Visiting Orlando in a month:

Hey, im fairly new to these forums, have been browsing for a while and I really like the community you guys have here.

I'm going to Orlando at the end of April for two weeks, got a great deal staying at Lake Buena Vista, and my main reason for going is to visit the parks.

I have been to Orlando before, in 1998, but obviously a lot has changed since then. We didn’t really do the Disney parks last time, and I’m very much looking forward to visiting them, any tips etc that would be handy?

Also, I have this sneaking suspicion that the new SheikRa ride at Busch Gardens is going to open a couple of days after my holiday ends (I leave May 11th), is there any news on an opening day yet?

Any other hints or tips would be greatly appreciated.

And keep up the good work guys, this place is excellent!

Rooey

SheiKra seems to be opening on May 1st. Of course, a delay is certainly possible, but that seems to be the projected opening.

The Media Day is scheduled for May 19/20. That's the only date I've heard so far. Wether or not it's going to have a soft opening before that, I'm not sure.

If you wanted tips for Disney you needed to come here much much earlier than 1 month, more like 5 months.

Well always check at the front desk what park the days you are staying are open early.

EPCOT

Do Test Track first, get their early too.

Mission:Space is cool, but I could care less. If you do go, go as a single rider.

Stay at EPCOT for a few hours then take the monorail to the transpher, from transpher go to

Magic Kingdom

Probly by logic thinking you will go to Space Mountion first, so just go. I dont think it really matters where you sit on SM, just as long as you ride.

Ride TTA, or Blue Line, or what ever the blue monorail thing is going over tomorrow land is.

Buzz is cool. Skip Stich, not worth the wait.

go over to Adventureland.

Ride BTMR first, then to Splash Mountion, over to Piretes(sp). Then you can just hang at Magic Kingdom til' you want to go.

If you get a reservation which I dought you will to Hoop-dee-doo Musical Review, its hilarious!

Next day

MGM

Go to ToT first.

Then RnR

Eat at 50's Prime Time Diner if you get reservations, Im not telling you what it is, but you will have fun!

then go to

Animal Kingdom

Its boreing as mell.

Go on Bugs Life and Primerial Whirl

later that night catch a bus to EPCOT, stay til IllumiNations:Reflections of Earth.

Park Hopper passes are a MUST. The buses are very convient.

Thanks

And ive heard varying dates about Sheikra...im still convinced it will open the day after i leave! Just my luck

Lord help us all, I'm in a prolific mood again tonight (that's cause I work nights in a projection booth, and there's a whole lot of downtime).

First off, I don't want to debate what other folks have said, but if you're going to be there for two weeks there's really no need to be running around parkhopping every day. The very idea that Epcot can be hammered out in a matter of hours is extraordinarily questionable.

Anyway (had to get that off my chest), here I go:

You didn't mention anything about Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, or Sea World. I'm sure that was unintentionally, because going to Orlando for an extended period of time and not visiting all these parks is obscene. Since you did mention Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, I'm recommending you look into picking up Orlando Flex Tickets. They give you 14 days unlimited access to Universal Studios, Universal Islands of Adventure, Universal CityWalk, SeaWorld Orlando, Wet 'n Wild, and Busch Gardens. While I've never utilized this pass (AP holder for Sea World and Universal), it seems like a terribly good deal, and I believe there's also shuttles you can take to Busch Gardens (it's about an hour drive, and a terribly dull one at that).

If you don't already have your Disney tickets, get on the ball. You can get nice discounts for ordering online in advance. Check it out at the Disney website. As far as packages go, you may want to check out a few of the add ons. There's a Magic Plus option that includes some of the other Disney destinations such as Pleasure Island, DisneyQuest, and the water parks. The one thing I would be cautious of is overbuying the tickets. I would guess a 4 or 5 day ticket will do just fine if you want to thoroughly enjoy each thing the different parks have to offer. You're going to have to make that decision on your own. Just make sure it's an informed decision.

As has already been stated, get to the parks early. In case there's any confusion on this point, "early" does not mean "twenty minutes before the park's posted opening time." "Early" means no less than 45 minutes before the park's posted opening time. I generally aim for an hour, but if you gotta be a little later, try not to push it too much. Parkgoing in Florida can be akin to a military maneuver. Getting there first is half the battle (the other half of the battle, oddly enough, is wearing the right shoes. Military maneuvers can be strange that way).

Staying at Lake Buena Vista, huh? I have to plead minor ignorance on Disney property resorts - are you staying at a place that's considered "on property," and therefore you can take advantage of the magic hour stuff, or are you staying at a place that's considered "real close to Disney, but don't count on the perks?" That should affect which days you go to which parks. If Magic Kingdom opens early and you're considered "on property," then you need to be at Magic Kingdom real early that morning. If Epcot opens early and you're considered "NOT on property," I'd recommend you keep far, far away from Epcot that day (the same applies to the late closings). Go ahead and check that info at Disney.com (it can be a pain to naviagate there, but if you found this site, I'm betting you can manage the Mouse's website). If you're not on property, don't ask the folks at the front desk which Disney parks open early. They'll look at you like a dog that's just been shown a card trick (anyone got that obscure reference?).

You're renting a car, right? Paying to park at parks sucks. Having to wait an eternity for that "convenient shuttle" to show up, however, sucks out loud. Just remember, we drive on the wrong right side over here.

Got sunscreen?

As far as Sheikra goes, the best thing you can do is keep an eye on these boards. If you haven't heard anything by the time you leave, maybe try scheduling that Busch Gardens day as late in your trip as possible. You may get lucky.

Hitting parks everyday can be more than a little rough - since schools are still in session in late April/early May, Saturdays are going to see the largest attendance spikes. Schedule parks that are lower on the totem pole for those days (like Sea World or Animal Kingdom). Actually, it'd be best to just skip parks altogether on those days. There's plenty else to do in Orlando.

As far as individual park strategies go, everyone has a different idea of what's best. Some folks at Magic Kingdom head straight for the mountains. I head straight for Fantasyland. If I can have that area knocked out before it turns into the double stroller demolition derby, I'm a happy man.

I will second the earlier post that mentioned hitting Test Track early. It amazes me that Test Track can have a 45 minute wait while Mission Space can have a 15 minute wait. Mission Space is, incidentally, worth your time. It's not the Spiderman killer Disney undoubtably hoped for, but it's still a very good ride. I haven't a clue when Soarin' opens in Epcot, but if it's open, expect a good chunk of the opening crowd to head there first (the other half will head straight for Test Track - it should be noted that this is one of the best chances you'll get to get a character picture taken - eveyone's so busy running for the E ticket attractions, they ignore the fact that 10 or so characters are waiting behind Spaceship Earth to pose for shots).

FASTPASS. Learn it.

Maps are readily available online. Learn the lay of the lands.

I gotta go start a couple of movies. That's all I got for now. If you want more info, lemme know. If you want me to shut the hell up, lemme know. If you want to mix elephant DNA with a pot bellied pig...that's just a silly idea.

Excellent, thank you so much

We have already pre paid for our 14 day unlimited pass to Universal, IOA, Busch Gardens, Wet n Wild and Sea World, so we will be doing all of those, and the Disney parks too

We are staying at the Fairfield Inn, a Marriott Village place on Lake Buena Vista, we aren’t actually that fussed about eh accommodation as it was rated 3 1/2 stars by our travel agent, and it seems that an American 3 1/2 Stars is almost comparable to UK 5 stars in some cases!

I keep hearing different reports on Sheikra, I still have this gut feeling that it will open after we leave, but hey ho, if that happens, then so be it.

I went to Orlando once before in 1998, when IOA was being constructed, we stayed in this hotel right on I Drive. Of course, now I have Kraken, and the IOA rides to look forward too, as well as the newer rides at Busch Gardens. Also, I’m looking forward to riding the Scorpion again at BG, as I have a soft spot for that ride, we used to have one at my local park, Dreamland in Margate, Kent, and before that we had an original Looping Star - I do love a Schwarzkopf.

This is hopefully going to be the first of a few trips stateside this year, fingers crossed, as I have family in California, and a return visit to SFMM and Knotts will be interesting (Last time I went there was 97, and all I remember about SFMM was going on the Revolution, I seem to have forgotten everything else!)

Anyways thanks for your advice, its very much appreciated.

Rooey

http://www.johnnyupsidedown.com/sheikra/sh132a.jpg

This is why I'm pretty confident in suggesting May 1st as SheiKra's grand opening