I'm going to Orlando - And have some questions

[Woogle]

Hi,

 

I'll be visiting Orlando in the next 2 weeks and want to visit 4 parks in 4 days. I'll be there on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and I want visit Seaworld, Universal Studios, Universal Studios IOA and Busch Gardens Tampa. Which days would you suggest I do which park based on busy times and other possible factors?

[Erik Johnson]

Early May is a great time to visit the Florida parks. I would probably visit Sea World on Saturday, Busch Gardens on Sunday, and save Universal and IOA for Monday and Tuesday.

[thrillrideseeker]

Altighty... I will try to help! You said you will be there Monday through Tuesday and you want to go to Universal Orlando, Sea World, and Busch Gardens. Well my suggestions are... Saturday your best bet will probley be Sea World. Of all the parks your are going to that one will most likly be the least busy. Sunday you should go to Busch Gardens. Universal is usually the most busy on the weekends. Granted what park is not? But out of Universal and Busch, Busch is going to be the least busy on Sunday! Then on Monday and Tuesday go to Universal Orlando! Since it is not a weekend the parks should not be very busy. My other suggestions are... If you get to Universal Orlando and it is for some reason really busy spend the extra $50 and get the Universal Express pass. But this will only be useful if your wait times are in excess of 2 hours. Otherwise dont waste your money! Hope all goes well on your trip!! If you have any other questions feel free to ask!

~Matthew

[Woogle]

^ Thanks. This is very helpful. I also had the Express Pass in mind and was thinking that I should but it anyway so that I have more time to wander around, but I'll see when I'm there. Just a pity that Busch Gardens doesn't have Express Pass.

[thrillrideseeker]

^ You are very welcome for the information! I think you should just wait till you get to the park to decide on the express pass. I mean yes it sounds good and all, but if it is not a busy day then the pass is just a waste of money. If you are spending a full day in each of the UO parks you would not even need the express pass even if the wait was an 30 minutes per ride. Its more of a thing you would want on a Saturday in the middle of the summer! And Busch has a type of express thing but you only get it if you are stuck on a ride for more than 30 minutes! To bad you can't buy then I hope you have a blast in Florida!!

~Matthew

[VivaLaVibora]

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SeaWorld should be done on Saturday. The real reason is because they don't have that many rides so it doesn't matter if you go there on a Saturday.

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The thing is this. I don't know what you are into. Are you into going to parks going on everything? Are you going to parks for a lot of rerides like on roller coasters? For Universal Studios, would you reride Mummy, but not reride ET, Jaws, or Men in Black? However at Busch Gardens, you would love to reride Sheikra, Kumba, Montu, Gwazi (I don't know why you want to reride it.), and Scorpion.

 

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On Sunday, you should go to Universal Islands of Adventure. Why? They have Dueling Dragons (2 different coasters), Spiderman, Incredible Hulk, and Jurassic Park River Adventure as main attractions.

 

The other rides are Dr. Seuss area with a dark ride, 2 water rides (One is raft ride Popeye, and the other is Duddley Do Right log flume.), Storm teacups, and Dr. Doom S&S tower. Than, they have this stupid show where you walk in a building, and you see water go over your heads. I would pass that. That was stupid to me.

 

Even with rerides, this park doesn't have a lot of rides in it that are main attractions. They also have 2 kids coasters. One is a Jurassic Park one where you supposedly can only get on without a kid when the park first opens. Pterdony (sp) Flyers it's called, and the Flying Unicorn which might not be open do to Harry Potter.

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Now, you have a total reride thing. Do you really want to ride roller coasters a lot, or not? That's what it depends on.

 

If you don't want to reride roller coasters a lot go to Busch Gardens Tampa on Monday. If you want to reride them more, than I say go Busch Gardens Tuesday.

 

I don't really care for Universal Studios. They have Jaws boat ride, Men in Black shooter, Jimmy Neutron motion simulatior, Twister stand there and look at things, Shrek motion simulator like, Earthquake go on a train and look a things, Mummy roller coaster (sometimes you look at things on a roller coaster), and on E.T you have the story by going on a bike, and look at the cops that are going to shoot you down.

 

For Unversal Studios, for me it doesn't have a lot of things to reride. The Simpsons won't be open until the end of May I think.

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For Tuesday for rerides more than Monday, I would go to Busch Gardens Tampa. They have Sheikra diving coaster, Gwazi wooden 2 coaster, Montu inverted coaster, Cheetah Chase Mack mouse coaster, along with an Intamin Space Shuttle looping flat ride that's not a Space Shuttle.

 

They also have a Tivoli Orbiter that's slower, a really slow and boring bumper cars, a cable ride in the air if it's open, Kumba sitdown coaster, a Moser Spring ride that goes up and down (It's fun. Go on it!), Rhino Rally (You look at animals during a jungle trek ride. It's a smaller version of Kilmajaro Safari's at Animal Kingdom. ), animals are all over the place in exhibits, a train ride, and a Shrawtkopf 1 loop coaster. They also have a 3D show where you get wet, and tons of other live shows in this park.

[307]

I'm jealous. I want me some Florida.

[robbalvey]

SeaWorld should be done on Saturday. The real reason is because they don't have that many rides so it doesn't matter if you go there on a Saturday.

I'm sorry, but this is HORRIBLE advice!!! Please DO NOT listen to this person!

 

Sea World has two coasters and Saturday is their busiest day of the week. I have been there on a Saturday and seen over an hour long lines for BOTH rides.

 

If anything, Sea World should be done *early.* Get there for opening, hit Kraken and Atlantis as soon as you get there, then hit up a few shows. You can easily be done with the park by early afternoon if you do this.

 

Busch Parks also do not currently have any kind of "Fast Pass" system and weekends are the busiest day of the week for all parks. So why would you want to go a park on a Saturday or Sunday where they do not have any sort of system in place to help you get through lines during the busiest day of the week?

 

If you have to go to a park on a Saturday/Sunday, I would hit up a park where you can fastpass your way around. If you go to Busch Gardens or Sea World and the park is slammed...your stuck waiting in very long lines with no options. If you go to Universal and the park is slammed, you can at least buy Express passes and get right through the lines easily regardless of what day you are there.

 

Or maybe think about hitting some of the local Orlando attractions like Old Town or Magical Midway that day.

 

My recommendation would be the following:

 

Saturday/Sunday - Universal. It won't be close to Memorial Day yet so the weekends won't be outrageous and you can buy Express Passes if you need them (well worth the money if they lines are long)

 

Monday/Tuesday - Busch Gardens/Sea World - These parks don't have any kind of Fast Pass system so you want to go there when crowds would be lighter. And if you get the new Universal Ticket which is good for a week, you can always go BACK to Universal after you are done with Sea World to get in a few more rides in case the park was busy on Saturday/Sunday.

 

--Robb

[VivaLaVibora]

Why pay extra money to get a flash pass for other parks? He said he wanted to go one each day. He didn't say that he wanted to go one for the afternoon, and get out of there. Who cares if the coasters are an hour a piece? Oh, wow you have still have how many rides besides coasters?

 

That park is an animal, and show centric park. It's not a ride park. Show venues fill a lot of people. It would be dumb to go to any of those other parks on Saturday. Why waste even more money?

[natatomic]

Robb makes some pretty good points. I went to BGA around this time last year on a Monday (April 30), and the park was DEAD. We walked on to Sheikra and rode it about 6 times all in the front row. There was a bit of a wait for Montu, but only because it was closed for the first few hours of the day, and when it did open, it was only running one train. Either way, we had the entire park done by early afternoon.

 

Having said that, given how dead it was on a Monday, it probably wouldn't be too terribly packed on a Saturday or Sunday, either, compared to the other parks you plan on visiting.

[SharkTums]

^^I agree with Robb as well. I've been to Sea World on weekends...it sucks! There are way too many people, and the way they run the rides you get really long lines.

 

Why wait in lines if you don't have to? Also, the original poster was looking for help. Robb was letting him know he doesn't have to do a full day at Sea World.

 

We've seen your attitude in other threads...do you bring it everywhere with you?

[ghost007jas]

Edit: Post I was Referring to was deleted.. this post can be removed.

 

I hope you have a good trip!

[Meteornotes]

Having been to FL many, many times, I would NEVER go to Seaworld or BGA on a weekend. The crowds are significantly higher than they are during the week, and as Robb correctly pointed out, no Fastpass or other way of getting past the lines means you can be in for a long wait.

 

Going to BGA during the week, especially if you get to the park before it opens (which is something you should do for any park) often means near walk-on conditions for the first couple of hours. I know on our last three visits that people walked onto Gwazi (I did not ride, because I am, um, smart), and then we walked over to Shiekra and got in multiple rides with at most a two train wait. Usually by noon or so we've ridden all the coasters. I'd much rather visit a park under conditions like this than on a weekend, where we waited in hour plus lines for almost everything.

 

I'd go to the Universal parks on the weekend. Not only can you get Express Passes if you need them, but by getting there before the parks open, you will be amazed at how quickly you can get all the major attractions done. Mary and I went to these parks a few years ago on a weekend during spring break (she was in town for a conference, and this was the only time we could visit), but by getting to the front gate 30 minutes before park opening both days, and some park hopping, we rode all the major attractions (some, like the coasters, more than once) with minimal waits. And we did not use Express Passes. This can be done with a bit of planning.

 

dt

[SharkTums]

deleted link to site that deletes our links

 

Look at rollergator's post. He says Sheikra was 35 minute line on a Sunday.

 

Thanks for proving our point!

 

Why wait 35 minutes if you don't have to!?!? And what if you want to ride it more than once. I've never waited 35 minutes for SheiKra and never will!

[robbalvey]

Sorry, I deleted LaVibora's post since it links to a site that deletes our links. But you're EXACTLY right. Why would you want to go to a park when the line is 35 minutes long when you can go to the same park the next day where the line is ZERO minutes long?

 

--Robb

[BarryH]

IMHO, all parks in Orlando will have big crowds on Saturday. If you're going in two weeks, that means you're going on the week of May 4. The parks are pretty quiet during May, except for Memorial Day weekend.

 

I usually suggest going to Sea World on Saturdays if you must. Sea World only has 3 big rides -- Kraken, Journey to Atlantis, and Wild Arctic --and some kiddie rides in Shamu's Happy Harbor. Most of the other attractions are walk-throughs, exhibits, and shows. If you arrive before 9 am, you can do a few rides on Kraken and Journey to Atlantis. I've never had a desire to ride Wild Arctic more than once. If you are a credit whore, you can ride the Shamu Express kiddie coaster too.

 

I think you can get the big rides done before 11:00 am. Wild Arctic tends to have a slow-moving line, though. Journey to Atlantis has a line that can get very long, very fast. Usually, though, before 10 am, Journey to Atlantis generally has a 15 minute or less wait. Later in the day (particularly during a hot Florida summer day), the same line can be 60 minutes or more! Kraken's line tends to move rather quickly (if they are running 2 trains or more). I don't think I've waited more than 30 minutes for Kraken. Then you can spend the rest of the day looking at the fish or watching the shows. The shows can fill up fast (particularly Pets Ahoy and Believe), but if you arrive 15-20 minutes before, you can find a seat in the massive show stadiums.

 

One tip for Sea World: do not visit Wild Arctic after a Believe show. Most guests will head towards Wild Arctic since it is the closest attraction to Shamu Stadium. The line tends to get very long, very quickly. The line moves slow as it is! Pick up a park map to see all the show times.

 

As for Universal, you can do it on a Saturday and buy the Express pass. However, during your visit that week, the Express passes are at its lowest price of $25.99 for a 1 day/2 park pass. The rule of thumb is that the higher the Express pass, the more crowded the park is expected to be. I don't think you would need the Express pass unless you choose to visit on a Saturday. Then again, Saturday might not be crowded at all. You can buy the Express pass at the park if you really need it.

 

During May, Busch Gardens is great to visit on a weekday. Every ride is generally a walk-on. Busch Gardens ride ops let you ride a second time if the regular wait is low or if there are open seats. You don't have to walk through the queue again. If you can't visit Busch Gardens on a weekday, I would go on a Sunday. The coasters tend to have low waits during the few hours of opening and a few hours before closing. In fact, I visited Busch Gardens last Sunday. I was able to do Montu, Kumba, the skyride, Scorpion, and Sheikra twice 2 hours before closing.

 

Busch Gardens and Sea World do have a Fastpass system, sort of. You can take a guided tour and get front of the line access to the rides. This tour is pretty pricey. Last time I checked, it was around $50-$80 in addition to ticket prices. I did the guided tour at Busch Gardens' Howl-O-Scream Halloween event. I didn't think much of it because I felt like the group was being herded around like cattle. The tour guide didn't tell us where we were going or even gave a background on what we are riding. We just cattled around from attraction to attraction.

 

BTW, speaking of tours, if you can swing it, do the VIP tour at Universal. It is pricey at $100 per person (not including park admission), but they really treat you like kings and queens. I think it's well worth the $. If you do this, ask for the tour guide named Chris C. She's one of the best tour guides at Universal.

 

If you can avoid doing a park on Saturday, then please do so. Orlando has numerous other small attractions you can enjoy. Gatorland is pretty interesting and a good Saturday park. Also try Old Town (if not for the credits), Magical Midway, Fun Spot, the hotel pool, happy hour at the hotel bar, Erik Johnson's van, etc.

[BarryH]

Even with rerides, this park doesn't have a lot of rides in it that are main attractions. They also have 2 kids coasters. One is a Jurassic Park one where you supposedly can only get on without a kid when the park first opens. Pterdony (sp) Flyers it's called, and the Flying Unicorn which might not be open do to Harry Potter.

 

That would be Pternadon Flyers. They require a kid if you want to ride this. Short of kidnapping KidTums, you can ride Pternandon Flyers without a kid if you hit it first. At 9 am, most people are stuck at Marvel Super Hero Island. However, if you make a beeline to Pternandon Flyers, the Team Members will let you ride if the wait is very short, generally 0 minutes or less. I did this once and I was able to ride Pternandon Flyers two times because no one was in queue. Be aware, though, that in 30 minutes, the wait went to 20 minutes and kidless adults were not allowed to ride.

[BarryH]

I've been thinking about this thread and I think Robb's plan is the best. Not that I am sucking up to Robb, but he does bring up good points. I would suggest this plan:

 

Sat.: Universal Studios

Sun.: IOA

Mon.: BGA

Tues.: Sea World

 

Universal Studios will be busy on Saturday, but not as busy as IOA. If you can arrive at USF at least 45 minutes before park opening, you might be let in early. You can do the major rides before the crowds come in. I would suggest doing these rides at USF at opening, in the order below:

 

Revenge of the Mummy

Jimmy Neutron

Jaws

MIB (if you want to ride together)

Simpsons (if open)

Nuthouse Coaster (if you want to credit whore)

E.T.

 

Then you can enjoy the shows and theater attractions. Out of the theater attractions, Shrek 4-D can get some big lines. I've seen the line hit 30 minutes. T2 used to get big lines, but I've never seen more than a 15-20 minute wait for it. Twister rarely has waits over 15 minutes. Disaster can have long waits, but the line tends to move fairly quickly. I would try doing the "A" ticket rides first. You should be finished by around 11 am. Enjoy a show or two. Have a nice lunch and enjoy some more shows or do rides that have short waits. Even do the single rider lines for Mummy and MIB if you want another ride like Twister or T2. Then after 3 or 4 pm, try to hit Shrek, Disaster, and anything else you missed before.

 

As for IOA, it tends to be fairly quiet on a Sunday morning. I suppose everyone is either sleeping in or at church. You should be able to do a lap around IOA before noon. Then have a nice lunch and possibly re-ride your favorites.

 

BGA should be pretty quiet on Monday. Sea World would be a nice park to end your vacation, as you can relax and not run around to ride things before the lines get long.

[Woogle]

Thanks everyone for the great feedback. It really helps making the decisions easier. I was also thinking that I might do a halfday thing at Seaworld. As you said, only a small number of rides and at least one show and I will be satisfied. I have an Orlando Flexticket so then I'll have the option to revisit one of the other parks. I'm also not much into simulator type rides so that would rule out a few at Universal and cut down on my times. I do however want tos spend more time in BGA, but the shuttle arrives a bit late. Anyway, I suppose Mondays won't be too busy.

 

I'm off to the airport now. Horrible flight ahead of me. 24 hours airplane time alone. I wish someone will invent teleportation devices already!