Headed to Florida for first time - Help me plan :)

[Eric 951]

Reg,

For Disney, make sure everyone has comfortable shoes--you will be doing alot of walking.
The oaprk hopper suggestion is a good one, as it gives you flexibility to go to different parks on the same day.

Use the fast passes for the popular rides--the fast passes are free--there is a board at the entrance of each park lisitng wait times for the popular rides--get a fast pass, and you can go back at the designated time--be wary, once you get a fast pass, there is a certain period of time where you can't get a second for another ride. If you have a smart phone, there is a free app for wait times within the parks. Also, some rides will run out of passes--notable the Toy Story ride.

For other information on Disney parks check out allears.net--tons of information on everything Disney there--from food to first-time tips.

Orlando can get cold in Feb

If you are in orlando, Universal is a great them park and one thing I always love is GATORLAND!

[BK911]

Little Big Econ state park has an awesome hiking / biking trails with lots of BIG GATORS all over the place. Less than an hour from disney.

Head to the bridge at the arrow and start hiking west.

[BK911]

If the gators dont get you, head down to Melbourne.
Just south of Cocoa Beach is the BEST taco place EVER!! I forget the name, but its taco something or somethign taco right on 1A just south of Cocoa beach.



Head down 1A to Indian Harbour and cross the bridge and follow CO3 north back to Cocoa. Lots of McMansions on both sides of the road.

[carreradpt]

A day trip to Kennedy Space Center and the US Astronauts Hall of Fame. Orlando Florida Vacation Destination | Kennedy Space Center - Kennedy Space Center It is about an hour due east of you between Titusville and Cocoa Beach. Also Port Canaveral you can see the cruise ships up close and personal and there are some nice restaurants along the channel. And the great beaches of Cocoa Beach of course.

[Christien]

Originally Posted by Eric 951

If you have a smart phone, there is a free app for wait times within the parks.

We did extensive research on this before we left. In the end, the data plan for the US was too expensive, so we didn't bother - we figured by the time we're in the park, it doesn't matter what the wait time is, we're already there.

What we wanted to do was plan which days would be best for which park, in advance, so we could expect the lowest crowds. What I can tell you is that touringplans.com (generally the highest-regarded authority on wait times) was WAY off in their predictions. Like not-even-close way off. I remember distinctly the Wednesday was supposed to be a 6/10 for crowds at the Magic Kingdom. They hit capacity by 1pm and closed the park.

I wouldn't bother with these, and just go with the accepted wisdom that late February should be fine.

[kanadary]

we did the disneyworld thing a few years ago. actually if you're going to have a rental car anyways, and you stay in the disney compound, all you have to do is show them your hotel parking pass and you get free parking at the theme parks. it beats taking the transit (we didn't have boat access, or monorail) to the hotel at the end of the day, plus you can put her night time gear in the car and move the car closer and get it when the sun comes down, it gets cold. we also spent sometime outside of disneyworld and went to gatorland, that was fun, and the cape.. and ofcourse daytona beach and clearwater on the gulf side.

[Super_Dave_D]

Come to Jacksonville and see the rednecks!

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by Super_Dave_D

Come to Jacksonville and see the rednecks!

Hey, I take offence to that

[Reg]

Thanks for the posts again everyone. Keep 'em coming!

Someone has said Gatorland zip line was great. He went with his 3yr old under his arm (and hooked of course) and the rest of the family on their own and had a blast.

I promise to post a few pics upon our return. It is still 2 weeks before we go and counting!

[Reg]

there is SVRA at Sebring on the final weekend we are there. the Daytona 500 is on the day we arrive. both places are bout equal distance from our base. so if we go see Daytona it will prob be quiet. Which would you go see?

[bell]

Originally Posted by BK911

Little Big Econ state park has an awesome hiking / biking trails with lots of BIG GATORS all over the place. Less than an hour from disney.

Head to the bridge at the arrow and start hiking west.

Yep.....coincidentally.....i live right freaking here....lol
Lake jessup has a ginormous gator population, they are known to wander the neighborhoods during flooding lol

The bike talks are nice.....and the 417 is atoll road, get a sunpass....

[imcarthur]

Daytona or Sebring with 3 & 5 yr old kids? No. Take them to the closest ocean beach. I haven't been near Gatorland in 3-4 years but I took one of our Brit reps & he had a blast. Campy, old school Florida. Gators jump for chickens etc.

Ian

[URY914]

A friend told me that the bad guys are breaking into cars with a GPS on the dash. Be careful.

[Reg]

Ian - I was thinking for one of the days, at least part of it, perhaps it could be a place Dad would like to see. I'm not sure how opten I'll ever get a chance to see some of these places and there are so many things to see/do.

If we chose Daytona I suppose an ocean beach is nearby. Not sure I want to go off the beaten path looking for Aligators either - you folks trying to get rid of me?

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by Reg

Ian - I was thinking for one of the days, at least part of it, perhaps it could be a place Dad would like to see. I'm not sure how opten I'll ever get a chance to see some of these places and there are so many things to see/do.

If we chose Daytona I suppose an ocean beach is nearby. Not sure I want to go off the beaten path looking for Aligators either - you folks trying to get rid of me?

Daytona will be a MAD HOUSE , Gatorland is a Blast, you can learn to wrestle Gators there and Sebring, well, SVRA means there will be some great cars, unlike the 500 with the spec clones..

[imcarthur]

Originally Posted by Reg

Ian - I was thinking for one of the days, at least part of it, perhaps it could be a place Dad would like to see.

You obviously missed the family vacation chapter of the Dad manual.

I've never actually driven over to the beach of Daytona Beach. I stick to the 'retail' part of town for business. I believe the beach is more about cars than sandcastles since you can drive on it. And the restaurant choices in town sucks.

Ian

[Reg]

will it be a Mad Zone a day after the 500? I will be around the week after the big one. Unless it rains.

[imcarthur]

When nothing is happening at the speedway, Daytona reverts to a pretty sleepy mid-market beach area - mainly populated by cheapass snowbirds & the usual assortment of mid-Florida Born Again rednecks in white pickups & their overweight spouse & spawn. Best food: 5 Guys Burgers across from the speedway.

Ian

[Aggie93]

If you are going to do the character autographs, my wife had a great idea. We got spiral bound note cards and a colored sharpie. Then she made a photo album with the autograph on one page and the photo on the other page. After the fact I would say to use unlined note cards and skip one page so there is a blank one between. The characters in masks cannot see too well and some signed the backside of on that was already signed.

[Reg]

We made it!

The autographs were fun allthough we only received them from Donald and Pinnochio. If we waited in line for all characters that would have been the day. Disney was taken in on the 29TH which was cool as the park was open for a 24 hr day. Arrived at 7:30 and left at 5:30 and allthough we missed the fireworks it was pretty fun with our 3 and 5 yr olds. We were all whipped by then.

Have to say while we were impressed with Disney we got to see more of Legoland as it is not near as massive. We feel we got more value from it as it was cheaper and less crowded.

As promised a couple pics. Thanks for all the tips. We will go back for more and I think we will have even more fun when the kids are 6 and 8 or maybe a little older yet.