Grab Your Jackets Travel Blog: The Happiest Place on Earth

So I know things aren’t looking so good on the football field, but hey not all of life is a football game (for most of us anyway). There’s plenty of other things to enjoy out there. Speaking of, we’re going to Orlando this weekend... maybe its time to enjoy a nice theme park. Orlando only has 3 or 4 of the darn things so lets check it out.

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Travel How To: Getting from Atlanta to Orlando

Have you ever noticed how big Florida is? Despite Florida being a state away it takes about the same amount of time to get from Atlanta to New Orleans as it takes to get from Atlanta to Orlando. Seems weird, but maybe that’s just me.

You will need to be ready to pay some tolls if you want to take the fastest road to Orlando. It’s about 6 hours and 15 minutes straight down I-75, but there are many optional toll roads and what I would describe as sneaky toll roads. Essentially a road you are on can suddenly become a toll road and you will see it coming, but you won’t have enough time to change your route until your already on the toll road.

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Frontier and Spirit have some cheap flights down from Atlanta to Orlando, less than $100 if you can stomach flying on one of those airlines. You’ll need to rent a car but it was an option.

Places to Stay:

There’s a few different types of hotels to stay in Orlando. There’s the resort hotels, the luxury hotels, the budget hotels, and there are also options such as Airbnb. We already checked for this weekend, and everything is pretty much sold out, but we’ll list prices as though they were available for arguments sake.

Budget hotels usually run $50 to $150 a night for a single bedroom. The Luxury hotels run from $200 to $500 a night but come with nicer perks such as Spas, Restaurants, and other on site activities which usually have vouchers for staying in the hotel. If you’re exploring the city I would go for a more budget friendly hotels since you will only be spending in the hotel is for sleeping.

There are also the theme park hotels. Their prices are varied but usually are between $150 to $400 a night for their more reasonable locations. Most parks will also offer perks for staying on sight such as discounts for tickets or early park access so do your research for whichever park you are staying at. These hotels are generally more expensive that other hotels in Orlando, but the atmosphere and perks can often make them worth the additional money.

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Airbnb is cheaper than most of the hotel options, most Airbnbs are less than $150. They don’t come with any perks though and are usually spread farther away from downtown so keep that in mind. The costs are clearly a factor, but what is also important to consider is how close the hotels will be to what you want to do. It’s easy enough to find a budget hotel but you may be driving a bit through traffic depending on where it is.

There are specifically some standard hotels near UCF campus that are within walking distance of the campus. The hotels are between $100 to $200 and are your standard affair hotels (Double Tree, LaQuinta, etc.).

Things to Do and See:

I’m sure there are plenty of other things to do in Orlando, but I only really know the resorts so that’s what I’m gonna focus on. If someone from the area wants to provide ideas outside of those areas in the comments it would be appreciated. While all of these theme parks are fun, they are also super expensive so other options for things to do is always appreciated.

Sea World

I would say this is the low tier of the theme parks in the area. Sea World used to be a bigger deal, but due to some recent controversy (I’m not discussing that here) Sea World doesn’t have the same popularity it once did. If you like animals this is still a fun environment to see some animals up close. It does have a few exciting rides but you can complete pretty much everything at Sea World in a day.

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Universal Studios

Universal Studios is the second most well known theme park in Orlando. I would argue that it is the most thrilling theme park as most of their rides tend to be more thrill based. Universal Studios is one of my favorites although it has seen many changes over the years with the shifting of IP rights and additions of big sections for Harry Potter. If you’re an adult and you’re not that into the Disney aesthetic I would actually say Universal is the better set of parks to go to if you want to enjoy yourself.

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Disney World

Do I really need to say anything here? It’s the happiest place on earth and it has something for everyone. Its got Magic Kingdom for reliving your childhood, its got Epcot which is for exploring the world without having to buy a plane ticket, its got animal kingdom for safaris with animals you won’t usually see up close, and it has Hollywood Studios for... Star Wars and thrill rides I suppose? Disney’s awesome, check it out.

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Gameday

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Once you’ve had your fun get ready for the game Saturday and enjoy the campus. I don’t have much to say this week, if you are a fan and you are showing up make sure to stay hydrated as it gets hot out there. Best of luck to all our traveling fans this weekend and whatever happens be sure to have a good time.

As always, Go Jackets!