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Florida Vacation spots : Senior citizen perspective?

Hello All,

I desperately need your help in coming up with vacations spots in Florida. You see I will be travelling with my parents and my wife for the first time to florida. I do not have any clue about the parks / tourist spots there. More over my parents are not really interested in rides and water sports. So I guess Universal's Island Of Adventures wont be a great hit. I am not sure if the rides in Disney world are very scary that they cannot be sustained by old age people. What about Busch garderns? Is it really worth seeing? I am coming from Atlanta and they have already seen aquarium here and in Tennesse so I dont know if Water world would provide them something very different. I was even thinking of driving along the Key west. What can we do in Keys? Are there some sight seeing places there?

Any thoughts/ suggestions would really help.
In MGM can we see real sets/ studios in which they film movies /shows? My dad is really interested in those. Also what is the most economic way of buying tickets for these shows? AAA / local buyers/ Any special credit cards / Coupons / Costco etc?

Also would 3 days be enough to cover to Disney, MGM and a couple of shows? Is regular Universal different from Island of Adventure?

Public Comments

1. Well in Orlando there is Epcot and Animal Kingdom..etc. Those have rides but not to many and have a lot of great stuff to see...Bush Gardens is fun but its mostly about the rides there :)....You can go to Fort Meyers on the west coast of Florida. Its very beautiful there..There is Miami (where I'm from) Great food. Beach, Lots to see on South Beach if you've never been...The Keys have lots to do...many different beaches you can go to lots of great restaurants...pretty much you cant go wrong in Florida there is soo much you can do there! :)

2. My dad (in his sixties) and I went to Florida together a few years ago. We enjoyed Disney's Epcot Centre, MGM and the regular universal theme park (I will treasure the picture of us in MIB he looks like he's four years old - shooting the bad guys). We went to Islands of Adventure but left in an hour because he didn't see any rides that interested him.

We wanted to go to Cape Canaveral but we ran out of time. We also went to the Florida keys. Key West is very relaxing and there is plenty to see. He enjoyed touring the Spanish Galleon treasure and the tour of Ernest Hemingway's home. We also enjoyed the Ripley's Museum.

We spent some time in Ft Lauderdale walking on the boardwalk and looking at the ocean.

Overall it was a great trip. Have fun.

3. You are never too old for Disney World. There are many rides that are not for "thrill seekers". The great thing about Disney World is that there are also shows to see. My suggestion would be to at least go to Epcot. They might really enjoy the World Showcase. And don't miss Soarin'. It is a ride, but you basically sit in front of a large screen and it gives you the illusion that you are hangliding over California. (my sister is 60, has trouble walking, and this is one of her favorites!) Also, visit the Living with the Land and the Living Seas -both in Epcot.

MGM and Animal Kingdom have some really nice shows, too. MGM has Beauty and the Beast, while Animal Kingdom has Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo. While these may sound like "kids" shows, these rival just about any Broadway production!!

4. Ok. You didn't mention kids so everything in this answer assume no children...

Bed and Breakfast in St Augustine. St Augustine has some fantastic museums and historical items of interest. Plenty of shops, cafes, bars, etc so that Ma and Pa can rest their dogs in the A/C when they need to and there is a sweet trolley ride that takes you around town and you get on and get off at your leisure. The Lightner Museum has an incredible Tiffany glass display and a fun "music box" thing they do: www.lightnermuseum.org and www.oldcity.com - the trolley tour is a must (www.historictours.com)

Continuing your journey down the coast:
If anybody in the familey is into NASCAR or motorcycles you'll want to visit the world's largest motorcycle shop: www.brucerossmeyer.com and Daytona USA www.daytonausa.com

Still going south:
The Kennedy Space Center and Port Canaveral. If I know anything about old people it is that they love to play slot machines. You can grab a day cruise / casino boat out of port canaveral for a 4 hour gambling trip that includes some pretty cheesey but fun live entertainment (make sure you take the Dramamine one hour ahead of time if anybody is prone to motion sickness). The Kennedy Space Center speaks for itself.
www.sterlingcasinolines.com
www.suncruzcasino.com/document_display.cfm/document_id/5
www.portcanaveral.org
www.ksc.nasa.gov

Beach Line Expressway into Orlando....

I'm pretty sure that everybody can have a great time without even entering one of the theme parks:
Disney property (you're on your own for links here):
La Nouba (must see)
House of Blues (live music for free outside on the patio)
Planet Hollywood (over priced hamburgers - you gotta love it)
Downtown Disney (over priced shopping - whoo hoo!)

Universal Studios:
Emeril's (the chef from TV but he isn't there much)
Blue Man Group Show (very new and very cool)
Hard Rock Cafe
City Walk

If you want to take the parents to a theme park then my suggestion is EPCOT because it is the most "low impact". But crowds, expenses, blech!

Also in the tourist corridor:
www.old-town.com
www.gatorland.com
www.leugardens.org
www.cypressgardens.com

There's all kinds of dinner shows and what not on International Drive (leave early because traffic sucks and you don't want to be late):
www.medievaltimes.com
www.dixiestampede.com/orlando.php
www.piratesdinneradventure.com/florida/index.html

I encourage you to avoid the theme parks simply because of the heat and the crowds. You don't want Ma and Pa to feel like they're slowing you down and there is so much to do away from all of that nonsense. But, if you really have a burning desire to do a theme park then I suggest that you stay at one of the resorts on Disney property (if you do this get a Meal Plan). That way Ma & Pa can lounge around the pool, take the free transportation to shopping at Downtown Disney, et c. For example, you buy Ma & Pa tickets for EPCOT, they come with you in the morning when it's not so hot, they get tired and take the free air conditioned bus back to the room, rest up, and meet you back in the park for the fireworks show and dinner.

Sea World is fun but it's damn hot and humid in Florida during the summer and there isn't much air conditioned seating for the shows (it's worse than Atlanta hot believe me).

Animal Kingdom (and Busch Gardens for that matter) are zoos with roller coasters. Yawn - unless you like zoos.

If you really want to go to Key West you're looking at a Mighty Drive of about 400 miles from Orlando. If you're dead set on seeing the keys I suggest you drive to Ft Myers Beach (3 or 4 hours depending on route - hint US 27 to US 64 to US 17) and take a luxury high speed catamaran to Key West. I think it's a 2 or 3 hour boat ride that comes with bar and stuff. I've never done but I hear it's worth it. www.seakeywestexpress.com

In Key West you watch the sun set in the evening, you drink at night, and you visit Mel Fisher's museum during the day. www.melfisher.com. I don't know much more about Key West than that.

On your way back home you can stop by Silver Springs in Ocala if you want - it's nice. www.silversprings.com

You can also stop by the campus of the University of Florida and walk into Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field just to say you did it. It's open to the public pretty much all the time.

Have fun, spend lots of money so that I don't ever have a state income tax, then go home.