Best days of the week to visit?

**Tonish** · 19-04-2005, 18:12

I'm just doing some serious planning for our holiday in August, got the park tickets and I'm now working out an itinerary. There are 8 of us going; self, wife, four kids aged 3-14 and my parents, who are getting on a bit.

Tickets for this lot have cost a fortune and I want to make sure we get the most out of it, so I'm looking for some advice on what days to visit each park - we've never really planned it properly before and have occasionally hit the parks on exceptionally busy days, which spoils it a bit.

So, if anyone can help, all advice gratefully received.

We're doing all the Disney main parks (except maybe Animal Kingdom, which I thought was a bit poor in comparison with the others), Universal both parks, Seaworld (got 2 days), and Kennedy. We've never done any of the Disney add-ons (blizzard beach etc), and wondered if anyone could tell us which is the best, as there's no way we could do them all.

Also, outside of these, is there one "must do" attraction/park which I've missed? We're not really into rollercoasters so not bothered with Busch Gardens and we've been there before in any case.

We've been to Orlando plenty of times, but actually usually went to the same places again and again so we may well have missed something really good. Also wondering if there's somewhere you would recommend for my parents (who are mid 70's)to take the younger two kids to for a day while we whoop it up with the older ones?

Tonish

**stabard** · 19-04-2005, 18:21

Hi Tonish

Any day in August is gonna be busy but I would stear clear of the parks on a weekend especially. We tend to have beach days then.
Of the two water parks we prefer Typhoon Lagoon as both my boys love the Big Wave in the lagoon. Many of the other water slides seem to be pretty similar in each park. Wither one you will have a great time.
As far as a day out for the grandparents and younger kids I would recommend the Green Meadows Petting Farm on Poinciana Blvd. Lots of animals, tractor and train ride, pony rides and picnic areas with swings etc. Makes a nice change from the parks, especially for the younger ones in the party.

Have a great trip[msnsmile2]

**Curly Wurly** · 19-04-2005, 18:27

Hi Tonish,

Not sure which parks are busiest and on which days but I do recommend the water parks!

They are good 'chill out' days in amongst the chaos. I personally prefer Blizzard Beach but only because I feel its a bit more relaxing than Typhoon Lagoon and I don't like the sunbed area with the sand (just a preference thats all) because both are good for the slides etc.

Wet n Wild is also good for the slides but I found it to be very busy with loud music playing all the time! (must be a sign of old age [msnembarrased]

**becbecs** · 19-04-2005, 19:58

Hi Tonish

Excellent choice of parks you will visiting. I can highly recommend both Water Parks, Blizzard Beach & Typhoon Lagoon. But Disney is Disney so there all great. [clap][clap]
You should be able to get information from the Disney Park websites to when shows, firework displays and all the attractions happen. They also advertise this on the leaflets that you can pick up at the parks.

Good idea to plan your time there day by day then a least everybody knows what is happening.

Watch out for the show times in the parks and try and arrive a little earlier for a good seat.

There is so much to do and see, but take a look at there websites to give you an idea.

**IanW** · 19-04-2005, 20:40

Hi Tonish,
A very useful site to show a full calendar of which parks to visit on which days is on [website link edited]
Also tells you how busy they are.
Ian

**pieman790** · 19-04-2005, 22:06

Theres a very good book called "the Brits Guide to Orlando and Walt Disney World" gives loads of tips on attactions to visit from memory it advises on which days to visit certain parks - what kind of route to do to avoid the queues - where to stand for the parades to keep out of the sun.

From experience I would suggest that whilst planning your agenda you also include plenty of rest time.

Have a great holiday.

**fiona** · 19-04-2005, 22:15

The parks with the rollercoaster rides can be very full of teenagers at the weekends - as can the water parks of course, so you might want to bear that in mind. IofA is a great hit with my teenage daughters as is Sea World as they like the animals and Kracken and Atlantis. When they were younger we used to do Disney, Sea World and Universal Studios - but that was before IoA was built. There is Toon Lagoon there and the Dinosaur ride for youngsters but otherwise not much for the littlies.

We used to do 2 days on and 1 day of rest which you could spend at a water park or at the villa / hotel you are staying at, combined with some shopping as fair skins cannot cope with a full day at a water park in August, so you would need to sit in the shade for some of it. Another trick we used to do when they were little (and had elderly granny in tow) was to get their for opening and come back for lunch to the villa, have a swim and a rest and hit the parks refreshed in the late afternoon / early evening.

**Newhomebuyer** · 19-04-2005, 22:29

If you have got park hoppers make good use of the monorail to go over to Epcot for a while if you get to MK and it is very busy,
If its busy at Epcot take the launch and check out MGM. Using Disney transport is a ride in itself, gives the feet a rest and allows you to check out other parks without worrying about driving.
Have an early start and go back to your villa for a few hours before returning refreshed.

**DiannaUK** · 19-04-2005, 22:48

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by pieman790
Theres a very good book called "the Brits Guide to Orlando and Walt Disney World" gives loads of tips on attactions to visit from memory it advises on which days to visit certain parks - what kind of route to do to avoid the queues - where to stand for the parades to keep out of the sun.

From experience I would suggest that whilst planning your agenda you also include plenty of rest time.

Have a great holiday.
[/quote]

We have this book and it has great advice, well worth the money.

Whenever you visit, whichever day, the best tip is to get there early, the earlier the better, we have been on really busy days but have been on all the rides we want to by mid morning and then time for a leisurely lunch and back to the villa for a relaxing swim. We have never, and I mean never, had to queue for a ride for more than 10 minutes (and we are real theme park nuts!) and bearing in mind we have always, in the past, gone July/August because of school holidays, this is pretty good going. Planning ahead, as you are doing, is absolutely the right thing to do.

Hope you have a great time.
Dianna.