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Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

How many days at the Magic Kingdom?

40 replies

juneau · 16/11/2014 19:52

We're going to Orlando next Oct with the IL's and we have five days. I've skimmed through my DK Florida guide and am thinking roughly:

2 days at the Magic Kingdom
1 day at Universal Islands of Adventure
1 day Kennedy Space Centre
1 day at the beach

Our kids will be nearly 8 and 4.5. Does anyone who's been have any insights about whether this is a reasonable itinerary? I don't think any of us can cope with five days straight at theme parks. Kids will get tired and so will ILs, who are in their 70s and FIL isn't a strong walker.

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Tory79 · 16/11/2014 22:29

That reminds me atticus, that I have a great ride photo from Dinosaur, where you can see a 6ish yr old sat right behind me loving the ride and smiling and pointing happily at whatever was going on, whilst i have my hands over my eyes, have turned away and am screaming.....

PowderMum · 16/11/2014 22:37

I am a Disney veteran, been too many times to count.

If I had 5 days and 2 children your ages I would do

  1. Magic Kingdom
  2. Animal Kingdom
  3. Blizzard Beach
  4. Hollywood Studios
  5. Either EPCOT or whatever park you felt you needed to visit again.

A great web site is www.thedibb.co.uk

AnneEyhtMeyer · 16/11/2014 23:05

We just went for a fortnight with a 5 year old and we spent the entire time at Disney, and only one of those days at Animal Kingdom (it really is just a half-day park).

Magic Kingdom is a must, Hollywood Studios is fab for children (Disney Junior, Toy Story, Muppets, Frozen) and Epcot is brilliant with loads for children to do (meeting princesses, fun educational games, all of the Kidstops around the World Showcase).

I would give Universal a wide berth with children those ages. Five days is nothing in Florida, you haven't really got time to see anything other than Disney, and you would only really be scratching the surface of Disney.

AttilaTheMeerkat · 17/11/2014 06:55

I would also skip both the beach resort and Universal Islands of Adventure given your children's ages. For five days and given your childrens ages as well I would concentrate solely on the Disney parks.

Harry Potter was memorable for the sheer numbers of people in that part of the park even from opening time. Universal parks tend to be aimed more at the teen market rather than younger children.

Do check height requirements for rides in advance; if the child is too short they will not be let onto the ride attraction.

mummymeister · 17/11/2014 10:46

If FIL is not a strong walker then consider hiring him a scooter to get around. we too had been to lots of the theme parks in the UK and thought that we could manage to do loads. but nothing, nothing prepares you for the sheer hugeness of these places and the amount of time it takes to get from a to b, queue etc. as others have said skip the beach and skip kennedy. 5 days will be completely full on. I know you said you wanted to go and check it out for a longer trip later but personally would you not think of that now? any older than 12 and really its not as magical. they still love it but not in the same way.

juneau · 17/11/2014 11:11

I have a vague idea of the hugeness as I've been to Disneyland in California and the one in Paris and everyone has told me that DisneyWorld is waaaaay bigger than those - so I'm expecting a lot of walking to be involved. I think we'll need to hire a scooter for FIL, if he's prepared to ride on one. He's quite proud, but I don't know how else he'll cover the distance.

DS2 is tall, so I think he'll be fine height-wise. He's on the 99th percentile for his age, so I think the main concern will be whether the ride is suitable for him in terms of how scary it is and what g-forces it creates.

As for this short visit - I know its not ideal - but we need to spend a few days in NYC as well visiting friends and family and we just don't have enough time to do all that and be home with a few days to spare to get our kids un-jet-lagged again for school! But DH is American so visiting the US is something we do regularly and I think if this trip is a success we'll go back every couple of years as our boys get bigger.

Thanks again for all this fab info - its really, really helpful to hear what all you veterans of Orlando have to say and I'm definitely taking it on board. Hearing that Universal, Kennedy and St Augustine/beach are a waste of time with kids this age is really useful as this will be our main holiday next year and we want our kids to have a truly great time.

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atticusclaw · 17/11/2014 12:07

When we went to disney and DS2 was just five the only rides he didn't go on were Expedition Everest at the Animal Kingdom (but with hindsight it would have been fine, it was more me freaking out!), primeval whirl at the animal kingdom (frankly we've been to disney world 3 times each time for a fortnight and have never felt the need to go on this anyway - it looks like something you'd see at a fairground in the UK) and Aerosmith at Hollywood studios. He went on everything else including space mountain (which IMO is scary and horrible) and wasn't scared by any of it.

Minus2seventy3 · 17/11/2014 12:52

Just back from Orlando, and I'd echo those PP who've said avoid Universal. Our DD was 7 (had her 8th birthday in MK) when we went to Universal, and despite having a 14 day ticket, we didn't revisit - Harry Potter stuff aside (which spans both Universal and Islands of Adventure), she didn't enjoy it at all- not tall enough for the thrill rides, too old for the kid's stuff.

Hulababy · 17/11/2014 18:19

Once booked make sure you register with the Disney World website.

If you are staying at a Disney resort you can book FP+ tickets 60 days before going; if staying elsewhere you can book 30 days in advance.

You can book all Disney restaurants from 180 days in advance.

AnneEyhtMeyer · 17/11/2014 21:04

I wouldn't stress about having a few days when you get back before school. We came back overnight Saturday into Sunday and DD was back at school with no ill-effects on Monday. She slept on the plane and had a nap on the Sunday afternoon, and went to bed normal time Sunday evening and was totally fine.

Notsuretoday · 17/11/2014 21:12

I agree, getting over the jetlag was far less of a problem than I had anticipated

mummymeister · 19/11/2014 10:34

kids suffer less with jet lag than adults ime.

mummytime · 19/11/2014 10:56

Animal Kingdom is nothing like a theme park.
I'd also stick to just Disney - are you staying in a disney Hotel? They have great pools, and in 5 days that might be enough without the water parks. Do plan for the Parades and Firework shows, they are fabulous. Suggest the scooter to FIL, but let him choose, if he's exhausted after the first day he may change his mind.

The only time my eldest went in a double buggy was when they were 7 and 5 at Disney, by the evening they were exhausted.

mummytime · 19/11/2014 10:59

Sorry I meant Animal Kingdom is nothing like a Safari Park. The Safari bit is great though, I want to go on a behind the scenes bit when I got next time (as we're all grown up now).

Dowser · 30/11/2014 15:23

If you want a beach day skip st Augustine and do Clearwater instead. Make a point of going on the big yellow speedboat...they make a real point of getting there dolphin and if you take the ride early on the day..ie either 12 or 2 clock and you don't see a dolphin then you ride for free in the next trip out. If you're only there for a short time I'd skip the space centre too. I love gator land , but that's because we like a walk along the boardwalk to watch the birds nesting and the alligators congregating underneath hoping for something to fall into their hungry mouths.

The clearwater pier 60 at night is great as is watching the pelicans dive for fish and watching the beach from the pier to see if you can spit the sharks before the swimmers...as we did.

My daughters three 10, 7 and 5 got a bit bored with Disney but loved universal. I wouldn't bother taking little ones to Epcot to be honest. It's a huge park and I see it more as a shopping trip. It's ok when they are a bit older, you're staying longer and may want to park hop.

The kids loved Harry potter and each of the two universal parks had a Harry potter area each and my daughter said it was just amazing. No expense had been spared and the attention to detail was just fascinating. I've been to Florida 40 times so we gave the parks a miss last year and I regret it now because I don't know when I'll be back. This OH isn't very keen on Florida lol

My daughter felt disney looked rather tired by comparison. If they've still got that grand ole opry and that big bear thing I'll agree. It was tired when we first went in 1990.

The water parks are good fun but again I would give a miss to do something that is not so easy to get in uk.

I would do
1 day MK
1 day Hollywood studios
1 day Clearwater
2 days universal and islands of adventure

You also need some shopping time. Thankfully the malls are open till late!
Premium or prime outlets are both very good. So is The Loop. I like kohls and you can't beat Ross dress for less for bargains. Lake buena vista outlets have some good bargains. Then there's Florida mall and mall at millennia. I like Macy's best.

If you can fit it in Boggy Creek airboat rides are not to be missed and you must eat at sweet tomatoes, top of I drive or the new one on the 192 and panera bread at the loop and also on the 192 where there is also another Ross's.

Oh heck! You've missed out Downtown Disney as well. You need to check that out. If only to see the Lego store and huge Disney store and if you can throw in a trip to see cirque du soleil you've hit the jackpot!

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