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Need advice on Orlando as a holiday destination.


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oh yeah...Fantasy of Flight (fantasyofflight.com). Just south in Polk City. Well worth the trip. Nice restaurant there too.

If you want the REAL Florida, drive about 2.5 hours north and come see us in Lake City. Or just rent "Deliverance" and be done with it. ;)

-Mike

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Regarding the space center, put some time before hand into deciding what you want to see. I haven't been there in a few years but they used to offer two tours. The first primarily focused on the shuttle assembly building and launch areas while the second went out the old sites that launched Mercury, Gemini, etc.

6 years ago, my Dad and I went on the tour that brings you out near (relatively) the shuttle launch pads. This is called the "Today and Tomorrow Tour". This past August we did the "Cape Canaveral Then and Now" tour. Much more interesting if you're into the history of spaceflight. You even get a quick stop at the Air Force Space and Missile Museum (VERY cool). It was awesome to stand on the Mercury launch pad (ok, so I wasn't supposed to be on it, but come on...) There also was a ULA Delta IV heavy that was nearby, too...very cool! :D

Here's the link for the two tours.

http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/ksc-tours.aspx

B)

Edited by mlicari
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If you're into racing, don't forget to check out Daytona Motor Speedway, it has a museum and a tour that takes you onto the track, the infield and winners circle.

Almost forgot, there's also Kermit Weeks Fantasy of Flight Museum located in Polk.

Edited by afspret
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Well we've been to DW and the Orlando area quite a few times. Nothing is better than staying at one of the value resorts and getting the meal plan. We like Pop Century. You can eat at just about any resturant on the Disney property and with a little planning get the most bang for your buck. That said you can some great and cheap places to stay on "I" drive for your visit to Universal and its add on. Plan for 2-3 days there. Fantisy of Flight is a must for anyone interested in aviation. A full daytime trip on one of your rest days. Everyone else will like it too. If you haven't OD'd on parks Busch Gardens in Tampa is pretty good. Me I'd do 6 days at Disney, 2 at Universal 1 at FOF, 1 at the Space Center. Jump in the car and drive to Pensacola do a day at The National Museum of Naval Aviation. Spend a day at Destin on the beach then fly home. May take some planning though. Above all enjoy and donnot get too stressed trying to get everything done. One thing at Disney is to really plan how you move about. You can spend a lot of time going from place to place and miss a lot. Fast passes are really great. above all be sure to do the "Soarin " ride in the Land at Epcot. Best ride at any park. Spiderman at the Universal add on park is also great.

HTH,

Mark

Edited by mchuray
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My advice for the KSC trip is if you want to see more than just the visitors center, go early so you can sign up for the tours. There is an early one that goes up close to the pads (although with one being dismantled and the other possibly having a shuttle on it for STS-134 in June, you may not see much due to security). There is a second "then and now" tour that visits the sights on the Canaveral Air Force station. Both tours end at the Apollo Saturn V building and you can take in the sights there before heading back to the visitors center.

If you plan for two days around KSC, you can also hit up the Astronaut Hall of Fame and the Valiant Air Command museum near the Titusville airport. Valiant has some nice aircraft on display, including an F-14A Tomcat that still has its engines (as well as a T-2C and an A-6). It may not be Pensacola or Fantasy of Flight, but it is a nice place to visit for somebody wanting an aircraft fix and it makes a nice place to kill a couple hours in a relatively quiet environment. The Police museum next door to the ASF has helicopter flights around KSC available sometimes. The flights are done in a Robinson R44 that can hold three people (in addition to the pilot) and seeing KSC from the air is a nice sight to behold. At one time Valiant was also offering Steerman biplane flights in conjunction with one of the outfits based at Kissimmee, but I don't think they are doing that anymore as the 2004-05 Hurricane season may have put that group out of business (I recall their hangar got destroyed).

BTW, if you plan to take in some time at the beach, I recommend one in Canaveral as opposed to Cocoa Beach. The tourists all go to Cocoa Beach, but Canaveral just to the north (only a couple miles) gets you the same views without as many people. Plus, usually the parking next to the Canaveral beaches are free while Cocoa charges for parking (assuming you'll be driving with a rental car as opposed to taking a shuttle bus that is).

BTW, Pensacola is a LONG drive away. So if you plan to hit that up, plan accordingly.

Edited by Jay Chladek
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Yeah, Pensacola is about 8 hours from Orlando, and a horribly boring drive. The Naval Air Museum there is awesome though.

I'm too lazy to scroll back and see when you're going, but I'd avoid International Drive during Spring Break. The college kids (and others who mix in to cause trouble) can get pretty rowdy. Last time I made the mistake of going down I-drive during that time of year, we got caught amongst two large groups throwing things at each other, and the police trying to control them.

-Mike

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  • 3 months later...

Bump-tickety-bump!

Heading off next Saturday. Looking forward to it. Thanks to all the advice here, we made a plan.

5 days in Disney resort, and 8 on I-drive. Will do the disney thing first and then when we hit the I-drive, do Universal, SeaWorld and KSC (I might wrangle 2 days there.. looks like STS-134 will still be there when we are!!!) and what days we have left will be spent on the beach, by the pools and shopping. Maybe take a spin to Busch Gardens.

Most importantly of all, is there any good hobby shops there? ;-)

Cheers,

Roy

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Colonial is about the only thing left. "Colonial Photo and Hobby". Al the others have closed there doors except, Hobby Warehouse in bradenton, A++++++++, or the Hobbytowns in Brandon and Ormond Beach north of Daytona.

Glad to hear you got on propety. I got 3 folks that have come down and no one is able to get dining on property because the meal plans have taken most of the reservations. Let me know the dates through PM and what you are up to, and I will see if I can get you and escort to go out to the shops at the Downtown Disney shops and help you with the discount. If you just want some great Disney things to take home, Phantom is right, go to Target or Walmart.

Anywho, keep me posted.

-Jim

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I just saw this thread... I visited the area in 1992 and was impressed by the amount of plastic-ity of everything. Not only the (unsurprisingly) fake rocks and buildings at the Disney parks, but the full-size plastic sharks hanging from souvenir shops were a sight to behold. Disneyworld and Universal are OK, but Epcot bored everyone to tears. The 'real'stuff, the KSC, the Everglades and the Keys were great instead. We got to pet a small 'gator without losing any finger. I also recommend, if you can, take a tour of the coral reef: there are boats that can be hired with a crew. Bring a disposable waterproof camera.

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Hi All

I would like to think that I'm a seasoned traveller to the state of Florida, been visiting every 6 months for the past 5 years

I normally stay with my fiance in Melbourne which is an hour east of Orlando, in fact in June I have another trip!

There are some awesome places you should visit whilst over there:

1. Museums / Attractions:

* Titusville Valiant Air command: -

Official Site - http://www.vacwarbirds.org/

My Photographs over the years - http://widowmaker.is-a-geek.com/photos/thumbnails.php?album=16

* NASA (Obviously): -

My Photo's - http://widowmaker.is-a-geek.com/photos/thumbnails.php?album=3

* Disney World (Obviously): -

My Photo's - http://widowmaker.is-a-geek.com/photos/thumbnails.php?album=4

* Universal: -

My Photo's - http://widowmaker.is-a-geek.com/photos/thumbnails.php?album=15

* Seaworld: -

My Photo's - http://widowmaker.is-a-geek.com/photos/thumbnails.php?album=14

* Fantasy of Flight (No photos yet): -

Official site: - http://www.fantasyofflight.com/

2. Places to eat:

There are some wonderful places to eat in the US, same types of meals as here but somehow different in style:

* Firehouse (Like subway, but steamed sandwiches not toasted, leading to more moist / tender subs)

* UNOs (Chicago style restaurant)

* Chilis (Typical American Restaurant)

* Moes (Southwest Fajitas / Burritos etc)

3. Places to stay:

Although we stay about 1 hour away from orlando we try and stay near the park if we are going to do a "Late one", and stay all night at the park, we usually rent an apartment and the best one we found was from Mike Ditka resorts : http://www.runawaybeachhotel.com/

If your Ex Service's (Or serving member) sign up for a Armed Forces Veteran's card (Or bring your ID Card):- http://www.britishveterans.co.uk/ The US have a very different mentality of taking care of their Veterans, I took my father out last year and he showed his veteran's card every where and he was getting 5 - 10% discount, free coffee from coffee shops, free admission when buying X number of tickets etc... its always worth showing the card :)

If you need any further details / if you have any questions, PM Me :)

Regards

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We tried to get a room at one of the 'moderate' resorts for June and they seemed to be booked solid. Last year, we managed to go about every 3 months (keep in mind I live only 3 hours north.

Guess the economy aint' that bad after all, huh? People are obviously spending some dough!

-Mike

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If you like BBQ you HAVE to go to Four Rivers BBQ off of I4. Best BBQ in Orlando in my opinion. Also dont forget Warbird Adventures, they are the ones with the museum. Tell John Sausedo, one of the pilots there, you know me(Aaron Malone), he might get you in for free!

Its south of 192 on Hoagland Blvd. on the left (if you are driving south on Hoagland).

Have a blast!

Aaron

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I just did the Disney tour a few weeks ago and they had a pretty good deal for us Florida residents. We got to the Magic Kingdom at 6:00 pm Sunday, park stays open until Midnite. We had no lines more then 4 or 5 minutes long, even at Space Mountain. They have a parade and fire work show at nite. Stayed till midnite with the youngster then went back to the hotel for the nite. Jennings is right, Orlando is tourist hell and i have yet to go on I-4 and not get stuck in some friggin' traffic jam. The only reason we went was because our son has never been to DW.

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Well we have done both. Stayed off of DW property and on. For the DW part of your trip stay on property and get the meal plan. Just can't be beat. We have stayed at Pop Centery resorts 4 times and it beats staying in a motel. Note adding extra days is so cheap that you can get a 10 day park-hopper ticket for not much more than a 5 day ticket and get non expireing tickets. Now for the Universal/Sea World part of your trip. Stay on International Drive. Check the web. There are several nice hotels/motels there at great prices. Finally be sure to go to The Fantasy of Flight. Great Aircraft museum and very good food. Be sure to call and get the tour times. Last time I was there they ran a rotory engine on a Fokker D VIII. WOW! Was it noiesy. At the Kissismei Airport has AT-6 rides. Been a while, it cost $150. I expect with the cost of fuel it will be much more. Pensacola is a LONG 8-10 hours away. The NMNA is a great place and if you have the time I highley recommond it. The Armarment Museum just outside Eglin AFB is also a good museum. The beaches at Ft Walton Beach and Destin are the best in the entire U.S. Get a room at Club Destin. Great place (3 day min.) May in south Florida is usually HOT! but it can have its cool days in May. Be sure to bring a light jacket. Above all HAVE FUN!!

Mark

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For those that haven't been there, here's the Orlando B-52. I took these shots a couple years ago when I could get out sometimes.

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Some years ago there was anattempt to grab the land that the BUFF sits on. It failed because it's a memorial park. I think they might be trying again by letting the aircraft fall apart, it hasn't been painted or maintained in several years.

Edited by ikar
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From Orlando, Pensacola is only 7 hours away. I have made the trip many times without speeding and stopped along the way. Its really worth it if you are not going to be in this part of the country for a long time once your vacation is over. The museum is really worth the visit, they have added a second hanger.

Aaron

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I've heard it's a great museum. I'd like to go but these days I never get anywhere. The only reason I'm going to the nationals next year is that they're just outside of town.

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