Oohhh... just remembered. Don't miss the Haunted Mansion. The "stairs" room rocks. :snap:

swanie

Since you will be staying off property you will want to avoid whatever park has early entry each day.

Well, the keys are only 4.5 (290 miles to Key Largo) hours from Orlando and if you are seeing other things on the way. Of course, I've driven that far for lunch before only to turn around and drive back afterwards so obviously I probably have a different definition of acceptable driving distances.

Kennedy is fun, but unfortunately (in my view) the Atlantic coast in that area isn't all that interesting (Cocoa Beach down to Melbourne, just kind of blah). The gulf side is more interesting but you probably don't want to drive from one side to the other.

I think it is still going strong but if you are on the road in the direction of the Gulf Coast I recommend a stop at Parkesdale Farm in Plant City for some strawberry shortcake. It's not the best in the world but it is a neat roadside stop.

As for on property, the Fantasia Miniature Golf is a fair amount of fun.

You can save at least a few bucks if you get your tickets from Orlando Fun Tickets . They are a sponsor over on Micechat.

Avoid Ohana at the Polynesian.

I actually enjoyed O'hanas. I thought the food was really awesome.

When were you there?

When we went (in June) the meat was super dry and the service was terrible. Yes, 8 months is a long time, but from other reviews that I've read, it hasn't improved.

I was thoroughly unimpressed by Ohana when I ate there four or five years ago but a whole lot of people really like it.

Before making food recommendations, do you like the nicer dining or want to stick to the more mid-brow family dining stuff? Nothing wrong with either and good options in both categories, just wondering if California Grill is a recommendation worth making.

AAA has discounts for Universal Tickets too. I got an excellent deal last time.

IOA is amazing. WDW is awesome.

Food - Boma! at the AK lodge is incredible. The Plaza Rest. off of Main St. has great food and was rarely busy.

But, look for the threads from when I went in Oct. It helped alot.

Boma changed their banana bread pudding to something much inferior. So they're no longer on my must-have list for a WDW visit. They're still on Lani's though (she loves the soups).

No strong restaurant recommendations in Epcot but you can skip on the Mexico restaurant and the Germany one without any regrets.