-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
Someone asked me the strangest Disney question the other day.
- Thread starter musketeer
- Start date
Strange indeed. My in-laws just got back from a 2+ week WDW vacation, yet I find out they spend the last 3 days at a place called: "The Beach" (??)
Time to be putting them in a home.
I_heart_Tigger
Well-Known Member
My family trips to Florida as a kid were usually 2 weeks and included a week at Disney and a week exploring the rest of the state. Now that I'm on my own schedule and budget I tend to spend my time at Disney but mysister is determined that our next trip we need to show my niece some of the fun things we did elsewhere or she will think that Florida is Disney which is not the message we intended.
taz0162
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the update. I have the price covered. By coupons I acquired a month ago. I really like gators too but have never seen a show besides the local reptile rescue that brings them out to school events but the gators were at max 3 foot long. This trip I insisted on adding gatorland to at least see it once. Last time down was Disney only this time 14 days 11 of which are Disney I planned time to explore outside the grounds. Can't wait. One week to go.It was....ok! It was REALLY hot and there isn't much shade (but really, where is it not hot in FL? Lol).
My FIL and Josh liked it more then I did. I'm a crocodile and alligator fan (seriously, those and sharks border near obsession for me) and I just didn't think it was worth the cost of admission. The shows they had were really neat though
awoogala
Well-Known Member
I like gatorland. It is obviously not disney. But you can get a cute pic of you or your kids with a snake and a baby gator. And it is very exposed, so it can get HOT. But it is still worth the full walk through. Some of the Gators and crocs in the very, very far walk to the back of the park are HUGE and pretty rare, even in aquariums/zoos, etc. Get a map, and follow all the trails.
Britt
Well-Known Member
Ooooo!! Yes, these are MUCH larger then 3 ft! I think you'll enjoy it, especially with coupons! Haha the gift shop was awesome though! They had the most fun little gifts!!
unkadug
Follower of "Saget"The Cult
real mad hatter
Well-Known Member
. By the way,for once Iam serious about the rattlers.I took a photo of the sign to show friends back home.Almost as good as the one at Inverness." Slow down,monster crossing "Hahaha come on hatter!!!!
Seriously though. They were HUGE and I almost walked into one when I went to look at a map/sign station and it was hanging right there. I thought it was the only one and when I was pointing to some really pretty flowers to show my MIL I put my hand almost directly on one, they blend in so well when you don't know what you're looking for. Then realized HOW many were just.....everywhere! Haha I felt like a ninja trying to watch everything around me, getting back to the car. I had totally forgotten it until now and now I reallllly want to post a pic just to freak you out
Susan Savia
Well-Known Member
On our upcoming 2 week trip, we're planning to spend a day visiting relatives in Tavares, Florida, then over to the Hard Rock Casino in Tampa and a visit to St. Petersburg.
Wojciehowicz
Active Member
Luv made me do it.
I hate to bring up that nasty word, reality, especially to the Disney fan
87 million people visited the state of Florida in 2011.
According to The Travel Channel, about 30 million visited WDW.
(The published estimated WDW attendance figure of 47 million counts the same person more than once.)
57 million people didn't make WDW their destination.
How can that be? While WDW is advertised as the world's number one vacation destination, if combined state wide, the beaches are Florida's most popular destination.
sgtmgd
Well-Known Member
Glass Bottom boats were at Silver SpringsWhen I was little, my grandfather took us on a "tour" of the state of Florida. It was awesome, and I'll never forget it! He insisted on driving A1A!
I dont think the question was unusal..as many people have asked me similar questions, but as I grew up on Daytona Beach and lived there 18+ years..I have enough perspective and past memories that I easily seperate our Disney Vacations from the need to travel around. If Im planning a Disney Vacation...Im not venturing forth into Orlando except for Universal which we generally spend one day at..and then peruse Citiwalk. If we want to head to other State attractions...beaches etc...thats a different vacation...say spring break...I wont cross walk the two as it simply cost me a pretty penny to do the Disney the way we do it..and I prefer to stay in the bubble savoring every moment that I can....
Gatorland is overpriced for whats delivered..but is an interesting attraction.
Animaniac93-98
Well-Known Member
OMG that's true!
I went to Universal last year and I went on this ride and spiders came right at me and tried to freakin' eat me! I even felt their spit!
Never want to think about Sharry Blotter ever again!
littleacceb
New Member
We considered going offsite for our last trip, but the thought of paying for a 14 day ticket to the parks, and then spending some of those 14 days paying to get into other places just makes my teeth itch... Having said that, we did spend a week at Vero Beach a few years ago, before coming up to WDW, and that was heavenly. Plenty of time to switch off from work mode and switch onto park mode!
Tiggerfanatic
Well-Known Member
Ha!Ha! I was just thinking of this. I spent 2 weeks in the UK this past September, and we went to Paris for the sole purpose of seeing DLP. Spent 3 days in France, and the only part of it I saw other than Disney was through the train windows on the way to and from the airport! I am planning a trip to Japan in 2014, and I promise, I will do other things besides DIsney!For UK and European visitors like myself it is extremely common for us to stay for two/three weeks and spend most of the time at the Orlando theme parks but also take days off going to Tampa, Daytona beach, Cape Canaveral, Everglades, Miami etc Spending the WHOLE time at Disney would just be kinda wasteful and repetitive even though WDW is awesome.
It's just like an American flying for eight hours to go to Disneyland Paris or Tokyo Disney and not actually go and visit the city of Paris or Tokyo
pumpkin7
Well-Known Member
I've never been to Florida and JUST done Disney. We always stay on I-Drive and go to Universal Studios. I've also visited Busch Gardens, Kennedy Space Centre (a few times, awesome day out), Sea World, Wet n Wild amongst other things. The Pirate Dinner Show just off I-Drive is always a good time, and when it was around, we went to see the American Gladiators!
Problem is with us is that we don't drive, so getting to these places is sometimes difficult, even getting to Disney.
Problem is with us is that we don't drive, so getting to these places is sometimes difficult, even getting to Disney.
Phonedave
Well-Known Member
When I was a kid my parents took us to Florida. Not to DisneyWorld, to Florida. We stayed in a condo in Kissimme and I think we did 2 days at WDW (back then it was just MK and EPCOT). We also went to Cocoa Beach and the RonJon Surf Shop (Why I don't know because the original was at home), Kennedy Space Center, Sea World, and a few other places I can't reacall. That was around 1984 I want to say. In the past 30 years Disney has done an excellent job of changing WDW from an attraction to a destination. Between on=property loding, the "free" meal plans, the DME, DTD, and the expansion to 4 parks, WDW has created the mentality of "going to WDW" as opposed to "going to Florida".
If somone from the US were to go to an overseas Disney Park, would that be all you did? Or wouid you also see other parts of whatever country you went to?
Tiggerfanatic
Well-Known Member
When I was a kid my parents took us to Florida. Not to DisneyWorld, to Florida. We stayed in a condo in Kissimme and I think we did 2 days at WDW (back then it was just MK and EPCOT). We also went to Cocoa Beach and the RonJon Surf Shop (Why I don't know because the original was at home), Kennedy Space Center, Sea World, and a few other places I can't reacall. That was around 1984 I want to say. In the past 30 years Disney has done an excellent job of changing WDW from an attraction to a destination. Between on=property loding, the "free" meal plans, the DME, DTD, and the expansion to 4 parks, WDW has created the mentality of "going to WDW" as opposed to "going to Florida".
If somone from the US were to go to an overseas Disney Park, would that be all you did? Or wouid you also see other parts of whatever country you went to?[/quote]
See my post above!