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Orlando Theme Parks for the Reluctant Parent
First of all, a disclaimer: I have been putting off for years the increasingly insistent demands of my kids to visit the theme parks in Orlando. They wanted the rides at Universal and Disney World... I feared the crowds. They wanted to get splashed by Shamu the whale at Sea World... I dreaded the summer heat and humidity. They wanted dolphins, Spider Man, Barney, and Body Wars... I wanted some quiet beach time or a hike in the mountains...I lost.
With a little creative thinking, a little added expense, and a spirit of cooperation, I survived the everpresent entertainment gauntlet on offer in metro Orlando, and I must admit, had more than my share of fun. And the kids? Well what kid ever had less than a grand time at an amusement park? Here are the tales and tips from our journey...
Planning Ahead for Maximum Fun
Our visit to coincided with the Spring-Easter vacation. Friends who vacationed during the dog days of August warned us to avoid a summer visit at all costs, as do all the books touting the best strategies to maximize fun and minimize wait time at area attractions. Workers at the attractions themselves say that the best time to visit is late September through early November--the weather is still warm, the kids have gone back to school, and summer vacationers are back at work.
Long gone are the days when a trip to Orlando meant a visit to Disney World. The metro Orlando area is chock full of ways to spend money having fun. A family that arrives without a basic gameplan risks being overwelmed by the parks and attractions competing for your attention.
In the course of dinner table conversations over the winter, we decided to spend a couple of days at Universal Studios, including a visit to the soft opening of Universal's new theme park, Islands of Adventure, and one day each at Sea World and EPCOT.
The highlight of my visit, which included two days at Universal Studios, and a day each at Sea World and EPCOT, was a nighttime performance at Downtown Disney of the Cirque de Soleil, a Canadian company that has long wowed American audiences. A circus with no animals, a stage with a ringmaster out of a postmodern novel, the Cirque de Soliel was a riveting and uplifting experience. The company performs in the Washington area every year around Christmas, but the Orlando stage [along with another company in Las Vegas] is their American home, and it has been customized to accommodate a wonderful proliferation of acts -- from a high wire trapeze to a cyclist who gives new meaning to the word 'balance'.
The cost of admission is not cheap, but who goes on such a trip to save money! Our family of five -- including our 4-year-old Joshua, sat mesmerized throughout the entire performance. It is entertainment well worth the price. My two daughters, Morgan, aged 9, and Eve, 13, were not opposed to enjoying such a performance, but they had come to Flordia to get scared out of their wits as they defied the laws of gravity... and to pet dolphins.
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