Travelling to Orlando - Theme Parks
Today's post in the Travelling to Orlando series is all about the theme parks - can you even go to Florida and not do the theme parks?!
I'm going to focus on tips and tricks on the following parks:
- Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure
- Volcano Bay
- Magic Kingdom
- Busch Gardens
These two parks are probably our favourite parks; mainly because I actually do most of the rides there :P As we stay in one of Universal's on-site hotels we get early park access before it opens to the public so this is a good chance to do any of the busy rides (not all are open). Staying in the on-site hotels also means there's free transport to the parks making your journey time very short.
Universal Studios is mainly made up of 4D ride simulators whereas Islands of Adventure has more thrill rides. In Universal Studios my favourite rides would be the Escape from Gringotts, The Revenge of the Mummy, Race Through New York with Jimmy Fallon and Despicable Me Minion Mayhem. I only really like Spiderman and King Kong Reign of Skull Island in Islands of Adventure as they're about the only two I do :P
Universal Studios is mainly made up of 4D ride simulators whereas Islands of Adventure has more thrill rides. In Universal Studios my favourite rides would be the Escape from Gringotts, The Revenge of the Mummy, Race Through New York with Jimmy Fallon and Despicable Me Minion Mayhem. I only really like Spiderman and King Kong Reign of Skull Island in Islands of Adventure as they're about the only two I do :P
When going to the parks we always download the Universal app to keep an eye on wait times (there's free wifi throughout the parks).
If you're planning on doing a long day there, I'd recommend getting the refillable drinks cup. For an initial $15 you can refill your cup for free for the rest of the day. If you're returning to the park another day, you can bring the same cup with you and reactivate your free refills for only $8. You can also refill for free between these two parks and Volcano Bay.
We get a 14 day, 3 park ticket while we're here as it's the best value for us. It's one ticket that gets you entry to Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure and Volcano Bay. We used always get our tickets from Attraction Tickets Direct (they post out your tickets to you) but the last two times we've gone we've actually used Travel Republic as they've been cheaper (they email you your tickets which you need to print out). I think this year they worked out at about €184 each. I think if you go to just one park for more than 2 days you get your value so it's definitely worth looking into if you're planning on doing the 3 parks or visiting them on multiple days. The multi-day tickets at the parks can be quite expensive so compare their online prices to the 2 week passes to see what's cheaper.
Volcano Bay
Volcano Bay is a water park that just opened earlier this year. We really enjoyed it when we were here however I didn't do a single slide while I was there :P a lot of the slides are tube type ones and I get really claustrophobic so opted out of those :P I did go on the lazy river (how thrilling!) and the Fearless River which Kevin had initially told me was the lazy river and I absolutely nearly died on it (as well as losing my Tapu Tapu and almost half my bikini!). After I got over the initial shock of my near death experience (yes I am 100% exaggerating), I did manage to go on it a few more times and actually enjoyed it :P
Volcano Bay also has a gorgeous wave pool with the volcano as it's backdrop which looks amazing (serious instagram ops!). There's lots of sunbeds too which is nice but we always tried to get one right at the front to avoid the sand :P
The water park has introduced a virtual queue to minimise the time standing in line waiting for rides. You're given a Tapu Tapu which looks just like a watch. You tap your Tapu Tapu on a station outside the attraction and it tells you how long you have to wait to ride. It'll vibrate when it's time for you to go to that attraction which saves you waiting in line. Kevin used it a few times but still ended up queuing for about 20/30 mins which is annoying. The Tapu Tapu also only allows you to be in one virtual queue so if it's a busy day you may not get the chance to do many of the attractions. Some of them have a rid enow option which is usually when it's quiet. This means you don't need to get in the virtual line and you can just go straight into a normal queue for the ride.
The food options for us weren't great as most of the food contained egg which Kevin is allergic to. We stayed in Cabana Bay which had it's own private entrance to Volcano Bay so it was only a 2/3 minute walk to grab some lunch there and head back to the park again afterwards (not ideal if we weren't staying in Cabana Bay!). Again we got a refillable cup here for $15. We didn't know at the time that we could have used our Universal one and re-activate it for only $8 but we figured that out soon after! Again, like Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, you can use this cup in all 3 parks on the same day for free.
Magic Kingdom
We've only been to Magic Kingdom out of all the Disney parks. We've been twice and have loved it both times. As it's a bit further out from the International Drive area, we usually do a full day trip here (which can be really long!). Both times we went we used Mears transfers which we booked through the hotel. We bought our tickets in the park (roughly about $100 each) as we were only going for one day. If you're looking for multiple days, try the above websites where we got our Universal tickets from as it'd work out cheaper.
Magic Kingdom is great for all ages. It has rides to suit everyone and the park itself is just gorgeous. The castle is amazing and it's definitely worth staying for the night show at park closing. The fireworks display is brilliant.
Both times we visited Magic Kingdom, the weather was the hottest it had been throughout our holidays! The queues for most of the rides are outdoors with no shelters or air conditioning so it does get really hot so make sure to bring lots of water and pocket fans (trust me these will be your life saver!). If you're staying for the full day bring lots of drinks and snacks (Mears collected us at about 7am and we didn't leave until after the show which was after midnight) as it's a pretty long day. We also went to Disney Springs for lunch which is nearby for a break! There's a few shops, pubs and restaurants there so it was nice to just take a break from the park for an hour or two.
Busch Gardens
This theme park / zoo is located in Tampa which is about an hour's drive from Orlando. It has mainly thrill rides so it's not the best theme park to go to if you don't really like rollercoasters! It also has a zoo so there's lots of cool animals to see too! Kevin loves this park so it's definitely worth a visit if you like rollercoasters.
Busch Gardens does free shuttle buses to Busch Gardens. They collect you from various points in Orlando depending on where you're staying. We got picked up and dropped off at Universal which was handy. We booked it through our hotel's concierge / park ticket desk.
They also have a refillable cup that can be used on the day of purchase in Busch Gardens, Aquatica, Adventure Island and Sea World, similar to Universal.
Right that's enough about theme parks! Hope this will be useful if you're contemplating going to Orlando or if you're trying to decide what park is best for you. If there's any more info you need email me or contact me on my social media.
We get a 14 day, 3 park ticket while we're here as it's the best value for us. It's one ticket that gets you entry to Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure and Volcano Bay. We used always get our tickets from Attraction Tickets Direct (they post out your tickets to you) but the last two times we've gone we've actually used Travel Republic as they've been cheaper (they email you your tickets which you need to print out). I think this year they worked out at about €184 each. I think if you go to just one park for more than 2 days you get your value so it's definitely worth looking into if you're planning on doing the 3 parks or visiting them on multiple days. The multi-day tickets at the parks can be quite expensive so compare their online prices to the 2 week passes to see what's cheaper.
Volcano Bay
Volcano Bay is a water park that just opened earlier this year. We really enjoyed it when we were here however I didn't do a single slide while I was there :P a lot of the slides are tube type ones and I get really claustrophobic so opted out of those :P I did go on the lazy river (how thrilling!) and the Fearless River which Kevin had initially told me was the lazy river and I absolutely nearly died on it (as well as losing my Tapu Tapu and almost half my bikini!). After I got over the initial shock of my near death experience (yes I am 100% exaggerating), I did manage to go on it a few more times and actually enjoyed it :P
Volcano Bay also has a gorgeous wave pool with the volcano as it's backdrop which looks amazing (serious instagram ops!). There's lots of sunbeds too which is nice but we always tried to get one right at the front to avoid the sand :P
The water park has introduced a virtual queue to minimise the time standing in line waiting for rides. You're given a Tapu Tapu which looks just like a watch. You tap your Tapu Tapu on a station outside the attraction and it tells you how long you have to wait to ride. It'll vibrate when it's time for you to go to that attraction which saves you waiting in line. Kevin used it a few times but still ended up queuing for about 20/30 mins which is annoying. The Tapu Tapu also only allows you to be in one virtual queue so if it's a busy day you may not get the chance to do many of the attractions. Some of them have a rid enow option which is usually when it's quiet. This means you don't need to get in the virtual line and you can just go straight into a normal queue for the ride.
Magic Kingdom
We've only been to Magic Kingdom out of all the Disney parks. We've been twice and have loved it both times. As it's a bit further out from the International Drive area, we usually do a full day trip here (which can be really long!). Both times we went we used Mears transfers which we booked through the hotel. We bought our tickets in the park (roughly about $100 each) as we were only going for one day. If you're looking for multiple days, try the above websites where we got our Universal tickets from as it'd work out cheaper.
Magic Kingdom is great for all ages. It has rides to suit everyone and the park itself is just gorgeous. The castle is amazing and it's definitely worth staying for the night show at park closing. The fireworks display is brilliant.
Both times we visited Magic Kingdom, the weather was the hottest it had been throughout our holidays! The queues for most of the rides are outdoors with no shelters or air conditioning so it does get really hot so make sure to bring lots of water and pocket fans (trust me these will be your life saver!). If you're staying for the full day bring lots of drinks and snacks (Mears collected us at about 7am and we didn't leave until after the show which was after midnight) as it's a pretty long day. We also went to Disney Springs for lunch which is nearby for a break! There's a few shops, pubs and restaurants there so it was nice to just take a break from the park for an hour or two.
Busch Gardens
This theme park / zoo is located in Tampa which is about an hour's drive from Orlando. It has mainly thrill rides so it's not the best theme park to go to if you don't really like rollercoasters! It also has a zoo so there's lots of cool animals to see too! Kevin loves this park so it's definitely worth a visit if you like rollercoasters.
Busch Gardens does free shuttle buses to Busch Gardens. They collect you from various points in Orlando depending on where you're staying. We got picked up and dropped off at Universal which was handy. We booked it through our hotel's concierge / park ticket desk.
They also have a refillable cup that can be used on the day of purchase in Busch Gardens, Aquatica, Adventure Island and Sea World, similar to Universal.
Right that's enough about theme parks! Hope this will be useful if you're contemplating going to Orlando or if you're trying to decide what park is best for you. If there's any more info you need email me or contact me on my social media.
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