hgAvqcYsrm8Y7t

It was a great place for my family, my brother's family, and my mom. Lots of space for all, the baby can sleep without you being stuck in the hotel room, it's close to a Walmart, 10-25 mins to the various Disney parks.

2) Rent a car from a company that is inside the airport. Then, you can get a road toll pass from someone with a clip board in the rental level and save money compared to paying the rental agency. Every main route is a toll road, and having a paid pass is not avoidable. The pass at the airport allows you to just pay the tolls you use and no more (i.e. not $10/day like the rental agencies will charge).

If you can come armed with proof that your insurance (travel or home auto) covers Liability in Florida, you may be able to avoid a very expensive up-charge at the rental place.

3) If you're going to Disney and are getting a park-hopper pass with Fast Pass, buy it now, register it, and use the Disney app to book your fast passes now. The Fast Pass bookings for the good rides are full weeks in advance. They can save hours of line time for up to 3 rides a day.

4) Don't miss the trip to NASA if you've never been to Johnson or Kennedy. They have a Saturn V and a space shuttle and a bus tour of the launch pads and the VAB. NASA is also a good destination if there is a rainy day (the theme park rides practically shut down if there's lightening in the area).

5) I'd watch https://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/ to see if there is anything going up from Cape Canaveral. There's a couple Space-x launches a month, and you might get lucky.