[tylerdylan]

So, we just found out that our free Make A Wish trip to Disney World is actually a free trip to Florida including free use of a rental car for our entire visit. So, I need help planning the perfect trip for my 4 year old (he'll be 5 when we go) who deserves the best trip of his life. With our stay at an amazing resort exclusively for kids with life threatening illnesses (Give Kids the World Resort in Kissimmee) we get free passes to many Florida attractions including:

3 Day park hopper passes to Disney World
1 day pass to Busch Gardens
Passes to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure
Passes to Sea World
Passes to Kennedy Space Centre
Passes to Gatorland
Passes to Green Meadows Petting Farm (near Orlando)
Tickets for Airboat rides (Boggy Creek or Central Airboat)

As well as a few things I know the kids wouldn't be into.

My boys will be newly turned 5 and 2 1/2 when we go. I am thinking they won't be interested in the Space Centre since they are so young (unless a rocket was launching that day). And from what I can tell from the webpages Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure are more geared to older kids. So, my plan is this:

Arrive Sunday - spend day at resort which has A LOT to offer from train rides to pony rides to parades to a candyland playground...
Mon, Tues, Wed - Disney World (Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Epcot only - water parks aren't included and MGM doesn't seem good for young kids)
Thursday - ????
Friday - Busch Gardens
Sat - Airboat rides, petting farm (my boys LOVE farm animals), Gatorland (my oldest LOVES gators!), and dinner at Pirates Dinner Adventure in Orlando
Sun - resort, go home

So Thursday is open right now. I am trying to decide between a relaxing day at the beach/ocean (any recommendations near Orlando??) between our busy theme park days (to unwind and relax before more theme parks) and stops along the way if we can find anything OR SeaWorld.

We live in Canada near Marineland in Niagara Falls which seems similar, but on a smaller scale. We've been there several times. Seaworld seems more animal and show oriented - am I right (Marineland has a lot of rides too)?

Any recommendations to make our trip perfect would be appreciated. My little boy deserves nothing but the best after what he's going through.

TIA!

 

[mommy2abigail]

nak-we live in orlando and have had sea world passes for 3 years now. its definitely fun and i think your kids will really enjoy it.
As for MGM my dh works there, and if you decide to go, he is a stunt man at the car stunt show and would be happy to take your kids on a back stage tour...just pm me!

 

[treehugginhippie]

WOW! Have fun and you may want to post in Finding Your Tribe to get more responses.

 

[hipumpkins]

I have been to seaworld twice and don't really think it is so great. This is what annoys me about it for small kids

Since just about everything is a show you need to run from place to place to insure you get a seat.

you need to arrive early to get a seat then the kids are fidgety and want the show to start already.

If you want to feed the dolphins (For me the absolutely BEST part about the park) you have to wait in huge line that is just jumbled bunch of people for probably 45 minutes. My DH and I split up and he waited and I took the kids for ice cream then met over at the dolphin feeding wall.

Seaworld seems to be 1000x hotter than any other place in Florida.

they have a water play park which is fun but there is also a huge climbing net and I lost my daughter up there and it was very scary b/c it was so crowded.

BTW..I do like the shamu show but I just think it's hard to get the kids motivated to rush all over to go and sit and wait for the show. Especially when they are little.
If you are getting special tours of the place though then definetly go.

BTW...MGM studios has a great stunt show if your kids like fast cars. Also Lightening and MAter from Cars are there and also The monsters Inc guys. So there are some things for kids there...I am sure there are more but it was under a lot of construction when we went.
Have a great time!! We love disney, My Dad works for the magic Kingdom

 

[snoopy5386]

I would skip Busch Gardens and go to Sea World. I would also do MGM at Disney. Busch Gardens is going to be at least a 3 hr round trip drive and it is really not all that great. Nothing special, we did the whole park in a few hours as adults who can and did ride all the coasters. I don't think there is much there for little kids. As far as MGM goes, they have an awesome stunt show, super, super awesome toy story ride, Indiana Jones show, star wars ride, jedi training academy, playhouse disney show, lots of character meet and greets that you can't find at the other disney parks (mater and lightning mcqueen, the incredibles, bolt, monsters inc, prince caspian, power rangers, toy story characters, little einsteins, jojo). If your boys are into any of that stuff they would love it.

http://pages.prodigy.net/stevesoares/

 

[pranamama]

my children loved seaworld SanDiego, and I did too. It was really fun.

 

[Bug-a-Boo's Mama]

I agree about MGM, Universal and Islands not being the best for younger children. Although Suessville is fun at Islands of Adventure, would still pass. I would do Sea World, but I would see if everyone needs a break on Thursday first. Disney is a full day, Animal Kingdom wasn't a full day park for us, and Epoct is a full day. You guys might need that break. Busch Gardens probably wouldn't be a full day unless you and DH are planning on going on rides also. BG has a great children's area and a really fun new area, Jungala.

When you get to each park, decide what you MUST do. And I would definitely follow the children's lead. If they are getting tired, cranky, etc. move on. I know you want to make this the best trip, but remember you don't have to do everything. It can be very overwhelming to them.

Hope that you have a wonderful trip and that the weather is nice when you come!

 

[tylerdylan]

Oh boy!! Now I'm unsure about a lot of my plans!! It's so hard planning a trip via websites and books and I don't know people who have been anywhere besides Disney World. So this is a big help!
So, maybe MGM if we finish one of the other parks early (probably could do Epcot and MGM on the same day since I think we'll skip the World Showcase?) and since we have a car will be easy to get from one to the next.
I was thinking Busch Gardens even though it doesn't seem like there is too much to do because my boys ADORE animals and the new children's area Jungala seems cool. Is there anything else in Tampa that we could go to if we finish early at Busch Gardens?
How long would Sea World take if we just did the highlights? Could we squeeze it in in the morning and spend the rest of the day at the beach? I think with our Make A Wish passes we get to skip the line ups for feeding the dolphins so that will save a lot of time by the sounds of it. And DS really does want to feed the dolphins (he talks about it a lot).

 

[Irishmommy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tylerdylan So, maybe MGM if we finish one of the other parks early (probably could do Epcot and MGM on the same day since I think we'll skip the World Showcase?) and since we have a car will be easy to get from one to the next.

No don't! Park the car once and leave it. There are regular buses and the monorail between parks - so much easier than getting in the car and moving it.

 

[lucyem]

We loved Sea World. When my oldest was just a month shy of 3 and I was pregnant we took an 18 yr old german friend to Disney for the week. My DS and I could do so little with my DH and our friend. They got to do all the rides while DS and I spent a lot of time in gift shops and just wandering around. Sea world was the only full day we were all able to do 95% of things together. It was wonderful. I agree the shows you kind of had to plan out a little. But they always had pre show entertainment. It also gave us some sit down time that I needed. I would go again for sure.

Speaking of my DS he LOVED the pool at the hotel the best. He was able to do a fair amount at the Magic Kingdom. We were all bored at Animal Kingdom, though it had not been open long when we were there. Epcot was fun for all of us and even walking around the world was fun. No so much go go rides, but allowed leasurely strolling and my DS could run around more since it was more quiet.

 

[Raene]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! We just went again in January. I grew up at Sea World in Texas, but Orlando is even more fun. I've been there 3 times now I think. You must see the Pet Show, too...I always avoided it thinking that it might be dull since it's pets and not marine life, but it was incredible!

You definitely won't regret going. There's even a healthy place to eat, if that's your thing, and they have an amazing bread bowl with veggie or turkey chili. Yum!

 

[Maeve]

Honestly, I would skip MGM. We took the kids to Disney a few years ago and MGM really didn't interest them quite as much. My oldest was a couple years older than yours and my youngest was about your lo's age. I would spend most of the 3 days at Epcot and Magic Kingdom since they have so much to do and are so much fun (esp. at that age).
I would also skip BG (there really isn't much for younger kids), but I would go to Sea World for at least part of the day.

So I would keep everything the same except substitute Sea World for BG and then just hang around the resort on Thursday. You might need the down time after 3 days at Disney. LOL

 

[tylerdylan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Irishmommy No don't! Park the car once and leave it. There are regular buses and the monorail between parks - so much easier than getting in the car and moving it.

Are the buses and monorails free if you aren't staying at a Disney Resort?

 

[tylerdylan]

So, no one seems to like Busch Gardens much??? Hmmmm. My kids just love animals so much it seemed like a good place to go. What about doing Busch Gardens Thusday morning and a beach near tampa the rest of the day? Would there be enough time to do both? Remember the tickets are free for us, so we aren't wasting our own money! Or is there a good zoo in Florida? We have a great zoo here in Toronto, Canada, but it's the only real zoo my kids have ever been to so they may enjoy a different zoo for a change.

 

[Irishmommy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tylerdylan Are the buses and monorails free if you aren't staying at a Disney Resort?

Yes.

 

[snoopy5386]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tylerdylan So, no one seems to like Busch Gardens much??? Hmmmm. My kids just love animals so much it seemed like a good place to go. What about doing Busch Gardens Thusday morning and a beach near tampa the rest of the day? Would there be enough time to do both? Remember the tickets are free for us, so we aren't wasting our own money! Or is there a good zoo in Florida? We have a great zoo here in Toronto, Canada, but it's the only real zoo my kids have ever been to so they may enjoy a different zoo for a change.

If you are going to Animal Kingdom that should help with the animal quotient. The Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa is nice. To get to a beach out by Tampa you have to drive out to St. Petersburg/Clearwater which is probably another hour's drive. World Showcase at Epcot can be fun too, it is my DH's fave place in all of WDW (we go yearly). You can learn lots about the countries, there are lots of shows/movies, a couple of rides and kidcot stations where the kids can make a mask and then add on to it in each country. When are you going? The heat and crowds can make a big difference in what activities are easy/fun.

 

[tylerdylan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by snoopy5386 If you are going to Animal Kingdom that should help with the animal quotient. The Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa is nice. To get to a beach out by Tampa you have to drive out to St. Petersburg/Clearwater which is probably another hour's drive. World Showcase at Epcot can be fun too, it is my DH's fave place in all of WDW (we go yearly). You can learn lots about the countries, there are lots of shows/movies, a couple of rides and kidcot stations where the kids can make a mask and then add on to it in each country. When are you going? The heat and crowds can make a big difference in what activities are easy/fun.

Wow -it's a far drive to the west coast beaches! Hmmm....
I was under the impression from people who have been that the World showcase at Epcot is not very exciting for younger kids??? Especially my 2 year old?
We will be going in February 2010 (waiting for my son's chemo to be done so we can ALL enjoy the trip - especially DS), so heat shouldn't be too much of an issue.

 

[amynbebes]

I would go and if I had to choose between Busch Gardens and Sea World I'd definitely choose Busch Gardens. There's tons more stuff for little kids to do there. We've had season passes to both and definitely used the B.G. ones way more often.

 

[amynbebes]

Re: world showcase, it's definitely interesting for me as an adult but for the most part my kids have always been "eh" about it.

 

[claddaghmom]

The beach is a drive from Orlando's and also that side is choppy/cold

Busch gardens is a drive too