How many days for WDW?

[grossmansr]

We're planning our first family trip to Orlando this April (DH and I have been before) and it will be me, DH, DS10, DS7, and DD3. We're staying at my parents timeshare resort Vistana and arriving late on a Saturday evening and departing the next Saturday morning. So basically we will have 6 full days of vacation.

Here's my question. We're planning to spend one day at Sea World and one day at Busch Gardens. That leaves 4 days to fill. I'm thinking we'll need 1 day of down time and possibly one day at a water park. So should I buy 2 day tickets to WDW, or 3? Or 4? There is a significant price jump from 2 days to 3 and I'm not really sure its worth it. There's less of a jump from 3 days to 4, and I wouldn't feel bad about spending a half day at the parks if we bought the 4 day package. But then that would nix the water park and down time days.

Ugh. Are you confused yet? Because I sure am. If it helps, we only want to go to the Magic Kingdom - maybe EPCOT - but aren't planning on DHS or AK.

 

[DisneyTravelers2008]

If it were me, based on what you are saying, Id plan 2 days for the MK. April is usually very busy --- especially if you are going around Easter / Spring Break. Then, maybe a day at Epcot, but it does not have many rides. We like it b/c we like to walk through the countries in the World Showcase and try the different restaurants, etc...

 

[MandiC]

We personally loved Epcot and there is definitely enough there to fill an entire day+ (and two of our family's favorite rides, Test Track and Soarin), along with the entire World Showcase. I agree with the PP, at least 2 days in MK, and try to do one in Epcot.

 

[Halloweenqueen]

Why go all the way to Tampa...I would buy a 6 day tix to WDW. Plenty to do in 6 days and tickets are very cost effective once you get to 4 days and higher. Disney has an aquarium with dolphins, etc and Animal Kingdom has just as many animals as Busch Gardens. We typically go to WDW on a 10 day ticket and still have plenty to do. Just a thought.

 

[DisneyTravelers2008]

Why go all the way to Tampa...I would buy a 6 day tix to WDW. Plenty to do in 6 days and tickets are very cost effective once you get to 4 days and higher. Disney has an aquarium with dolphins, etc and Animal Kingdom has just as many animals as Busch Gardens. We typically go to WDW on a 10 day ticket and still have plenty to do. Just a thought.

I agree with this as well...save yourself all the running around....unless you are not all that into Disney???

 

[grossmansr]

If it were entirely up to me I'd stick with Disney, but DH is set on Busch Gardens and Sea World. He wanted us to go with the 6 park flex ticket with Universal Studios but DD3 is super into princesses and Disney has so much more that we can ride as a family. So we're trying to compromise.

It's just soooo expensive this way. 2 days at Disney for all of us is just shy of $1000 3 days is closer to $1500 So we'll probably stick with 2 days and just stay at MK. DD3 will probably still be too short to ride Test Track and Soarin, and there's no sense paying an extra $500 to walk around the World Pavilion and spend more money eating and buying things. But I would have loved to see Illuminations again.

 

[kitkat95]

Since you have younger kids I'd just stick to MK, that way they can see all the princesses and be able to go on all the rides and be entertained the whole time, epcot might bore them alittle and like you said they could be too short to go on the fun rides.

 

[DisneyTravelers2008]

If it were entirely up to me I'd stick with Disney, but DH is set on Busch Gardens and Sea World. He wanted us to go with the 6 park flex ticket with Universal Studios but DD3 is super into princesses and Disney has so much more that we can ride as a family. So we're trying to compromise.

It's just soooo expensive this way. 2 days at Disney for all of us is just shy of $1000 3 days is closer to $1500 So we'll probably stick with 2 days and just stay at MK. DD3 will probably still be too short to ride Test Track and Soarin, and there's no sense paying an extra $500 to walk around the World Pavilion and spend more money eating and buying things. But I would have loved to see Illuminations again.

By arriving at MK early ( as in 30 mins before rope drop) and utilizing FP, you may be able to cover MK in just one day...maybe...Good luck! Sounds like a fun trip!

 

[grossmansr]

We're actually thinking of splitting up for this. DH will hit rope drop with DS7 and DS10 to get in the rides that DD3 won't ride - Space, BTMR, etc. - and then we'll all meet up for lunch and spend the afternoon/evening doing family stuff using FP+. The boys will be much less likely to complain about Tales with Belle, Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh if they've already done their rides. And DD3 won't be cranky from a full morning of full-speed at Disney. DD3 is not particularly a morning person anyway (like her momma lol).

If we get everything done that we want to on the first MK day, then we can always do a different park on day two. But we might just want to go back to MK a second time to reride our favorites. I'm thinking it's all gonna work out with 2 days.

Sea World and Busch Gardens are another story. I've never been to either so I have no idea how to plan for that. I might just leave it to DH since it's his idea to go there.

 

[happymommy]

I agree about making it ALL Disney. The tickets get cheaper per day the more days you have.

I would skip driving all the way to Tampa for sure.

I'd also skip anything non-Disney. You only have 6 days. Also, when my kids were little we didn't do the water parks at all. It's just easier to use your resort pool, so I'd do a 6 day park hopper personally.

Also, the kids and I did a Sea World trip, and my kids are not into big roller coasters, so honestly, they don't ever want to go back.

It's not worth it to try to do it all. If you're going to do Sea World, make THAT your focus. Otherwise, I'd make Disney the focus. It really doubles your cost to do both, and you have very little time to do that (one trip, the kids and I did 15 nights just Disney; most trips are 7 nights but their first trip was 11 nights - and they were 2 and 4 and loved Epcot the best - we ended up there every day).

 

[grossmansr]

Change of plans - DH agreed it makes much more sense to stick with Disney. So we're going for 5 day tickets. Yay! He stood his ground with Sea World though. So we will spend one day there. But the prices for Sea World are fairly reasonable. When the kids are all older we can do Busch Gardens. But for now, Disney wins!

 

[happymommy]

Yay for you!

I do have to say, though, unless you have kids that like huge roller coasters, Sea World won't even compare to Disney.

Enjoy!

 

[grossmansr]

I do have to say, though, unless you have kids that like huge roller coasters, Sea World won't even compare to Disney.

It's DH who's into the big coasters. But hey, it's his vacation too, lol.

 

[grossmansr]

I do have to say, though, unless you have kids that like huge roller coasters, Sea World won't even compare to Disney.

It's DH who's into the big coasters. But hey, it's his vacation too, lol.