Advice on Florida theme parks (and when taking a baby)

Has anyone swam with dolphins at Discovery Cove - if so how much of the day does it take ?

As long or as short as you want, but bearing in mind the high price of doing this, it's in your best interests to spend aslong as possible there. Remember the food and drink is free all day (and good). I'm not sure I would want to do it alone though, as the whole beauty of doing it is that it's a shared experience (not just the dolphin swim, the whole thing). Bear in mind if you want any momentoes, the park DVDs and photos are very pricey. The actual swimming with the dolphins bit is under an hour, including the briefings. You are not with the dolphins for very long at all.

Honestly I would suggest your GF rethinks this and perhaps you look to go together in a few years' time.

I've heard there is a babyswap facility at the theme parks where both parents que for the ride. Then when its time to go on the ride the parents take it in turns to look after the baby and go on the ride, without having to que again.

Yes, absolutely right and very useful

Where is the best park to go for thrill rides - Bush Gardens, Island of Adventure or Universal Studios ?

Busch would be my pick, but IOA has some great coasters if you fancy that. Universal has a couple of excellent "thrill" rides but less than IOA if your priority is that alone.

When it comes to buying tickets for Walt Disney World do you have to buy a 5 day ticket which gives you entrance into another 7 parks (i.e. Epcot, MGM Studios, Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Downtown, Disney Quest and the Water Park) or can you just buy one day entry into Disney World ?

Yes you can buy one day tickets on the gate (approx $71 if memory serves) Usually this way's not advisable as it's cheaper to go for the multi day tickets, but if you really only want one day ....

We only want to go there for one day so our daughter can see Micky Mouse etc. - she's too young to understand most of what's going on.

Just a thought, but you might want to consider not going to the Magic Kingdom if you are only planning on spending one day at Disney, and your main purpose is for your daughter to "see" stuff. If you are wanting her to meet the characters, don't dismiss Epcot where there is better interaction with them (IMHO) and less lines, and also you and GF could ride some of the excellent rides (not coasters) such as Mission:Space, Test Track & Soarin'.

We are going to Florida for 2 weeks and staying at Lake Buena

Nice! Whereabouts? We just got back from LBV. It's a great location.

Good luck with your emigration quest, if that's what you decide to do. It's not easy getting into the USA.

As you are thinking about going to Sea World I would suggest your OH does the Behind the Scenes Dolphin Nursery tour.

http://commerce.4adventure.com/EStore/Scripts/Skins/SWF/Tours.aspx?selectedsellinggroupid=1016

It costs $40 and there is a maximum of 10 people on the tour which takes an hour. The first half hour talks about dolphins and then you go through to the Nursery where you are split into smaller groups and move round 3 different trainers and you can feed and interact with the different dolphins that happen to be in the nursery. Half of the nursery pool is private to this tour but you could watch from the other side with your daughter. I have done both DC and this tour and can thoroughly recommend this tour, DC on your own wouldn't particularly appeal to me especially considering the time in the pod with "your" dolphin is only something like 1/2 hour. There is a Seaworld photographer taking photos from the public area of the nursery pool and also our guide used our camera and took some great photos.

I'm sure your daughter would love Pets Ahoy at Seaword and of course there is Kraken for you! Your cheapest option is to buy an e-ticket online at the Seaworld website and a one day ticket will give you a second day free. I'll pm you a code for this.

I have to agree regarding Epcot for "easier" character interaction or Animal Kingdom where all the "main" characters have their own spot for photographs and a Disney photographer to hand, you get a card from the first photographer who takes your photo and then hand it to the next photographer and then you can view these at the park or even better online when you get home. Once again though the CMs will use your own camera to take photos for you all. I'm sure your daughter would enjoy the safari at AK and the Lion King and Nemo shows there.

jojo1978 wrote: »

You could actually take turns to do the swimso you can babysit, or just go in and wothout the doplhin swim and watch her.

That's exactly why I'm not sure your GF going on her own is going to get the "most" from DC.

I would be inclined to both go, or neither of you and save it for another time. I have a feeling DD would be free at 18 months, but I'm not sure.

To be honest though, there are far better places in the world to swim with dolphins than Orlando....

we have been upgraded to stay at the Marriott Orlando World Center Resort

Wow! Very nice!

goto this site and they will tell you everything you need to know about florida and disney plus all the theme parks etc
http://www.thedibb.co.uk/index.php

join the forum and take their advice and you cannot go wrong

sky_rat wrote: »

For theme parks I was looking for the biggest and best extreme rides !!

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is your best bet then! Have a look at their site: http://www.buschgardens.com/BGT/ and Sheikra is one of the best rollercoasters there. There's loads of info on that site...

Beware though, I don't think you mentioned how far along in her pregnancy your girlfriend is, but there may be some restrictions on rides re pregnancy. But Busch Gardens has a lot more than great rides - with all the shows that they put on (which IMHO are really great!), and of course, the animal park side of it too.

On Seaworld.... I have to agree with Edinburghlass about Pets Ahoy! A very funny show It's a great park but lots of walking involved and the shows are all on a tight schedule - there's a good few coasters there too and a really good water ride (near the dragon one) but from the outside you only see half of the ride!

If you're planning on doin both Busch and Seaworld, try and get the pass for the both of them.

As for Disney, sadly I don't have much Disney expereince, except that went to MGM and it was ok, would have rather have done another p ark instead. Islands of Adventure is a good one - especially for the theme that it is and good opportunities for meeting characters.

I'm fairly sure that in both Busch and Seaworld (as they're the one and same) they do have the arrangement of one minding the baby while the other goes on the ride, but do check out the info on their websites.

It's funny having written all this is getting me excited about going back to FL in November

I would also recommend having a view through the Orlando and Florida thread (up to date nearer the end):

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=23331