Just WDW or do you visit other parks?

[disney magic 06]

Most of our Florida holidays have been to WDW only but this year we started our holiday with 2 nights at Universal, which we greatly enjoyed. I quite fancied a day at Seaworld next year, and have just been checking it out online. I was shocked to see that a one day admission to the park would set us back $84.99, that seems pretty steep to me, and we'd also have to factor in hire car/shuttle bus costs. It would be a very expensive day out, especialy considering that we have a 14 day for the price of 7 Disney pass for our 12 day holiday so we could go to one of the Disney parks instead.

It has made me wonder, do most of you folks stray out of our magical lands on your trips?

 

[pixargal]

I grew up outside of Tampa and have been to almost all of the theme parks around Florida. I would recommend going to Sea World. It is a different experience than Disney, but that doesn't make it bad. If you enjoy watching animal shows than you should enjoy Sea World.

 

[sgtmgd]

We will do Universal...at least IOA...

I went to Sea World as we got on free due to the military promotion..I hadn't been since the filming of Jaws...I was pleasently surprised and did enjoy the day..BUT..then again it was free..I wouldn't spend 90 per person for a single day...

 

[luv]

Slumming it up at Universal's Portofino Bay sucks, the pool concierge only brings 3 towels per person when they escort you to the chaise of your choice. 2 that they wrap the chaise with and one for a pillow. And the kids hated the complimentary lemon/lime ice water at the pool. They had to settle for just the orange/tangerine ice water. But I had to explain to them that with our AP Discount $185/night (June) was all we could afford.

LOL.

Disney doesn't have a hotel that could compete with PBH. They don't even try to be as good as PBH. If PBH was on the WDW property, it would instantly become the favorite. And that little slice of heaven they call a muffin?! Omg. I have actually gone there just to get one. Y-u-m.

Uni doesn't have as many hotels as WDW, but their hotels are better. Hands down. No question. Bigger rooms. Better service. Uni winds for hotels. They also win for Transportation from hotels to parks.

 

[real mad hatter]

Our first two trips were a 2 centre thing.1st week at WDW. 2nd week at I- Drive. So we done the Universal/Islands,the shopping malls,Seaworld,Bush gardens,etc,but leaving the magic bubble after the first week was kinda sad.So now we enter the bubble and leave 14 days later.

 

[tarin24u]

We started to visit Universal when our DDs were old enough ( 7 and 9 then). We actually stayed at the Hard Rock for a few days the first time and Royal Pacific last time. I do think it's easier to visit UO after WDW if you stay onsite because the 'no line - no wait' feature is amazing but will spoil kids. This time we are doing a day or two at UO but not staying at the hotels there. The experiences at UO are so different from WDW but we enjoy both parks and I couldn't see flying to Florida and not seeing both park

 

[Jeff456]

We always do Universal along with Disney without fail (for 2 days) but we always do at least 10 day trips. We are doing Sea World and Discovery cove as well this year but we have 14 days . I would struggle not to do Universal as we enjoy it so much!

 

[captainkidd]

LOL.

Disney doesn't have a hotel that could compete with PBH. They don't even try to be as good as PBH. If PBH was on the WDW property, it would instantly become the favorite. And that little slice of heaven they call a muffin?! Omg. I have actually gone there just to get one. Y-u-m.

Uni doesn't have as many hotels as WDW, but their hotels are better. Hands down. No question. Bigger rooms. Better service. Uni winds for hotels. They also win for Transportation from hotels to parks.

Well, hold on a second here.

Service at Universal's hotels, yes, is better. Bigger rooms? Not true. Rooms at Royal Pacific are 335 sq ft and Hard Rock rooms are 375 sq ft. Polynesian rooms are 415 and 476 sq ft. Grand Floridian rooms are 440 sq ft. Contemporary rooms are 409 sq ft. Yacht and Beach and Boardwalk rooms are 381 sq ft. Of course they win for transportation to the parks. All the hotels are less than half a mile from the parks.

Now, while I agree the service is generally better at the Universal Resorts, that doesn't make them better resorts. Granted, each resort is within walking distance to the parks, but if they weren't, I'd take Wilderness Lodge or Boardwalk any day in terms of theme and things to do.

 

[Zortek]

My family stays at a Disney resort because it is a huge part of the experience. The main reason we stay at a Universal resort is for the Express pass.

 

[flynnibus]

Well, hold on a second here.

Service at Universal's hotels, yes, is better. Bigger rooms? Not true. Rooms at Royal Pacific are 335 sq ft and Hard Rock rooms are 375 sq ft. Polynesian rooms are 415 and 476 sq ft. Grand Floridian rooms are 440 sq ft. Contemporary rooms are 409 sq ft. Yacht and Beach and Boardwalk rooms are 381 sq ft. Of course they win for transportation to the parks. All the hotels are less than half a mile from the parks.

But that is a pretty 'favorable' comparison.. The UNI hotels are priced more along the moderates.. and the UNI rooms are often bigger than most of the mods.. which are typically 340 or less.. and even the smaller deluxes are 340-380 sqft. So in a apples to apples for what your price band is.. the UNI hotels do tend to be bigger.

Personally I find the UNI hotels good hotels - but would not consider staying there without the express pass. Royal Pacific is your typical convention hotel... lots of services, large property, way over priced amenities.

If it weren't for express pass.. I'd stay in a nice Radisson or equivalent off property.

 

[captainkidd]

But that is a pretty 'favorable' comparison.. The UNI hotels are priced more along the moderates.. and the UNI rooms are often bigger than most of the mods.. which are typically 340 or less.. and even the smaller deluxes are 340-380 sqft. So in a apples to apples for what your price band is.. the UNI hotels do tend to be bigger.

Personally I find the UNI hotels good hotels - but would not consider staying there without the express pass. Royal Pacific is your typical convention hotel... lots of services, large property, way over priced amenities.

If it weren't for express pass.. I'd stay in a nice Radisson or equivalent off property.

The price can get up there at those 3, but you're right, it's not in the same ballpark as the monorail resorts. It's more on par with Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Even without Express Pass, I'd still stay there. The convenience of walking back and forth to your room is well worth the cost to me. I have to disagree about Royal Pacific being a typical convention hotel. The convention hall is on the far end of the resort, away from all the rooms. Only thing it's close to is Emeril's. As for the over priced amenities, I have no idea. In the 6 or 7 times I've stayed there, I've never bothered with any of them. They have a cool little game room to spend time in when it's raining and the pool is closed. The pool is obviously free. I don't feel the convention vibe there anywhere near the same level as the Contemporary.

 

[KCheatle]

First of all, are those the discounted ticket prices? I know you can get discounted SeaWorld tickets were are much cheaper than the price at the door (or even on their own website). Having said that, I haven't gone to SeaWorld since 2008, which was before the whale attack/trainer incident. At that time, the best thing was (and IMO always has been) Shamu's show. It really is incredible. I also love the Walrus/Otter show - classic!

On the trip in 2008, we actually went to SeaWorld on the day we arrived in Orlando, so we didn't get there until 2pm and missed a lot of attractions, so I can't say with all honesty whether I thought the park was great/okay/terrible? I do remember that as a kid I loved it! I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread! I loved the dolphin encoutners and being able to feed them (not sure they do that anymore after the whale attack but they still did it in 2008).

The thing that did stick out to me negatively was the "zoo" aspect of it. BUt, I'm from Omaha so I have Henry Doorly Zoo at my beckon call and have become pretty spoiled.

If you are going to go to more than one park offsite-I would recommend staying offsite and getting them all done before going to WDW. I think once you immerse yourself in WDW it will be difficult for any of the other parks to live up to their standards and you would just be disappointed.

 

[flynnibus]

I have to disagree about Royal Pacific being a typical convention hotel. The convention hall is on the far end of the resort, away from all the rooms. Only thing it's close to is Emeril's. As for the over priced amenities, I have no idea. In the 6 or 7 times I've stayed there, I've never bothered with any of them. They have a cool little game room to spend time in when it's raining and the pool is closed. The pool is obviously free. I don't feel the convention vibe there anywhere near the same level as the Contemporary.

The convention aspect is about what services they have, in what capacity, and at what prices. Having traveled the world over for shows, conventions, and meetings.. the place just immediately reeked of 'designed for convention' the first time I made the walk to the boat dock. The offerings are catered towards serving that captive audience instead of competitive audience.

I thought the place was a steal at the $250 I paid for it on our Oct trip last year due to getting express passes for everyone. But besides the pool, the rest of the hotel really had nothing attractive to us and we actually liked the offsite hotel (Radisson Hotel Orlando - Lake Buena Vista) we stayed at at the start of the trip much better in terms of room, amenities, and price.

Going back and forth between park and hotel is a nice perk - but honestly we rarely ever do it.

Would I stay there again? Most certainly as long as they had Express Pass like they do now When I can get 5 people in a room for that kind of price and get Express Pass.. it's a no brainer.

 

[joanna71985]

I do both WDW and Universal regularly. I go to Busch Garden in the fall for HOS. And I want to visit Sea World (as well as Wet n' Wild).

 

[afar28]

Usually when I go to WDW, we go to SeaWorld for 1 day or Universal for 2 days (different each year)

 

[timeman]

For the people that are saying that Seaworld is expensive, it's cheaper than a one day at Disney. The other thing is that unlike Disney Seaworld & Busch Gardens do offer discounts up to $20 off of their one day tickets. If you are planning on going to Seaworld or Busch Gardens in Tampa I would check out their Facebook pages and Twitter along with doing a Google search before buying tickets to find out what discounts they are offering at that time. Right now you can get $20 off the ticket for Seaworld online using a promo code good during August and if you buy the ticket online and plan on going two days you can save $10 and get the second day for free.

 

[JIMINYCR]

We usually fit into our vacation plan a day at Universal, next trip we want to see HP. Have been to Sea World and probably not going back. And we scan the Orlando area guides and find a few other attractions, dinner shows to visit if time permits.

 

[Lucky]

We've usually just done WDW but last time finally spent a day at IoA to see HP. Our trip next week will just be WDW, but we'll probably go back to Orlando in early January for a few days, with 1 day at WDW (to use tickets I won in a fund-raising raffle) and 2 at Uni.

 

[ExtinctJenn]

For the people that are saying that Seaworld is expensive, it's cheaper than a one day at Disney.

I think the idea is that many feel they get much more for the money with a WDW park ticket (even with the buy one get one free days etc.).

 

[ShookieJones]

It's always been 7 days at WDW only.

Since last year our game plan is now stay at WDW 7 days
but now 2 of those 'days' are spent at Uni - we rent car for our trips so we spend a great 2 days at US and IOA back in time for supper and some evening EMHs at the World.

Universal is a fun time for us - even if it is just for WWoHP and frozen butterbeer. It's not.....but it's almost worth it just for that area and that magical beverage.

 

[dave&di]

We do between 21-24 nights in Florida:

Week 1 - nothing but WDW!!!!!!! (staying on property)

Week 2- Uni/IOA & Seaworld (staying on Uni property)

Week 3 - gulf Coast with one visit to Busch Gardens!!!!!!!

With being from the UK we do as much as we can!