Traveling to Orlando for work, wondering whether to visit parks

jabrabu

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jan 31, 2017
I'm traveling to Orlando in a couple of days for a work trip. I'll be staying at the Hyatt Grand Cypress, which is near Disney Springs. I was in Florida for a work trip in April and visited all the parks during that trip. It wasn't very crowded, so it was nice to go to the parks then. I especially enjoyed the EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival.

I have a couple of days left on a military multi-day ticket, so I was thinking of visiting the parks during this upcoming trip. With my schedule I could go Saturday afternoon/evening or pretty much any other evening through Wednesday. However, I'm thinking that it will be very hot and crowded, and I won't have a rental car so transportation becomes a bit of a hassle, but I could walk to Disney Springs and take a bus to a resort near a theme park and walk from there.

So I'm thinking I might just prefer to stay at the hotel and enjoy the awesome pool, maybe do some kayaking there, and walk to Disney Springs for an evening. Since I already have park entry paid for I kind of feel I should go to the parks, but I'm not sure if it would be much fun due to the heat and the crowds. Any opinions/advice on this?
 
I would have a reeeealy hard time being that close, with tickets, and not going to the parks! But I guess it depends on whether you think you'll get another, better, chance to use them?

Disney Springs can certainly be fun on it's own. (If I didn't have park tickets, I'd be excited just to go to there!) The restaurants and shops are great, sometimes there are shows, and The Void is pretty cool as well. (I haven't been, but my DS loved it.)

You could also take the bus from Disney Springs to any resort you want to check out for future trips. There are public viewing areas at AKL if you want to see the animals, and I think maybe one of the restaurants there does a free tour as well.
 
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I guess my question would be, do you have other dates planned to visit the parks? The military tickets I thought expired after six months,(I could be wrong), but don't let the tickets expire and not be able to enjoy the parks!
 
The military tickets are good through the end of the year.
I was expecting to travel to FL again in September, but it looks as if that is not going to happen now, so next week's trip might be my last one of the year to FL.

I usually go to the parks, or at least to Disney Springs, when I travel there, except in the summer. I did a family vacation there about 5 years ago during the summer, and the crowds and heat made it not much fun.

I guess I'll just play it by ear and see if I feel like going to a park or just enjoying the hotel pool and other hotel amenities. Or maybe I'll do some resort hopping. I also enjoy Disney Springs. When I'm solo I usually just go to a lounge and get an appetizer and cocktail, and that's a good meal for me. I also enjoy the outdoor Frontera Cocina counter service -- give me a taco, chips & guac, and a margarita and I'm happy.
 


I did a family vacation there about 5 years ago during the summer, and the crowds and heat made it not much fun.

Well, I can't fix the heat, but the crowds are actually predicted to be quite low for the next couple of days:

Crowd Cal July.png
 
When I'm solo I usually just go to a lounge and get an appetizer and cocktail, and that's a good meal for me.

I would like to recommend The Wave at the Contemporary Resort for the lounge and, I think, the best appetizer onsite (bacon and egg). This lounge is really comfortable and usually not very crowded (was just there this past week).

67241224_10220352221062629_5839620617212526592_o.jpg67343747_10220352220102605_6404348485230919680_o.jpg
 
Well, I can't fix the heat, but the crowds are actually predicted to be quite low for the next couple of days:

View attachment 418500
Thanks for that info. The crowd calendar that I found showed a predicted 8 out of 10 all next week.
I wonder why it would be more crowded on Monday than during the weekend. I would have expected the weekend to be worse.
 


If you have tickets, just go. Check the transportation, you may be able to catch the bus to a park from Disney Springs, I'm not sure though.
 
If you have tickets, just go. Check the transportation, you may be able to catch the bus to a park from Disney Springs, I'm not sure though.

Unfortunately no bus from Disney Springs to the parks, but you can catch a bus at any of the parks and go to Disney Springs. :)
 
Unfortunately no bus from Disney Springs to the parks, but you can catch a bus at any of the parks and go to Disney Springs. :)

To BLT for MK (walk)
To BWV (maybe BCV instead?) for Epcot (walk through international gateway)
To AKV for AK (although this one you can't walk to but its a very short ride then)
 
To BLT for MK (walk)
To BWV (maybe BCV instead?) for Epcot (walk through international gateway)
To AKV for AK (although this one you can't walk to but its a very short ride then)

Thanks? I already knew this, I was just answering the post I quoted to say that there's no buses from DS to the parks, but there is the other way around.
 
I did end up going to the parks one day. I finished at noon one day and there was a bus from the hotel to the TTC at 12:30, so I went.
I didn't do a lot, though. Usually when I go solo I can cover a lot of ground and do a lot of attractions, but didn't do a lot this day. I still had an enjoyable time, though.

I rode Haunted Mansion and Pirates with Fastpasses. Then the skies got dark and I was expected a big storm, so I took the boat to the Wilderness Lodge and had an appetizer and cocktail at the Geyser Point Grill. Then took the boat back to the MK and monorail to EPCOT.
At EPCOT I rode Soarin, Nemo, and Grand Fiesta boat ride. Watched Impressions de France and had some ice cream in France. Watched Chinese acrobats and British rock music. Then monorail back to TTC. Watched evening fireworks from Ferry terminal and caught the bus back to the hotel.

I still have 1 day left on my multi-day park hopper, and just found out that I'll probably be back in FL in late Sept, so maybe I'll get to see Galaxy's Edge then (depending on crowds/wait times).
 

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