Combine New York and Orlando

Combining a holiday to New York with Orlando, Florida, and its many theme parks is a good way to get more out of your trip to the US. Explore vibrant New York City, with sights like Central Park, the Empire State Building and Times Square, then discover Orlando and all it has to offer. Orlando, Florida’s famous theme parks make it a great destination for young and old alike.
Eric's Index
From New York to Orlando in Florida
Many people start their multi-city trip in New York by staying in the city for a few days. I recommend at least 3 or 4 days to make sure you have enough time to see the main sights. In my sample itineraries, I give you an idea of how to plan your stay in NYC.
For your twin or multi-centre holiday in the USA, you can fly directly to Orlando from all three airports around New York. The flight to Orlando from John F. Kennedy, Newark Airport or LaGuardia Airport takes about three hours.
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is located in the middle of the state of Florida. Due to its subtropical climate, temperatures here are on the relatively high side throughout the year. From April to October, it’s around 30℃.
Here’s what I would recommend doing in Orlando:
Walt Disney World in Orlando
Orlando’s most famous attraction is Walt Disney World. It cannot be compared to any other theme park! Disney World in Florida actually consists of four theme parks:
- Magic Kingdom
- Epcot
- Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park
There are also two water parks: Disney’s Blizzard Beach and Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon.
Ticket types
For Walt Disney World in Orlando, there are two types of tickets. You can buy a ‘1 Park per Day’ ticket or a Park Hopper Ticket.
1 Park per Day ticket: as the name suggests, you can visit 1 of the 4 theme parks. You can also buy a multi-day ticket and use it to visit multiple parks. This way you can visit a different theme park every day.
Buy your tickets for Disney World here
Park Hopper ticket: when you choose a Park Hopper ticket, you can visit several theme parks in one day. You can also buy this ticket for several days, giving you a great deal of flexibility. There’s even a monorail connection for travel between the theme parks.
Buy your Disney World Park Hopper tickets here
When you have bought your tickets for (one of) the parks, you’ll need to secure your entrance to the park.
- Buy your tickets here
- Go to StartYourDisneyExperience.com and log in or create an account
- Link your purchased ticket to your account
- Make a reservation for the theme park you want to visit. Do this well in advance
The parks can get very busy and queues for attractions can take several hours. This is why Disney created FastPass+, which allows you to skip the queue and do more in a day. You can purchase these from Disney.
Magic Kingdom
Disney’s Magic Kingdom park is divided into six different themes, including Tomorrowland and Fantasyland. Magic Kingdom includes the iconic castle and you can visit a variety of attractions there.
My favourite attractions at Magic Kingdom: Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and Pirates of the Caribbean
EPCOT
The largest park at Disney World in Florida is EPCOT. It’s famous for its large-scale fireworks shows and attractions for all ages.
My favourite attractions at EPCOT: Mission: SPACE and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
When you enter Disney’s Hollywood Studios, you step into the world of Hollywood. Take a look behind the scenes of some of the biggest productions. In my experience, one of the most impressive sections here is Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. It’s like walking on the set yourself!
My favourite attractions at Hollywood Studios: Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park
As the name suggests, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park is all about animals! In addition to the attractions, you can also see some animals here, including giraffes and gorillas.
My favourite attractions at the Animal Kingdom: Avatar Flight of Passage and Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain
Universal Studios Florida
Step into the world of some of the biggest movie hits at Universal Studios, Florida. It’s recreated in a bizarre way that really makes you feel like you’ve stepped into the film. Aside from that, the attractions are great fun too!
Buy your ticket to Universal Studios Florida hereUniversal Studios also has 3 different theme parks:
- Universal Studios Florida
- Islands of Adventure
- Volcano Bay
Universal Studios Florida
In this part of the theme park, you can walk through Diagon Alley yourself; the secret place from the Harry Potter films. Simpsons fans can have a blast in Springfield and you can even walk through the streets of New York, but walking through the real streets of New York is of course better!
My favourite attractions at Universal Studios: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and MEN IN BLACK: Alien Attack
Islands of Adventure
Go back in time at Jurassic Park, where you can come face to face with a T.rex! Or step into the world of Hogwarts and take a ride on Hagrid’s motorbike and board the Hogwarts Express.
My favourite attractions at Islands of Adventure: Jurassic World VelociCoaster and Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
Between Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios, Florida, there is also the Hogwarts Express attraction, which is very worthwhile.
Volcano Bay
To cool off, you can go to Volcano Bay. This is Universal Studios’ water park. It is famous for The Volcano, which has all kinds of slides running out of it. The perfect place for a hot day!
Hotels in Universal Studios
It’s convenient to book a hotel that’s located in Universal Studios. This gives you extra benefits such as free Universal Express Unlimited, which you can use to skip the queues and enter the park earlier.
A few options are:
Kennedy Space Center
Visit NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida! See space shuttles, learn more about space, and experience for yourself what it is like to be inside a launching rocket.
Buy tickets for Kennedy Space Center here
Cape Canaveral, which is near the Kennedy Space Center, sees several launches every week. These are not only by NASA, but also SpaceX and Blue Origin. Be sure to check in advance if a launch is taking place so you can see it with your own eyes.
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