Florida advice

[calistaraines]

Looking to go to Florida but not focus entirely on parks.

Planning on 5 days in Orlando with a day spent in each of the main parks.

Then head off to the west coast for some relaxation.

So questions.
Is it possible to buy tickets for each attraction on a day basis?

Is it best to stay in a resort? Or airbnb???

Any advice much appreciated

There are 4 Disney parks and 2 universal parks, so not sure what you mean by the main 5. There’s also Kennedy space centre which is unique.

In terms of Disney, you could easily spend 2 days in each of Epcot and magic kingdom. How old are your kids and what are they into?

Staying on property at Disney is more expensive but will give early or late access to some parks, and allow you to book fast passes early. You’ll also have free buses and it will save time, though you can stay at hotels and villas very near the Disney parks.

Yes, you can, but only on the American site. You’ll need to delete history too before you try and log on.
Having said that it’s often cheaper just to get the 14 day one!

If you havent been before then the biggest shock of a first time visit is the sheer vastness of the place and how long it takes to walk to, queue for and go on each ride. you will need to allow at least a week for the parks and once you start going and realise the rides that you are missing out on then you/your children will probably want to go back. Buy the books WDW with kids and Beyond WDW with kids. they are brilliant at explaining this. we have always booked everything separately - flights, villas (through ownersdirect or airbnb) and park tickets. dont miss Kennedy or Busch gardens both are really good.

There are actually five Disney parks: Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdrom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios + two water parks. There are three Universal parks: Universal Studios, Island of Adventure and Volcano Bay (a water park). Yes, you can buy day tickets for each of these parks, you can also buy a Disney ticket that covers all the Disney parks for x number of days, ditto Universal. With only five days you will have to pick and choose which parks you wish to visit. Kennedy Space Center is also well worth a day of your time, but it's not in Orlando and if your DC are small I'd wait until the youngest is at least 6 before you go, as they won't really get much out of it otherwise.

The other thing you need to consider is where to stay, because the Disney parks are south of Orlando in an area called Lake Buena Vista and the Universal parks are closer to the centre of Orlando, so it can make sense to move accommodation or you can spend a lot of time driving, because the traffic in Orlando is pretty bad and last year, when we were there, there was major road reconstruction going on.