Help feeling overwhelmed !

[samanthacj]

Hello

We are Disney first timers and I really do not know where to start we are staying at Disney art of Animation on April 21st for two weeks myself my husband and our 4 kids aged 4, 7, 11 and 14. We are visiting the 6 WDW parks and universal studios 3 parks.

The older two want to do all the thrill rides and the younger two are less adventurous and we would like to do some of the family rides that we can all go on together.

How on earth do I plan the parks the fast passes and get the times and distance from ride to ride doable ?

My eldest daughter has just decided that she also wants to do Busch gardens because they have the best rides so that would be something we would have to book while we are there.

I’m usually such an organised person but the thought of planning this lot is making me feel ill : (

Any advice much appreciated

Thank you
Sam x

[sammykitten]

honestly? you are putting yourself and your family under a whole heap of pressure attempting to do all that in 2 weeks. You will need downtime - when are you going to factor that in?

There is an itineraries section of the forum a little further down the page, have a look there for some ideas. But I'd be having a "downtime" day for everyone every 4 or 5 days otherwise you stand a very good chance of everyone falling out because they've been on the go all day every day.

[POFQfan]

Originally Posted by sammykitten

honestly? you are putting yourself and your family under a whole heap of pressure attempting to do all that in 2 weeks. You will need downtime - when are you going to factor that in?

There is an itineraries section of the forum a little further down the page, have a look there for some ideas. But I'd be having a "downtime" day for everyone every 4 or 5 days otherwise you stand a very good chance of everyone falling out because they've been on the go all day every day.

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Completely agree with Sammy. You are trying to do way to much for a first time trip with so many kids in August when it is so hot it drains you the minute you step out of your door. There would be enough at WDW alone to keep you occupied based on seeing everything at all the parks, Disney Springs and having plenty of time to relax at your lovely resort.

My tip would be to buy The Unofficial Guide to WDW and start by reading that cover to cover. It will give you a really good basis which, along with perhaps reading some trip reports on here, will allow you to form opinions about what you want the most out of your holiday. From there, the planning gets a lot easier. Good luck!

[dx4100]

I wouldn’t bother with Bush Gardens as there isn’t much worthwhile for the the younger ones. Animal Kingdom is a better fit for the theme park / Zoo experience I would say given the age ranges.

Treat the water park days as “rest days” and aim to do morning at the water park and maybe afternoon at Disney springs for shopping and eating.

I would consider dropping Volcano Bay out of your plans. You have to get to City Walk and then catch a bus to the water park. I have a 4 & 8 year old and my 8 year old is too big for the kids section and my 4 year old isnt big enough for the older section meaning we would have to split up all day. So I have dropped it from my plans.

You can then fit in the other parks as required.

I have to say I am planning my first trip so I haven’t got first hand experience. But I have some of the same issues as you and these are the conclusions I came too to try and fit it all in.

My breakdown looks like this over 14 nights ..

Magic Kingdom 3.5
Epcot 2.5
Animal Kingdom 2
Hollywood Studios 1
Universal Studios 1
Isle of Adventure 1
Blizzard Bay 0.5
Typhoon Lagoon 0.5
Disney Spring. 0.5
Unplanned Day. 1

We doing 2 nights Hard Rock 12 nights Beach Club

[pchivvy]

I disagree, I think you can do an awful lot but you WILL need some downtime too.

The first year we went we did every park including Busch Gardens but made sure we went to a water park in the afternoon to cool down and swim etc which was enough to recuperate and recharge the batteries.

Busch Gardens is definitely worth a visit, particularly for your older two kids.

Read the unofficial guide as it will give you some hints and tips- use fast passes and just accept that you won't be able to do everything, and pick the things you do want to do and just build them in.

Relax and have fun!

[bigshaz]

I'd give each child a copy of the park maps and get them to chose what they would like to do, look for the common ones and do in the ornig together, take the youngest Ines back to the hotel early afternoon for a break leaving. The eldest and DH to do the big rises for a coup,e for hours and then go back out for a couple of hours later on - the water parks are great at 4.30 onwards for example. In my experience you have to be led by what the kids can take in terms of the heat particularly so be flexible. Have. Read of some trip reports to get into the swing of it all. And enjoy the planning .

[Palm trees]

Another vote for the unofficial guide. I'm counting down to my 5th trip to Disney (first one was many years ago, this is the third with my own children) and have the guide for the first time this trip. It's bulky but has loads of information.
Also I'd suggest not ruling out the family friendly (ostensibly younger) stuff for your older children. So much of it really is lovely and the whole family may well be charmed by the whole Disney experience.
Have you downloaded the My Disney experience app yet (apologies if you have, I can't see your post as I'm writing this). You will get some idea of park layouts just by looking at that. Also a busy day guide may help you choose which parks for different days. The dibb has been a great help to me, trip reports are both fun to read and also informative.
Personally I love the planning aspect, but appreciate it may not be fun for everyone.
Ps we stay off site so the EMH aren't a factor for us to consider but may be useful in your planning

[Disdaydream]

I remember feeling the same and I only have one child to think about, but try not to worry it will be fine even if you don't plan much.

Fastpasses are great, the good thing is that they are an hour time slot which leaves plenty of time to get to them no matter where you are in the park.

Why not get the kids to watch some youtube videos and then each pick one ride at each park that they really want to do. Then anything else you manage to do is a bonus and everyone will hopefully be happy

Disney rides are mostly family friendly, but at universal you might want to alternate between thrill and family rides to keep the peace

I always download park maps to give me an idea where attractions are to save criss-crossing the parks walking further than needed.

Good luck planning and hope this helps a tiny bit

[papamouse]

hello

a very very common first visit thing is to assume this will be your only visit and as such you really feel as though you must do EVERYTHING...

I am relatively new to this, been 8 weeks in total - but other who have been a lot more than me will tell you - they haven't even skimmed the surface of all that Florida has to offer. So relax a little about getting EVERYTHING done. It evolves too, new things open, old things close.

I guarantee 20 minutes in side magic kingdom, walking up main street USA towards the castle, you will know that you will be back, as soon as possible, and as many times as possible.

So with that in mind, how can you make the best of your first two weeks in Orlando.

My first starting place is the dibb busy day guide. Theres an itinerary spread sheet in my footer below if that's helpful.

I firstly get an idea of what park may be best to be in on each day of the holiday. Less crowds may mean easier to move around and less queues even for the bathroom!

From there I can book my ADRS at 180 days out, and my fast passes from 60/30 days out.

Its just a step by step process and once you get a feel for it, relatively easy to do.

When you book fastpasses (another wee guide with pictures in my footer) the choice isn't that bambooziling - the obvious ones will jump out - also Pop and Oldies can hit Haunted Mansion whilst at the same time Mom and the Youngies can do Peter Pan... for example...

Once you have a rough outline, which you can chop and change apart from the Primo rides, you can then look at Undercover Tourists Touring Plans - which are great at maximising doing as much as possible in a short period of time, they are free and are designed for the US guests who only come for the weekend.

So eg there is a one or two day Magic Kingdom touring plan, which basically tells you what time to arrive, what rides to do first without a FP and then what to FP, where and when to have lunch etc... I personally would not go to that level, as there are so many unexpected random things going on in the parks, its easy to just want to stop and chat to the balloon sellers, visit the shops, watch the castle show... etc..

that's enough for now, and relax, it is a holiday after all...

[Shooby doo]

First off, the "once in a lifetime" trip usually turns into one of many !
Over 2 weeks Disney & Universal are good plans but I'd definitely drop Busch or drop 1 of the waterparks to accommodate. Only you know at what sort of fitness level you are all at but your average for these parks, is a minimum of 10 miles/day, add in the heat & humidity & it doesn't take much for fall outs.
Personally with your family dynamic, I couldn't be bothered messing about with a WP in the morning then going to a park- apart from which these are fairly big places as well. We do a 2-3 day on 1 off strategy & it works for us. You also have to consider a bad weather plan so a "spare" day is handy for back up.
Fastpass wise just sit down & do a rough plan then look at possible FP selections.
SD