can we fit it all in?

[Paula D-S]

Whilst Busch Gardens is a fabulous park, with the age group of your children I would drop this before Animal Kingdom or at least put it nearer the bottom of your list.

[millie]

If it was me I would drop Busch Gardens and Discovery Cove.

My DD loves Epcot and Animal Kingdom and there is no way I would miss those. There is lots to do there now.

Personally I don't like Universal Studios. Islands of Adventure is Ok - at least it looks good. They would be better off knocking US down and starting again form scratch!

Lx

[MarkJan]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by grahamA

1 Walt Disney World
3 Epcot
2 Animal Kingdom
7 Universal Studios
4 IOA
6 Aquatica or the Disney water parks.
8 Busch Gardens
5 Sea World
9 Discovery Cove[/quote]
Looking at your group, for me the order would be as above. For a first trip, get hopper passes for the Disney parks. That way, if you need 1+1/2 days in MK, so be it. Discovery Cove is worth the trip but for a first visit, the kids will be blown away by what they see elsewhere. Save the money. Although Busch Gardens is great, save if for your next trip unless you are also including a time at a Gulf Coast beach. Personal opinion only.

[pbensur]

Considering the 5 year olds, I'd suggest Epcot (my favorite!), Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, SeaWorld. Epcot will be most appreciated if you do that one first. I like Mizzy's idea of sending the 14 year old off with 2 of the adults to do Universal and IOA.

[KarenScott]

Are you the holiday planner, Graham? Its the job that falls to me and although I enjoy it I also feel that I want to get it right for all. I know there is so much to do and you want to ensure that everyone has a good time.
We've yet to do Discovery Cove primarily because my youngest would not have been able to swim with the dolphins so we have waited. You have to be over 6, so if I was you I would wait until next time[msnwink] and there will be once you've been bitten by the Florida bug
Same with Busch Gardens, although not that far away, with just two weeks, I would leave until next time as it would be a long day.
When are you going? Aquatica is new and is planned to be open March 2008. If I was there then, yes I would put that on my must dos. Although, if not on schedule, I would equally go to a Disney water park, our families favourite is Typhoon Lagoon, and I'm sure your 14 year old would love the water rides there plus the "wave".
From other peoples responses you can see the parks are all personal choice and we all have our own favorites for various reasons so it is very hard to know what to suggest. All I would say is ensure you have some relaxing days planned too as otherwise you may forget you are on holiday and take time to chill.

Karen

[grahamA]

Looking at it realistically I think we are a little over ambitious of what we want to fit in.I think Discovery Cove can wait until the girls are atleast 6 so they could swim with the dolphins. I am not sure about dropping Busch Gardens, always wanted to do it for quite a while now so that would be a wrench.
I just want to make sure I do not waste any days lazing around as I do quite a bit of that already, my days off from the park hopefully will be playing golf and shopping, we all want to fit in as much as we can but I suppose once we have been there a few days will realise that we may have to compromise and re-evaluate the itinary.
We are going in Sept next year so still a long way off but everyone is so excited and cannot wait, especially the wife, if what everyone keeps saying about the shopping is true shes planning on only taking one full suitcase and 3 empty ones!

[mizzy]

believe me Graham if you don't spend some time lazing about you'll need another holiday to recover[msneek]

it's common to take empty cases inside others and also seems quite common to buy another whilst over there[msnoo]

i posted this a while ago, being a worrier i thought they would think it suspicious taking empty cases

http://www.orlando-guide.info/forums/topic_36473.asp

[ctgirlscout]

When we first went to Orlando, we did 6 parks in 6 days with four kids, ages 6-15. We followed the advice of a guide book and did Epcot first, which is more educational. Then we did AK, MGM, Universal, SeaWorld and Magic Kingdom, which they recommended saving for last if you had little children in your group. The kids did fine with the schedule, and had a great time!

Teenagers will definitely appreciate Universal and MGM more, as well as IOA.

[Mr G]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by grahamA
Hello Guys, this question has probably been asked a hundred times so I do apologise now. We are coming to Orlando next year and are planning what parks to visit, the following is a list of what we all want to take in, the question is too much and too tiring?
Walt Disney World
Epcot
Animal Kingdom
Universal Studios
IOA
Aquatica
Busch Gardens
Sea World
Discovery Cove

We only have the 2 weeks and if this is going to be too much which ones could we afford to drop.
There are 4 adults and one boy of 14 and two little ladies of 5
thanks
Graham
[/quote]

Graham, it is a busy schedule,and they all have there merits.

I would find it hard to ditch any of these as it is all down to personal favorites.

The problem you have identified is a common one with Florida.... There is so much to do it is very hard to visit everything in two weeks.

I think the best advice is do as much as you can, maybe consider buying non expiry tickets and maybe consider visiting Florida again in the not too distant future.

I think once you have visited Florida you will want to return so don't be too upset if you don't manage everything.

Just remember, on your return, to start planning your next trip to Florida
[msnwink]

[Paula D-S]

Graham, although your itenary will be exhausting it can be done. On our first two visits to Florida we managed to do all the main parks during our two week holiday. We used to think of the water parks as our day off[msnwink]