Need Help Fall Break Trip

DisneyDoesMyHair

Mouseketeer
Joined
Mar 26, 2016
We want to take a brief fall break trip in October for 5 days (two of which are travel days), and need help planning how best to maximize our time. We would arrive late on a Thursday evening and leave early the following Monday. We want to do MNSSHP one evening (Friday) and maybe LegoLand or SeaWorld. Where should we stay? Onsite at Disney or off site? We will have a rental car for transportation, if needed.
 
We want to take a brief fall break trip in October for 5 days (two of which are travel days), and need help planning how best to maximize our time. We would arrive late on a Thursday evening and leave early the following Monday. We want to do MNSSHP one evening (Friday) and maybe LegoLand or SeaWorld. Where should we stay? Onsite at Disney or off site? We will have a rental car for transportation, if needed.


There are SO many potential options you may want to narrow it down a bit - what's your per-night budget? How many are in your party? Kids or no kids? How old? Are you interested in on-site amenities or just looking for a place to sleep? Etc... will help to narrow it down a lot!
 
There are SO many potential options you may want to narrow it down a bit - what's your per-night budget? How many are in your party? Kids or no kids? How old? Are you interested in on-site amenities or just looking for a place to sleep? Etc... will help to narrow it down a lot!
You are right, I made my first post too vague. We are a family of four, kids ages will be 5 and 11. I would like to keep the per night budget around the south end of $175-$200. Amenities are always a nice plus, and we love a good pool. We only have three full days in Orlando because the other two are technically travel days. We are determined to do MNSSHP, and want to do at least one other thing. We are considering LegoLand, SeaWorld, or one of the water parks. We are traveling mid October of this year.
 
We are determined to do MNSSHP,
Will you only be purchasing a MNSSHP ticket and not any regular WDW tickets? You can enter MK at 4:00p with your MNSSHP ticket and pre-book FPs with your linked party ticket.

You’ll need a car for Legoland but with an 11 year-old, Sea World may be more interesting.

There are a lot of Marriott properties in the Sea World area that are in the $175 price range. That would put you about 20 minutes away from MK depending on traffic.
 


We go every year at that time, for a 5-ish day trip. I'm a Halloween nut, so we definitely hit the HW parties. It's a great time to go, as long as they aren't opening a new Star Wars park or something. LOL.

Sometimes we stay on site, sometimes we don't. If you could luck into a great deal on a WDW resort, it might be fun to do, but there are plenty of options for hotels in that price range. $175/night will get you a GREAT hotel room with plenty of amenities. If we aren't staying on site, I set my target for $125-ish and usually end up with a Holiday Inn Suites, Spring Hill Suites, etc... I have lucked out and found Caribbean Beach, Saratoga Springs and Coronado Springs for RIDICULOUS rates and jumped on them. You never know.

Here's our last Columbus Day trip
Caribbean Beach (we tend to drive at night, so we left Wednesday afternoon and arrived after midnight)
Thursday - Pool, etc, then MNSSHP. As others stated, you can get in very early now. Typically we stay til the bitter end. This was the first year we didn't, but we still got in a good 8 hours at the park.
Friday - Crayola Experience, pool, etc. It's a shame to stay at a great resort and not use the facilities! It took us a couple years to really appreciate a day off from going to parks, so we do it now whether its a short trip or week long trip.
Saturday - Legoland (happened to be Brick or Treat). We have passes, our kids are 11,9 and 6 and love it. Plus, they just opened a new section. We stopped at a pin trading shop on the way to hotel.
Moved to Holiday Inn SeaWorld. Has free shuttle to park, so no parking, you get express passes, and there are 2 pools to use.
Sunday - SeaWorld. It was also their Halloween event.
Monday - Pool, Disney Springs for pin trading, shopping and food... then drive home. (we live in Georgia, not a long drive)
 
FYI, that Friday MNSSHP will likely be craaaaaazzzy crowded, just be prepared to go with the flow. It's a long school holiday for a lot of us in driving distance to the park.
 
You are right, I made my first post too vague. We are a family of four, kids ages will be 5 and 11. I would like to keep the per night budget around the south end of $175-$200. Amenities are always a nice plus, and we love a good pool. We only have three full days in Orlando because the other two are technically travel days. We are determined to do MNSSHP, and want to do at least one other thing. We are considering LegoLand, SeaWorld, or one of the water parks. We are traveling mid October of this year.

I would suggest looking at the Disney Springs hotels (https://disneyspringshotels.com/) or one of the Marriott Lake Buena Vista properties (SpringHill, Fairfield, Courtyard). If you wanted more space, you could also consider Floridays, which has two-bedroom options.

Sea World is great, but I think this is the perfect time for you to visit Legoland, especially if your kids like the Lego Movie - they just opened a new land devoted to the movies. If you wait for a later trip, you oldest may be too old for the park. There is a water park at Legoland if you wanted to squeeze in a little water park time during your visit. Just make sure you buy the right ticket.
 


Will you only be purchasing a MNSSHP ticket and not any regular WDW tickets? You can enter MK at 4:00p with your MNSSHP ticket and pre-book FPs with your linked party ticket.

You’ll need a car for Legoland but with an 11 year-old, Sea World may be more interesting.

There are a lot of Marriott properties in the Sea World area that are in the $175 price range. That would put you about 20 minutes away from MK depending on traffic.
Yes, we just returned from an 8 day trip to Disney. So, we will not have any additional tickets other than MNSSHP this time. Thank you for the info about entering early and FP.
 
We go every year at that time, for a 5-ish day trip. I'm a Halloween nut, so we definitely hit the HW parties. It's a great time to go, as long as they aren't opening a new Star Wars park or something. LOL.

Sometimes we stay on site, sometimes we don't. If you could luck into a great deal on a WDW resort, it might be fun to do, but there are plenty of options for hotels in that price range. $175/night will get you a GREAT hotel room with plenty of amenities. If we aren't staying on site, I set my target for $125-ish and usually end up with a Holiday Inn Suites, Spring Hill Suites, etc... I have lucked out and found Caribbean Beach, Saratoga Springs and Coronado Springs for RIDICULOUS rates and jumped on them. You never know.

Here's our last Columbus Day trip
Caribbean Beach (we tend to drive at night, so we left Wednesday afternoon and arrived after midnight)
Thursday - Pool, etc, then MNSSHP. As others stated, you can get in very early now. Typically we stay til the bitter end. This was the first year we didn't, but we still got in a good 8 hours at the park.
Friday - Crayola Experience, pool, etc. It's a shame to stay at a great resort and not use the facilities! It took us a couple years to really appreciate a day off from going to parks, so we do it now whether its a short trip or week long trip.
Saturday - Legoland (happened to be Brick or Treat). We have passes, our kids are 11,9 and 6 and love it. Plus, they just opened a new section. We stopped at a pin trading shop on the way to hotel.
Moved to Holiday Inn SeaWorld. Has free shuttle to park, so no parking, you get express passes, and there are 2 pools to use.
Sunday - SeaWorld. It was also their Halloween event.
Monday - Pool, Disney Springs for pin trading, shopping and food... then drive home. (we live in Georgia, not a long drive)
Wow! You guys were able to fit so much into that 5 day period! This is exactly what I was envisioning as I started planning this trip. Thank you so much for sharing! I did not know about the Brick or Treat event at LegoLand. It sounds like we will be able to take advantage of all of the Halloween events while we are in Orlando!
 
Wow! You guys were able to fit so much into that 5 day period! This is exactly what I was envisioning as I started planning this trip. Thank you so much for sharing! I did not know about the Brick or Treat event at LegoLand. It sounds like we will be able to take advantage of all of the Halloween events while we are in Orlando!

Yep - also, Legoland has cheap tickets found here on this site, but also plentiful buy one get one offers. (every issue of lego magazine includes them, too).
Sea World also sometimes offers bogo tickets for youth, but 11 would be too old.. 10 years old is a theme park adult. It would work for your younger child, if the deal is there again. Keep your eyes open for it and sign up for emails.
 
FYI, that Friday MNSSHP will likely be craaaaaazzzy crowded, just be prepared to go with the flow. It's a long school holiday for a lot of us in driving distance to the park.
That’s what I have been reading, to avoid the Friday party. We did MK two weeks ago, so there is less pressure to see and do everything. We are not there to ride, just see the parade and fireworks, maybe meet a rare character, and enjoy the Halloween ambience (if that’s a thing).
 
I would suggest looking at the Disney Springs hotels (https://disneyspringshotels.com/) or one of the Marriott Lake Buena Vista properties (SpringHill, Fairfield, Courtyard). If you wanted more space, you could also consider Floridays, which has two-bedroom options.

Sea World is great, but I think this is the perfect time for you to visit Legoland, especially if your kids like the Lego Movie - they just opened a new land devoted to the movies. If you wait for a later trip, you oldest may be too old for the park. There is a water park at Legoland if you wanted to squeeze in a little water park time during your visit. Just make sure you buy the right ticket.
Good to know about the ages for LegoLand. What age would you say is the best?
 
Yep - also, Legoland has cheap tickets found here on this site, but also plentiful buy one get one offers. (every issue of lego magazine includes them, too).
Sea World also sometimes offers bogo tickets for youth, but 11 would be too old.. 10 years old is a theme park adult. It would work for your younger child, if the deal is there again. Keep your eyes open for it and sign up for emails.
Thank you for the suggestion to sign up for emails. I haven’t done that yet for SeaWorld or LegoLand.
 
Good to know about the ages for LegoLand. What age would you say is the best?

Its hard to say as it really depends on the child - my daughter was almost 12 when we went and she had a great time but she has also always been a huge fan of Lego. She would probably still get a laugh out of the lands (especially mini-land and the new movie land) but has definitely out-grown the rides.
 

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