Orlando - without Disney

maemaesmummy

To be fair in 11 days on a 1st visit I think you would struggle to do Disney as well as the places you mention taking into account travelling etc.

Philippa36

We spent two weeks in Florida and only spent one day at Disney World - we only spent that day there as we were with friends who were staying there. I agree with comments above, there are plenty of places to go without feeling you're missing out by not joining the crowds at WDW.

peachyprice

It certainly is possible, we've been 3 times, only been to Disney once, for a day, vowed never to return.

There's plenty to do without doing disney, the Universal tickets are much better value and the parks are better laid out. We also went across to the Gulf coast, the beaches are beautiful and easily driveable in a few house. We went to Kennedy Space centre which it totally awesome, DD is doing 'space' at school this term, around 1/3 of the class have been to Orlando, she was the only one who had been to Kennedy, how sad is that!

I'm sure you'll have a great time without buying into the whole Disney thing.

claire16c

Dont forget the waterparks! Of course its possible not to go to WDW, just dont go there! Theres tons to do in that area that youve already listed and theres also shopping and just lazing by the pool too.

broonbear

we've not been to rip off disney for years as in previous posts there's loads to do our teenagers love rollercoasters , we love clearwater so we drop them off at Busch Gardens and spend the day at Clearwater beach, Wet n Wild waterpark is brill, Gatorland will take up half a day .:j

consumermonkey

Hiya,

I've been once a few years ago and am going alone in January to do what I didn't manage last time. Disney is not on my list (LOVED it, just wanna do Universal lots this time). My big query is, as lovely as Kissamee is, if you don't want to do Disney, why stay in Kissamee? You can get a lot closer to the other big parks than staying there, reducing your traveling time by loads. Seaworld is middle of I-Drive and Universal is top of I-Drive.

Just a suggestion.

merlot123

consumermonkey wrote: »

Hiya,

I've been once a few years ago and am going alone in January to do what I didn't manage last time. Disney is not on my list (LOVED it, just wanna do Universal lots this time). My big query is, as lovely as Kissamee is, if you don't want to do Disney, why stay in Kissamee? You can get a lot closer to the other big parks than staying there, reducing your traveling time by loads. Seaworld is middle of I-Drive and Universal is top of I-Drive.

Just a suggestion.

We want to stay in a villa with a private pool, I'm open to suggestions if anyone can find a villa closer than Kissimmee, I don't know the geography of the place.

We are considering staying in Orlando for 8 nights and then flying onto New York for 6 nights, are we trying to fit too much into the time we have in Orlando?

We will not be going back with the children to the US after this trip, it has taken us years to save money for this trip, so it is a once in a 'lifetime' family holiday.So we want to make the most of it, and as my daughter is currently doing a project on Ground Zero,9/11 as part of her English GCSE it would be ideal to visit NY as we are over there, and my husband preference is NY over Orlando, Orlando is really for the children.

merlot123

Sambucus_Nigra

I'd switch that and do 6 nights in Florida and then 8 in New York. 6 nights go so fast in NYC; there's so much to do.

Everyone and their husbands have a pool in Florida. You shouldn't have to look far.

merlot123

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

I'd switch that and do 6 nights in Florida and then 8 in New York. 6 nights go so fast in NYC; there's so much to do.

Everyone and their husbands have a pool in Florida. You shouldn't have to look far.

Thank you for your suggestion, I will certainly consider it.

Do you know where I could start to look for a villa closer than Kissimmee, I have only been looking at James Villas, Thomson, Thomas Cook etc. I am very wary of booking it privately via a private rental, I'm looking for ABTA/ATOL in case anything goes wrong.

I'm looking to book the flights seperately from the Villa and Hotel in NYC, but again wary of doing so incase anything goes wrong, if I book with a credit card (will have to get one for the trip to US anyway), would this provide protection if ashcloud, or one of the companies we book with folds?

sunshinetours

merlot123 wrote: »

We want to stay in a villa with a private pool, I'm open to suggestions if anyone can find a villa closer than Kissimmee, I don't know the geography of the place.

merlot123

Map of villa communities here

Active Florida forum here

Juyst find teh parks you do want to visit and go from there. In 11 or 14 days you won't be able to do everything anyway.
there is a lot of resources on the internet for Florida trips so research and research