Help please

[Wandmaker]

I am trying to put together an itinerary for end of July/beginning of August but am struggling. We are only doing Disney. There will be 3 of us, e, DH and DS, age 10. First time at Disney for DS, first time in almost 15 years for me and DH. We are staying on site for a couple of days the beginning of the holiday and then moving to a villa. This is what i've got so far using the Busy Day Guide but I'm stuck on how many days i should put in for each park. I know we will want some down time at the villa or just exploring Orlando.


Thursday 20th July - arrive POR
Friday 21st - MK (EMH)
Saturday 22nd July - move to villa/shopping etc
Sunday 23rd - AK
Monday 24th - HS
Tuesday 25th - Waterpark
Wednesday 26th - Epcot
Thursday 27th
Friday 28th
Saturday 29th
Sunday 30th
Monday 31st
Tuesday 1st August
Wednesday 2nd
Thursday 3rd - villa/flight home

Any help or suggestions gratefully received.

[grinner82]

MK is at least 2 days but very easy to spend three there.
HS can be one day
AK can be one day
EPCOT needs to be two days if you plan on seeing the world showcase.
one day for each waterpark.

Disney Springs is well worth a visit, and there is a lovely boat from POR to DS.

There are shows at HS - Fantasmic
Magic Kingdom - Wishes ( soon to be changed to another name)
EPCOT - Reflections

What we did was see them on a water park day where there was no FP use so 10-3 at a waterpark, and then back to the park for the nighttime events, 7pm ish.

[Wandmaker]

Thank you for the reply grinner82. This is very helpful and gives me something to work with.

[grinner82]

Disney is such a personal thing that what fits one will not suit another and it tends to change each time you go.

For example EPCOT. Its basically in 2 parts. The World showcase, which is the countries round the lake , I found really boring as a child. I had no interest what so ever!

As an adult I loved it and wanted to explore far more, but DS who was 7 and then 10 on previous visits just walked behind with a long face, because its not that interesting for them. There are things to do, there but its not for everyone.
Every time we go the plan changed to change with the age of the children.

Have a good look at the park maps, see what appears to interest the children in terms of their " must dos" . I tend to assume them will like things when they surprise you with the opposite! I find giving the whole family an input assists in smooth transition through the various parks!

[toddy22]

Agree with Grinner. It really is a personal thing. All the park maps and reviews of everything Disney is online ,have a look, make a list of everything you want to see and do and smash it because I think you will have plenty of time to do so.

[r80rew]

It will all depend on how busy the parks are. The last couple of times that we have been have been out of season and we have had 1 day per park and have had time to spare to allow us to revisit the parks that we enjoyed the most. That tends to be a couple of visits to MK, Epcot & the Universal parks. Our plan will always show 1 day per park but with 'free' days built in to use for re-visits so it adds a level of flexibility in our plan.