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Hey all, long time Orlando fan, that has convinced my Fiance and future wife to be that we should head to Orlando for our honeymoon.

Some questions - we will be there in March for 2 weeks (around the 19th) So I should be able to see the Philly, Hornets, Pistons and Thunder games.

Questions -

1. When is the best time to purchase tickets? Should I get them on presale now, or wait until closer to the date? Also should i buy them from the NBA website or one of the reseller sites?

2. Accommodation - where is a good place to stay around the city so that we are close to the Amway, but can still do some sightseeing?

Any other recommendations are very, very welcome. Pretty excited!

For Philly, Charlotte, and Detroit, I'd buy tickets the day of on the corner from scampers. You'll get them half off and they're completely legit. For OKC, I'd contact the magic because scalpers will charge more (Westbrook/oladipo return).

As far as hotels are concerned, there is a Hilton in Altamonte Springs (about 15 minutes from the arena, 35 minutes to the attractions). There is also a Westin in Lake Mary (25 minutes to arena, 45 to attractions). I normally use hotels.com and it always works out well.

Congrats mate!

Greenraida wrote:Hey all, long time Orlando fan, that has convinced my Fiance and future wife to be that we should head to Orlando for our honeymoon.

Some questions - we will be there in March for 2 weeks (around the 19th) So I should be able to see the Philly, Hornets, Pistons and Thunder games.

Questions -

1. When is the best time to purchase tickets? Should I get them on presale now, or wait until closer to the date? Also should i buy them from the NBA website or one of the reseller sites?

2. Accommodation - where is a good place to stay around the city so that we are close to the Amway, but can still do some sightseeing?

Any other recommendations are very, very welcome. Pretty excited!

Grand Bohemian is a nice spot...great hotel, close to Amway, and the best Sunday Brunch in town.

Yea I was going to suggest the Grand Bohemian. It's within walking distance of the Arena and is a pretty nice hotel as far as I know (though I've never personally stayed there).

If money is not really a huge concern I'd just go ahead and buy your tickets ahead of time to get the seats you want. If you're trying to get the best deal scalping might be the way to go, or maybe the second hand sites a couple days before.

On the other hand you may want to call a Magic rep and explain you're coming in on your honeymoon and want to attend a few games. You might get a nice hookup.

And Congrats!

I agree with Jay Bird, get them early so you can get the seats that you want, and also on contacting a Magic rep you may get a hookup.

Big Baby Davis says the Travel Lodge downtown across from the court house is really nice.










But in all honesty if you can, Grand Bohemian is definitely a good spot. Walking distance to the Amway Center and close to Interstate 4, which will get you to the amusement parks.

Congrats!!

Congratulations.

If it's your honeymoon and you want to stay downtown (near the Magic's arena), then you definitely want to stay at the Grand Bohemian Hotel. It's where visiting teams stay so you'll see them in the lobby and walking to and from the Arena for walk-throughs and warm-ups. http://www.grandbohemianhotel.com/

If you're staying there for two weeks, you DEFINETLY DON'T want to stay at the Grand Bohemian. You're looking at $200 (US) a night.

If you really want to stay downtown for your honeymoon for two weeks, look into the Courtyard at Lake Lucerne: http://www.orlandohistoricinn.com/ Lots of people get married at this Bed and Breakfast. It is very old, turn of the century and just a block from aforementioned Grand Bohemian. About $130 a night.

Also check out Aloft. I can't vouch for this place, it's rather new, but the location is outstanding as well. http://www.aloftorlandodowntown.com/

Otherwise, I'd recommend splitting the time between a downtown Orlando hotel (the bars and restaurants, Movie Theatre, clubs, Magic Games, and safety of downtown at night are great and worth staying near) and a hotel by the theme parks (namely South International Drive). Site seeing in downtown Orlando is great, but not two-weeks worth. Rosen Centre Hotel is under $100 and ideally located http://www.rosencentre.com/ . Use that as ground zero for where the area you should stay around and branch out from there. That area has, within walking distance, every restaurant conceivable, the Orlando Eye, Madaam Tousads wax museum, bars, music, golf, go carts, carnival rides, the largest IMAX movie screen in Florida... just everything imaginable. Best of all, it's only a couple kilometers away from City Walk https://www.universalorlando.com/Nightlife/Citywalk-Nightlife.aspx

Hope that helps.

If you're planning on doing tourist attractions staying downtown doesn't make sense at all. I'd say stay the night of the game at most. The grand is a very nice hotel and we have a brand new performing arts center next door if a show is happening that week. The rest of downtown is bars and lunch joints.

Public transit in Orlando is not very good. For a lot of international guests used to well run transit don't expect it here. Rental cars are the norm if you aren't taking a shuttle straight to the resorts. Download Uber ( FYI: doesn't work at the airport) if you do need a taxi.

2 weeks may a bit too long to only stay in Orlando.. You can hit up Downtown and the theme parks in a week easily. I would recommend renting a car and taking some time to visit other parts of Florida like St Augustine and St Pete/Tampa. Both are reasonably close to Orlando. I would strongly recommend visiting Miami but logistically it may be a bit difficult for you to reasonably make it down there.

NEM wrote:For Philly, Charlotte, and Detroit, I'd buy tickets the day of on the corner from scampers. You'll get them half off and they're completely legit. For OKC, I'd contact the magic because scalpers will charge more (Westbrook/oladipo return).

As far as hotels are concerned, there is a Hilton in Altamonte Springs (about 15 minutes from the arena, 35 minutes to the attractions). There is also a Westin in Lake Mary (25 minutes to arena, 45 to attractions). I normally use hotels.com and it always works out well.

Congrats mate!

What NEM said, but I would buy from from Scalpers instead of Scampers. Don't like those dudes. Anyways, I usually wait until 15 minutes before gametime then start talking to scalpers. I can get tickets below 50% face value and even have sat 6-7 rows behind the bench for $50 for games against average teams.

For places to stay, I would check out www.vrbo.com/Vacation_Rentals‎ and shoot for a Condo on the Ocean in Cocoa. Only a 45 minute drive to downtown Orlando. Plus, there are nice day cruises.

Oh yea, don't know why I didn't mention this. Make sure to check out AirBnB. I use it whenever I travel now because you can find great places for cheap. Sometimes it's a room in someone's house, sometimes its an entire apartment or house you can use all your own (which would be preferable for a honeymoon, haha). But I've been able to stay in areas with insane hotel costs for at least half the cost. They also usually have better amenities than the hotels (at least the ones i've stayed in).

UCFJayBird wrote:Oh yea, don't know why I didn't mention this. Make sure to check out AirBnB. I use it whenever I travel now because you can find great places for cheap. Sometimes it's a room in someone's house, sometimes its an entire apartment or house you can use all your own (which would be preferable for a honeymoon, haha). But I've been able to stay in areas with insane hotel costs for at least half the cost. They also usually have better amenities than the hotels (at least the ones i've stayed in).

I have a few friends who have had horror stories using AirBnB and some great stories. It is hard to tell. They would be telling me, "I have no idea how they got all those great reviews, then when I got there, I was in the hood afraid to leave."

One other piece of advice.. the lower bowl tickets are worth the extra money for magic games.

Yeah Grand Bohemian is nice but it'd be hard to stay there for 2 weeks even if you don't mind the cost. Seems like you'd go stir crazy in the room. You might prefer a big resort near the attractions to walk and relax, then take a cab downtown for the games.

Could break it up to stay in multiple places each week.

Regarding Hotels: Orlando has the 2nd most hotel rooms in the county after Vegas so I wouldn't just get locked into one choice. The parks have some absolutely fantastic hotels. Most have themes. Animal Kingdom Lodge has a nature preserve you can view from your window with Zebras and Antelope ect ect. The Polenesian is Hawaiian themed and so on. They aren't cheap, but they add to the experience. I wouldn't just pick a cheap Hotel 8 or something. The Grand is great though, also not cheap, might be worth spending a couple days to see downtown.

UCF wrote:One other piece of advice.. the lower bowl tickets are worth the extra money for magic games.

I like those comfy loungy seats with drink holders as well!

Wait... So you're going to 3 games on your honeymoon? May the Gods bless you man.

Congratulations! I am an orlando native so I could suggest a few things other than basketball.

Food: Italian:Antonio's Maitland- Selfless plug as I work there for 60 hours a week lately, but I work downstairs. Upstairs is an excellent formal dining area. It's exceptional and would be worthy of your honeymoon.

Entertainment: Check out gatorland, I honestly have more fun there than at the parks, but I am a native so I am biased.
Check out New Smyrna Beach for a nice day in the sun.
I highly recommend you go to cirque du soleil at Disney Village, it's a world renown performance.

If you like SE Asian food, checkout "Little Saigon" around Mills Ave and Hwy 50.

Enjoy!

Blue_and_Whte wrote:Wait... So you're going to 3 games on your honeymoon? May the Gods bless you man.

4 games hopefully. Ball is life

Really loving all the suggestions so far everyone. Thanks so much, makes it a bit easier.

BadMofoPimp wrote:

UCFJayBird wrote:Oh yea, don't know why I didn't mention this. Make sure to check out AirBnB. I use it whenever I travel now because you can find great places for cheap. Sometimes it's a room in someone's house, sometimes its an entire apartment or house you can use all your own (which would be preferable for a honeymoon, haha). But I've been able to stay in areas with insane hotel costs for at least half the cost. They also usually have better amenities than the hotels (at least the ones i've stayed in).

I have a few friends who have had horror stories using AirBnB and some great stories. It is hard to tell. They would be telling me, "I have no idea how they got all those great reviews, then when I got there, I was in the hood afraid to leave."

Not sure how your friends wound up in the hood, you gotta research the neighborhood not just the house/room. I have heard a few bad stories as well, I think there's certainly some risk to it. My friends booked an AirBnB for their Honeymoon in Europe, I think their first stop was in London and they got to the AirBnB and the host wasn't there. They couldn't get a hold of him and called customer service and they booked them into this really nice hotel for the duration of their stay to compensate. So that's a helpful tip, if things aren't as advertising AirBnB customer's service dept seems willing to help and make up for it.

Personally though I've done it twice and have had a great exp. Doing it again in October when I visit Chicago. Ironically last time I used a hotel was in NYK and wound up in a Chinese neighborhood in Queens where few spoke English.