Two Grown Ups, Three Days, Which Parks in Flordia!?

[ofthebest]

Hi there!

 

My boyfriend and I are visiting Florida (from Ireland) in Sept. Our weekend is going to be taken up with a conference, but we have a Weds, Thurs, and Fri. to go to theme parks, etc. We've decided to give the whole Mickey Mouse thing a skip for this trip. We are staying in Tampa and are looking at going to Sea World and Busch Gardens...we're also trying to decide on a water park...I am having trouble judging between them, even after browsing reviews all over the internet.

 

Is 1 park/1 day a good rule? Since we don't have little ones to worry about yet, we'd love to visit the parks that have maximum entertainment potential for grown-ups...ie more big rides/exhibits than play-spaces and paddle pools. Do our choices so far sound like good ones? Where would you go?

 

Hints, tips, tricks?

[mcjaco]

You can easily do each of the Busch parks in a day each. Especially at the time you're going.

 

As for water parks, if you haven't been to a Disney one, go to Blizzard Beach. If you have, Wet N Wild gets rave reviews from people here on TPR.

[dragonskeep]

Sea world's water park Aquatica is getting mixed reviews. Wet-n-Wild has always been fun when I have gone. It isn't as pretty as Aquatica but has more rides. I would definitely consider Islands of Adventure if you have never been. The place is a little torn up right now with constuction going on but is still a great park, dont miss Spiderman if you go. There are a lot of resturaunts and clubs at City Walk which you have to walk through to exit the park. If you want to make it a long night you could have a good time there. Busch Gardens is a great park too. Have a great time in Orlando.

[Gav]

Yeah, definitely try and do Islands of Adventure. It is certainly more "mature" than Disney...Spiderman is one of the best (if not the best) theme park ride ever built, plus there are a a few big coasters and thrill rides there too (Hulk, Dr Dooms Fearfall, Dueling Dragons etc)

I'd probably give Islands of Adventure #1 priority.

 

Busch is also a good choice in terms of a more adult oriented park.

 

If you want a whole day at a water park, then I guess Blizzard Beach is the best on there.

 

Perhaps you could also try SeaWorld and Aquatica in the one day? Water parks often don't keep you as occupied for long as a dry park, and SW probably wouldn't take all day either. So you could combine the two.

[MixedDrink]

I'd probably give Islands of Adventure #1 priority.

Me too,

Islands of Adventure is a great park in almost every way I can think of.

The theming is great,

the rides are great,

it's well kept.

Sure, there hasn't been a new coaster since 1999 (technically 2000), but the rides there never lose their charm!

[thrillgeek]

^In my opinion it's more of a family park just because it only has 2 great coasters and a few awesome rides. Other than that all the other rides it seems are geared more towards family. When I went I just did re-rides on the Hulk, Dueling Dragons, spiderman, and Dr. Dooms. Spiderman is a once in a life time experience though. It's such a unique ride.

[MixedDrink]

^Agreed,

your right. It is a little bit more of a family park.

But it still has awesome rides..

 

Also.. get the Express Pass if you want to get on several rides in a short time..

they honestly only stamped two of my Rides,

both the Dueling Dragons, that's it!

[RexandtheBeast]

I think you should definitely try for Islands of Adventure. As mentioned above it has a few great thrill rides, a good water-ride area in Toon Lagoon and generally great theming. As far as water parks go, Wet-n-Wild is probably the best for thrilling water rides, but Blizzard Beach is good as well, and has much more theming. Have a great trip!

[TheHulk]

I agree with Islands of Adventure being #1 priority. Though you really don't need an Express pass for Dueling Dragons. All the times I've been on it (countless, lol), the regular line catches up to the express pass area pretty quickly. Sometimes you actually pass it. It's a good walk through the que before you actually get to the line though. The Hulk is the coaster you need to use the Express pass for. I've been through the regular line, and it's a drag. Lol. You might also want to use the pass for Dr. Doom, Spiderman, and Jurassic Park.

 

Busch Gardens is also another great park. The line for Montu is never usually that long, but SheiKra and Kumba can take awhile. For Gwazi though, I forget how the wait is there. Lol.

 

Seaworld wise, I've never been there, but I hear Kraken is a good coaster.

[therooboy]

Universals Islands Of Adventure & Busch Gardens Africa are both unmissable.

2 of the best parks anywhere, not just Florida.

[RCFreak]

I would say do Busch Gardens and the Universal parks. Sea World is fun and all, but I think if you're skipping Disney this time, you'll be back and Sea World will probably still be around. I would say on the day you do the waterpark you could also do some more at the Universal parks and Citywalk; plus combo multi-day tickets are sometimes cheaper if you find the right deals.

[Erik Johnson]

September is a great time to hits the parks since most of the kids will be back in school.  As everyone has already said, I would spend a full day at Universal/Islands of Adventure.  Are you really into shows and sealife?  I think that really depends on how much you will get out of SeaWorld.  If you are going there for mostly for the rides you could just spend a half day there or less, and finish up the rest of the day at Wet N Wild as they are pretty close to each other.  It looks like both parks are open at 10AM and closes at 6PM.  While Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard beach are nicer parks, I feel that Wet N Wild has a better collection of slides.  Aquatica is mostly made as a family park, there are hardly any slides for thrillseekers there.  This will leave you a full day at Busch Gardens for Friday. 

 

http://www.universalorlando.com/tickets.html

 

If you know that you are going to only do Sea World in a half day and go to Wet N Wild, I would recommend buying the Unlimited 2 Park Plus Wet N Wild ticket for $99.  Even if you decide not to go to Wet n Wild, you can at least go back to Universal for a few hours in case you missed something.  I think you have to buy these tickets online.

[Trevannosaurus Rex]

Sea World wins points for the Brewmasters Club, although I think they have it at Busch as well.

 

Busch Gardens you can easily spend a full day there Montu and Sheikra are great fun, Gwazi is a nasty bit of work though. You can spend a full day at Islands of Adventure as well, there's a lot of detail for the first time visitor. Depending on the park ticket you get you might even be able to hop over to the Studios and get to go on the Mummy. Also if Horror Nights is running make sure you go to it, great fun.

Spiderman, Hulk and DD are awesome. Dudley and Popeye are a bit over-rated but Jurassic Park River Adventure is brilliant!

 

September time the parks should be fairly dead, so the Express Pass is probably not worth the cost.

 

You can't really go wrong so just have fun!