This reminds me of a trip to Universal with my brother’s family a few years ago. Every time we walked into the park, the first thing my 5 year old nephew saw was the Despicable Me ride and he wanted to ride it every time. We did this a couple times, but eventually told him that there were other things at the park he would like as much or more than Despicable Me.
I would do MK early in the trip because after 1 day in MK, you may decide you prefer to spend a second day in MK and skip Epcot or DHS (or spend a half day in each).
The location of where I was staying would also play a role in how I would schedule.
Thank you everyone for your insight! It was very helpful. We ended up adding another day onto the trip just to take some of the “rush” out of it. My kids are mostly excited about US/IA and MK. Ultimately, we are not going to set the schedule too much in stone and play it by how the kids are doing. We plan to spend one of the midweek days just letting them recharge at the hotel.
In the end, you are all right that this is supposed to be a VACATION!!! So outside of a few dining reservations (managed to get into Cinderella Royal Table last minute!) we are going to play it by ear 
Thanks again to everyone!!!
Good idea to add the extra day. Make sure you review the height requirements at Universal before you go in order to manage kids expectations. There is a much higher percentage of rides with height requirements at Universal than at WDW. When I went to Universal with my niece and nephews (ages 5,7 and 9) a few years ago, there were many rides the younger ones weren’t tall enough for (including Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey).
Just please don’t have it SO planned out that you’re “that parent” I witnessed this past February actually yelling at their child for needing to use the restroom at a time that was not on the schedule. I felt so sorry for the kid. Bladders do not adhere to military precision schedules.
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The “military precision” thing was a bit tongue-in-cheek I am definitely cognizant of the fact that we’re going on vacation to enjoy ourselves, and that bladders don’t give a hot damn what the touring plan says is the approved time to be relieved of pressure.
Another military-themed quote that seems relevant is “No plan survives contact with the enemy”. I’m hoping that a byproduct of the OCD way I’ve approached this trip will be an ability to adapt and be flexible, so when the kids invariably tell me they want to do something counter to The Plan that I’ll be able to explain the consequences of going off-script and, if they still want to do it, enough knowledge to make it work without sacrificing any of the Must Do stuff.
Still, thanks for the reminder!
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Cool! Have a great trip!