1st time plans

[Guest]

Hi,

Please can I seek your advice, I'm getting myself in a complete muddle trying to put together an itinerary for our group.

We are flying out on 17th May and are a party of 7 (5 adults & 2 children boys 9 & 7) and staying off site and have a car booked through Avis with BA. This will be the first visit for 5 of our group including me. Due to restrictions on when I can take leave from work and that my eldest will be starting secondary school Sept 18 this is likely to be our only visit.

We have brought the 2 day magic my way Disney tickets with 2 fun passes (for Blizzard Beach & Typhoon Lagoon) and the 5 park Orlando Combo tickets from ATD. We also want to do Kennedy Space Centre and we have Spirit of the Swamp booked for 10.30 on Friday 19th.

My 1st attempt at a plan looked like this:
Day 1 (18th) - Island of Adventure
Day 2 - Spirit of the Swamp then Hollywood Studios
Day 3 - Leisurely morning then Magic Kingdom staying for the fireworks
Day 4 - Universal
Day 5 - Blizzard Beach
Day 6 - SeaWorld
Day 7 - Busch Gardens
Day 8 - Aquatica
Day 9 - Universal then IOA Via Hogwarts Express
Day 10 - Shopping / Rest day
Day 11 - Kennedy Space Centre
Day 12 (Memorial day)- IOA
Day 13 - Typhoon Lagoon
Day 14 - Leave villa & head for home

but then I thought maybe we should make Magic Kingdom the first Disney park we visit in case we want to go back there rather than visit one of the other Disney Parks and also now Volcano Bay is opening earlier than first thought wondered about doing that too (my boys love the water and get all excited watching the videos of the water parks there) so came up with the following:

Day 1 (18th) - Typhoon Lagoon
Day 2 - Spirit of the Swamp followed by Universal
Day 3 - Magic Kingdom
Day 4 - Busch Gardens
Day 5 - Blizzard Beach
Day 6 - IOA then Universal via Hogwarts express
Day 7 - Aquatica
Day 8 - Hollywood Studios or Magic Kingdom
Day 9 - Universal and IOA
Day 10 - Rest Day/Shopping
Day 11 - Kennedy Space Centre
Day 12 (Memorial Day) - SeaWorld
Day 13 - Volcano Bay
Day 14 - Leave villa & head home

And now I'm doubting everything - Any comments or recommendations welcome. And apologises for the long post

Thank you.

[Rosie'sCrew]

Hiya, it can seem quite daunting all the planning can't it! We go for the second time in a couple of weeks, so I'm hardly an expert, but your plans look fine to me. A couple of things:
have you made a vacation planner on here? If you do that, you can cross check the "busy day guide" and make sure you aren't planning parks on the busiest days. Avoid EMH (extra magic hours) if you are off site, like us. It also tells you exactly when you can make your fast passes for each day. (30 days out if off site)
We've factored in a beach day after Busch Gardens, as it's a bit of a drive, the coast's lovely down there so a possible thought for you. Likewise you could do after KSC, the other coast.
If you want to book any meals on Disney Property, you can do this through the My Disney Experience website/App. I think you're going at a slightly quieter time but if you want to do the character meals etc just a thought.
I think MK is the perfect first park to do, that's what we did on our first trip.

Have a great time!

Rosie