ORLANDO!

[Michaél]

Will the new rides for 2009 be open by easter?

[DanB]

Rip ride rocket doesn't look like it will be open until August
Mantas a maybe

[zs chris]

Along with the rides others have reccomended, i'd make sure not to miss out on The Revenge of the Mummy ride at Universal Studios - One of the best dark rides i've been on if not the best...

Although Busch Gardens is a few hours out of the way i'd try and do some convincing to get there, as the best coasters in Florida really are there... Kumba/Montu/Sheikra - all world class coasters with some other good coasters as well..

Oh, and if you're old enough (not sure on the required age) get to a shooting range, they're everywhere! .....if you like guns that is!

[AltonThorpe]

[quote=""James_ST""]Im heading over there next month any idea on how busy the parks will be at the beginning of feb and what rides would you recommend.[/quote]

How long will the queues be around Easter?

[Chris W]

Easter will be very busy. Its often only beaten by Christmas.

Expect peak times of around:

Magic Kingdom: 60 to 90 mins.
Epcot: 105 mins to 135 mins.
Hollywood Studios: 65 to 85 mins.
Animal Kingdom: 90 mins to 120 mins.

These figures are off a subscriber website that accurately predicts guest levels. They are often only 10 minutes out max.

[rita's girl]

To be honest, the queues when we went there were no more than an hour at a time except for test track.

My preferred rides are:-

Epcot:- Test Track, Soarin and mission space
Magic Kingdom:- Space mountain and splash mountain
Animal Kingdom:- Safari (its a must) didn't rate everest to be honest
Hollywood:- Tower of Terrors, Aerosmith and Toy Story (thats ace and fun)

Universal;- Ripsaw falls(more like a log flume) you will get wet, Blutos rapids you will get soaked and duelling dragons. Hulk is a must....(i think it is better than Kracken.

niversal Studios:- Mummy, simpsons

i did not get chance to get to bush gardens cause the kids were playing up.

I am not a fan of aquatica the dolphin slide one is pants....

Also if you can afford it and have time a day at discovery cove is magical and peaceful

[AltonThorpe]

I just came back, all the parks were amazing and queues were not that long (except Soarin'). Although I didn't like Animal Kingdom.

Top 10 Rides:

1. Kraken
2. Hulk
3. Fire Dragon (Dueling Dragons)
4. Rock N Rollercoaster
5. The Mummy
6. Haunted Mansion (I just LOVE it)
7. Test Track
8. Expedition Everest
9. Ice Dragon (Dueling Dragons)
10. The Simpsons Ride

[Chris W]

I heard it was the busiest week every at the Magic Kingdom this week. Sounds like it wasn't as bad as people made out.

[AltonThorpe]

No it was quite bad in the week just passed, but before then it was really good, because most kids weren't on spring break.

[JarethDrakul]

[quote=""zs_chris""]Along with the rides others have reccomended, i'd make sure not to miss out on The Revenge of the Mummy ride at Universal Studios - One of the best dark rides i've been on if not the best...

Although Busch Gardens is a few hours out of the way i'd try and do some convincing to get there, as the best coasters in Florida really are there... Kumba/Montu/Sheikra - all world class coasters with some other good coasters as well.. [/quote]
Totally agree The Mummy is an amazing ride, even the queue line is amazing haha. Those rides at Busch Gardens are worth the drive (though I didn't get to ride Kumba as it broke down...when me and my family were next to get on haha).

AltonThorpe:
Haunted Mansion is an amazing ride I'm quite a geek for that ride haha and everything related to it (Phantom Manor, also the original film idea (much better than the one they ended up releasing)).

[xEmmax]

[quote=""AltonThorpe""]No it was quite bad in the week just passed, but before then it was really good, because most kids weren't on spring break.[/quote]


Yeah I was there the same time, we arrived 26th.

We didn't do Disney though (except Downtown Disney) we could either do Universal and Seaworld or Disney and we chose the flex tickets as we all love Seaworld. In all I think we spent around 30 hours in Seaworld, one day, one evening, and one day park opening to close (trust me 14 hours with a 3 year old is pretty hard going especially as seaworlds pretty big)

I did hear from other people that Magic Kingdom and maybe some other disney parks closed at full capacity around 11 by thursday of the week leading to easter.
On that Thursday everybody seemed to be heading to Seaworld, we were going to do Aquatica again, but by the time we'd got through the queues of cars going to seaworld it too had closed full capacity.

I really wanted to do Busch Gardens but we couldn't afford that either - we still had a great time, we were just lucky enough to go in the first place!

[Jellyfeak]

How long do you think the queues will be around the start of July this year?

Anyone been to Discovery Cove, is it worth the money?
Cheers.

[AltonThorpe]

[quote=""Jellyfeak""]How long do you think the queues will be around the start of July this year?

Anyone been to Discovery Cove, is it worth the money?
Cheers.[/quote]

It depends on what you are doing, are you swimming with dolphins or not?

If you are it is a really great day out! Every beverage inside the park is free. They have tropical fish pools, a half mile long river (I think it's half a mile). and a ray pool. You should really enjoy it!

[Jellyfeak]

Yeah, if we went to Discovery Cove we would be swimming with the Dolphins. Quite a few people have said that it was the best part of their holiday to Orlando, so I think we are going to make the effort to book it

Anyone have any ideas how long the queues are for the major parks around the start of July-ish time?

[Chris W]

[quote=""Jellyfeak""]Yeah, if we went to Discovery Cove we would be swimming with the Dolphins. Quite a few people have said that it was the best part of their holiday to Orlando, so I think we are going to make the effort to book it

Anyone have any ideas how long the queues are for the major parks around the start of July-ish time?[/quote]

I'd advise looking into touringplans.com
They predict crowds based on past data and their guesses are usually within 10 minutes of the actual queue.

The website is free but certain parts of it are subscription.

I'd guess-timate it being very busy due to Independence day. Possible park closures due to them hitting capacity.

[rita's girl]

[quote=""Jellyfeak""]Anyone been to Discovery Cove, is it worth the money?[/quote]

YES YES AND YES

We went and it was awesome. You get a full day in the cove with breakfast and lunch included. You get drinks, ice cream snacks too. Also you get wet suit and snorkel gear and can do whatever you like.

your time with dolphins is reserved and is truly magical

[nemesis4lyf]

Not long come back from here, most amazing place you could go. I was disapointed that the longest we had to que was 15mins Universal studio's and islands of adventure where completely dead, walked on hulk 3 times, dr dooms free fall and all of the 'indoor' rides. Kraken also had no que which was disapointing because it is an amazing ride!

[Crofty]

I've been watching my Florida Videos today From 2005, first time we went over and I think it'll probably be the best, it was all new to us then. It looked so bright and colourful and it was really sunny and warm, this was January!
I'd give anything to go back there at that point in my life again!

Planning to go back in 2010 maybe it will be just as good but with the price of it all 'these days' it puts a dampner on things before you even leave lol.
#Martin

[Nick]

You looked at Villas Boyo? We got out holiday for this year £200 cheaper than what it was last year. Same Villa and Car.

All booked through Virgin.

[Crofty]

[quote=""Nick""]You looked at Villas Boyo? We got out holiday for this year £200 cheaper than what it was last year. Same Villa and Car.

All booked through Virgin.[/quote]

I'm not a big fan of Villas TBH, I'd prefer a hotel where you actually feel like your away from home if you get me. Accomadation is dirt cheap ATM it's the theme park tickets that are looking expensive. around £350 now.