2 Week September/October Orlando Theme Park Solo Trip Planning

[sturner1234]

Looking for some advice on how best to plan for my trip to Orlando. I am 22 solo male travelling from UK and going to celebrate after finishing my masters university course.
I went last year to USA and stopped at Universal for a couple of days before carrying on to Hawaii so am familiar with both universal parks and Volcano Bay - absolutely loved the water park.

I am staying at POP century arriving the night of September 22, ready to go on September 23. Will be here till morning of October 1st at which I transfer over to Cabana Bay resort till October 6th.
Have already got my park tickets (Disney all parks, universal all parks, Busch gardens and seaworld). Need some help with planning as Disney can be a bit overwhelming when it comes to figuring out parks and how to order it. Also especially with Star wars opening and the EEMH. I am very comfortable with getting up early and hitting the parks when they open so I can hit the rides before the rush of more people come if needed. Have also looked into FP+ and have a good idea of how to work this.

Also have tickets for both Disney and Universal Halloween events and have booked on to do the surfing at Typhoon Lagoon and then plan to spend day there.

Is it worth spending the day at Magic Kingdom if i am going to the Halloween event or worth spending the day somewhere else and going later for the event?
Would you recommend adding Aquatica as well if I like water parks as I already have a ticket for it included with my package?

When it comes to Universal I found spending 4 ish hours in the morning then hitting the parks later worked really well for me. Would be planning to dot he same at Disney with their water parks.

My current plan is below

22/9 Flight D	-
23/9 D	Disney Hollywood Studio
24/9 D H	Magic Kingdom - Halloween
25/9 D	Animal Kingdom
26/9 D	Surfing Lesson Typhoon Lagoon
27/9 D	Epcot
28/9 D	Blizzard Beach (Park of choice)
29/9 D	(Park of choice)
30/9 D	Busch Gardens
1/10 U	Universal
2/10 U H	Volcano Bay Halloween Horror
3/10 U H	SeaWorld Halloween Horror
4/10 U	Volcano Bay Universal
5/10 U	Volcano Bay Universal
6/10 U Flight	Volcano Bay Universal

Any help or advice would be much appreciated. Thanks a lot in advance.

 

[SG131]

Wow sounds like you really love water parks. As far as Magic Kingdom it is absolutely worth going during the day. The party has its own parade and stage show and fireworks which if you do all three can take up a good chunk of the party. Also, MK crowds are a bit lower in the morning on party days. I also think it’s worth going back to MK on a non party night to see Happily Ever After, but if you’re not a big show/firework person it may not be worth it.

Keep in mind, it’s a lot easier to fly through the parks at universal than Disney. Disney parks cover a larger area so more walking from one thing to another also they get bigger crowds and don’t have many single rider lines so wait times can be longer.

As far as Star Wars no one is really sure how that will all work yet, how things go at Disneyland will likely impact how they decide to handle the land. However, with the EEMH if you can get up, try to get to the park at least 30min before opening. If you hear reports in early September that the park is crazy right at opening come even earlier. Also don’t forget the buses can take awhile so make sure to build in enough time for that.

It might be worth planning some time at DHS either the 28th or 29th if you want to try to get a FP for slinky dog. Having DHS at the start of your stay will likely make it difficult to get a FP that day for slinky.

Sounds like a great trip, have fun!