woo hoo life is good.
 

My family and I are going to Orlando next month on the company dime. Five days, motel and airfare are all on the company dime. The only thing I have to cover is food and disney world tickets.

Just found out that since my son doesn't turn 3 until July he gets in for free.

Have the wife squat down and she will get in free, too.

Seriously, have fun. We preferred the movie studio theme park to the Mouse one, but at that age your kids deserve the mouse.

A veteran, cool.

What the heck should I see, I've got roughly 2 1/2 days of free time before I have business to attend to.

I got a 2 and an 8 year old, any suggestions?

First of all, avoid OrangeBlossom Trail. The strippers are as ugly as the hookers that someone posted earlier.

Some quick suggestions (with kids in mind)

1. Take a Swan Boat out on Lake Eola
2. Let them build their own teddy bears at the Florida Mall
3. Medieval Times - Yup, just like in the movie, The Cable Guy
4. If you don't mind an hour drive, Tampa's Busch Gardens is a great theme park and zoo all in one
5. Deleon Springs lets the kids make their own pancakes and cook their own syrup.
6. Discovery Cove - expensive, but fun
7. International Drive has tons of cool stuff - Including a Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum (the 8 year old will love the gross factor)
8. Orlando Science Center
9. Cafe Tutu Tango. A great Spanish themed restaurant with really cool artwork.

I ****ing love that place. Dragon's Foot Soup!

Go to epcot, universal studios and the wild animal park. I can't remember the name of it. Have a blast

Are all these on the resort. We're flying in out of St. Louis and staying at the Dolphin. I understand they got transportation to there and from, but I really don't want to rent a car to go elsewhere. I will be picked out as an idiotic tourist in about 5 minutes and subsequently be taken advantage of thereafter plus I would get really freaking lost.

You guys rock thanks for the info.

I don't believe the Dolphin qualifies for Disney's new free shuttle program, but if you don't want to rent a car you can get there by using MEARS Shuttle (http://www.mearstransportation.com/) roughly $30 round trip for adults $20 for kids older than 3, or you can for a very resonable price call and have one of the local limo companies get you.

Since your staying at the Dolphin you don't need a car to get anywhere at Disneyworld or any of its many properties. The bus system (free) take you to almost everywhere in the entire place.

First when you get ticket get the park hopper tickets not the one day passes since you are not allowed re-entry into any other parks once you leave one.

Now from the Dolphin you can take the boat taxi right outside of your hotel to MGM Theme Park (movie studio) and Epcot. Once your in Epcot go to the other end of the park and you can catch the monorail to the Magic Kingdom.

Or if you want you can take the bus system to about anywhere bus run 15-20 minute intervals.

As you might have guess I have been there a few times. My company just finished a 5 year campaign in Orlando. Lets just say with a 8 and 4 year old we utilized that signifcantly. Probably taken the family there 8 times in the last 7 years. If you have any questions let me know.

I can make this response 10 pages if you wish. If you want to know what resturants to hit at the parks, best time or time to meet the characters, etc. let me know.

Busch gardens on a weekday... No lines, 10 or so worthy rollercoasters... enjoy. This tip has been brought to you by Nightfyre.

If you're into roller coasters, definitely go to Universal Studios and ride the Hulk.

it was decent, but there were at least 3 better ones at busch gardens.
edit: And the twin dragons were way better at Universal.

The Gaylord Palms Resort Hotel provides some free fun for the kids. It's a "pinky in the air" high class place with 4 or 5 different themes throught it's enormous Atrium. There is the rainforest, carribean, ban and jerry's and stuff. I don't know, you are going to be right in the middle of all the Disney stuff though, so I guess this doesn't help at all. Although, if ya want to have some CHIEFS fun, come up the road a little bit to Altamonte Springs and we can go throw darts and pick on the SEC pukes at Mugshots! Sorry if yer a SEC fan

I thought the Hulk was better than the twin dragons. I didn't get a chance to go to Busch Gardens.

Just remember, your 2 year old will have zero recollection of this trip. Hence, don't go out of your way to keep that child entertained. Focus on the 8 year old and when your 2 year old is older, give him or her a trip to remember.

Ditto, my daughter barely remembers going when she was 4.