1st draft for once in a lifetime trip

[Guest]

We do the parks every day as well( I’m 59, DH63), up and out early, early lunch, afternoon snooze/ sunbathe, back out for fireworks and rides in the evening.
We never have rest days, never have done. Too much going on!

I wouldn’t be doing as many hotel moves though, I would just stay in one Disney hotel and one Universal hotel. I like to settle in my hotel room and it feel like ‘home’ , with a place for everything and everything in its place! But if you’re just going the once then you may just want to be experiencing different hotels.

But I doubt you will just be going the once!

[inky1]

I understand why you’ve tried to pack so much in if you believe you will go just once .
We did 9 days back in 2015 as our holiday was cut short due to a family emergency we packed loads in including a Dolphin swim and an airboat ride as well as Busch Gardens we didn’t do Epcot or islands of adventure but squeezed in breakfast with the Minions at Universal studios on our day there.It was like a military campaign and by about day 3 I could barely put my feet on the floor my legs ached so much.
Try not to rush too much try and take it all in - it’s like nowhere else .We smiled the entire time we were there .
You will have a fantastic time I’m sure and I would be very surprised if you don’t start planning your return the minute you land back in UK .

[Chris7cc]

Just remember it's only a once in a life time trip until next time. So if you miss something don't worry.

Don't do what we did the first time and try and do everything on your list as by day 6 I hated Disney and never wanted to go back.

Instead make a list of 3 things at each park that are musts whether that be rides restaurants or parades/shows and work around that.

[mrslfc]

Originally Posted by Chris7cc

Just remember it's only a once in a life time trip until next time. So if you miss something don't worry.

Don't do what we did the first time and try and do everything on your list as by day 6 I hated Disney and never wanted to go back.

Instead make a list of 3 things at each park that are musts whether that be rides restaurants or parades/shows and work around that.

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Unfortunately due to personal reasons it really be a once in a lifetime trip for us so although we wont want to push ourselves too much we do want to try and get the most out of our time

[IndianaMac]

I'd echo Nanna Frozen about morning parks/midday-early afternoon recharge/evening parks entertainment to negate the need for full on "rest days". Plus, it means you can time it to be indoors for the (almost) daily August t-storms.

For your Wonderworks day, remember ICON Park is just up the road... we've done the wheel (Orlando's a bit "flat", so not the best vistas... but you can see elements of parks in certain directions), yet to do the StarFlyer (that's this December... and next August too!).

The world's drop tower and slingshot are currently going up, too. Whether they'll be complete and running by August next year I don't know.

[mickeyspal]

Sounds like a good plan to me as we are pretty full on. I'm slowing down rapidly now.
The only things I wouldnt do is the 4 park challenge, I cant understand why you want to do that seeing as you are going to all of them anyway. If it's your first time then remember these parks are huge , and to park hop a lot is a big time waster in my opinion. For instance if you are at the back of MK by the time you walk out of the park, get the monorail to say epcot ( or go to the carpark) then get into epcot via the bag search etc you are looking at an hour. Time that could be spent doing rides or shows.
I wouldnt stay in 2 different Disney hotels as that's time packing and unpacking ,
If it really is a once in a lifetime trip ( I said that 40 trips ago ) I would splash out on discovery cove SeaWorld and aquatica as well
We are going in may next year ,and are doing 5 days universal hotel with Express passes ,while we are there we will go to discovery cove and SeaWorld then when we move to disney for 9 days we will do 2 days in each park and a waterpark / disney springs day , easily done if you dont park hop .
Others may disagree

[baggies]

Just to throw it out there we have never had a full rest day from parks, thats myself and DS (9 for first park only holiday)

Also taking a mid-day break often ends up to be nothing more than a clothes change.

I always have a plan and have never kept to it, you will find the parks you love and will visit those more often, using first 4 days to do each one is spot on.

One visit to TL is very light imo, I would recommend a visit to both TL and BB,and then a revisit later whichever you prefer, the waterparks are not about swimming there are many rides/slides and nothing beats sitting in an inflatable going round the lazy river.

Whilst in BC their pool is fantastic, going round the lazy river giving your feet and legs a chance to recover is highly recommended.

Don't forget to investigate the food options and where you want to eat and merge those into your plans, the popular restaurants you will want to make use of your onsite 60+10days booking, for instance my plan has Space 200 on day 8 because most on-site Americans stay around 3-7 days

[inky1]

Originally Posted by mrslfc

Unfortunately due to personal reasons it really be a once in a lifetime trip for us so although we wont want to push ourselves too much we do want to try and get the most out of our time

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Then I would say - absolutely go for it .Sleep on the way home I hope you have a fantastic time .

[kk20]

4 park challenge on a friday will give you an extra hour for Epcot to close. Join TT queue at 9:55 :-)