I booked flights to Miami so we could visit friends in Miami and then go to the Florida Keys. DH said when I booked it “I just feel like this means we will end up in Disney.” I said, “No, no, we just went to Disney in January, this is a non-Disney trip.” Well, lo and behold, DH will be on crutches so we decided Orlando would be easier… and yes we are going to Disney! But just one day, and DH - who is exasperated by the Magic Kingdom - will not be joining me and DS(11) and DS(8). He’ll get a massage at Grand Floridian and chill.
In an effort to diversify our Orlando area experiences for once, we are doing Kennedy Space Center and Seaworld for the first time. What were your favorite things at each of those places? Can we do Kennedy Space Center in a half day? Is it worth it to rope drop SeaWorld?
Here’s our rouge itinerary! What do you think?
Saturday - fly in
Sunday - to Miami zoo with friends
Monday - Kennedy Space Center, check in Contemporary
Tuesday - Seaworld
Wednesday - Disney! - dinner w/ DH at Citricos, extended evening hours at Magic Kingdom
Thursday - pool morning, check out, Disney outlet store, drive to Miami beach, check in hotel miami beach
Friday - Miami beach
Saturday - fly home
You can likely do Kennedy Space Center in half a day. We did it that way in 2019 and my kids were 10 and 6 at the time. I would have liked a little more time, but they were done at that point.
I also did SeaWorld with the older kid later that year after he had turned 11. We did rope drop and didn’t have to wait for hardly anything. In fact, we bought their Express Pass and didn’t really need it at all. It was just a piece of paper that we had printed out and didn’t have a name or anything, so as we left the park, we gave it to a father/son who were walking in so they could enjoy it. I think we arrived early for RD and were done at SeaWorld by 1:30 or so.
oh thank you this is great info. I was wondering if the express pass would be worth the extra $, seems like not. Did you also do the orca show and all the other sealife stuff, or did you just stick with the rides?
Ahhhhh Thank you!! It really means a lot that you would link it and say such nice things!!
@princessLiv - If you read my notes and have any questions I would LOVE to answer them! I was just there in Feb. so everything should still be relevant!
My favorite SeaWorld thing was petting a dolphin. It was a life-long goal and it exceeded expectations!!
(The food there is AWFUL! Even by most theme park standards!)
Absolutely! I’d say it’s really a big time saver since it’s such a smaller theme park. Less things to spread people out
Not sure what time you’re departing Miami Monday, but it might be a very busy day for you between driving and walking around KSC. At our age it would be a bit much, but if you’re young and/or energetic types then go for it!
I love combining Miami with Orlando, so have a great time
Thanks, we are fairly young, and the kids and I are energetic enough that we buoy DH along lol! The only thing I’m worried about is the food. I heard food at the space center was horrendous and a good lunch is a necessity in our foodie family.
Haven’t been to SeaWorld before, but KSC is always a must do for us (but we are Space nerds). In January we took our 10 year old son there and did it over 2 days. If you can only do a half day, don’t bother with the bus ride over to the Saturn V Centre, as that would take up all your time. I’d say the Atlantis exhibition (with the ride for the kids) and/or Gateway exhibition (again with a ride) are what you should do. In January you needed to get a return time for the Gateway ride, so maybe head there first if that’s still the case. In terms of food, we found it had improved. We got a great salad from the main cafe and a solid burger from one of the food trucks there (this was peak time though, the trucks may not always be there?). Have fun!
Good to know about the food trucks thank you! One of my kids is the kind that needs to read every single thing in every science exhibit, so I think it’s gonna be a struggle to get through this in a half a day. Thank you for the tip to start at Atlantis. I think we will just have to tell him that we will come back next time we are in florida!
