Where do I start!?

[rj84]

Hi everyone, quite new to forum, and this is second visit to Orlando, but my first was 18yrs ago (!) and this one is my first time taking my own children. We are going early Nov for 3 weeks, and ages of kids are : 11, 7, 5, 2

We are doing the 21 day Disney ticket, and Discovery Cove/Seaworld/Atlantica.
Also want to do Kennedy Space Centre and have some rest days and a little shopping

So what things are MUST see, and how is it best to do an itinerary? I have no clue about which things are best to do together etc.

Thanks!

[Gryff]

Are you staying on or off site do you have the dinning plan are you hiring a car all make a difference to the planning

[rj84]

Hi, We are staying off site in a villa. We have a hire car yes and no dining plan. Thanks

[Eccle]

With some of your children being very young still, I wouldn't overload your days, we tend to get to parks early, stay till lunch then go out for a break. We also stay in a villa so mainly have breakfast there, get a snack or light lunch in the parks then have an early main meal offsite

Do your dates fall over thanksgiving?

[rj84]

Yes, thats my thinking Eccle - we will probably split the days and do morning in park, then break after lunch, or have a lazy morning and do park later in day for evening fireworks etc.

We will be there for Thanksgiving yes, but I am thinking these might be the days to use as rest days to avoid the crowds?

[Eccle]

Yes, we have a similar issue with Presidents' Day weekend during our trip, and I'm planning over those 4 days to do Seaworld, Kennedy Space, Blizzard Beach and general shopping/rest (though not much is restful with a 2 year old in the family!). For you, Discovery Cove might be good over that weekend too if you're still to pick a date, as I believe numbers are fixed on that

It's probably going to be a bit hard to plan your exact days until park hours are out, but you could try and work out how many days you would want in each park and roughly what you'd want to do each day, then you can arrange the order later!

[Eccle]

If it helps, this is my plan (our boys are 9, 6 and turning 2)

Day 1 - HS at opening, then MK (fastpasses Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain and Jungle Cruise)
Day 2 - AK (fastpasses Minnie/Mickey meet, Kilimanjaro Safari and Flight of Passage)
Day 3 - Epcot (fastpasses Nemo, Turtle Talk and Test Track)
Day 4 - MK in the morning (fastpasses Enchanted Tales with Belle, Peter Pan's Flight and meet Mickey), evening HS for Fantasmic
Day 5 - quiet morning, Chef Mickey brunch then Epcot in afternoon/evening staying for Illuminations (fastpasses Spaceship Earth, Figment and Frozen Ever After)
Day 6 - Blizzard Beach or shopping
Day 7 - Kennedy Space Center
Day 8 - Blizzard Beach or shopping
Day 9 - Seaworld
Day 10 - HS - sign up for Jedi Training (fastpasses Tower of Terror, Disney Junior and Toy Story Mania)
Day 11 - MK (fastpasses Space Mountain, Tomorrowland Speedway and Buzz Lightyear ride)
Day 12 - MK in afternoon/evening for fireworks (fastpasses Haunted Mansion, meet Cinderella and Elena and Seven Dwarfs)
Day 13 - Possibly Epcot in the morning. AK in the afternoon/evening (fastpasses Festival of the Lion King, Navi River Journey and Rivers of Light)

[rj84]

Thats really helpful thank you. I was planning to book DC for my daughters birthday on the 12th, but I will look at the Thanksgiving days instead.
I have only just properly decided on the parks as I wasn't sure what to do about universal, but I am pretty sure the kids wont appreciate most of it.

[Eccle]

Yes, this is our 4th visit, and every time we have debated Universal! This time is the first time I've felt it might be worth it as the older two like Harry Potter, but in the end we have left it as it was so much money for just a couple of days and I wasn't sure how many rides they'd actually want to go on. I'd love to do it at some point!

[TheRobsters]

Something that you may like to think about is the travelling backwards and forwards to the villa.
On our previous visits while staying in villas we have found it can take some time to leave the park, from the gate walking or taking the tram back to the car.
Then the journey back to the on the 192 or the I4 can be very stop start.
And then to do it all again in the evening.
Good luck though.