America

[token_hottie]

Florida gets nasty hurricanes every year. 2005 was the worst hurricane season in many years so I would expect this year to be bad as well.

California gets wicked-awful earthquakes but the bad ones don't occur that often (in comparison). They have to design all major infrastructure to withstand the quakes up to a certain intensity. After that you're screwed. But the chances are minimal anything like that would actually happen during your vacation. It's just something they've been predicting for a long time. Whoever "they" are.

 

[Slingblade61]

Just sign up with the Royal Marines. Think of all the neat places you'll get to see then. The bonus is that they will get to decide for you so you can avoid all the personal research.

 

[P_102]

Andy....Florida is for hurricanes, California has the earthquakes.

They're right about Kansas, great place and proud to call it my place of birth but not much for tourism...BTW Jayhawk, when talking about BBQ, are you talking about the G&M Tavern down in Williamsburg? (35 mi. SW of KU). Voted top 10 in ribs (nationwide) at one time.

P_102

 

[Bravo]

What would the quues for the rides and everything be like in the months of September & October ? I hear it can take up to 2 hours to get on some rides, but I am guessing it might not be *too* bad during these two months.

Thoughts...?

Here ya go....from one of the sites - information about park attendance and crowding...

http://www.allearsnet.com/pl/attend.htm

Overall, I would be ready for you to stand in substantial lines/queues for most of the rides, especially if you go at peak times of the year. A day at Disneyworld can be a real grind if you don't plan effectively...

The place is just vast. To see it all (IMHO) would take about 4-5 days of hitting it hard all day long...

The driving distance between DisneyWorld and SeaWorld and Universal Studios in Orlando is about 20 minutes...get a good car and be ready. Understand where your hotel is located relative to all of the parks before you leave home...make up an agenda of where you are going to go each day. If not, you will waste quite a bit of time/money making it up as you go along...

I would estimate that the average visitor to these parks has been there at least 1-2x before - maybe more - including the UK visitors. Therefore, the average park attendee knows what they are doing and are pretty well organized and have a good battleplan in place when they get up in the morning...

I would guess that you can find a good blog or bulletin board for UK visitors/veterans of Orlando and could likely get some great tips from them before you go...

 

[SiberianDVM]

California = earthquakes & brush fires
Florida = hurricanes, mosquitoes, alligators, heat & humidity
Kansas = tornadoes & sheer boredom

 

[ualtim]

Yeah, been doing a wee bit of research on it this avo, Brav. Will check those two sites the now, too, though.

Checked the average monthly temperature there and it was 79, even in October !!

What would the quues for the rides and everything be like in the months of September & October ? I hear it can take up to 2 hours to get on some rides, but I am guessing it might not be *too* bad during these two months.

Thoughts...?

Ques are not too bad in September and October (season pass holder here, I live less than 5 miles from Disney property) especially if you utilize the Fast Pass system. Other tips for avoiding crowds, do not go to the park with extra magic hours that day (thats where all the folks on staying in Disney hotlels get a few extrea hours in the park), avoid the Magic Kingdom on the weekend, visit the poplular attractions early in the day and late at night if you are not utilizing a fast pass, visit semi-busy attractions during the parade times, and UTILIZE FAST PASS.

In Florida, all four of the theme parks and the 2 water parks as well as all 23 resorts and the downtown disney area are located on one piece of property (a large piece of property.) They have a free bus system through out the property as well as monorail service and boat service to some of the parks and resorts. If you stay on property, all you need is transportion to and from the airport and Disney takes care of the rest.

Tampa is 90 minutes away if you want to go to Bush Gardens. Kennedy Space Center is about 45 mins away. Universal is a few exits up interstate 4 and takes 15-20 mins if that and Seaworld is halfway in between Disney and Universal. (your times may vary as I tend drive a bit faster than the normal flow of traffic)

Hurricanes. A whole lot better than an earthquake as you have a pretty good idea when you are going to get hit. A lot of rain, a lot of wind, and a lot of missing street signs. The local theme parks only close if they are going to get hit by one, but the hotels stay open and the parks are normally only closed for about a day and a half. We got hit with 3 different hurricanes in 2004 and the parks were probably only closed for a total of 4 to 5 days (Frances took about 2 and half days to get through the area.) August and September are the peak months for hurricanes although the season officially runs from June to November. Tropical Storms are not too bad. I even played golf on the edge of one last year and it was no worse than any other rainy/windy day.

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

Oh, and how far are these Florida theme parks apart from one another ?

Does it take a couple of hours to get between one and another, or so..?

I went to Orlando the beginning of February. All the Orlando parks are within about 15-20 minutes depending on where you stay. I went to Universal and there was absolutely no waiting. I actually went to both parks, there are 2 within walking distance which I did not know at the timeand went on every ride between 9am and about 12:30. To get a ticket for both parks you pay only $10 more than one. It was $73 for both. Actually the better rides are on the Island park. I heard that was the absolute best time to go for the parks.