Orlando: SO not SoWal

[TooFarTampa]

Well folks I am spoiled.

Hubby ran the Disney Marathon (yay hubby :clap_1: ) yesterday, and we decided to make a weekend out of it and stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Well, it was cool and all, and fun for the kiddies, but I would not consider it a low-key, SoWal-like vacation. Not only do you pay $$$ to stay at a Disney resort, it's just a tiny hotel room so you really should get two rooms to preserve your sanity. And two rooms at a Disney hotel in the offseason is about twice what you would pay a night for a SoWal house with a water view, say, in late spring.

Then there were the endlessly annoying gift shops, the expensive food, the feeling of being trapped on Di$ney property, the fact that it costs $60 to walk around a park all day and wait in line when it's free to laze around at the beach.

Maybe I'm a curmudgeon but I really don't like the whole Disney scene. It will probably be more fun when our kids are older, but frankly the last place I want to take a toddler is a hotel room or a big park where I can lose him. Yet we have friends with kids that are the same age as ours and they think it's a great time! WHAT am I missing? Besides half of our bank account?

Did I mention that it is so not SoWal?

 

[Mermaid]

It's been years since we've been to Disney and we liked it but I think we were there at the right time in our kids' lives--they were 4 and 6 years old then. Old enough not to have to worry about them getting too over-tired too fast, but not so old they thought it was hokey. We had a very good time and I'm glad we went but I don't pine away for repeating the experience. Not the way I pine away for SoWal.

Congrats to your husband for running!!!

 

[TooFarTampa]

It's been years since we've been to Disney and we liked it but I think we were there at the right time in our kids' lives--they were 4 and 6 years old then. Old enough not to have to worry about them getting too over-tired too fast, but not so old they thought it was hokey. We had a very good time and I'm glad we went but I don't pine away for repeating the experience. Not the way I pine away for SoWal.

Congrats to your husband for running!!!

Pine away for SoWal. Yes that's it exactly!

Mermaid I'm pretty sure Disney has changed a lot since then. Once would be enough but by living in Florida, it seems you "have" to go on a fairly regular basis. The cross-promotion and the way they seem to own everything is really starting to grate on me. When I was a kid and teenager we would drive over there and not stay, so maybe that makes a difference, but there are many more parks and many more hotels and gift shops than there used to be, and everything is just Disneyfied! You can see the Disney version of everything, but in no way is it like a real experience. It's almost bizarre. Fun for kids but I bet even my 5 year old would rather go to the beach and pool all day than go on a fun ride for 3 minutes.

 

[Mermaid]

Pine away for SoWal. Yes that's it exactly!

Mermaid I'm pretty sure Disney has changed a lot since then. Once would be enough but by living in Florida, it seems you "have" to go on a fairly regular basis. The cross-promotion and the way they seem to own everything is really starting to grate on me. When I was a kid and teenager we would drive over there and not stay, so maybe that makes a difference, but there are many more parks and many more hotels and gift shops than there used to be, and everything is just Disneyfied! You can see the Disney version of everything, but in no way is it like a real experience. It's almost bizarre. Fun for kids but I bet even my 5 year old would rather go to the beach and pool all day than go on a fun ride for 3 minutes.

I bet it HAS changed a lot in the more than ten years since we've been there. Has the same thing happened to Sea World? I liked Disney; I loved Sea World. It was such a delicious feeling, to be educated about sea life and entertained at the same time. Win/win.

 

[TooFarTampa]

I bet it HAS changed a lot in the more than ten years since we've been there. Has the same thing happened to Sea World? I liked Disney; I loved Sea World. It was such a delicious feeling, to be educated about sea life and entertained at the same time. Win/win.

I haven't been to Sea World lately but I think it is pretty much the same. Sea World is cool. My son wants to go there next. Worth a day trip. :clap_1:

We are also spoiled because we have Busch Gardens, the Florida Aquarium and the Lowry Park Zoo here in Tampa, and they are great and easy to get to. Just can't see driving to Disney 4 or 5 times a year, but people do it.

 

[Mermaid]

TooFarTampa, how much of a drive is it to SoWal from your home? Will you be able to visit for spring break?

 

[Rudyjohn]

I haven't been to Sea World lately but I think it is pretty much the same. Sea World is cool. My son wants to go there next. Worth a day trip. :clap_1:

We are also spoiled because we have Busch Gardens, the Florida Aquariums and the Lowry Park Zoo here in Tampa, and they are great and easy to get to. Just can't see driving to Disney 4 or 5 times a year, but people do it.

When we lived in Palm Harbor, we used to love going to Lowry Park Zoo and Sea World was always the best! We would take advantage of the Fla. citizen's month (ususally in Jan.) and go to Epcot, et. al. But we were never fans of Disney.

 

[TooFarTampa]

TooFarTampa, how much of a drive is it to SoWal from your home? Will you be able to visit for spring break?

It's 6 hours, 15 minutes when we book it and toddler is cooperating. Very doable since we always stop in Gainesville to see friends or family. My kindergartener's spring break starts March 18 and I really want to go up for it, but we own our Seacrest house with another couple and if we can rent it out, that's what we have to do instead. We need to start booking again. It's been slow since October.

We might go up for Presidents day weekend. I have some things I need to bring up to get it ready for the season. When will you be coming? I should probably check the other thread...

 

[TooFarTampa]

When we lived in Palm Harbor, we used to love going to Lowry Park Zoo and Sea World was always the best! We would take advantage of the Fla. citizen's month (ususally in Jan.) and go to Epcot, et. al. But we were never fans of Disney.

Good to know we aren't the only ones. Our best friends just bought yearlong Disney passes, to the tune of $900 for the family of four. I couldn't pay that much and then torture myself by continuing to go back to try to get my money's worth. But I thought I was just being a meanie.

I think we're going to have our son's bday party next month at the zoo. He LOVES the zoo.

 

[Ocean Lover]

I haven't been to Sea World lately but I think it is pretty much the same. Sea World is cool. My son wants to go there next. Worth a day trip. :clap_1:

We are also spoiled because we have Busch Gardens, the Florida Aquariums and the Lowry Park Zoo here in Tampa, and they are great and easy to get to. Just can't see driving to Disney 4 or 5 times a year, but people do it.

TFT, maybe when your kids are older you will enjoy it more. I can't help it. I love Disney. We have Kings Island and Cedar Point up here but Disney is so magical. We haven't been for a couple of years now. I will not go in the summer and taking kids out of school these days is a little harder. You don't want to pay all that $$$ to stand in line. So it has to be sometime that is not spring break, not summer and not a holiday.