Going To Orlando
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We have just booked Florida, Orlando for 2026.
We don’t think we want to go to Disney but go to Legoland and Universal instead. We have a 7 year old son.
Has anyone been that can share their experiences, or an must do things
Disney great for children but never much appealed to me.I prefer scenic historic places brimming with culture and local cuisine.
MelissaLee1 have you been? Can you recommend any must sees? Or good places to eat etc? X
I went to Disneyland in California over 40 years ago. It was magnificent so it must be even better now. If I were going stateside there is no way I would miss Disney, but each to their own
. We had Arbies quite a lot and Chuck E. Cheese, first was wafer thin beef in a bun, latter was a pizza place great for kids with animatronics. Our kids were about 5 and 7.
possy I edited my above comment while you wrote. Disney isn't just fairy tale castles and princesses, I am sure he would love the pirates of the Caribbean ride and Peter Pan, the other rid
es like haunted house where you go around on a sort of mini roller coaster and your reflection shows a funny ghost sitting beside you. Then there is a space mountain ride, the train going round a mountainside but can't remember the song it is taken from. Even as an old girl I'd love to go again.
It's come to me 'she'll be coming round the mountain when she comes'.
I am sure your son would love his photo taken with Mickey mouse.
Have you booked flights? I’m not sure 2026 flights are out yet? Also make sure you have your travel insurance in place now so if anything happens you are covered. Also you will all need an ETSA to go to America and they are valid for 2 years so depending on when you are going I’d definitely get that at the just under 2 year mark as they can get refused then you would need a visa which can take months to get an appointment. I have been 3 times most recently 2022 and 2023 hoping to go again this year. Save as much as you can as everything is very expensive and eating out they expect tips of around 18 - 20% on top
Also check your hotel doesn‘t charge a resort or city tax as that can be $25+ a day on top.
The new marioland will be open by 2026 so your son might want to go there. Join a Facebook group to get an idea of how much things are and see real pictures. It’s Orlando Time is a really good one and they do discount codes for tickets as well.
The world’s largest McDonalds is there on International Drive and they sell pizzas and things you can’t get anywhere else. A good place to eat which is reasonable priced is cheddars scratch kitchen it’s a chain but join their emails and you’ll get free things and discounts.
If you’d like to know anything else let me know!
emmabeckz omg Thankyou so much for this. Yes it’s all booked through the travel agents, times of flights are to be confirmed. Yes we have 25 dollars a day to pay 
. It’s a once in a life time holiday for us (for my 40th) so I want it to be the best. Saving is a must. O wow I didn’t realise about McDonalds , that’s a must as my son loves it. Thankyou so so much
possy just to add Disney isn’t just 1 park it’s 5 and not all princesses and Mickey. There’s animal kingdom which is amazing with a safari and they have the Avatar ride and lion king show, Epcot which has Guardians of the Galaxy, test track car ride and all different countries within it, Hollywood studios which has Indiana Jones stunt show and loads of Stars Wars stuff and Toy Story land, magic kingdom which is the one with the castle but they have Tron which is a new bike bide (look it up) and then you get typhoon lagoon water park which is amazing. 
My father went with his new family and the one thing I recall him saying was not to eat on the site, always go to a restaurant/cafe outside as you get much better quality food for less money.
EmmaWright762 yes I have heard this also, il be taking a bag of snacks also. Thankyou so much x
We have been. Eat outside of the parks as they are very expensive. Take your own snacks and water with you. Disney is 5 different parks and there is so much more than princesses. I absolutely loved Disney and I'm not a princess person either.
The Florida version of Disney World is amazing I feel for most age groups (imo it's the best), as others have said it's 5 parks! All very different too and they keep adding more and more bits. BTW galaxy's edge (star wars) needs to be seen (I have only seen Disney land California version)
possy sorry... What you could do is watch a few videos on Disney on YouTube and get a feeling for it. Loads on there. Personally I prefer Disney over universal for the atmosphere. Busch gardens was good but not as good as it once was. Legoland did not go much on but that was 30 odd years ago
Definitely universal! We didn’t like Disney when we took my son when he was 10.
Universal we all enjoyed and couple of times.
Get your passes before you go though, we used American attractions and had tickets for Disney, universal, Busch garden, and dolphin swim. Proper tickets also, and good value.
Been a few years since we went but was disappointed with Legoland, no where near as good as the one in Windsor. Universal and Disney are brilliant thou as are the water parks , the parade at the end of the night in Magic kingdom is well worth seeing, even thou it's exceptional busy
Disney is awesome for the magical feeling but the rides are nowhere near as good as universal studios. Also they are opening a 3rd theme park by the end of this year. I'd also recommend Busch Gardens and the old town as well.
stuartsmith544 oooo what’s Busch garden like? Is there a lot of rides? Would you think staying a fortnight, universal is enough or need to do Disney also
possy The rides are brilliant mate and when it comes to the rides I would say Universal is best ,Busch gardens and then Disney for the rides .
Guys Thankyou all so much, I will reply to each and everyone of you I promise, but I am going to write all these recommendations down so I can look into them when I am on the laptop.
Save save & save. It’s expensive but amazing. There is like 5 parks for Disney and we enjoyed 2 of them the most. Magic Kingdom ( it’s the main one and must see) & Epcot ( dunno if your 7yr old would enjoy but partner might). Disney Springs is nice to wander around and doesn’t cost to get in. Universal is great and defo worth a visit. Seaworld is ***** and shouldn’t exist.
possy no don’t it. Much better places to see and you don’t get to see orcas suffer
We did one night at universal. If you stay in certain hotels then you get two days fast passes for one night stay . You turn up on the first day in the morning and get your passes. Then leave your luggage and check in later. Next day you can get in the park early and use you fast passes.
When we went it was the Portofino hotel, Royal lewes pacific and Hard rock that we’re doing this. This might have changed so check before. If you stay two nights then 4 days fast passes. We would definitely do this again as it was more relaxing . The Royal Lewis Pacific was lovely and would go back and we loved that part of the holiday.
I have to agree that Busch Gardens was one of the best days out we had when we went to Orlando, crikey it's 34 years ago now! Universal Studios and the Epcot Centre were great too.
I think if you went to Orlando and didn't do Disney you would regret it in time. The way to look at it is as if it's a once in a lifetime trip, so get as much in as you can
One other place we visited whilst we were in Orlando was Gatorland. As you can guess, it's full of alligators, but they also have lots of other animals/birds there too. We found it very interesting, and I got to taste some alligator, 
possy To be honest, alligator tastes rather like chicken 
I liked it, but my kids wouldn't try it.
What time of year are you going? We went for 2 weeks in the middle of August. It's some lovely hot weather but also quite a few thunderstorms too. Believe me, when you are in one of the parks walking around and you get caught up in the rain, you get drenched. Ten minutes later, the rain stops, the sun beating down again, and you quickly dry out. You will see lots of plastic ponchos suddenly appear when the rain starts. One size fits all over there, I think 
mudgesheila50 I’m the type of girl that would love that, trying new things, my partner too, not sure about my son. But wow. We are going 7th October. Aw fab, maybe best get one and be prepared. Can’t Thankyou you all enough for your comments and advise
Went to Disney Florida 2010 it was amazing 
my daughter was 7 & she still remembers everything she’s almost 21 now .
Best advice I got
when you get into the parks go left as everyone goes right
Bring a massive oversized pen for the characters to sign the autograph books as they have to wear big gloves.
Get some maps so you can plan your visits to the parks .
Try & have a break by doing some Waterparks or International Drive shopping ,please don’t do the parks everyday as you will get very tired & there’s no grumpiness allowed in Disney
survivor24 omg I love this!! Go left!! I am making note of that. Thankyou very much. Autograph book, do they sell them on site? That sounds amazing for a keep sake and I would def want to do that.
Hahaha absolutely not, down days will be very much needed. Xx
survivor24 omg amazing! I am so excited for this as I didn’t realise this was a thing x
I would buy before you go as anything with Disney on it is a bit more …you could go to Walmart/Walgreens when you are there ,they do cheaper different Disney stuff
My sister bought the children autographs books before we went out there as a gift 
have an amazing time
survivor24 Thankyou. I am def wanting an autograph book, thankyou because this is def something I didn’t know about. Thankyou
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