Disney World & Sea World & Beach too much for one week?

[gator2002]

I am making the plan to Orlando for 7 nights and 6 full days, two adults and one 4 year old. Would 3-day WDW & 1-day Sea World & 1-day beach seem very hectic? We would initially stay in Bonnet Creek， and do we need to change a hotel or resort after we are done with Disney?

Little one has never been to a beach. So which beach do you recommend, say kid or family friendly?

Thanks.

 

[Upatnoon]

I am making the plan to Orlando for 7 nights and 6 full days, two adults and one 4 year old. Would 3-day WDW & 1-day Sea World & 1-day beach seem very hectic? We would initially stay in Bonnet Creek， and do we need to change a hotel or resort after we are done with Disney?

Little one has never been to a beach. So which beach do you recommend, say kid or family friendly?

Thanks.

It would be more cost effective to just do Disney and save Sea World for another trip, perhaps in combination with universal or Legoland.

Three days at Disney with a 4 year old is no time at all. Extra days on Disney ticket will be much less than Sea World tickets. With more time you can take it a bit slower and enjoy it more.

It takes a little over an hour to drive to Cocoa Beach, and you could do that, but I would just stay at Bonnet Creek and enjoy all the pools and activities there.

Without all that driving around, you vacation will be more relaxing -- or as relaxing as it can be with a 4-year-old.

 

[Beccabunny]

We have done vacations like this and it's doable, but won't be relaxing. You'll be exhausted if you spend long days in the parks trying to see and do everything. Go with the attitude that you just can't do everything in all of the parks. We used to try to save Sea World for a trip when we wouldn't be going to WDW. Problem was, we never could bring ourselves to go to Orlando and not go to WDW, so we finally just went to Sea World for a day and didn't see it all. The pools and lazy river look nice at Bonnet Creek (we're staying there in May), but if the beach is really important to you, I'd skip Sea World for this trip.

 

[spiceycat]

if you are in your 20's you can do it.

30's maybe

40's or older - stayed with WDW only

 

[Detailor]

I think that staying at Bonnet Creek for the week would serve you well.

If you're thinking that you'll go back to Orlando then you might want to parcel out what you want to limited it to this time so you can take your time. On the other hand, if you think this'll be the first and last trip then I'd suggest that you can do all of that fairly easily - you might be on the go for much of the time but you can do it.

Back in 1997, when my wife and I were in our early 40s, we took our 17 year old, 15 year old and 5 year old daughters to Orlando for what we thought would be our only trip there - it turned out that we'd go back for 20-something weeks over the next 14 calendar years. In that first trip we went to Magic Kingdom, Epcot, MGM (Animal Kingdom wasn't open yet), Universal (there wasn't an Islands of Adventure yet), Busch Gardens and Cocoa Beach. And we enjoyed the resort amenities at Vistana Resort most evenings. A full week but very enjoyable. We intentionally completely filled our time for that vacation and we were busy the whole time but it didn't seem overwhelming.

Have a fun time.

Dick Taylor

 

[Brian Noble]

It would be more cost effective to just do Disney and save Sea World for another trip, perhaps in combination with universal or Legoland.

Not only cost-effective, but sanity preserving. A full six days at just WDW won't be too much, especially if you take your time and pace yourself.

 

[gator2002]

Thank you, everyone.

We will surely go back to Orlando if my little one enjoys WDW. For this visit, we would go to MK and AK only, and save MGM, Epcot for the future when my daughter grows. That is why I plan only three days for WDM. Sorry I didn't clarify at my first post.

BTW, my daughter seems not very excited at the fantasy of the princess. She loves Lighting McQueen more than any princess. Today we were in her little friend's 5th birthday party. The party had a princess theme, and the Sleep Beauty was coming to host the party. While most little girls were so attached to Aurora, my little one felt rahther bored. So I am not sure if the MK would cheer her up.

Finally, where would we meet McQueen and Nemo in WDW? Is it at MK or MGM?

 

[happymommy]

Don't discount DHS and Epcot! First time we took our kids together, they were 2 1/2 and 4 1/2 and Epcot was probably their favorite theme park!

It's huge, spread out, and they loved the countries. Just bring your own stroller would be my advice; it's a lot of walking!

I also agree with the other posters here. I'd just do Disney. There is so much to see and do, and you can take your time enjoying it.

 

[Brian Noble]

where would we meet McQueen and Nemo in WDW?

Lightning and Mater are at Studios. Nemo has a presence in AK (theater show) and Epcot (Seas pavilion), but you can't "meet" him, AFAIK.

 

[Upatnoon]

Thank you, everyone.

We will surely go back to Orlando if my little one enjoys WDW. For this visit, we would go to MK and AK only, and save MGM, Epcot for the future when my daughter grows. That is why I plan only three days for WDM. Sorry I didn't clarify at my first post.

BTW, my daughter seems not very excited at the fantasy of the princess. She loves Lighting McQueen more than any princess. Today we were in her little friend's 5th birthday party. The party had a princess theme, and the Sleep Beauty was coming to host the party. While most little girls were so attached to Aurora, my little one felt rahther bored. So I am not sure if the MK would cheer her up.

Finally, where would we meet McQueen and Nemo in WDW? Is it at MK or MGM?

Sounds like you daughter would prefer DHS over MK.

Our kids like the characters featured there over the classic ones at MK.

I think MK is more for ---- the parents.

 

[Detailor]

Finally, where would we meet McQueen and Nemo in WDW? Is it at MK or MGM?

There's the Finding Nemo Musical show at Animal Kingdom, a Nemo show at Epcot, an interactive show with the turtle Crush from Nemo also at Epcot, the car stunt show at Hollywood Studios features the McQueen number 95 car and, as for character meets... you'll find Lighting McQueen and Mater at Hollywood Studios, I don't know about Nemo (maybe there isn't one - fish out of water, you know).

Dick Taylor

 

[cel_disney]

I have a now 5 year old boy who has been to disney 6 times....he LOVES so many things without even considering the princesses in the equation! We could spend an entire day just riding the tomorrowland speedway and buzz lightyear...nevermind anything else!!

I think you will find plenty of non-princess things to do at MK! And I would definitely recommend DHS for you - the Lights! Motors! Action! show is fantastic and well received by the 4 year old crowd!! And the Disney Jr show is a huge hit for us as well. The Little Mermaid show is not overly princessy there either.

We usually spend only 1/2 a day at AK...we go early for Tusker House breakfast, then hit safari, meet Pooh and Friends, do dinoland (triceratops spin and boneyard), nemo (sometimes nemo before dinoland depending on showtimes), and a quick visit to camp minnie-mickey sometimes...

We have done Tough to Be a Bug, but the 4D effects are often scaring to that age group (really - it was better at 2-3 than it was at 4-5 for us!)

If you have park hoppers, you could easily grab an afternoon rest and then head back to a different park in the afternoon...