Easter holidays - advice requested!

[Rolmill]

Hi, I'm a new member who is taking the family (2 adults, 3 kids aged 14, 12 and 5) for our first ever Orlando holiday next Easter. We're flying out on 3rd April (Easter Saturday) and spending two weeks in Kissimmee. I have a few pretty basic questions:

1. How busy should we expect the various parks to be at that time (the two weeks after Easter) - e.g. does it coincide exactly with US school holidays?

2. If (as I suspect) it is likely to be pretty busy, is it generally better to hit the parks early in the day - or does it not make much difference (or does the recommended strategy vary from park to park)?

3. None of the three kids is very adventurous, so we won't be looking for the mega-exhilarating roller-coasters. I am vaguely intending to spend 2 or 3 days in the Magic Kingdom, and also a day each at Sea World, EPCOT Centre, the Animal Kingdom, Cypress Gardens, and Universal Studios (or Hollywood Studios - are they very different?). With 1 or 2 days at one of the water parks also, this would leave us 3 or 4 days downtime for R&R. It's only a general plan at the moment, but does this look like a practical schedule?

Apologies for length of first post and for seeming (well OK, being) naive - but all suggestions and advice will be gratefully received!

[SDJ]

Hi Rowland and welcome to this great forum where you can ask questions to your hearts content and also do searches as your question may well have been asked before.

You certainly seem to have an action packed plan for your holiday. I think I am correct in saying that you won't be going to Cypress Gardens as it has closed down - unless of course someone buys it and it may be open by then. Universal and Hollywood Studios we find very different but there are more things at Universal if you had to choose.

The parks will be busy, so you could hit the parks early and if you are staying not too far away, you could have a few hours back at your villa/hotel relaxing in the pool, and then return to the park later to watch the parades, fireworks etc. It is advisable to have a day off between each park or you will end up being worn out and in need of a holiday.

You can get excellent value tickets from this site so take a look.

Enjoy your first time visit - I guarantee - you will be back.

Sandra

[steph_goodrum]

I think you'll find Cypress Gardens has closed but you may want to add Busch Gardens and maybe not as many days at Magic Kingdom but Islands of Adventure is worth a look even if the children dont like the huge coasters there's still enough to do.

If any of your youngsters are Harry Potter fans I'm not sure if that will have opened by Easter but would hazard a guess they will be trying to do so to maximise revenue.

[lafifille]

I agree with Sandra. Parks are exhausting, so if you can cut your day in two halves and relax in the middle you'll enjoy it a lot more. If you take combo tickets you can spend that half day break in the water park related to the park you're visiting that day (ex: Seaworld and Aquatica). I think you pay parking ($12!)only once then, but you may want to double check that. Coming and going from the same park is free.
Do plan for one day off in between parks, or you'll need a vacation to recover from your vacation . Trying to do too much you might very well not enjoy it, specially with a 5 years old.
I recommend Blue Springs State Park, which we enjoyed tremendously. You may still see manatees in early April, and lots of other wildlife (yes, gators). You can take a swim too (the water is a constant 73°C).
We also consider our half day deep sea fishing (tickets on the site above) as one of the best day we had.
Then of course you should spend a day on the Gulf.
Airboats trips are fun, specially with kids.
Universal is coupled with Island of Adventures, which means actually two parks. Both are lots of fun.
Seaworld is great too: my children would spend hours just petting the manta rays, and they loved feeding the dolphins.
Have fun!

[Jill]

We took our children to Magic Kingdom when they were younger on Easter Sunday and that year they closed the gates mid to late morning. It was very very busy but worth it as they really enjoyed the Easter parade.

The state parks are definitely worth a visit and the rangers at the Blue Springs state park give talks on the manatees when they are about as it is a manatee refuge.

[Lyn]

You should definately plan a few more peaceful days. Blue Springs is great and a very relaxing day. Sea World offer a free day with there 1 day addmission so you can spread it out and not rush about to much.

[Rolmill]

Many thanks for the replies - especially for the advice re taking plenty of rest days.[msnsmile] Will also try to visit Blue Springs - is it close to Kissimmee?

Lafifille - by a day on the Gulf, do you mean at a beach (if so, any particular recommendations)?

Thanks.

[lafifille]

Beach (Clearwater is very nice, but there are a lot of nice beaches along the coast), shelling, take a boat tour... dolphin-watching on the Sea-Screamer is very popular (although we personnally didn't really think it was worth the expense), and we've seen one of those "pirate" boats too while there. There are really many activities to choose from, or you could spend a day doing nothing[msnwink]: I'm sure the kids would love to just spend a day on the beach [msnwink].
You should take a look at the Gulf Coast forum, you'll find many many ideas.

Blue Springs State Park is about 1 hour drive as far I can remember, but I guess it depends on where you're staying. Easily done as a day trip anyway.

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Rolmill
Many thanks for the replies - especially for the advice re taking plenty of rest days.[msnsmile] Will also try to visit Blue Springs - is it close to Kissimmee?

Lafifille - by a day on the Gulf, do you mean at a beach (if so, any particular recommendations)?

Thanks.
[/quote]

[Rolmill]

Thanks lafifille - you're right, kids and wife all love the beach, I'm the only non sun-worshipper in the family - so I'm always outvoted

[Rolmill]

...and some follow-up questions re Easter Sunday itself:

As we'll have just flown in the previous evening, would it be advisable to treat Easter Sunday as a rest day at the villa and avoid the parks (especially if they are very busy), or would we be missing out on great special parades or shows? I'm not sure how to balance the attractions of any special holiday events against the risk of enduring an over-tired 5 year-old.[msneek]

Also, are all the parks open that day? Jill mentioned the Easter Day parade at Magic Kingdom, but would all the parks put on similar events - and be similarly busy?

It's tempting to spend Sunday recovering from the journey, swimming at the villa, doing the shopping, planning the next couple of weeks - but I'm happy to be persuaded towards a more active first day[msnwink]