What Tickets Should I Buy For Disney World Orlando?
2 adults (Slightly over 21!!) and 2 kids one aged 10 and one aged 2.
Staying on International drive. We want to go to Disney World with rides and stuff, disney parade etc. (Is that the Magic Kingdom???) and also a sea world / water park / swim with dolphins place. (suggestions please)
2 days in Disney and one at the water park thing. 3 days in the parks in total. going 13th feb for 8 nights.
Any advice? I have checked tickets online and chucked it half way through with all the options!
Any help advised. Should we buy online before we go here in the Uk or can you get bargains over there?
Is hiring a car a good idea? Where would you recommend to go for day trips outwith doing the park days?
All advice welcomed.
Hi, first of all your 2 year old will not need a ticket for any of the theme parks but your 10 year old is classed as an adult in the eyes of Disney so you will need 3 adult tickets (unless you want to chance buying a child ticket and hope they don’t question you).
I would recommend a 2 day base ticket and ask to include the water park option. The base ticket gives you acces to 1 disney park per day, (you can pay extra for the hopper option which allows you to go from 1 disney park to another in the same day but I would not recommend this for your first visit, there is more than enough to do in 1 park per day). It would also give you access to Disney’s 2 water parks.
Just buy 3x 1 day tickets for sea world, they give you a second day free anyway.
If you want to swim with the dolphins it would be at discovery cove but it is pricey.
You can buy tickets online in the UK or when you get there, you dont save much buying them online but it does mean you dont have to waste time queueing to buy park tickets at the gate. We got our disney tickets from florida ticket station and from kgs, both online then collected them in orlando, we printed our seaworld tickets off from the seaworld website before we went.
Every time we go we rent a car so I dont know how much harder ir would be trying to get around without one.
Buy tickets ONLINE. to buy tickets, go here:http://tickets.disney.go.com/buy/TicketT…
Why not stay at a Disney Hotel to get the entire disney experience? there is a great deal for disney hotels going on right now.
Buy 4 Nights, Get 3 Free. Must Be booked BEFORE january 24th! for info or to book, go here:http://bookwdw.reservations.disney.go.co…
do a aprk hopper pass at disney depending how many days you are plannign to visit disney. they are the best option if you want to go to mor then one park in a day.
You can buy multiple tickets for Sea Wrold and disocvery cove (swim with dolphins) on the seaworld page or universal page.
Rent a car, cheaper then taxis and freedome to travel a bit. Search for deals but dollar rental si the best ussually
Since you are online you can go to disney.com and fill out their form for disney vacations. It is chock full of ideas and some free gifts.
Those gifts are really cool and come in handy.
Walt Disney World has 4 parks, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. Plus two water parks Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon. Typhoon Lagoon is going under a refurb right now so that park will no be open while you are there.
For Disney, I would suggest either a 3 or 4 day magic your way with water park ticket. They expire 14 days after first use, so you do not have to go to Disney everyday and have some down time in between. If you get the 4 day ticket you will have plenty of time to visit each park once.
Park tickets will cost the same (with a few exceptions like AAA) anywhere you get them. Best places are Disney online, right at the parks or a travel agent.
You will need transportation for day trips so I would rent a car for the time you are there. It just makes it easier in your situation.
Good day trips are Kennedy Space Center, beaches, air boat tours and Universal Studios.
Lindahttp://wdwtravels.com/Linda.aspx
I’d stay in a Disney Hotel and not worry about renting a car unless you want to go to SeaWorld.
All Disney hotels have constantly running buses to all 4 of the parks. When you come out of the park, the buses are closer than the parking lot. You can get around to all the Disney places easily. I’d stay in a close one and you can take the monorail. Especially since you’ll have to go back midday for nap time.
Rent a car if you want to go to SeaWorld or eat out in Orlando. However you could easily save money by only renting the car for less than the full time.
Buy your tickets online. That package deals are better than anything at the park. Parkhoppers are great as you can go in and out as often as you want.
Here is my suggestion. MGM Hollywood Studios is very small. Not much there to do. They do have a couple of roller coasters and do have the best places to get your picture with the characters–since the lines are smaller. But MGM usually takes a family half day.
Epcot is more adult oriented. Usually people go there at night. They have areas of the world–so a lot of restaurants like the one in “Mexico” and “Japan”. They have a light show over the lake that I believe is at 9pm.
Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom are the big parks that will take a whole day. Animal Kingdom is my favorite. There are lots of places in the park. For example “Africa” has a safari. You can see giraffe, rhino, ostrich, lion, elephant–and as they are free roaming, each time you ride on it you’ll see completely different animals. Then there is “Asia” which has a trail where you see the tigers (not free roaming) and others. Then Dinoland, which has the Dinosaur ride. Lots of animals there–just like a zoo. It is my favorite parade which happens at 4pm. This park closes early though so you need to go there in the morning.
Magic Kingdom is the typical “Disney”. Your 2 yo will love it and your 10 yo might be bored out of his/her mind. It’s lots of kiddie rides, lots of shopping, tons of food. It’s the most crowded of the parks. It will take a full day and is also the only park that sells out. When parks hit capacity like they do most days Thanksgiving week, Christmas week, Easter week, and summer they close the doors. No one else is allowed in. So most people come to Magic first thing in the morning and then come back after naptime. Tinkerbell flies from the castle and fireworks are shot off each night. You really can’t combine MK with anything else that day–you’ll be exhausted by the end of it if you even manage to complete it in one day!
As for the water parks, I don’t know if I’d bother to go to both. I don’t really consider it worth it.
There are lots of new things opened each time so a lot of stuff wasn’t there when I got there. I recommend buying the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World on Amazon before you go. It’s a great guide filled with tips.
Now what I consider better than SeaWorld is going to Universal Studios. That was amazing. It’s tons of rollar coasters, all the characters, very “comic strip” oriented. I think this will be more up the 10 yo’s alley.
As for the hotels, that’s up to you. Disney ones are interesting but there are so many. What I don’t recommend are the following hotels: Old Key West, Beach Club, BoardWalk, Port Orleans, or the All-Star. These are just regular hotels just like a Holiday Inn so it’s nothing special. The only advantages is that you have the buses so if it’s a great deal, go for it.
Here is a list of themhttp://disneyworld.disney.go.com/plannin…
But some hotels are amazing. The Animal Kingdom Lodge–even if you don’t stay there, visit. It’s gorgeous. Animal Kingdom has the safari right outside your window when you wake up in the morning. Polynesian is nice as well. Contemporary is great b/c you can take the Monorail to Magic Kingdom. You are the closest to the park which makes it easy on naptime for the 2 yo.
* The Disney ticket options in the UK are 5 day, 7 day, 2 weeks or 3 weeks. No point getting them because you only need 3 days – so buy them at the Disney parks when you get there.
* Yes the parade is at Magic Kingdom.
* The 2 Disney waterparks are Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. I have been to both and they’re both equally good.
* Seaworld is a great day out – have a day there if you can! A one day ticket (using http://www.onlineflorida.co.uk) is £45.http://www.onlineflorida.co.uk/ProductDe…
* Discovery Cove is the park where you can swim with dolphins. This must be pre-booked as they only allow 1000 people in per day. A ticket during February is £165 and this includes all equipment, food and drink. It also includes a free pass to Seaworld.http://www.onlineflorida.co.uk/ProductDe…
* Most hotels have transport to the major parks and it will be free (or very cheap) and reliable. Hiring a car would come in handy if you want to drive to a beach or visit Busch Gardens which is in Tampa, or you generally want the freedom of driving to restaurants further away or exploring the area.
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you can get some good ticket combo deals before you go which may save you money but it will depend on the exchange rate at the time so some maths may be required.
universal studios and sea world would be good choices, when you get to the parks decide which rides you would most like to go on and pre-book those for later in the day – that way you can go back at the pre-arranged time and not have to queue for so long which is a great help when you have young children. You may want to take a fold up buggy of some sort for the youngest to ride in when they get tired, or get a cheap one when you get there Walmart seemed reasonable for that. There are buggies for hire in some of the bigger parks but they can cost alot if you need one each day.
Sometimes hire cars are included in the cost of the holiday as most americans seem to drive everywhere in florida but beware of the child seats, if you youngest is in something other than a three way strap holster sort of contraption you may want to consider taking your own. A car will let you get out of Orlando and explore a little more if you wish and perhaps go to some of the water parks so you can get away from the super intensive Disney atmosphere which can get to some people.
Make sure you can plan a break in the middle of some days to allow you to go back to the Magic Kingdom during the evening so you can see the firework displays and other nighttime entertainment
have a great trip