Family of 4 To Orlando, FL - Need Adivce
 

Some background info/important information. We have visited Disney Land for 3 days and Universal Studios: Hollywood for 1 day last summer. We enjoyed the trip so much that this year, we are going to a much bigger theme park. Sister is 52" and we want to go on the rides together as a family.

Ok so Plane tickets and hotels are bought. Family of Four consists of 3 Adults and 1 "child." Quotations because my little sister "may" look under 9. Should we lie about the age or keep it real and pay like $50 additional overall in 5 days. In reality, she's 10 and $50 is a tiny dent in the amount we have/will pay for the trip.

We are staying in a Disney Resort (All-Star Movie) and our trip mainly consists of visiting Disney World and it's theme parks. We have dedicated 3 days for each of the 3 theme parks besides Epcot (Cause who wants to learn about stuff on vacation). Is a day each enough with no park hopper?

My question is for the remaining 2 days. Universal Studios for 2 days to fully enjoy its two theme parks, OR Universal Studios for 1 day and Seaworld for the other? Keep in mind that some of the rides in both parks require a larger height requirement and some of the shows/rides have been seen/ridden from Universal Studios.

Cliffs:
-Read the first paragraph.
-Lie about sisters age (looks under 9) to save $50 in whole trip?
-One day enough for the three main Disney World Theme parks? (No Park Hopper)
-Universal Studios (Both theme parks) in two days, no Seaworld. OR Universal Studios (Both theme parks) in one day, one day Seaworld.

Thanks a lot for the future advice.

This really depends on how you spend your time. If you want to grab a quick lunch, then I'd say 1 day is enough. If you like to dine in or dine with disney characters then it probably isn't. As for universal studios, it really depends if you're only going for the rides or to catch the shows. Some of the shows there are quite entertaining.

Just wondering not going to the waterparks? :D

We think going to SeaWorld or Universal Studios would be better than going to a Disney Water Park. I gotta agree with the shows. We only saw one show last time we went to Universal Studios:Hollywood, but that was one heck of a show. The really big factor between Seaworld and Universal Studios IMO is the shows. How much more entertaining are they between the two. Im kind of iffy on SeaWorld because well...Is it THAT much of a difference between our Aquarium besides being much larger and better shows?

Main question I should have asked was: "Can I 'live' without going to SeaWorld?"

Well mostly the shows are all the same at SeaWorld, aquarium... Whales or dolphins eating and hopping in the air, splashing the audience.. it gets old. However, the shows at universal studios changes so I think that would be the better choice.

Yes you can live without going to SeaWorld :D

2 Days at Universal Studios it is. I just checked out the rides for SeaWorld and we can only go on like...3/5. The shows for that particular day looks kinda crappy too. No Shamu rock concert.

Thanks for your help man. If anyone can convince me other wise, I think I'm going to book Universal tickets in like 2 days.

at least one day for each park.
Lots of shopping in Orlando too with one of only a few Nike Clearance stores around.

You've probably already booked, but for FWIW

IMO the Universal Studios part of Universal isn't TOO different from the one in Hollywood, kind of like Magic Kingdom vs. Disneyland. There is quite a bit of overlap, even if some of the shows and stuff are a bit different. The side with more rides (the Harry Potter side) is certainly well worth it as it's unique to Universal Orlando, easy to spend the day there as the lineups can be long but there aren't as many shows on that side.

I really like the wildlife type stuff, and enjoyed Seaworld San Diego more than Universal Hollywood a couple of summers ago. From what I hear/read Seaworld in FL is even better, and they have swim with dolphin programs and stuff like that too. Our Aquarium here SUCKS compared to the size and variety of stuff that Seaworld has. We're thinking of going to Orlando early next year, and I definitely want to go to the Space Museum there too at Cape Canaveral, it's about an hour drive away from Orlando.

If you are going mainly for the rides, Florida should have a number of themeparks known for their rides, as opposed to the typical Disney/Universal themed parks with tamer rides.