Just curious if any of you make it a point, or have made it a point, to travel to any other Orlando area attractions when visiting Disney? I've always been curious about Gatorland... sounds cool!
Anything worth leaving WDW to see?
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Tue, 08/03/2010 - 22:26
Anything worth leaving WDW to see?
Wed, 08/04/2010 - 01:46
Right now the only thing that will get me off the Disney property is tThe Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
But..I would think that might not be that exciting for the young ones!
Oh..and the outlets..but I'm not allowed to go there anymore.
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Bella
Wed, 08/04/2010 - 15:11
A lot of people like to combine a beach trip with a Disney trip. There are some great beaches within an hour or two.
We've got a member here named Tony who will surely have some great ideas for where you can explore off-property like Sea World, Nasa, etc.
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Thu, 08/05/2010 - 01:45
bali wrote:
A lot of people like to combine a beach trip with a Disney trip. There are some great beaches within an hour or two.We've got a member here named Tony who will surely have some great ideas for where you can explore off-property like Sea World, Nasa, etc.
Oh that's right! We went to Cocoa once..although we went for a few fays instead of just the day..it was wonderful.
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Bella
Fri, 08/06/2010 - 13:04
bali wrote:
A lot of people like to combine a beach trip with a Disney trip. There are some great beaches within an hour or two.We've got a member here named Tony who will surely have some great ideas for where you can explore off-property like Sea World, Nasa, etc.
Sorry it's taken me a few days to see this (just got back from a holiday in Greece). We spend about as much time 'off property' as we do on it and have tried a lot of the other attractions locally.
Which ones to recomend would depend on where your interests lie. WizWoHaPo wasn't open last time we went, but must be worth a trip if the reviews are to be believed. The Universal Parks are great for older children and adults, but lack some of the magic that only Disney seem to be able to capture for youngsters.
Gatorland has been mentioned above, we've not tried that one, but can recomend Seaworld for it's shows and if you like Animal Kingdom then Busch Gardens at Tampa will be worth the trip (this actually has some of the best coasters in the area too).
Nasa is about an hour away and the bus trip there can be booked through reception at your Disney hotel, it should pick you up and drop off at the hotel. IIRC, thursday and friday are the school trip days are best avoided if you can.
If animal interaction appeals, then Discovery Cove isn't cheap, but it's a relaxing day of luxury, you can swim with a dolphin and in the marine fish pool, or walk through the aviaries and feed the birds in there. Cheaper, but just a good, is the Manatee swim trip with a company called Dolphin Tours. How much of the Manatee you will see depends on the time of year, aparently December is best as they are further up river to keep warm.
Beach trips, we've only done Clearwater. It was an awesome beach with miles of clean white sand and as far as i know hasn't been effected by any oil slicks yet. Various boat trips can be done from Clearwater, we did the 'Screamer' jet boat ride, which allowed us to watch dolphins in the wild and at one point we had them playing in the wake from the boat.
Another one that on our 'to do' list for a future trip is Kissimmee Old Town which is aparently more like a travelling carnaval.
There's much more, so much infact that it would take weeks, if not months to try everything.
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Sat, 08/07/2010 - 01:11
Thanks again for the suggestions Tony. How was your Greece trip? We missed ya!
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Sat, 08/07/2010 - 10:32
Greece was great! We last went to the island of Zakynthos 5 years ago and were staying in the same hotel this time as we did back then. You'd have thought we'd been away 5 weeks instead of 5 years from the way everyone recognised and welcomed us. 85F to 95F every day with low humidity. The food in most of the taverna's is really good (I like most Greek food anyway which helps), only has pizza once but it was perfect.
No sign of the recent troubles that have effected the Greek mainland either.
Sorry, gone on long enough. will shut up now so we can get back on topic.
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Sat, 08/07/2010 - 15:12
Tony wrote:
bali wrote:A lot of people like to combine a beach trip with a Disney trip. There are some great beaches within an hour or two.We've got a member here named Tony who will surely have some great ideas for where you can explore off-property like Sea World, Nasa, etc.
Nasa is about an hour away and the bus trip there can be booked through reception at your Disney hotel, it should pick you up and drop off at the hotel. IIRC, thursday and friday are the school trip days are best avoided if you can.
I haven't been to Nasa in ages. Loved seeing your pictures from there, Tony.
Also, great to hear that the Greece trip went well! How cool that everyone recognized you guys!
Sat, 08/07/2010 - 18:12
Tony wrote:
Greece was great! We last went to the island of Zakynthos 5 years ago and were staying in the same hotel this time as we did back then. You'd have thought we'd been away 5 weeks instead of 5 years from the way everyone recognised and welcomed us. 85F to 95F every day with low humidity. The food in most of the taverna's is really good (I like most Greek food anyway which helps), only has pizza once but it was perfect.
No sign of the recent troubles that have effected the Greek mainland either.
Sorry, gone on long enough. will shut up now so we can get back on topic.
Aren't Greek years like dog years? Everything moves slower so 1 year = 1 week? I think I read that someplace. 
Sat, 08/07/2010 - 19:21
Ha Ha. The pace of life is definately slower, something you expect next week could easily be next month before you see it. Oddly, the busses don't run on local Greek time but on GMT....
Greek Maybe Time.
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Sun, 08/08/2010 - 13:46
Tony wrote:
Ha Ha. The pace of life is definately slower, something you expect next week could easily be next month before you see it. Oddly, the busses don't run on local Greek time but on GMT....
Greek Maybe Time.
Is that a common term? Or did you just make that up?
Sun, 08/08/2010 - 20:09
I wish I was that clever, but it's a common term among Brit tourists in Greece.
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I can only please one person per day. Today isn't your day... tomorrow doesn't look good either.
Mon, 08/09/2010 - 14:13
Greek Maybe Time -- that's great! I always wonder how so many countries can get away with such inefficient transportation systems.
Mon, 08/09/2010 - 19:25
In a poor attempt to get back on topic...
Legoland should be open by the end of 2011 and if the UK park is anything to go by will be a must visit for those with younger children.
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Mon, 08/09/2010 - 21:44
Tony wrote:
In a poor attempt to get back on topic...
Legoland should be open by the end of 2011 and if the UK park is anything to go by will be a must visit for those with younger children.
I think Legoland is going to be incredible. I've never been to one, but I imagine it would be really enchanting.