There’s plenty to do at Disney Springs that doesn’t involve eating or shopping. There’s a whole host of bars, a dine-in theatre, bowling alleys, lots of live music and even a Cirque du Soleil theatre. It’s free to park and it’s nice to sit by the lake and chill out with a drink (or an ice cream) if you’ve had a busy (or expensive) few days!
Things to do
Where to eat
Shopping
Things to do
Theme Parks
- Walt Disney World
Overview
Disney has a lot to keep you busy – if you’re going to do Disney, you want to do it properly. Alongside the 4 main parks, there’s 2 water parks, 2 mini golf courses, the ESPN Wide World of Sport Complex and Disney Springs (see ‘other things’). Alongside this there’s a whole host of hotels for different budgets, and countless restaurants and things to see and do – your best bet if you want to ‘do Disney’ is to check the website and make a list of where you’d like to go, and go from there.
The Parks
The 4 main parks at Disney are:
- Magic Kingdom: the classic – think Cinderella’s castle, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Space Mountain. If you’re only going to do one, make it Magic Kingdom.
- Animal Kingdom: theming probably obvious; park includes the Tree of Life, and the animals on the Kilimanjaro Safari.
- Hollywood Studios: the home of Tower of Terror, the Rock & Roller Coaster, and the new Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge area.
- EPCOT: stands for ‘experimental prototype community of tomorrow’; highlights include Test Track, Mission: Space and the World Showcase. Has excellent fireworks in the evening.
And the water parks are:
- Typhoon Lagoon: has loads of slides, the Crush ‘n’ Gusher water coaster and a huge wave pool, but the lazy river which goes all the way around the park is the best bit.
- Blizzard Beach: a ski resort in central Florida? Blizzard beach is as close as you’ll get. Includes Summit Plummet – one of the tallest and fastest free-fall water slides in the world. Also has a great lazy river.
Ticket Structure
Disney has 5 main types of ticket, all at different price points, which you buy by number of consecutive days you’d like park access for:
- Base Ticket: single park access for the main 4 parks. For example, a 3 day ticket would give you access to 3 of the parks, on consecutive days.
- Park Hopper: allows movement between the main 4 parks. For example, on a 2 day ticket you’d be able to visit all 4 main parks – 2 (or more) per day.
- Water Parks and Sports: allows access to the water parks and mini golf – ‘fun visits’ – the same number of fun visits as number of days you’ve purchased. For example, a 3 day ticket would get you access to 3 main parks on 3 different days, and access to any combination of 3 of the 2 water parks and 2 mini golf courses on 3 additional days.
- Park Hopper Plus: the above two combined. Access to the water parks and mini golf for the same number of visits as days on your ticket, and also the ability to hop between the main parks.
- Ultimate: a 7 or 14 day ticket bought direct from Disney. Includes full park, water park, sports and hopper access, plus a couple of extras thrown in. Realistically the best, easiest and by far the most cost effective option if you want to visit all the parks.
Cost
Disney is expensive. You get what you pay for – the overall experience is excellent – but it’s not a budget way to spend your trip. Visiting one of the main parks for one day will set you back around £130 for an adult ticket, then the cost increases when you go up into ticket type 2, 3 and 4 above, and also for every extra day you add on. A few example prices below:
- 2 day base ticket: around £260
- 3 day base ticket: around £330
- 2 day park hopper: around £330
- 2 day water parks and sports: around £330
- 3 day park hopper plus: around £415
- 7 day Ultimate: around £470
- 14 day Ultimate: usually the same as the 7 day
- Mini Golf: around £15
- Water parks: around £60
Where to buy tickets
In the UK, you can buy the 7 or 14 day Ultimate tickets direct from Disney. Other ticket types will need to come from an 3rd party vendor – trusted examples below!
Location
Disney is located in the Lake Buena Vista area – the same as our wedding venue! Super central and easy to get to, and plenty of accommodation and public transport options nearby.
- Universal Orlando
Overview
Universal is the second biggest player in the Orlando theme park space – now known for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter areas, but in reality so much more! With 2 main parks and one water park it’s more affordable and more doable in just a couple of days than Disney, and well worth the trip (especially if you like a thrill ride).
The Parks
- Universal Studios: areas include Production Central, New York, Diagon Alley and Springfield. There’s a good mixture of thrill rides (Revenge of the Mummy is excellent) and options for those who prefer something a bit tamer.
- Islands of Adventure: includes Marvel Superhero Island, Toon Lagoon, Jurassic Park and Hogsmeade. Like Universal there are plenty of thrill rides – the Hulk coaster and Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey are highlights!
- Volcano Bay: Universal’s water park. It’s pretty new, only a few years old, and is unique in that it has a virtual queue system powered by a wearable (means less standing around in the blazing Florida sunshine!). It has plenty of exciting slides (including the tallest drop slide in the world), but also lots for people who’d rather spend their day relaxing in wave pools and lazy rivers.
Tickets
UK visitors don’t have many options for tickets. You can buy a ticket which gives you unlimited access for a fortnight for either 2 parks or all 3 – these will set you back around £300 and you can buy directly from Universal’s UK website. There are a few other UK vendors like the below which sometimes throw in a couple of extras so it’s worth shopping around (and checking Trustpilot).
Location
Universal is located right near the top of International Drive – still a tourist hotspot and very central (it’s right near Orlando Premium Outlets and the Mall at Millenia so great for shopping!), but around a 25 minute drive from Disney. You can get a bus from one to the other, or another option if you’re not wanting to drive (or get a taxi) is to stay in one of the many Universal hotels for a night – this also gets you early park access.
- SeaWorld Orlando
Overview
Sea World is a really great park – and has a few other brilliant parks under its umbrella too. They have of course had a lot of negative press in the past in regard to the orcas they have at the park but if you are interested in going, it feels worth noting that they stopped their orca breeding programme in 2016 and the current orcas they have in their care are the last generation which will be kept at Sea World. There’s also a lot of information here on the conservation work the company do both in their wildlife hospitals and in the wild – worth a read if you want to make a more informed decision.
The Parks
4 parks sit under the Sea World umbrella:
- Sea World Orlando: obviously the main park, and has a really good balance of thrill rides, live shows, smaller rides, educational activities and other things to do. Some of the biggest and best rollercoasters in Orlando are at Sea World – including Manta, which is a brilliant flying coaster and the new Ice Breaker, which has the steepest drop in Florida.
- Aquatica: their water park (we haven’t been but have heard great things!) – a traditional water park but much newer than the Disney options, with a wide variety of slides, raft rides, wave pools and even a rapids-style lazy river.
- Discovery Cove: is less of a park and more of an experience – it’s a small place with a very limited visitor count each day, and it’s where you can go for a dolphin encounter. It’s expensive by itself but combined with tickets to other parks, you can get a good deal.
- Busch Gardens: Sea World’s Africa themed park. Busch has a huge number of big rollercoasters (including Cheetah Hunt – my all-time favourite coaster!) so is well worth the day trip if this is your kind of thing.
Tickets
Good news – tickets for the Sea World parks are cheaper than Disney or Universal! They also offer sales sometimes, so it’s really worth shopping around. You can buy tickets for just one park or – like with the others – you can do combo tickets to visit more than one and save a bit of cash this way. A ticket for all 3 main Sea World parks (excluding Discovery Cove) will set you back around £150, or an on-the-day ticket just for Sea World likely around £100.
Location
Sea World, Aquatica and Discovery Cove are located right in the middle of Universal and Disney – around 10/15 minutes from both, so very easy to get to. Busch Gardens however, isn’t in Orlando. It’s a bit of a trek and is much closer to Tampa, around an hour’s drive. They do have a free shuttle bus service from Orlando though, so will take you there and back if you want to go but don’t want to drive!
- Combo Tickets
Overview
Also worth noting, you can buy combo tickets for all of these parks if you want to do more than one of the groups. You can buy these from most of the websites I’ve already linked (examples below) and you can get any combination of Disney/Universal/Sea World (excl. Discovery Cove) to make your trip as cost effective as possible – if you do want to do a lot of theme parks! They all include unlimited access to all the relevant parks for a 2-week+ period.
Example pricing I found:
- Disney + Universal: £813 (for all 9 parks)
- Universal + Sea World: £435 (for all 6 parks)
- Disney + Sea World: £659 (for all 9 parks)
- Disney + Sea World + Universal: the ultimate combo – £965 (for all 12 parks)
Where to buy
Where to eat
Olive Garden
Unlimited soup, salad and breadsticks. The mains are delicious (Charlie recommends the Tour of Italy) but irrelevant; it’s all about the breadsticks.
Bahama Breeze
Excellent cocktails – the Bahamarita frozen cocktail goes down very easily. The fish tacos are great too; one right near our wedding venue!
Charley's
Expensive steakhouse – one for a treat, but well worth it if you have a special occasion. Order a big t-bone or porterhouse to share and get a couple of sides for the table.
Chili's
Chili’s does a whole host of tacos, quesadillas, fajitas etc. but my favourite is the ribs. Start with margaritas, chips and dip!
Smokey Bones
Really good barbecue food and one of our family favourites – the ribs and pulled pork are sooooo good.
Red Lobster
Every order comes with a free appetiser: Cheddar Bay biscuits. Eat as many as you like, they’ll bring more. Order the coconut shrimp if you have room left.
Manny's Chophouse
Far more affordable steak than Charley’s, and still REALLY good. Often a bit of a wait, but well worth it.
IHOP
IHOP do American pancakes and bacon – two of the best things in the world. Order the Split Decision breakfast which gets you a bit of most things, and ask if you can buy one of their mugs when you’re done.
Cheesecake Factory
The biggest menu ever. Actually does some of the best burgers I’ve ever had. You won’t have room for cheesecake wth the massive portions, so get some to take home.
Ghirardelli's
Ice cream sundae café and chocolate shop at Disney Springs – they make the best hot fudge sauce you’ll ever eat.
Earl of Sandwich
Also located at Disney Springs – always has long lines but well worth the wait. Get an Earl’s Club sandwich!
Shopping
Shopping Malls
- The Mall at Millenia is our favourite – it has a great mixture of high end shops (to look in the windows of) and affordable shops (to actually buy things from). Bloomingdale’s, Aerie, Bath & Body Works and Sephora are always worth a trip, and there’s a great Cheesecake Factory downstairs. It’s right near Universal, and there’s a Target across the road too if you want to lose many hours of your life but be very happy about it.
- Disney Springs is less of a mall and more of a destination, although there are a lot of good shops. There are a few Disney stores – World of Disney is the big one – but also worth a trip are the Lego Store, Uniqlo, and of course the Left Handed Store (Charlie would disagree but he is of course wrong).
- If you’re seriously in the mood for shopping, Florida Mall is the biggest mall in Central Florida – wherever you want to shop, assuming it’s not high end, you’ll find it here.
Outlets
- The biggest outlets are the Orlando International Premium Outlets at the top of International Drive, near Universal, and they’re well worth a trip if you want some bargains. The big sports brands always have good discounts – Nike, adidas, Converse, New Balance etc. – and so do some of the premium clothing brands like Polo Ralph Lauren, The North Face, Carhartt, Levi’s and Tommy Hilfiger. There’s also an outlet for the outlets across the road, if you want some serious bargains.
- If you want something a little more premium, Vineland Premium Outlets down the road near Sea World are good too – they’re smaller but have lots of the same stores, along with more designer stores like Gucci, Prada, Burberry and Jimmy Choo.
- Finally, there’s Lake Buena Vista outlets near Disney and the wedding venue – smaller, but very easy to get to and still with all the usual outlet stores and worth a visit.
Other bits to do
- Disney Springs
- Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy Space Center is the visitor centre for the well known space station. It costs around $60 for a full day ticket and is around an hour’s drive from Orlando – but well worth it. There’s plenty to see and explore, and your ticket includes a bus tour
- Golf (or mini golf)
There are plenty of places to play golf (proper golf, not mini golf) in Orlando if that’s your kind of thing. The Disney courses are meant to be really good, but there are lots of other options too. Google is your friend for this one as I’ve never played golf in my life. Mini golf is more my thing – the Disney courses are excellent and really affordable, and Congo River golf gets great reviews (there’s one near Disney and one near Universal).
- Airboat Adventures
Airboat tours are a fun way to see the more natural side of Florida, and Boggy Creek is probably the most popular. They take you through the wetlands and you can see aliigators, birds, turtles and more in their natural habitat. A half an hour tour will set you back around $35, an hour tour $55, although with some of the UK ticketing sites you can get tickets included when you buy Disney/Universal/Sea World tickets.
- Pointe Orlando
Pointe Orlando is a shopping, dining and entertainment destination similar to Disney Springs. There’s a great IMAX cinema and lots of places to eat, and it’s right on International Drive so there’s loads to do nearby. Wonderworks is nearby which is supposed to be a fun place to visit – an ‘amusement park for the mind’.
