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comment by WanderingEng
WanderingEng  ·  3084 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Trip itinerary, would love your input

    I want to visit great cities

My opinion is to drop Orlando and add a great US South city. Atlanta would be the easiest, but I've heard great things about Charlestown, SC. Memphis, Nashville or Louisville would be good options, too.

If you really wanted to see Florida, Miami might be good, but I've never been.





Creativity  ·  3084 days ago  ·  link  ·  

WanderingEng kleinbl00

The main reason I want to visit Orlando is to spend 2 days at Universal Orlando Resort in order to do attraction parks we don't have in Europe. Have you ever been ? It's kind of cheesy (like Las Vegas I guess), but I think it's worth it to just see how huge it is, the details, the rides and the atmosphere of it all.

I grew up with Harry Potter, the books and movies, and I really want to discover how they build this world in Orlando.

I got the opportunity to go to Miami 4 years ago and enjoyed it.

kleinbl00  ·  3084 days ago  ·  link  ·  
user-inactivated  ·  3084 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Damn. Let my comment publish 4 hours late and I missed this thread.

Absolutely check out Harry Potter land (as klein linked below). They just re-vamped it and added on even more room. I visited it 3 or 4 times within the few years that it opened. I haven't been to the parks since either of it's two major expansions. I bet you could spend a good part of your day in there.

Tips from a local:

1. Bring an umbrella. Florida always has summer showers that are as fickle as it is hot (usually once or twice per day around 4PM).

2. This sounds like a plug, but get those Fast Passes if you want to get the most out of your day. It's summer time so those places are likely packed. Since it sounds like you're going solo though, there's a 'Single Rider' option for rides when attendants (to the ride) are looking for single riders to fill empty spots since people tend to ride in groups. If you ever hear an attendant asking for Single Riders, then grab that chance to skip the line.

3. Islands of Adventure is fun as hell, don't leave that out of your destination.

4. There used to be a regular ol' path-with-guard-rails exit from a Hogwarts ride (the Harry Potter castle) that dumps you out and opposite side of the Harry Potter area entirely. I don't know if that place exists since the renovations, but if you find it, that's how my buddies and I got into the Hogwarts area for free when it first opened. Just act like you have a place to be or left something in the castle if anyone sees you (not like to happen if it's what I remember it being).

5. Enjoy yourself. :)

Creativity  ·  3082 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I'm going to check the new park in Hollywood, thanks for the tips! I think that the Fast Passes can definitely be helpful.

Islands of Adventure seems a lot of fun but it will be for another time :)

WanderingEng  ·  3084 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Ah! I should have said "unless you want to do the touristy stuff, Orlando doesn't have as much as other cities." I've been to Orlando and been to Disney and Universal Studios twenty years ago. If you have an interest, they're worth doing if only for the experience. If you do want to do the touristy stuff, Orlando is the place to be.

Quatrarius  ·  3084 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I can vouch for Tampa being pretty nice.

galen  ·  3084 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Memphis is awesome.