Ticket/Park advice needed for first timers please

[kwp1]

Hi,
We've booked for the last two weeks of August next year - one week in Orlando and then a week on Anna Maria Island. We're a family of four with a 10 and 6 yr old. I've looked at the crowd calendar and my initial thoughts are to do the following:
Day 1 - Epcot
Day 2 - Universal Island of Adventure
Day 4 - Magic Kingdom
Day 6 - Universal Studios
My questions are should we do a water park as we are staying at Orange Lake Resort which seems to have a lot of pools etc, should we also do the Animal Kingdom, as we will probably do Busch Gardens the following week and also what are the best options ticket wise?
Thank you in advance.
(Quite sure these are only the first of many questions I'll have!!)

 

[P800aul]

Hi

its difficult without knowing you as a family, so I can only suggest what I think we would do. We like Disney and have gone for two weeks in October for the last six years (our seventh this Month.) We didn't go to Universal until our children where 11 and 9 our fourth year (I would check the ride restrictions in Universal before deciding to go with your children.) We bought tickets for Disney and Universal the most cost effective way which meant we have 14 day tickets for all parks (Disney and Universal) in the end we went to Universal on two days only, the rest of the time it was Disney.

Epcot and MK are big parks and you are unlikely to do either park any justice at all in one day, plus if you are travelling from the UK the first two days will feel more tiring due to time shifts.

So to get to my point I would suggest you are trying to do too much and would do Disney only, on this trip. On the tickets they sell to us here in the UK a 7 day ticket will get you in all four parks and the two water parks and you can hop between them. This allows you to do a bit of MK in the morning, rest, and do Epcot early evening etc.

By the way your hotel pool will be nothing like either of the two Disney water parks i.e. the Disney water parks are brilliant but best visited for the last 3 hours they are open when the crowds have gone down (yep even in October.)

Regards

Paul

 

[kwp1]

Thank you Paul, that's really helpful.

Unfortunately I may have a battle with my Harry Potter mad 10 year old vs my disney princess mad 6 year old!!

Kind regards
Karen

 

[micksn]

You could probably manage both Universal parks in one day ( we did last year) especially if your focus is Harry Potter. You will be able to use the Hogwarts express train between the parks. It's not the most cost effective ticket, but it is the cheapest - one park 2 day ticket. That way you will be able to focus on Disney for the rest of the week.

 

[bex7583]

epcot is a great park and if you are doing it on your first day and thats the only visit , you may miss illuminations as jet lag creeps up on your late afternoon that 1st day.

 

[Elise79]

Personally, I think all 4 Disney parks are must dos. AK is a different park to Busch Gardens. Despite going through a rejuvenation DHS also have some good rides and shows. I would also highly recommend seeing all the Disney nighttime entertainment as it is spectacular!

I would look at getting a 7 day ultimate ticket for Disney - so you have flexibility to go back to the parks anytime. Then a one or two day ticket for Universal. We haven't been in years as our DD is only 7.

Oh and Disney isn't all princesses

 

[dixonsontour]

My 9 year old loves harry potter/universal. We are doing a mainly Universal not Disney trip again this year. If your son loves harry potter then 2 days at Universal would be good. The Uk tickets that are £125 ish for 14 days are usually the best value. Rides like transformers and minions will also be popular with your son.


For Disney you are going to struggle to fit in all 4 parks. There was a UK ticket for 2 parks and Disney mini golf marketed this year, think it was £139. It stopped being on sale in summer but may reappear. If not under cover tourist sell the magic your way tickets so you can buy 2 or 3 days.

Busch wouldn't be a priority for me with kids your age - we have been one and no rush to go back. More aimed at adults who do the massive coasters. If you did want busch then the 3 park with busch/seaworld/aquatic water park for £90 may suit. Aquatica is a good water park.

The trouble is you are trying to do 3 rival companies parks - just doing Disney or just universal saves a lot.

Have you already booked accommodation?
A split with say 10 days Orlando would work better and 3 or 4 at beach. Anna Maria Island is lovely (my DD is called Anna partly after there!) but it is quiet and you may be struggling for things to do versus not enough time in Orlando. If You had 10 days Orlando I'd do 4 main Disney parks and 2 days at Universal.

 

[P800aul]

Oh and Disney isn't all princesses

Nope it's not, however the Princesses give hugs now, even for dads

Karen I understand, the one thing you can get at Universal if you must do it all in the same holiday is a "Front of Line" ticket, $50 a pop over the regular ticket in the US, but I would guess it saves you loads of time in August. We've only been in October which is traditionally light on crowds, yet we had to get there early (rope drop) to get on the Harry Potter stuff without a long (45 min.) wait.

Good luck

Regards

Paul

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

Is there a reason you're only planning every other day in the parks? I honestly would not skip any of the 4 Disney parks, but you can easily skip the water parks. I'd plan on one day in each of the Disney parks and then maybe 2 at Universal. You can plan one break day in the middle if you want. But there's just too much in each park to skip them! (Although Hollywood Studios is iffy with all the changes going on, but if you've never been there's plenty to do!)

 

[scoobydooby]

Have you booked your accommodation yet? If not I suggest you do two nights at a deluxe Universal hotel for two full park days (assuming you start off there) and you will get early entry x2 days and front of line x3 days (inc. your arrival day). This means you can do justice to HP in both parks and walk on everything else. Arrive Disney night 3 to give you four and possibly 5 full days at Disney. Then I'd do a day at each park with the last day going back to MK before driving to the beach. TBH I think you're trying to do far too much in 7 days and the way tickets work it's not going to be good value for you however you buy them but if that's the plan you've chosen then I'd go as advised above. So....
Day 1 - arrive Universal and acclimatise maybe a swim.
Day 2 - early entry HP IofA.
Day 3 - early entry HP Universal Studios and check into WDW in the evening.
Day 4 - AK as can be done by 5pm pretty fully so you will get a rest!
Day 5 - MK plus Wishes pm
Day 6 - DHS plus Fantasmic pm
Day 7 - Epcot plus Illuminations pm
Day 8 - MK

I have to say if you pull this off you'll be knackered and ready for a week at the beach My kids couldn't do that pace even now but that's how to do a bit of it all at least in a week.

Edited......
Oh I just saw you're staying off site after all that typing! So I'm afraid ticket deals for different companies parks for just 4 or 5 days will be a poor value. I'd rebook the accommodations if it were me.

 

[kwp1]

Thank you for your replies. They've given me a lot to think about and have really helped. There is a part of me who is now more confused than ever!! I think we've decided to do as much as humanly possible while we're in Orlando and just use the second week to collapse in a big heap!! So 5 days disney parks and 2 Universal.... now to find the tickets. Thank you again