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?

 

[steviej]

haven't read other responses, I go to Universal approx. once for every 3 trips to the world

 

[Alison1975]

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

Disney and only Disney for us. ONE day at another park would run us nearly $600.. can not fathom that..so we stick with Disney.

 

[Tomi-Rocket]

Just Disney. Whenever we finally go to Universal it will be a completely separate trip.

 

[kate'nkaren]

this was our first ever trip to WDW (just returned home after a week at WDW) We spent the first day at Universal so we could do the Harry Potter rides specifically - we were staying at Pop Century and organised a shuttle/ticket with "destinations in florida" The cost for 2 adults with a 1 Day/2 Park Pass with Round Trip shuttles was $276.90. It was very well organised, they collected us at the door of Pop Century and when you get to the park, you go to the "Will Call" booths which are easy to use and instantaneous tickets. We then rang for the return shuttle and they were right on time.
I found all the rides at Disneyworld to be quite tame (enjoyable nonetheless) so if you have more adventurous riders, you must do Universal.

 

[Mikester71]

We bought passes for Universal one year at our local CAA, before either our 2nd or 3rd WDW vacation, and planned on spending 2 days out of our trip at Universal/IOA. But the more we thought about it, the more we didn't want to take the time away from the WDW part of the trip. So luckily for us, we were able to sell the passes (since they don't expire) on a local classifieds site and get our money back.

Now, that's not to say we don't ever leave WDW property while we are down there. We drive our own vehicle down from Canada on our 10 day trips (13 if you count the drive there and back) and always try to get away from Disney for one day each trip to explore some of Florida's other fine destinations. Last year we spent one day at the Kennedy Space Centre and drove to Cocoa Beach and Ron Jon's Surf Shop before returning to our resort later that night. The trip before that, we drove to Siesta Keys for a day and spent the day at some of the nicest beaches in the world!!

So as much as we love WDW and don't want to lose any days to other parks, we are okay with losing 1 day to visit something that is totally non-park related and seems fun to all four of us.

 

[bethymouse]

For now, it's just Disney.
When the boys get older, we will do a package at Sea World which includes hotel, some food, Aquatica, and Bush Gardens.
When the boys are tall enough and I lose weight, we'll do Universal and Wet n Wild.
I just won't ever try to do everything in Orlando in 7 days! But, I can see those international travelers wanting to get the most out of their Florida vacation.

 

[Doombuggy13]

We have considered Universal. I said considered. I don't think I could go on a vacation in Orlando and not go to Disney and a Disney/Universal Combo would be major $$$. One reason we stay away from Universal right now is that most of their major attractions have these 51" or taller restrictions on the rides. My younger boys would hate that. It would be so unfair for us to go as a family and my youngest son wouldn't be able to ride. They would be heartbroken because the youngest would not be able to ride Harry Potter. At least at WDW we can get on everything as a family except RnR , Summit Plummitt and Crush-n-Gusher. Maybe in years to come we'll "cheat" on Disney but not yet. The wife and I would love to attend Halloween Horror nights, so maybe a quick 2 of us weekent next year would be a good way to test out the waters.

 

[MarkandAmy]

Last year, we scheduled four extra days into our Disney trip to do US/IOA and Sea World. We all found the parks to be fun, but agreed that US/IOA would not be an every year visit. Sea World, on the other hand, left us completely breathless. We enjoyed the rides, the shows were great, but the best part was the immersion experience. We did the penguin encounter. It did cost a little more, but being able to hold and hug a penguin was an experience that none of us will ever forget. We're planning our next visit to WDW now, and will definitely take a day to visit Sea World once again.

 

[BryceM]

Other parks. Though I love Disney, Universal is tied for my favorite. I absolutely love both. But I still love any kind of theme parks or amusement parks such as Dollywood, Busch Gardens and SeaWorld.

I think it's weird if you're too Disney obsessed that you can enjoy other theme parks that are really fun.