Must dos in Florida??

SARAHP

Silver Member
Hi we are going to Florida for first time in august, just wondering if any of you have any must dos for me?? Thanks sarah.
 
The theme parks are great but really take it our of you ! Try to plan a theme park day then a day doing something more relaxing before doing a theme park again.

Practice hitting yourself in the face with a hot wet towel, you will be used to the humidity when you get there :D

Seriously, you will have great fun !
 
The theme parks are great but really take it our of you ! Try to plan a theme park day then a day doing something more relaxing before doing a theme park again.

Practice hitting yourself in the face with a hot wet towel, you will be used to the humidity when you get there :D


Oh so true Melissa

If you have children try to make time for the rodeo in Kissimmee on a Friday night. They will absolutely love it. They even have some parts where the children can participate. My son was 16 when we went but it was a laugh a minute. It is not expensive either.

Also if you want to to do an airboat ride to see the alligators etc, try to make time to head south towards Miami to the Everglades because they are the best. The ones around Orlando are not a patch on the Everglades ones. The fireworks at the Disney parks in the evening are worth going back for. We are lucky because we can see them from our villa at Oarnge Lake County Club.

Lastly dont miss the shopping, shopping and shopping lol:)

Seriously, you will have great fun !
 
I like how you can drive onto the beach at Daytona. Also, I second the everglades.
 
Hi Sarah!

I'm so envious of you - I LOVE Florida.

I'd second what everyone else says about taking a park day and a relaxing day, it's tiring!!

There's soooo much park stuff you might want to know but incase you haven't found it yet, I'd recommend The DIS Discussion Forums - Powered by vBulletin as a brilliant forum to find stuff out. I hope it's okay to give the link!

There's masses of information there but my personal must do's are the Spectromagic parade and fireworks in the Magic Kingdom for complete magic, Universal Islands of Adventure if you are into rollercoasters and exciting rides, and shopping shopping shopping!

Take an empty case inside a case for loading up and VERY VERY VERY comfy shoes!

Have a great time!
 
You will have a fantastic fun filled time. For me a must is Sea World I love the place and Typoon Lagoon, you can do this the day after a park and count it as a relaxing day.

Shopping is another must and I hate to bring up food on this forum but the Cheesecake factory is to die for (they serve all food and not just cheesecake!)

Another site Id recomend is Disney Information Forums - Walt Disney World Orlando Florida holiday and vacation planning. Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney MGM Studios, Mickey Mouse, Disneyland, Disneyworld, Universal, Islands of Adventure - Home loads of friendly advice and everyone is friendly just like on here and willing to share their knowledge
 
I too love Florida. But there is simply too many great and must do's to mention.

We did find the 'Brits Guide to Orlando' useful. It is from memory about 12 quid, although ebay no doubt has them cheaper.

I know somebody mentioned the everglades. It reminds me of a story within the last week in one of the tabloids about a boat in the Everglades which broke-down and was stranded in Gator waters for an hour before a rescue boat arrived. Sorry if I have put you off :eek:, but that would have been enough for me. I can't even watch Jaws without breaking in to a sweat
 
Brad,

I wouldn't go anywhere near the Everglades and I hadn't read that story - I am just completely petrified of crocs and gators :eek:

Anyway, Florida.... Only take the bare minimum of clothing and footwear etc then buy it all out there - it's so cheap!

Ponderosa is great for steak but portions are humungous! Before you go shopping anywhere, ask for directions to Walmart (top of International Drive) as they sell just about everything and at half the price - even Disney stuff. We found it after we'd bought just about everything and were on our way home :rolleyes:

If I think of anything else I'll let you know but I'm sure there are far more experienced Florida holiday makers here than me!
 
My brother lives in Forida and so I go there a fair bit. I think it depends on what type of thing you want, I've done the touristy things and then the normal resident things, going to see the Miami Heat basketball game was the best thing I've ever done there! From May to October it's turtle-nesting season all along the Florida coast. Female loggerhead, Kemp's ridley, and other species living in the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico swim up to 2,000 mi to the Florida shore. By night, they drag their 100- to 400-pound bodies onto the beach to the dune line. Then each digs a hole with her flippers, drops in 100 or so eggs, covers them up, and returns to sea. There's loads of places you can go along to but they have to be organised trips as you don't want to disturb the process. If you go to seaworld and see the dolphin show and hang around after, don't dangle your fingers over the side like my sister-in-law did, human fingers look like the slim white fish they eat and dolphin teeth are sharp, but it made for a cool story!

Vizcaya Gardens in Miami are really nice it's like their version of a stately home and is in the movie badboys 2! the Jewish memorial is absolutely amazing and very moving. Ummmmm what else shopping is awesome! The melting pot is a great restaurant, very different! I 2nd the cheesecake factory their sliders are so nice!! parrot jungle island is cool too lots for the kids to do and the shows are great.

There's just so much todo!! But you'll have tonnes of fun.

Helen
 
We came back from Florida (6th time!) four weeks ago and had an absolutely fabulous time doing lots of things we havent done before.

Without a doubt I would highly recommend Cirque Du Soleil at Downtown Disney. It is quite expensive, especially if you have a family, but - oh my god - the show is out of this world! I have never seen anything like it.

You can book online with various companies who can offer a slight discount based on the original prices.

Also, one other tip, wherever you sit you will have a great view. There is not a bad seat in the house so dont immediately go for the higher banded tickets - theres really no point.

My kids were awestruck - and I'd pay a fortune to see the look they had on their face when we were leaving - priceless!

Giggly
 
We came back from Florida (6th time!) four weeks ago and had an absolutely fabulous time doing lots of things we havent done before.

Without a doubt I would highly recommend Cirque Du Soleil at Downtown Disney. It is quite expensive, especially if you have a family, but - oh my god - the show is out of this world! I have never seen anything like it.

You can book online with various companies who can offer a slight discount based on the original prices.

Also, one other tip, wherever you sit you will have a great view. There is not a bad seat in the house so dont immediately go for the higher banded tickets - theres really no point.

My kids were awestruck - and I'd pay a fortune to see the look they had on their face when we were leaving - priceless!

Giggly

Absolutely! CDS is fantastic and it is it's last year before they take it all down so if you can stretch to it go, from memory it was around 100 dollars for adults and 75 for kids and I got my tickets from ticketmaster before we went.

Mike
 
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