Help me Plan Please

[dragonfly009]

Hello Members,

We are a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 children 12 and 7 yrs old) travelling to USA from Australia. Apart from other planning, the key one will be the Orlando trip and need your help in planning this. This is our first time to Orlando.

The current plan allows me to fly to Orlando from Dallas on June 19 and can stay up to 26th June. I have blocked the rooms in DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel at the Entrance to Universal Orlando for those dates. That is how far we have got, need you help in

1. Planning for the Theme parks, which when where what etc etc
2. What kind of tickets should I buy, is there a way to get them cheaper?
3. When in theme parks, do we need to make a booking for lunch/dinner

I am sure this is just the start and looking for advice in tweaking the plans to make it a memorable trip for us and kids.

Thank you

 

[sharonabe]

You first need to decide where you want to go. Will you be doing Universal AND Disney? Are there other things in the area you want to see?

I think your best bet is to go through a travel agent, but if that's not an option, then start doing some research on your own.

For Disney, just browsing Disney's website should get you started on how you want to vacation. Another good resource is "your first visit" or easywdw.

At Disney, you will want to make some reservations for meals, but not necessarily all meals. Quick Service (QS) locations are walk-up, fast-food and there are a lot of them with lots of variety.

How do you plan to get around Orlando? Will you use Uber/Lyft or rent a car? Your hotel may have a complimentary shuttle, but they aren't usually very convenient to Disney.

 

[HuskieJohn]

My trip also starts June 19th

For planning the park days you have to be honest as to if you and your group are good to rope drop first thing in the AM OR if you are better for late nights. Also since you are traveling from Australia you will have to consider jet lag!




Here is how my days are planned...
19th Arrive
20th EPCOT - 3 of my party get in late the day before and I wanted the park with the least rides to do so we have time to go back to the room after lunch then come back for the evening show
21st MK - Only picked this for EMM
22nd AK - Picked this because of EMH is historically 7am which gives us less crowds for rope dropping FOP
23rd Off day - Wanted to give a day off so we were rested up for a packed day at HS
24th HS - Made this as late as possible so we had a chance at SDD FP+
25th USO - We have a throwaway room booked for Early Entry and Unlimited Express Passes
26th IOA - Early Entry if they have it that day otherwise we will sleep the extra hour
27th HS - Hitting up RotR hopefully a second time and anything else we missed the first time
28th Depart

 

[MiketheGrate]

Let me know if you need any travel tips for the time that you're in Dallas! If it's more than just a quick layover, I can give you some decent recommendations.

 

[dragonfly009]

Thank you all, the plan is getting more precise as we get closer to travel dates. Since I posted the initial message, we are confirmed to travel to Orlando.
2 Adults and 2 Children (12 and 7)
June 17th - Travel from DFW to MCO - Flights yet to be booked (Any suggestions here?)
June 18 - June 23 - Universal Studios (Tickets to be bought - I understand we need to buy 3 park tickets and skip Q tickets) and if time permits one of the Disney parks or EPCOT - Most dreaded question - where do I find cheap tickets?
June 24 - Bye bye Orlando

While in Orlando, we plan to use the hotel shuttles and/or use ride share. Want to avoid the car rentals and hassles of parking, driving etc.

Hotels are blocked on International Drive - can cancel until 10th June and no charges for cancellations. The hotel includes breakfast for our stay.

Is there a SIM card you guys recommend with large data packs for hungry smart phones? Roaming will cost me $7 each day for 500MB data (god are we in 2020?)

@MiketheGrate: Thanks for asking. I have a friend who lives in Dallas and is sorted.