We are first time visitors from the UK family of 4 with 2 girls (12 and 9). We are staying at DS Wyndeham Hotel. We land around 4pm so by the time we get to the hotel I’m assuming it will be late and after an 8 hour flight + excitement = tired kids.
We are staying for 6 days in Orlando so plan to do 5 days at the parks. 2 days MK, 1 day AK, 1 day Epcot and 1 day Water Park.
I can’t imagine that our first day we are going to be organised enough to do a full day or rope drop early start. So maybe a later start/less pressured day
What would people recommend as a rough plan idea for the first day? I wondered about a later start at MK and aim to hang about to see the fire works and parades at the end of the day as my girls definitely want to see these so might this be good use of a late start? We could then rope drop MK on another day to pack in missed rides maybe?
Help appreciated before I spend time actually planning my route out round the parks.
Welcome. I have always found that RD is really easy in the early days because of the time difference. I would use it to your advantage. Later in the trip the late nights and excitement will tire the little people (and the big ones) so I would plan your later starts then. The TP two day MK touring plan is brilliant.
Only have certain no of days and the kids really liked the idea of the water parks so thought HS might be the one to “give”. I thought HS was a lot more thrill type rides which my 2 are just not into.
Or am I missing the point a bit?
I guess we might be able to get an hour or 2 at a water park on another day maybe but that seems a lot to cram in?
Well to be fair that’s why it’s our favourite and we do love the water parks but we couldn’t spend a whole day there. We do maybe 4 hours of our 2 weeks. I do think it’s a shame to go all that way and not do all the parks. But if you’re going after Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge opens (29th Aug) it’s probably wise to skip it!
HS has Toy Story Land. They may (this is controversial ) prefer HS to Epcot. If you have park hoppers you can skip from park to park as you wish. Maybe do one and a half days at MK and half a day at HS or Epcot. Or plan a morning (RD until 2ish) at one park and visit another park in the evening.
Toy Story Land is new at HS, plus they have a lot of stage shows, from the Indy stunt show to Frozen, Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. Muppets, Star Tours and Jedi Training.
Whilst at AK, again there are two shows (Lion King and Nemo), plus rides. Without the thrill rides, you’re looking at Navii, possibly FoP, the Kali River Rapids and Dinosaur. And the trails and Safari, which are pretty much a well-themed zoo. Don’t get me wrong, I love AK, for me the theming is second to none.
But I’d hate to see you write off HS before checking out what it has to offer. Of the thrill rides, two of Disney’s big ones are there, but other than that only Slinky is a Coaster, and it is a family one. It may be too much of a thrill ride for non-Coaster people (like me) and that’s fine! My aim is to ride it when we come back.
Thanks for the comments had not thought about all the shows. We are doing rides we will log one at MK and 7 dwarf plus the test track one at Epcot, soarin and avatar are all on the plan.
Maybe will look to do a bit of a water park on another day.
What would people recommend as a good easy start to our trip?
I concur with above that it’s very easy to rope drop the first couple of days, just don’t make any evening plans as you’ll all be knackered. When my girls were 5 & 7 we went straight to bed on arrival day, but they are now 7&9 and on our recent trip we managed a quick swim and drink at the bar before bed. We loved Blizzard Beach in the morning but it lost its appeal by lunchtime and we played mini golf before heading to AK.
I think we’ve all said a few times it’s very easy to be at park opening on your first day and that’s what I’d recommend. Whichever park fits with your plans really. Lots of people like to go to MK first, we never personally do.
We rope dropped MK the first day after flying from UK. We were awake early and it was no bother to get going as we were excited. We started to flag at about 4pm so left them. Our next MK day we went in at 1pm and left at 11pm having seen the fireworks etc. Worked well for us ( children were 9 and 11).
I would just presume that you will all wake around 5am both because of the time difference and excitement, then look at the TP app to see which park is open first, and aim for that. If they are all open at the same time, maybe aim for MK. Whichever you choose be at the tapstiles an hour before opening. Then following your TP and aim to have a break for brunch/lunch just before midday… you will need to make an ADR if you want to eat at a TS restaurant but even if you choose QS have some places in mind. Book you 3 FPs starting from 9 or 9.15 but RD a ride or two before using your first FP…either one you couldn’t get a FP for or one you want to ride twice. Do you have the TP book? It has descriptions of all the rides.
Some people share there plans. Let me see if I can find one.
My email has a question that I can’t find here. Anyway, my email says: “Thanks for all the comments any advice in which park to do day 1 and what start time?”.
My plans include estimated park crowd levels. I use this as a guide for which park I hit first. My plan will vary from yours, because I am coming from GA and driving there on my first day. I chose Epcot for my first day, because we will be arriving late and mainly be doing the food and wine festival. I was lucky enough to get the free dining, and made my plans well in advance of the 180 day mark so that I got all my reservations I want. Knowing which parks you are attending we in advance is a good key to your perfect plan. What are your dates? I’ll help you figure out first few days.
Thanks all, I will show my wife this as she won’t believe me that RD on day 1 is a good idea!
Thanks for the excel sheet, I will look over that. I’m and FD so spend life on excel and get stick for using it for my holiday planning so good to see it being used by others!
We land in Orlando on July 26th so first park day will be Sat 27th Jul and we plan to leave Orlando on the 2nd to head to Naples for some r and r, I’m allowing a down spare day and a visit to Kennedy Space centre in our time in Orlando. I had thought an early MK day and a later start to then hang about and watch fireworks so thats good to see seems sensible.
As another UKer, I would agree the first few mornings will be easier to get up early.
However, I would also say we get tired early too, as we adjust to the time difference. The travel day is a killer, arriving tea time but your body is telling you it’s bed time already. So either plan a proper mid-day break (even a nap) those first few days, or an early finish. Save the fireworks and evening shows for later on (Illuminations/Epcot Forever, Fantasmic, HEA).
