Are we overdoing it??

[Daysleeper40]

Hi Everyone,

Partner and I are heading to Florida on sept 17th (VERY EXCITED!!) and are currently planning our trip to the nth detail - just wondering if you think we are planning too much. It is our first trip and we are going for 14nights.

We currently have:
4 Park Flex ticket
Discovery cove with dolphin swim and 7 day pass to Busch Gardens

We plan on getting:
2 day disney magic your way with water parks and fun (3 visits)

This means we will be going to:

Discovery Cove
Sea World (already booked dolphin nursery tour and will be dining with Shamu!)
US
IOA
Busch Gardens
MGM
Animal Kingdom
Wet n Wild
Blizzard Beach and possibly Typhoon Lagoon

In the evenings we would like to do the Blue Man show, a couple of dinner shows (Arabian Nights / Medieval Times) and maybe Cirque du Soleil.

Are we planning too much or is this ok?

 

[daffy dill]

Phew! sounds like a busy 2 weeks.Just remember that your going to be on the go from early till late and the advise i see here so often is to take things at an easy pace so you can enjoy them.And another good tip is to plan rest periods or days off so you dont burn yourself out.If you dont get around to doing it all (and you wont believe me the place is huge) you can start planning like so many of us to return as soon as you can and get another dose of the magic.
Have fun with your planning and post often and i know youll have a wonderful time.

 

[Andy B]

Hi Everyone,

Partner and I are heading to Florida on sept 17th (VERY EXCITED!!) and are currently planning our trip to the nth detail - just wondering if you think we are planning too much. It is our first trip and we are going for 14nights.

We currently have:
4 Park Flex ticket
Discovery cove with dolphin swim and 7 day pass to Busch Gardens

We plan on getting:
2 day disney magic your way with water parks and fun (3 visits)

This means we will be going to:

Discovery Cove
Sea World (already booked dolphin nursery tour and will be dining with Shamu!)
US
IOA
Busch Gardens
MGM
Animal Kingdom
Wet n Wild
Blizzard Beach and possibly Typhoon Lagoon

In the evenings we would like to do the Blue Man show, a couple of dinner shows (Arabian Nights / Medieval Times) and maybe Cirque du Soleil.

Are we planning too much or is this ok?

What no MK!

 

[Daysleeper40]

Thankyou for your reply - I was thinking it looks quite bust as well!
Then I keep telling myself that it will probably be YEARS before we will get to go back and we want to do as much as possible with the time we have.

Our dummy two week plan goes like this:

Monday - Arrive early evening, dinner, bed.
Tues - Sea World (Dolphin Nursery)
Wed - MGM / Downtown Disney Cinema (evening)
Thursday - Busch Gardens
Friday - IOA
Sat - Discovery Cove / Blue Man (evening)
Sun - Rest / Shopping

Mon - Sea World / Wet n Wild / Arabian Nights (evening)
Tues - Blizzard Beach
Wed - Animal Kingdom / Cirqu (evening)
Thurs - Sea World / Typhoon Lagoon
Fri - Universal Studios
Sat - Rest / Shopping / Dedieval Times (evening)
Sun - Unplanned day
Mon - Morning in fave park before leaving

We plan to be getting to the parks early doors and having a good rest in the afternoon where possible.

 

[theb52s]

Hi. Your itinerary sounds good but I notice you have not included Magic Kingdom. I couldn't imagine going to WDW and not experiencing the magic there especially your first time. It's not just for kids, our first trip was our honeymoon many years ago and the thrill of walking up Main Street with the castle at the top is a thrill not to be missed. Whatever you decide to do, you'll have a great time.

 

[Claire L]

Oh and a visit to Orlando is not complete without a wander around World Showcase at Epcot with a viewing of Illuminations in the evening

Claire

 

[Daysleeper40]

If we had longer maybe we would go to MK and/or Epcot but... I should probably whisper this on a DIS board...

if I am being completely honest MK doesn't appeal to me at all

Please don't hate me!!

Seriously though - I think we are only going to be able to go to 2 Disney parks with the time / money we have and Animal Kingdon / MGM come top of the list.

I think we have enough on without adding parks as well!

 

[Booknut]

On your last Sunday maybe you could pop into Epcot for the morning?! Soarin, Mission Space and Test Track are such cool rides, if you went early you could probably do them in the first two hours and then maybe have a peak at the World Showcase?!

Equally, we found the Magic Kingdom is quite nice very early Sunday morning. What is it about MK that doesn't appeal?

Seaworld is a really good manageable size, you might find that 2 visits is enough.

Your itinerary looks great, yes it will be a bit tiring but you'll be having such a good time that you probably won't notice for quite a while

 

[Booknut]

Sorry, just wanted to add one more thing, we've been twice in September and its lovely and hot but its also hurricane season so you can get some showers sometimes.

If one of your waterpark days or IOA falls on a rainy day it might be worth going to another park like, oh, Epcot?!

 

[Daysleeper40]

Thanks Booknut, I'm glad you think our plan is do-able

We're definately happy to re-jig the plan if needed re weather and what we fancy on the day - just wanted to get it down on paper to make sure we can fit everything in!

I don't know if I can explain about MK - I'm sure I would have a good time if I went but having read about all the different parks, and believe me I have read a lot, it's the one that least jumps out at me
I'm much more drawn to the Universal parks and Sea World...

We absolutely LOVE animals which is why we have three days scheduled in for Sea World. I want to see all the shows, Dine with Shamu, Dine in the Sharks underwater grill and do some back stage things, also love rollercoasters / rides. We might not spend three whole days there - maybe get there early and then go back to Wet n Wild in the afternoon. I'm quite conscious of the tiredness aspect so want to be able to do everything without burning out!

 

[natalielongstaff]

at the end of the day..you know what appeals to you therefore your plan will be perfect

 

[Debbied]

Sounds good to me, I personally think the more you plan before you go the better including a rough idea of what restaurants you want to eat at ( we like eating out every night, so a big part of our holiday). You have to have an idea of what you want to see, especially on your first trip because no matter how much people tell you, it is still so overwelming on you first visit. Have a focus of what you want to do rather than umming and arring on the day, But... be prepared to go with the flow and change days around due to the weather / feeling tired or just maybe something better came up. We try to do 2/3 busy days followed by a complete chill day. M.K has some great things and is "So Disney" try and add it if you can, also Epcot is not as boring as it sounds! We Park Hop on our last day so we don't miss anything. I also said we won't be back for AGES in 93' D.H's bank balance wishes i'd meant it...I think I did at the time...
Happy planning

 

[jen_uk]

I agree with the others that if you can you should try MK and Epcot as they are both wonderful parks (Epcot is my favourite). I think they would be completely different to what you are expecting, we do not have any kids and we still love MK, there are lots of things that appeal to adults, the attention to detail etc are wasted on kids!! Also, Ive always been able to do SW in a day and thats taking it at a nice pace, 3 days is alot of time to spend there when there are other parks to try.

Hope you have a great trip.

 

[scottishsue]

I don't really think its too much to do in 14 days really. But honestly I couldn't go all that way without visiting the MK - its the best park of the lot(in my view).

I love getting up really early to get into the parks before they get busy, and even though it is a tiring holiday it is worth every bit. Also I agree that Epcot in the evening with the firework and laser show really MUST be seen.
(Someone once told me it takes 3 days to see Epcot properly !!)

Do watch out for the hurricanes too - we lost a couple of days last time as the parks closed for the day.

Hope you enjoy it ......

 

[Soprano]

Your plan looks great.

Must agree with others. Im not Disney fanboy, but MK is great for all ages. I'd drop a Sea World visit for it and you have three, which I think may be one day too many.

 

[Daysleeper40]

Thanks for the input everyone.

I still don't think MK is really my scene but if we have enough cash / time we might give it a go

I get what you are saying about Sea World as well, but as I said before they are not intended as full days and as we can happily spend a good weekend at Marwell Zoo I'm thinking 2 to 2 1/2 days probably will be necessary for Sea World!!

Debbied - I realised as soon as we started looking into it that this was a holiday that HAD to have a plan... and it's also loads of fun to make the plan!!

I'm really pleased that you all think the plan is good - and that we could even add stuff to it... now I've just got to buy the Disney Tickets

Its all VERY exciting isn't it!!

 

[Elise79]

Sorry but I am another one that thinks MK is MUST do. Magic Kingdom is Disney and there is no feeling in the world that matches that first walk up main street.

Also Seaworld in September is very quiet and it is not that big so two days would be more than enough.

Elise

BTW we are a couple with no kids and MK is always our first and last stop!

 

[UKDEB]

I realise that you've asked for opinions on whether you're trying to fit too much in, rather than on what you've included, but I'm going to add my two pennies' worth anyway

Sea World is a really nice park and even more so in the last couple of years since the addition of The Waterfront area. It has some incredible shows which are easily up to Disney's standards. It's probably fair to say that you need two days to do it justice, although most people are unlikely to allocate more than one day in a 14 day trip. For me, 3 days is too much, especially with a Discovery Cove visit, but I can see you're bullet-proof on this one, so I'll move on.

Unless you're a real water-baby and don't have a pool at your hotel or villa, 3 water parks in 2 weeks seems excessive when there are so many other things you could be doing. Wet 'n' Wild is just a concrete and plastic jungle on the corner of a busy road. It has neither the theming nor the cocoon-like environment of the Disney offerings.

Busch Gardens is a 3 hour round trip. For you, with your love of animals and coasters, I guess it's probably worthwhile. Most people wouldn't choose it at the expense of a Disney park.

Whilst I've been to the cinema a few times whilst in Orlando, it's normally only been to fill time. You'll find that there are so many things to do without doing something you can do at home. Downtown Disney really comes alive at night - there's so much to do there. Pleasure Island is coming to the end of a major refurbishment and there are some places well worth a visit. The BoardWalk is another fun place to visit during the evening. Ditto CityWalk at Universal.

I get the impression that you've planned parts of your itinerary around the ticket add-ons (Wet 'n' Wild as part of the Flex and Busch Gardens as a bonus on the Discovery Cove). I'd be inclined to spend a bit more money and experience all Disney has to offer. As great as the other parks are, Walt Disney World is the number one Orlando attraction for a very good reason.

Of course, it's a very personal thing and you seem more than happy with the choices you've made. I just can't imagine a trip to Orlando without visiting MK or Epcot.

 

[Andy B]

I agree with UKDEB.

WHat are you going to say when you get back and mention to someone you have been to WDW and they ask how the new Pirates ride was or how was the Castle!

 

[Ali and boyz]

can understand why you want to cram as much in as possible if you feel you arn't going to go back for a while. think these days might be hetic for you though

Mon - Sea World / Wet n Wild / Arabian Nights (evening) think this day might be a bit heavy espcially when they arn't right next door to each other

Wed - Animal Kingdom / Cirqu (evening) depends on which show you would be going to. if it was the 6pm one you might be pushing it a bit time wise especially if its the first time going to Animal Kingdon

Thurs - Sea World / Typhoon Lagoon Typhoon Lagoon can get quite busy in the afternoon and sometimes becomes full so you might want to think about switching these two and go to Typhoon Lagoon first, Sea World later then also you could take in the evening shows