aretardedorange

Going to Orlando for about a week. Going to Disney/Universal all that good stuff. Meeting up with family friends should be fun. First time in Florida . Now I know many of you E60 members are from the local Orlando area. Any suggestions for restaurants, attractions, places to visit?

sdg1871

I take my son to Walt Disney World twice per year and have for about 10 years. We do not generally eat in the restaurants in the tourist areas near the park. They tend to be crappy and crowded. Most of them are located on International Drive.

Rather, we drive about 15 minutes north on I4 to Orlando, which has a lot of good restaurants.

For Italian, we like Bravissimo Wine Bar & Cafe, 337 North Shine Avenue, Orlando, FL (407-898-7333). It is small, intimate and located in a residential neighborhood. Sublime.

For fish, we like Cityfish, 617 E. Central Boulevard, Orlando, FL 32801 (497-849-9779). Great looking waitresses too.

We also go a lot to the Cheesecake Factory at the Mall at Millenia (about 10-15 minutes North of the parks on I-4 (before you hit downtown Orlando) http://www.mallatmillenia.com/experience/experience.htm. There is also a PF Chang's China Bistro and a McCormick's & Schmick's there -- as well as the highest end retail shops.

In terms of the parks, if you are into thrill rides (as my son and I are), Universal Islands of Adventure is the best park in the Orlando area, hands down. Also, Busch Gardens in Tampa has many thrill rides. The Disney parks have some thrill rides but they are not world class. Unless you have little kiddies and want to wait in 2 hour lines, I'd stay away from the Magic Kingdom. We really liked Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios (especially the Aerosmith roller coaster and the Tower of Terror and the best auto/motorcycle stunt show I have ever seen). Animal Kingdom is too small for me, although its Expedition Everest Coaster is fun (although by no means a world class thrill ride coaster).

We like animals so we always go to Seaworld. Seaworld is, IMHO, a hundred times better than Animal Kingdom. It now has the biggest roller coasters in Orlando and the shows with the whales, dolphins and sea lions are amazing (yes, stay away from Tillikum when going to the killer whale show -- so sad).

Universal Studios is really a terrific park as well. Our favorite ride there is the Mummy ride (a roller coaster).

If you want to experience what it is like to get the acceleration from driving a dragster or want to fly hundreds of feet tethered only to a steel cable on the biggest Sky Coaster I've even see, head to Old Town (an amusement park) on Route 192 (Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway) in Kissimmee.

If you want to go in a hotel and gawk at a massive indoor glassed-in atrium, go to the Gaylord Palms Hotel -- run by the folks that run the Opryland Hotel in Nashville.

A vacation down there is a lot of fun. Just be prepared for big lines. Enjoy.

aretardedorange

Thanks man! This is exactly what I was looking for. As for International Drive only one restaurant we looked at so far attracts us. "Chaat House" Indian cuisine hopefully its not some cheap moshso tourist Indian food. Cityfish looks good do you by any chance remember what the prices are for cityfish?
Bravissimo also looks like a great place to eat. Looking forward to trying the ?Salmon Pizza-.

As for parks we are going to Universal and Disney. That dragster ride looks pretty cool going to have to check that one out as well. I am also into thrill rides but no one else in my family is. So we are spending 3 days at Universal. The Harry Potter Homesgade village replica looks interesting for the parents and kiddies. So does the Shrek ride lol.

We have little kiddies with us so we will be stuck in Disney unfortunately for 4-5 days. I heard the lines can exceed up to 4-5 hours !. Animal Kingdom/ /Epcot/Disney Hollywood Studios look great. Magic Kingdom looks a little lame and tame to me.

Thanks again for the great suggestions. You must be a pro at Orlando 2 times every year . If I have any questions I will call you once I get there. Do you drive down there or fly? If you drive know of any good places to stop/eat along I-95?

mbp727

Scott- Victor is one lucky guy to have a Dad like you!



Khan- enjoy your trip and definitely come to Busch Gardens in Tampa because its about a half hour from me and has far better roller coasters than the parks in orlando. Islands of Adventure is that part of Universal with all the physical roller coasters whereas the Universal park is mainly indoor rides with tons of video effects. For disney, Epcot is pretty sweet. Half the park is a bunch of little areas designated for a country in the world which is pretty cool. They also have a few interesting rides there such as test track (google it). IMO Epcot gives you the best fireworks show as well.

I'm not sure if you or your family is into basketball, but if by any chance you decided to go to a Magic game, be sure to leave at least an hour to get down town to Amway Arena because traffic can be horrific.


Have a nice trip!

craigm1841

maybe you, krozi and mbp27 can get together and take some high school chicks to a PG-13 movie

i went there!

sdg1871

Cityfish is moderate to expensive but not ultra-expensive. It is a real seafood restaurant -- not a mass production chain. The fish is to die for good.

3 days in Universal is a good amount of time. Victor and I do it in 2 days but due to Victor's issues, we get the pass that lets us go to the front of all of the lines. And yes, the lines at the Walt Disney World Resort are brutal -- especially Splash Mountain at the Magic Kingdom which, to me, is the best ride there.

When I was young, I drove from NY or DC (I went to college there and pacticed law there for 4 years in my 20s) to Florida. I have family in South Florida. But with Victor, I always fly to Ft. Lauderdale, pick up my mother and then drive up to Orlando. If you are doing I95 (get prepared for a flat, straight, boring road with no real scenary and LOOK OUT for the cops in Georgia on I95 as they really target out of state speeders), you gotta stop at South of the Border on the NC/SC border.

Thanks bro.

mbp727

Not to jack this thread or anything but where did you study law, if I may ask?

mbp727

We'd rather take your mom


JK I think the three of us and your coworkers fat wife have plans to go to ybor together. She's getting us fake ids

craigm1841

:middlefinger:

good- you can listen to my coworked bitch about his bad back, bad knees, bad hand, bad elbow, bad foot, bad toe all night long. You guys can do shots off his wifes chest, or irish car bombes out of her belly button.

mbp727

haha where do you work to find such pain in the ass associates? you should just set him up to get fired, accuse him of peeping on you in the bathroom or something