Please Help!

[Tiffany]

First of all I want to say I'm so glad I found this site! You are all so helpful!
I am planning a vacation for my mom, my 4 year old son, and myself for May of this year. I would like to go to:
Sea World
Universal Studios
Disney Quest
MGM
Islands of Adventure
Magic Kingdom
Animal Kingdom
I was curious as to how close to each other these parks are? :shrug: Will I need to rent a car? Also, I have no clue what hotels to stay at. Also, are there any other things you would recommend we do while there? I would really appreciate any advice you have to offer. Thanks!:p :)

[Alyssa]

Hello and welcome to the boards.
You mentioned you wanted to go to MGM, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and DisneyQuest. These are all Disney theme parks so if you stayed at a Disney Hotel you can get bus transportation to all of these. However Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, and Sea World are not Disney parks and you would have to find another source of transportation. Some hotels may have shuttle services to all the parks but I am not sure. I would suggest renting a car. All the parks are within driving distance of eachother. Good Luck with your planning! :wink:

[Cindernaenae]

I think for most people budget is one of the main factors in deciding where to stay.

If possible, staying at a Universal hotel while visiting Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure (your 4 year old may be too small for most of the rides here) would provide you with the front of the line access.

Maybe split your stay between there and a Walt Disney World hotel? Then you would only need to arrange transportation between the airport and your first hotel, between WDW and the Universal hotel, and your day at Sea World. However, it may be almost the same price to rent a car. Definitely check into your options to compare prices.

You don't say how many days your trip is planned for.

Welcome to the boards by the way. You'll find people here are very friendly and full of information.

[dizzyknee]

First of all I want to say I'm so glad I found this site! You are all so helpful!
I am planning a vacation for my mom, my 4 year old son, and myself for May of this year. I would like to go to:
Sea World
Universal Studios
Disney Quest
MGM
Islands of Adventure
Magic Kingdom
Animal Kingdom
I was curious as to how close to each other these parks are? :shrug: Will I need to rent a car? Also, I have no clue what hotels to stay at. Also, are there any other things you would recommend we do while there? I would really appreciate any advice you have to offer. Thanks!:p :)

Wow this will be quite a trip!

Is this your first time to these parks?

How many days do you have?

Do you have a budget in mind?

With a 4 year old (in the heat of May) I might consider a waterpark.

I think I would skip DisneyQuest. My kids just went there for the first time on our last visit, and while there were some things for them to do much of it is for older kids.

Some of your other destinations will also have a limited interest and accessibility, which might be a good thing if you are going to be able to get to all these places.
For instance, US and IOA are geared toward an older audience, but each park has an area for the younger kids. So you will probably only need 1 day there (and yes, you can walk from US to IOA).

[Tiffany]

I'm not sure how many days it's going to be yet. I have a budget and am trying to work around that. I'm thinking 7-10 days, but we'll see. We are also planning to go to Discovery Cove, which is close to Sea World, I believe? So I was thinking we could probably stay at the same hotel for those two days. I have been to Universal Studios once, but that's it. I was also thinking about going to Blizzard Beach and just realized I omitted that from the list. Is it close to any of the parks?
Thank you guys so much for responding so quickly and helping me out!!!!

[Alyssa]

Yes Blizzard Beach is part of Disney World. I think that Cinsernaenae's suggestion of staying at a Universal and Disney Hotel is a great idea, if your budget allows. Then you get shuttle transportation and don't need to rent a car. Discovery Cove is near SeaWorld so a hotel in that area could alos work nicely. If you want a Disney Hotel and are looking to save money I would suggest a value resort. They have a great atmosphere and are inexpensive. That way you could recieve the benefits of a Dsiney Resort, like EMH's and transportation. All Disney hotels are all wonderfully themed, as well as the Universal Resorts. At Universal they allow you to get in the front of lines if you are a resort guest. We wanted to do this but it wasn't in our budget.

[OKWTink]

Also, there are some really nice hotels between WDW and US/Seaworld that feature suites with small kitchens. That can be a very cost effective way to enjoy your holiday. Best would be to have a car in that situation.

If you decide to split your stay as recommended (and a very good recommendation it is!) you might not need a car. Much depends upon on how comfortable you would be driving the the Orlando area. It's not really bad, but the traffic can be pretty horrendous.

There are a bunch of decisions to make when planning a WDW area holiday!

Oh, will you want to do any shopping? There are several outlet malls in the area and countless other shops, as well as regular malls.