A detour to Orlando from a Belgian in Miami

[fradz]

Hey guys,

So long story short, I'll be in Miami for business from 10th till 15th of July. I've decided to extend until the 23rd, and on the 24th morning I'll fly back from Miami.

This leaves me with a few days to go up north and hit a few parks there. In practice, I'll hit the WDW-exclusives such as Pandora, the new stuff (Rise, MMRR) and some of my favorites (Splash...). I also want to do Uni and will also try to do Busch Gardens Tampa (Iron Gwazi hellooo).
This is what I was thinking so far:

--> Any recommendations where to stay? I'll be either solo or with 1 friend-colleague
--> Any days to avoid for a specific park? I'll check EMH and events also and check crowd calendars predictors but it's still summer so I know it's gonna be busy.

Also, I haven't been in the US in a while (almost 10 years). Is there anything that has drastically changed in the country as a whole that I should be aware of? I read the world news and I'm very aware about the theme parks changes (obviously...)

This is a bit last minute but you know... Doable.
Any help is welcome and appreciated

 

[fradz]

Sounds like a great trip. I’m not sure Uni needs 2.5 days, so I’d recommend stopping at the Kennedy Space Center on the way up if you haven’t done that before, and cutting time from Uni. For places to stay, we’d need more info about your budget and how you like to tour. We always stay on site but that costs more and you’ll have a car to help getting around. Are you looking to stay in the same place the whole time, or move from one area to another?

As far as the US goes, the whole country has basically gone crazy in the past ten years, with Florida near the front of the line. I wish I lived in Belgium.

Thank you! I haven't decided yet about how much do i want to splurge, is it still that important to stay onsite? Perks have dried up lately....

Questions about Genie+:
Is it possible to grab a LL for FoP or even Rise coming from a park hop (say from Epcot)? Or at 14:00 everything is gone?
If you park hop and pay for Genie+, do you need to pay a second time for the other park?

 

[Lilofan]

Sounds like a great trip. I’m not sure Uni needs 2.5 days, so I’d recommend stopping at the Kennedy Space Center on the way up if you haven’t done that before, and cutting time from Uni. For places to stay, we’d need more info about your budget and how you like to tour. We always stay on site but that costs more and you’ll have a car to help getting around. Are you looking to stay in the same place the whole time, or move from one area to another?

As far as the US goes, the whole country has basically gone crazy in the past ten years, with Florida near the front of the line. I wish I lived in Belgium.

I would like to visit Belgium and I like to try different cuisines. I just can't think of any Belgium cuisine or restaurants in the USA to try it out.