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Hey everyone!!! It's another one of those. I was gonna post this in the SWO, but it also has to do with BGT and also Funspot. I thought to post in Ask Alvey since you guys are in Orlando but I might as well just ask everyone since it's a often visited area due to its high concentration of large and popular parks.

 

So here we are. I promised myself years ago I'd one day go to Cali or Florida for my birthday (December) riding coasters. See this wasn't really a thing we could do around these parts until of course Holiday in the Park @ Great Adventure. But while I love that event, I can ride those coasters all the time. Now December is coming up quick and my budget is shrinking. Since TPR is such a GREAT place for solid advice and a whole gaggle of you love planning this stuff much more than me, I was hoping TPR could help me put this together. No, I don't need you to call and book places, dumb*sses, I just want your experienced advice.

 

Before we even get into what the tentative plan is at the moment - briefly, my experience with vacationing in Florida: a bunch of visits to Key West as an adult (I love it there, are you surprised?) and one single visit to Magic Kingdom and Epcot when I was just a wee lad in the mid-80s. The entire experience is foggy (who am I kidding, so are the Key West visits) but I recall it being a ton of fun. See?

 

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That's me! Enjoying River Country circa 1985ish?

While it was great from what I can recall, and I know there are Disneyfreaks on here, let me just say I don't want to go back to Disney. Not now. Maybe in a few years when my nephew is a little older we plan to visit. So please don't suggest anything Disney. And while you're at it shut up about Universal. That's not happening. Too expensive and I could give a sh*t about Potter or really anything else there except Hulk and Dragons, and Dragons will be closed by then (if its not already?) and I'm not paying that much to ride Hulk. I'm sure those parks are awesome, and I'm glad that you love them, but no matter what you say I am not working them into this trip. Sorry. You see, I'm not much a themeing guy. That's super cool if you are, I know a lot of you are. But I like thrill rides. You could put any of my top 5 coasters in a Walmart parking lot and I would still think they are the best ever. I could give a rats ass about immersion and themeing. I want to spend my 40th riding some badass coasters and checking out some cool animals with my lady.

 

Unfortunately in order to do this we have to make it just Thursday night to Sunday night. It will be the first or 2nd weekend in December, most likely the first (11/30-12/3). I cannot under any circumstances change or extend the amount of time we will be there. Please don't attempt to convince me to stay longer or do different days. Its that or nothing. We have jobs and cannot take off work midweek. Also of importance, our plan is to do all of this without a car. I know what you're thinking, but I'm thinking it's doable. Don't try to convince me to rent a car. We like to party a bit, and since we'll be at Busch parks we know there will be imbibing. So we're totally fine with Uber and taxis and shuttles as we need them. We live and work in the city, and don't mind cabs/Ubers/public transit. Not having a car at our disposal also ups the "adventure" feel of a trip to me since we're in a strange place and have to figure out how to get around. Call me weird, whatever. However, I'm trying to keep everything in the same area so there isn't too much traveling.

 

Soooooo..... *drumroll* Here is the tentative plan:

 

~~ Thursday evening: Fly Philly to Orlando, Get taxi/Uber to take us to Hotel right off of I Drive

~~~ Friday: SWO @ opening, spend most of the day. From what I understand we won't need Quick Queue here on a Friday, but if I'm wrong please say so.

~~~ Friday evening: Stop back at hotel, grab dinner somewhere, visit Fun Spot (or other I Drive stuff?)

~~~ Saturday (Bday): Take this FREE Mears Shuttle bus to from IDrive to Busch Gardens Tampa. We'll spend the day open to close (Will purchase Quick Queue Unlimited if need be, will absolutely budget for that)

~~~ Saturday evening: Shuttle bus back to Orlando, chill out get food and drinks, crash early

~~~ Sunday: Uber/taxi to Fun Spot Kissamee for opening, spend a few hours before stopping back @ hotel and heading to airport.

~~ Sunday night: Fly back to Philly.

Note: Friday and Saturdays totally could be swapped, I think we'll probably see how the weather is going to pan out? My original plan was to stay in Tampa near BGT and head over to Orlando one day, but upon further thought it makes more sense to stay in Orlando and hit IDrive, Funspots, etc and just head out to Tampa on that shuttle bus the one day.

 

So here are my questions:

Crowds: I'd like to know if anyone has experience with crowd levels at that time of year. I'd assume since its sandwiched between the holidays it may not be too bad? I really have no idea. We are prepared to splurge on Quick Queue Unlimited if need be, anything weird I should know about it? I've been told I probably won't need it @ Seaworld but I'm not sure.

 

Hotels: Any hotel recommendations on/just off I Drive that are reasonably priced and not terrible? Is it a bad idea to stay in that area at all? It seems smart to keep that as a central location since we like dumb touristy things and for the most part we'll be cramming our two main days with BGT and SWO.

 

Park admission Deals? We are not Busch passholders, so wondering if there is any deals on tickets for both parks? Also Funspot doesn't do that (admission for both?) if we're going to each on separate days, right?

 

Park hours. Am I an idiot or do SWO and BGT not have a calendar of operating hours on their websites? I'm either too dumb to find them or they don't exist. Don't they both close at like 6pm? Open at 10am? I did find the ride closures page for each park and I think we're generally good there.

 

Shows/exhibits/things other than coasters. I want to ride all of the coasters at all of these parks. I could live with out the mouse @ BGT and the kiddie @ SWO. We want to dine with Shamu @ SWO. We want to do the Serengeti tour @ BGT. You fill in the rest! What should we consider adding to the itinerary??

 

Kraken VR. Is this optional? I admit the actual VR for this looks pretty cool, but would we want to bother waiting a considerable amount of time or just get a $10 quick queue for it? I would like to ride it, preferably without the VR? I guess I would do the VR if not optional?

 

Uber and taxis Plentiful? PITA? Keep in mind we're talking Thursday/Friday/Saturday/Sunday here. Are they easy to get @ the airport over to IDrive? And around IDrive? Getting them @ SWO, Funspot, etc to get around Orlando?

 

IDrive What else is there to get into if we have a chill night after one of the parks and want to hang near our hotel? Places to eat? We like mellow, craft beer, super good food, and music if it doesnt suck (read: country).

 

Miscellaneous Since I'm an idiot about Orlando, anything else I need to know?

 

Thanks for the help. If I win the Powerball tonight I'll take you all with me!

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A few quick things before more people jump in...

 

- Have you checked rental car prices? With the amount of random Uber's you have planned you may like the control and timing of having your own car. Often times you can get some really good deals on cars.

 

- Stick with I-Drive hotels SOUTH of Sand Lake Road on I-Drive. Basically anything between Sea World and Sand Lake Road is going to be fine.

 

- Great time of year for weather and crowds, but like you said, be prepared for Quick Queue at BGT on a Saturday.

 

- ClubTPR offers discounts for the Busch parks, and sometimes they'll post stuff online as we get closer to that time.

 

- Kraken VR is optional but you'll still need to wait a stupidly long time compared to before.

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A few quick things before more people jump in...

 

- Have you checked rental car prices? With the amount of random Uber's you have planned you may like the control and timing of having your own car. Often times you can get some really good deals on cars.

We have not. We will I'm sure as it gets closer. But a huge part of this is because we know we'll be drinking and neither of us want a DUI in Florida lol. Uber in Philly is usually stupid cheap since there are a ton of drivers here so its not so much the cost, its the freedom of being able to party and not worry about having to drive.

 

A few quick things before more people jump in...

- Stick with I-Drive hotels SOUTH of Sand Lake Road on I-Drive. Basically anything between Sea World and Sand Lake Road is going to be fine.

Good to know.

 

ClubTPR offers discounts for the Busch parks, and sometimes they'll post stuff online as we get closer to that time.

It may be finally time to bite the bullet and officially join the dark side.

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My feeling is with BGT is that even on a Saturday, if you are there EARLY like 30 minutes before park opening, you can usually get at least one ride on all coasters & Falcon's before the crowd hits. Cheetah Hunt & Cobra's seem to get the longest lines. Thankfully they are right next to each other. If you have budgeted for Quick Queue by all means get it if you need it, but December can always be a bit unpredictable and who knows, you might end up there on a Saturday with only 10 minute wait for everything, or all coasters could be over an hour. I've seen both scenarios recently.

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As for local hang outs & bars, my personal two favorite are Player One and Mango's. Player One is more of a "locals" retro arcade bar and Mango's is a huge "las vegas style" night club. Google both of them. Player One has a *GREAT* beer selection!

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Tickets at Work has a pretty good deal on combined Sea World/Busch Gardens tickets. I'll be staying in Orlando for three nights next week, so I can report on Fun Spot or any other I-Drive attractions that I go to when I come back but not Sea World or Busch Gardens since I'll be going to Universal. I'll be staying at the Four Points by Sheraton which I got for $70/night on north I-Drive near Fun Spot and Universal, so I'll let you know how it is when I get back. I'll also let know about any restaurants I try if they are noteworthy.

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I honestly don't have too much more to add. Your trip is pretty easy. Busch/SeaWorld/Fun Spot are pretty easy straight forward parks. The only x factor really is the crowds and if you would need/want Quick Queue or not. Beyond that, it shouldn't be any trouble.

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One of my normal "recommendations" for Orlando trip if you're not interested in Disney or Universal is to look into Discovery Cove, but that time of year isn't really ideal and you might not have enough time to squeeze it into your schedule. Either way it's a pretty good value so check it out if you have any interest at all in that place.

 

As far as iDrive I'll let the current locals make the real recommendations since I'm a few years removed from the scene but for live music there's a BB Kings at the Pointe Orlando complex that was always a pretty good time, maybe kind of generic to some I guess but still fun and the hsoue band is always pertty good. Pointe Orlando is pretty close to SeaWorld so might be a decent location.

 

 

here's the link to SeaWorld's park hours page. Looks like it's open til 9 or 10 most of the weekends in December, probably because of the Holiday stuff.

Sea World Park Hours

 

And here's Busch Garden's hours, open til 10 pm probably for Christmas events as well.

Busch Gardens Park Hours

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That's awesome the parks are open later then! I thought they closed crazy early and was worried it would create a time crunch, especially @ BGT since there are more thrill rides there. I don't know if its my browser or what (I also tried looking at home last night), but both of those links take me to pages to buy tickets and don't show me days or hours. Can someone maybe screenshot them for me? Not that I don't believe you but...

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I just returned from an Orlando trip a few weeks ago, so I'll share my experiences at SWO and BGT. We didn't buy the Quick Queue for either park, which was good since we really didn't need them. We took the free shuttle to BGT (picked us up at the Universal Citywalk bus area since we were staying at a Universal property) and it was a very easy experience. The bus was comfortable, had great AC, and they showed a movie on the way back. The shuttle got us to the park a few minutes after opening (not a big deal) and left at 7pm even though the park was open until 10pm that day (it was a Friday in early August). So if you want to stay later at BGT, you may need your own transportation back to Orlando. We went straight to Cheetah Hunt (about a 20 min wait) and then onto Cobra's Curse (45 min wait, our longest wait all day). Montu, Sheikra, and Kumba were walk ons all day, which blew my mind since those are my three favorite coasters at the park. Scorpion and Sand Serpent were about 10-15 min waits and Falcon's Fury was around 20 minutes. Since we had limited time, we just rode the coasters and FF. We hit Cobra again later in the day (only a 30 min wait around 5pm) and then finished the day with 3 rides on Cheetah Hunt. So our ride tally at BGT on a Friday in August from 10am to 7pm was:

 

Cheetah Hunt 4x

Cobra's Curse 2x

Montu 4x

Sheikra 4x

Kumba 4x

Falcon's Fury 2x

Scorpion 1x

Sand Serpent 1x

 

We went to SWO on a Tuesday in August and took an Uber from our Universal hotel, which was very easy and pretty cheap. We got to the park a few minutes before opening and they let us right in. We hit Manta first because it was the first coaster you see and it was about a 5 min wait in the morning (did it twice and then once more in the afternoon). We then went to Kraken VR and the reservation system was broken, so they just let us get in line. The line was not very long, but it ended up taking 45 minutes since the VR loading takes forever. My kids and I didn't care for the VR (the headsets dug into your face due to the strong forces on the coaster), so I would suggest riding it without the VR. We then rode Atlantis (15 min wait) and headed to the back of the park for Mako. My kids and I were blown away by Mako and it instantly became my favorite B&M hyper. And the best part was that it was a walk-on around 10:30 in the morning. (Note that Mako opened at 10am even though the rest of the park opened at 9am). We got 4 rides in on Mako and got two more in the afternoon when it was about a 15 min wait. They do assign rows on Mako, but we asked for the back row every time and they accommodated our request.

 

We also did the Penguin ride (15 min wait), Shamu Express (10 min wait) and the Shamu and Dolphin shows. It was very hot that day (around 95 with high humidity), so by 5pm we were all exhausted and ready to leave. We really enjoyed SWO and the coaster lines (other than Kraken VR) were very minimal. Our SWO ride and show count from 9am to 5pm was:

 

Manta 3x

Kraken 1x

Atlantis 1x

Penguin 1x

Mako 6x

Shamu Express 1x

Shamu Show 1x

Dolphin Show 1x

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(11/30-12/3). I cannot under any circumstances change or extend the amount of time we will be there. Please don't attempt to convince me to stay longer or do different days.
December is coming up quick and my budget is shrinking.

You want to go to Florida from 11/30 to 12/3 on a shrinking budget?

Well rest easy my fine friend because the Allegiant gods are smiling upon thee...

 

lol.thumb.jpg.a6b5f75d8c95e8ec0087f38a83f13435.jpg

Look at that price... look at it

 

... no look

(disregard this if you're working Thursday and flying out super late so you don't have to take the day)

 

Okay, now that I got that out of the way, I don't have much to add. Robb and Elissa already answered most of your questions far better than I could have.

 

The only thing that I really want to mention here is that they do have a Platinum Annual Pass (good 12 months from the purchase date). It may definitely give you a case of sticker shock but when you break it down it might be worth considering since I know you're looking into a Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Kings Dominion trip next year and I know you live near Sesame Place and have a nephew that's at a prime age for it.

 

There is a combo ticket for Busch Tampa and SeaWorld available for $119. If you add in the BGW ticket that can be about 80 bucks you'll already be spending about 200 bucks at their parks next year. At that point you're only $136 bucks off and you can probably close that gap pretty quickly if you go to Sesame Place within the next 12 months and if you factor in the free parking (though you probably don't care unless you use it at Sesame Place) and in park discounts (including a discount on Dine with Shamu and the Safari thing at Busch Gardens Tampa).

 

It's very possible that this won't make sense for you, but i figured I'd mention it since I'm not sure what your plans for the next year are. Obviously we have them because Brit is an shamu-obsessed SeaWorld fiend.

 

My only other piece of advice is really to wait until Black Friday / Cyber Monday to buy anything. Last year SeaWorld had buy one/get one 50 percent off on annual passes, buy one get one free all day dining and discounts on regular admission tickets. Last year Fun Spot offered some great Black Friday deals too. Because of the timing of your trip you should take advantage of these deals.

 

Hotels: Any hotel recommendations on/just off I Drive that are reasonably priced and not terrible?

There are plenty of nice hotels there but pick a name brand and read reviews because there are some horrific hotels off of I Drive even south of Sand Lake Road (like this place, which is the single worst hotel in the entire f*cking world).

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Booo - edited the wrong post.

 

^I knew some shady Allegient crap was coming. We'd have to take off from work that Thursday in order to get that flight. I'm much closer to Philly airport, especially if I was leaving right from work. I've poked around at some airfare on normal, not-so-scary airlines for those dates and the prices are reasonable.

 

I just returned from an Orlando trip a few weeks ago, so I'll share my experiences at SWO and BGT. We didn't buy the Quick Queue for either park, which was good since we really didn't need them. We took the free shuttle to BGT (picked us up at the Universal Citywalk bus area since we were staying at a Universal property) and it was a very easy experience. The bus was comfortable, had great AC, and they showed a movie on the way back. The shuttle got us to the park a few minutes after opening (not a big deal) and left at 7pm even though the park was open until 10pm that day (it was a Friday in early August).

 

This is super helpful, but bummer that shuttle doesn't run past 7pm. I guess we could just head back and get into some IDrive nonsense.

Edited by boldikus
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join Club TPR.. we did Busch/Seaworld tix, that included free parking for both parks (they were good for 7 days, and we did 3 days at BGT, and a day trip to SWO).

 

I know you said you didn't want to rent a car. .but if you end up checking prices and find them cheap (and they WERE cheap in Tampa). . I'd recommend what we did:

 

we actually flew into Tampa, and stayed there (very reasonable hotel not too far - maybe 10 minutes -- from BGT), and then day tripped to Orlando for SWO.

 

also drawing us to Tampa is the Hard Rock Seminole. . . gambling, drinking, and Music Memorabilia . . we were in heaven (the food was good too).

 

lemme know if you want me to dig up my trip report from last year (it also included a trip to Weeki Wachee to see the mermaids).

 

we're animal lovers too, and if you care at all about the animals, then 1 day won't be enough at BGT. . . .we went back on day 3 specfically to watch the cheetah run that they only do 1 time a day. (the rides are great there too, but we spent just as much time doing the animal stuff).

 

hope my 2cents helps!

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^ Bert I remember your report well, and that was part of the inspiration behind this trip. I dug it up not too long ago and skimmed through it again (along with a few other good reports of those parks). My original plan was to stay in Tampa and just head to Orlando for one day but I think it just makes more sense to do it the opposite with that shuttle bus and the two Fun Spot parks. We are into the animal stuff but thats more for the missus (tho I'm into it too) so I'd like it if we could squeeze a few cool animal things between the thrill rides.

 

As far as hotels, I am a Wyndham rewards member so I was looking at this place. It looks pretty central tho a few of you have mentioned Sand Lake Road and its basically right on it. It looks to be right across (or down the street?) from Mangos. Anyone have any experience with it? Reviews are decent and the prices are fine for us. Its in the center of everything we'd want to do in Orlando and looks to be a hop skip and a jump from the airport. Not to mention I could get a deal on it. And there's a Wawa next to it!!!

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^I stayed there once before several years ago, it's actually a pretty solid property if I remember correctly. It's kind of tucked away off of I-Drive, like behind a shopping plaza so it's a tad off the beaten path, but easily within walking distance to Mango's and the Orlando Eye complex which has a ton of restaurants and stuff. Pretty solid location to me.

 

I was actually looking to stay there in November for a concert since everything downtown is crazy expensive or sold out.

 

*EDIT: One thing with hotels in Orlando I've learned the past couple of years is some properties charge a resort fee and some don't and I haven't really figured out what the classification cut off is. May wanna keep an eye on it if you don't wanna be surprised by an extra $20+ a day.

Edited by Hilltopper39
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I just noticed they also have a shuttle that goes to Seaworld (and Disney and Universal) so that takes out needing an Uber for that. And also discounts on the Eye.

 

Full disclosure this 24/7 Wawa a hundred feet away is really selling me on it.

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As far as hotels, I am a Wyndham rewards member so I was looking at this place.

Oh yeah, that's a great location. Mango's is pretty much across the street. There are an insane amount of great restaurants really in walking distance. Yard House, Shake Shack, all those are easily walkable. No question that's a great option.

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