Attractions & Tickets

Another round of research ensued and we decided that the following attractions are essentials:

1. Discovery Cove (DC)
2. SeaWorld (SW)
3. Universal Studios (US)
4. Islands of Adventure (IOA)
5. Disneys MGM Studios (MGM)
6. Disneys Animal Kingdom (AK)
7. Busch Gardens (BG)
8. Blizzard Beach (BB)
9. Typhoon Lagoon (TL)
10. Wet n Wild (WNW)

Now thats a whole lotta fun!

Obviously we have not included the other two Disney parks, Magic Kingdom and Epcot, in this list. A lot of the Disney Addicts will think we are mad for choosing BG over Magic Kingdom, or that I am more excited about SW than any of the Disney Parks but hey, it's our holiday and we have planned it around the things that we think we will enjoy the most. If we have enough time/money we may still visit Magic Kingdom but its not going on the essentials list!

ANYWAY... looking at all the brochures and websites it became obvious that choosing the tickets was not going to be a simple task... there are 4 & 5 park flex tickets, 2 day passes with extra days free, different prices from different agents, the option to book through Virgin or the parks direct, and about 200 types (seriously - there actually ARE that many) of Disney tickets... our minds were well and truly boggled!

Not to be deterred we worked out that the following three tickets would cover everything on the essentials list:

1. 4 Park Flex Ticket (SW, US, IOD, WNW)
2. Discovery Cove with Dolphin Swim (WOOOOHOOOO!!) + 7 days entry to Busch Gardens
3. 2 + 3 Disney Tickets (2x main parks plus 3 visits to waterparks / fun)

We opted for booking the Flex Tickets through Virgin as the price seemed pretty standard across the board. Discovery Cove was booked direct, and the Disney Tickets were purchased online from Ticket Mania. Now that we knew which attractions we would definately be visiting we had the task of creating an itinerary to fit it all in. Our research had also revealed a number of little extra's that it seemed rude not to partake of...

Tours, Dinners, & Shows

It seemed a bit of a waste to go all the way to Florida and not treat ourselves to some of the extra FUN on offer so we also booked:

1. Dolphin Nursery Tour @ SW
2. Medieval Times Dinner Show
3. Dine With Shamu @ SW
4. Blue Man Group @ US

I love seeing the list of things we are going to do - it's VERY exciting!!! I literally CANNOT wait to get to Discovery Cove. Have a look at the reviews here for an idea of why I'm so looking forward to this day. M is a bit aprehensive about the dolphins not liking him (I know - he's silly!) but I'm thinking I will need to be restrained from throwing myself in fully clothed and will probably burst into tears (in a good way) on meeting my dolphin friend!

I do tend to get a bit obsessed about DC and SW, but then I remember about all the other cool places we are going and think my head may EXPLODE with excitment!! The anticipation for this holiday is HUGE and although I feel like we have been waiting to go forever, planning it has actually been really good fun as well :o)

UP Next: Timeline & Itinerary

ALL together now.... OO-DE-LALLY!!!