Late August Itinerary

[Andy C]

Well, it's our first trip to Disney since 2013. The kids are older now, as are we.

Our favourite parks on the Disney side are Epcot in first place, with Disney Studios a bit behind. We enjoy the water parks as well. Surprisingly to many, Magic Kingdom is bottom of our list, but we still go and enjoy it.

The plan is to overnight in a Universal hotel for FOLP on the day of arrival and departure.

Current pencilled in plan:

Wed 14th Aug: Fly out, arrive in late afternoon, to villa and relax.
Thu 15th Aug: Magic Kingdom
Fri 16th Aug: Hollywood Studios
Sat 17th Aug: Epcot
Sun 18th Aug: Animal Kingdom
Mon 19th Aug: Aquatica (possibly finishing at lunchtime with Disney Springs pm)
Tue 20th Aug: Busch Gardens
Wed 21st Aug: Blizzard Beach (possible early finish, and relax early, go shopping, or go to Epcot)
Thu 22nd Aug: Kennedy Space centre
Fri 23rd Aug: Sea World
Sat 24th Aug: Book in to Universal Hotel, then Universal Studios
Sun 25th Aug: Islands of Adventure
Mon 26th Aug: Volcano Bay
Tue 27th Aug: Typhoon Lagoon, possible early finish, then Epcot
Wed 28th Aug: Epcot, then book in and flight (evening flight)

I'd like to get a complete day off, and a second day to Hollywood Studios somewhere, but without time travel, it's rather difficult...
As we sometimes run out of inspiration in water parks (in our experience), maybe knock it on the head in the early afternoon on Monday the 26th and try Hollywood Studios then?

Opinions gratefully received.

[Brave5]

We love waterparks and even though these tend to be our favorite times we find going frequently and for just a few hours better than making it an all day thing. For example we usually go to AK in the morning (even better when there are early extra hours) stay until 11-12 then hit Blizzard beach for an hour or two. This still gives us a few hours to chill at the resort before going out in the evening. We will also do this in reverse and go to the waterpark for the last two hours (usually Typhoon Lagoon) then head to Disney Springs for dinner and shopping. If we drive to any of the parks we always put swim suits and towels in the boot in case we want to have a quick stop at one of the waterparks. I use to plan these into the holiday but now we just go as and when we want for a bit of a cool down and fun!

[BigPetesWife]

I would be tempted to move your first waterpark visit up a day or 2. You might find 4 days in a row at Disney parks too much. A general guide is 2 or 3 days parks, 1 day out of parks (some people call these rest days, but we go to a waterpark or shopping or offsite somewhere, so rarely a "rest" day, just not a !13 miles of walking" day.

Have you checked opening hours or a busy day calendar to check that the days you have are good days to visit those particular parks?

[Andy C]

Originally Posted by BigPetesWife

I would be tempted to move your first waterpark visit up a day or 2. You might find 4 days in a row at Disney parks too much. A general guide is 2 or 3 days parks, 1 day out of parks (some people call these rest days, but we go to a waterpark or shopping or offsite somewhere, so rarely a "rest" day, just not a !13 miles of walking" day.

Have you checked opening hours or a busy day calendar to check that the days you have are good days to visit those particular parks?

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Yep; the days are chosen from the DIBB Busy Day guide.
I'd love to do a water park on the weekend, but from experience, they're rammed on Saturdays and Sundays.
The weekends are always difficult - Epcot's down as fairly light crowds that Saturday and from experience can always absorb the crowds better than almost anywhere else. AK is more of a gamble, but the DIBB Busy Guide Day suggests it.
For the second weekend, I'm relying on FOLP from checking in.

But you're absolutely right about fatigue and that's what I'm most worried about. I'm hoping we can get through to the first Monday and have a bit of a relax at Aquatica.