ON A BUDGET
Orlando has other theme parks besides Disney World
Earmark a few Disney days, then venture off-site. Universal, SeaWorld and the Space Center beckon.
WALT DISNEY WORLD is an important part of life in Orlando, Fla. It's also a fierce business competitor determined to keep visitors within its own theme parks every day of their Orlando stay, even if they come to town for a week.
In the 1980s, when Universal Studios announced construction of a theme park of motion-picture attractions ("Ride the Movies"), Disney rushed its own MGM Studios to completion.
In the late 1990s, when nearby Busch Gardens enhanced its animal attractions with "Edge of Africa," Disney rushed to create its Animal Kingdom park.
Even the U.S. government is competition. Disney's multimillion-dollar Mission: Space astronaut ride at Epcot competes with the simulators that draw tourists to nearby Kennedy Space Center.
Last year, Disney added Magic Your Way ticket pricing, which lowered the per-day cost for visitors who spend several consecutive days at its parks.
Families spending a week in Orlando used to visit Disney World the first three days, then devote the fourth to sixth days to the area's other noteworthy entertainments. But Disney's new pricing lures them into lingering all week at the park.
Although Walt Disney World is a remarkable achievement in tourism, there are other ways to spend your Orlando vacation than on Disney property.
Orlando hosts seven of the nation's 10 most popular theme parks, and three of them — SeaWorld, and Universal Studios Florida and its Islands of Adventure — are not Disney properties. Neither is the stirring Kennedy Space Center, where you can see an actual space shuttle being readied for a launch. If you don't leave Disney property, you're missing a lot.
Universal struck back recently by offering an $85 Internet special that gives purchasers the right to spend all week at its Orlando parks. (That compares with $67 for single-day admissions to the Disney properties.) And in June, Universal will add a permanent production of Blue Man Group to entice guests to stick around well into the night.
Moreover, the four non-Disney theme parks offer an Orlando FlexTicket for about $190, which gives unlimited entrance for up to two weeks to Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, SeaWorld Orlando and the Wet 'n' Wild water-slide park. The FlexTicket can be bought in any of the four parks.
What's a good overall strategy? In my opinion, most people will be more than satisfied with a schedule that calls for one Disney park per day for a total of two or three days. Disney-MGM Studios (which is neither a working studio anymore nor has much to do with MGM) is probably the most easily skipped of the Disney holdings, with Animal Kingdom a close second. Don't let Disney pricing lure you into staying a minute longer than you need to.
After all, the few dollars you save on a multiday ticket will surely be spent on the food and souvenirs you buy at Disney. And your Orlando experience will be all the richer if you allow yourself time to experience its many flavors — as well as the fun of Busch Gardens in Tampa, a 90-minute drive from Orlando.
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