Any TSMers in the Ft. Lauderdale/Orlando area?

[Damaramu 0]

Hey dudes. On March 12 I'm coming to Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando for my honeymoon.

 

I know our vacation package includes a couple of passes to Universal Studios so I have that covered.

 

But, beyond going there, shopping and laying on the beach I don't know what else to do in the area.

 

Does anybody have any suggestions? Suggestions on places to eat? Fun things to do? Anybody want to hang out one of the days? Anything? I'll be there from March 12-20.

[Guest Smues]

I don't live there but we did the honeymoon in Orlando thing last fall. Both Universal Parks are well worth a visit. Universal Studios for the movie rides, Island of Adventure for the more intense coasters. Disney has a zillion parks there, but we only did the Magic Kingdom. I'd recommend that one too. And Busch Gardens is worth the drive to Tampa for some awesome roller coasters, but it's got a lot of African animals to gawk at.

 

And you'll be down there in the midst of MLB spring training. Unless the wife hates baseball you should see who plays within driving distance. All I know is that the Braves play in Orlando at the Disney Wide World of Sports complex, but I'm sure several other teams will have spring training games within reasonable driving distance.

 

There's also Seaworld, which surprisingly has a few good coasters of its own. And if you want to pay an arm and a leg Seaworld owns a place called Discovery Cove where you can swim with dolphins, if you or the wife are into that. I'm not, but it was the wife's childhood dream so I got roped into. It actually ended up being fun, and for that arm and a leg you pay all food and drink is paid for the day, so it's not a bad place to waste a day in the sun.

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

You want to hang out with someone from here on your honeymoon?

[Damaramu 0]

Well we're going to be down there for a week. I imagine eventually we'll both run out of things to do and want to find something else. That's why I made this post to find stuff to do. If someone here lives there and wants to show us around to places that are fun but outside the usual touristy area I'm sure we'll both be all for it.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Well as you know, I'm from Miami which is about half an hour south of Ft. Lauderdale- I actually used to fly out of that airport all the time. Anyways, I have a couple good friends that live in Broward County still, one in Miramar and the other in Davie, and they both told me basically there's two things to do up there- go check out Las Olas which is more or less their version of South Beach, or go drive down a bit south and check out the fun stuff in Miami. Be prepared with some basic Spanish, though- you've been warned.

 

If you need a list of stuff to go to, let me know- I know a lot of good places to eat and have a good time in general there. South Beach is overrated, overpriced, and often times really dirty and gross. There's only a couple cool things there- Lincoln Ave. and Espanola Way are what come to my mind- but yeah the rest of it is pretty much expensive hookers, cheap blow, and assholes driving around expensive cars being dicks to everyone on the road and sidewalk.

 

I also strongly, strongly suggest maybe taking a day trip and driving down to Key West- it'll be about an hour or two out but the trip is very, very much worth the time. The Florida Keys are pretty much the only redeeming factor that cesspool of a state has, in my opinion... Seems like the further south you go, the better the state is, and the further north, the worse.

[CanadianChris 0]

That's funny, I was in Key West 3 weeks ago and couldn't stop thinking how incredibly overrated it was. Tacky T-shirt shops as far as the eye could see.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Tacky T-shirt shops are all over Florida. It's the state's biggest industry. Probably what they file under "tourism".

 

Also: FantasyFest. That's when Key West shows its stuff. If all you saw were t-shirt shops, you didn't get to see enough of the city.

 

Then again, I'm a pretty huge fan of getting blasted and then passing out on a calm beach- you can't do that in Miami without some crackhead pissing on you.

[Damaramu 0]

Well here's how the vacation is supposed to go.

 

We arrive in Ft. Lauderdale on March 12. We get a rental car and then check into our hotel (it's a Ramada Plaza).

We're supposed to spend 3 days and 4 nights (or something like that) in Ft. Lauderdale just hanging out and going to the beach and eating and whatever. We get free meals from the hotel, but I want some seafood while I'm there!

Then we're supposed to go to Orlando for 2 days and 1 night and go to Universal Studios (i don't think i have Island of Adventure passes, but i'll have to buy some). Then we're supposed to go on a 1 night mini-cruise before returning and driving back to the airport and leaving.

 

So it's kind of a packed week. I'm bring $1500 spending money. I think that'll be plenty. I don't know how expensive the food or shopping is there really. I'm sure it's more expensive than Oklahoma obviously.

 

So during that 3 days in Ft. Lauderdale I'm sure we'll make a trip to Miami.

 

Are there any good rugby shops in the area VX? I wouldn't mind picking some stuff up if they have any shops.

 

Also should I tan now? Because I'm sure the sun in Florida is much different than the sun in Oklahoma and I'm pretty white!

[Guest Vitamin X]

Yeah I would just hang out around Las Olas, Dama. I'm sure there's plenty to do around there, and I would drive down for a day or so to Miami Beach and see how you like it.

 

I don't know anything about the rugby culture down there because I didn't start playing or doing anything until I moved up here to Portland; as far as I'm aware, it's probably fairly nonexistent.

 

I wouldn't bother with worrying about tanning. I would worry a hell of a lot more about sweating. Even in mid-March, it will be a lot hotter and more humid than you're used to.

[Timmy8271 0]

You'll want to hit up Universal City walk cause that's the place to be. I'd be careful about going to tourist district(International Drive) because is a Robbers paradise.

[Damaramu 0]

So what is there going to be to eat while we're there? Is there really a lot of good seafood or am I going to end up hitting up a bunch of chain restaurants like Chili's?

 

Looks like my week has ended up like this.

Thursday: arrive in Ft. Lauderdale and spend one night in the hotel

Friday-Sunday: spend 2 nights and 3 days on a cruise

Sunday-Wednesday: spend that time in Ft. Lauderdale hanging out

Thursday-Friday: go to Orlando and Universal Studios. Because my father in law screwed up on our plane tickets drive ALL THE WAY back to Ft. Lauderdale to fly home.

 

Sounds like a fun week. Just hoping there's plenty to do.

 

My wife and I are kind of excited about the possibility of running and working out on the beach. Or will the beach be so crowded that's not possible?

[Timmy8271 0]

I know of Emeril Lagasse resturant and Jimmy Buffet margaritaville at Universal. Here's a link for some more:

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g3451...do_Florida.html

 

As for Seafood, here's you go: http://www.10best.com/Orlando,FL/Restaurants/Seafood/

[Guest Smues]

Universal also has some Nascar restaurant, as well as the NBA cafe. The food at the NBA place wasn't that great, but it's a decent place to go for NBA fans.

[Guest Vitamin X]

So what is there going to be to eat while we're there? Is there really a lot of good seafood or am I going to end up hitting up a bunch of chain restaurants like Chili's?

 

Looks like my week has ended up like this.

Thursday: arrive in Ft. Lauderdale and spend one night in the hotel

Friday-Sunday: spend 2 nights and 3 days on a cruise

Sunday-Wednesday: spend that time in Ft. Lauderdale hanging out

Thursday-Friday: go to Orlando and Universal Studios. Because my father in law screwed up on our plane tickets drive ALL THE WAY back to Ft. Lauderdale to fly home.

 

Sounds like a fun week. Just hoping there's plenty to do.

 

My wife and I are kind of excited about the possibility of running and working out on the beach. Or will the beach be so crowded that's not possible?

Man, don't you read what people post in the thread? Hit up Las Olas in Ft. Lauderdale. You'll have more than enough to do there. And give South Beach a shot if you want too, it's only a half hour drive (roughly same distance from Norman to OKC).

[Damaramu 0]

Yeah I was planning on hitting it up VX, don't worry. I was just asking for more.

 

I have a dude in my training class from Florida and he said in Miami you start to learn the neighborhoods you should and shouldn't be in. Is it really that bad?

[CanadianChris 0]

It's like any other big city, some neighbourhoods are worse than others.

 

I've gone down there twice, and the first time we stayed right downtown near the port and AA Arena where the Heat play. We found that area REALLY sketchy. Second time we stayed in Sunrise (western suburb of Ft. Lauderdale), across from the Sawgrass Mills shopping centre, and that was nice.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Yes Miami in general is very, very filled with crime. Pretty much avoid anything in North Miami, just stay on the freeway (this is why I've always said that Dolphin Stadium is in a really, really awful location).

 

Downtown, as CC mentioned, is sketched out and full of sometimes very dangerous homeless people. Miami Beach has its own share of whackos as well but in general, it's not too bad. I happened to live way west off of the Dolphin Expressway (836) just past the 826, a couple exits away from the Turnpike/Dolphin Mall, which is where I worked for a long time.

 

The most important thing may be figuring out how to deal with the people there. Number one, do realize that you're in pretty much a different country and that English is not the primary language there. This may not apply as much in Broward County, but it definitely does in Miami-Dade. Another big thing, and this is entirely subjective but it's too big for me to not mention, is that generally speaking people in that area can have very loud, outspoken, and sometimes rude attitudes. Fistfights are very common anywhere in Miami, and that's topped off with the fact that the cops won't do shit about most of them.

 

I say this to you because kind of just judging you from how you are on here sometimes, I can tell you that if you talk trash to ANYONE about any sports teams down there- fully keeping in mind that Miami fans are enormous bandwagoners and love teams that are performing well, which is to say not very many in their city right now (but a lot of Lakers and Yankees fans)- that you will get in a fight down there. People honk all the time in their cars and road rage is pretty common; I remember one time some guy stopped his car, got out and walked over to my window and wanted to throw down because he thought I was following him too closely. People are fucking nuts down there, and it's part of the reason I left.

 

So yeah, good luck to ya and enjoy your trip!

 

 

 

[Damaramu 0]

Yes Miami in general is very, very filled with crime. Pretty much avoid anything in North Miami, just stay on the freeway (this is why I've always said that Dolphin Stadium is in a really, really awful location).

 

Downtown, as CC mentioned, is sketched out and full of sometimes very dangerous homeless people. Miami Beach has its own share of whackos as well but in general, it's not too bad. I happened to live way west off of the Dolphin Expressway (836) just past the 826, a couple exits away from the Turnpike/Dolphin Mall, which is where I worked for a long time.

 

The most important thing may be figuring out how to deal with the people there. Number one, do realize that you're in pretty much a different country and that English is not the primary language there. This may not apply as much in Broward County, but it definitely does in Miami-Dade. Another big thing, and this is entirely subjective but it's too big for me to not mention, is that generally speaking people in that area can have very loud, outspoken, and sometimes rude attitudes. Fistfights are very common anywhere in Miami, and that's topped off with the fact that the cops won't do shit about most of them.

 

I say this to you because kind of just judging you from how you are on here sometimes, I can tell you that if you talk trash to ANYONE about any sports teams down there- fully keeping in mind that Miami fans are enormous bandwagoners and love teams that are performing well, which is to say not very many in their city right now (but a lot of Lakers and Yankees fans)- that you will get in a fight down there. People honk all the time in their cars and road rage is pretty common; I remember one time some guy stopped his car, got out and walked over to my window and wanted to throw down because he thought I was following him too closely. People are fucking nuts down there, and it's part of the reason I left.

 

So yeah, good luck to ya and enjoy your trip!

 

Maybe I'll stick to the Ft. Lauderdale area and then go to Orlando when I'm supposed to.........

 

Has anyone ever flown standby before? My father-in-law got us standby tickets since he's an airline employee. We're leaving Thursday morning, and hopefully we get on the first flight! We do have to dress nice though since we're considered "airline employees" while flying.