Dave Schiffour

Next week the family and I are headed to Florida with THREE days in ORLANDO....

DAYS - TUES WED THURS (going back to West Palm thursday night.

Parks we want to see: Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Universal Studios, and then the Universal Park with the roller coasters...

Any advice on how to stuff 20 lbs into a 10 lb. sack?? (in other words... which parks on which days for maximum time utilization?))

thanks everyone!

Sal

Of the 3 parks you've listed, give yourself the most time at Animal Kingdom. I think the lines there are the longest. Epcot shouldn't be bad, accept for the race track. You probably want to head there early. Then go straight to the countries as most people do the attractions at the front of the park first. You may have to make a choice between the Universal Parks. Universal has the King Kong, Jaws, earthquake etc. The lines can be very long. Islands of Adventure (roller coasters) keeps its crowds moving pretty well. Fortunately, you'll be there off-season and on a weekday, so lines at all four should be shorter in general.

Penny

Dave,

How old are the children, what are your family's interests, and where are you staying?

My initial reaction is to suggest that you go just to Disney and save Universal for another trip.

Depending on your children's ages and interests, you might want to cut short on Epcot. The sheer size of the park, as well as the limited number of attractions for young children, might make it prohibitive if your children are small.

MGM is fairly small and easy to manage in less than a day.

If you give us more information, perhaps we can help you better . . . .

Joanne

My suggestion is to get to the Animal Kingdon when they first open. The lines won't be long and the safari ride is much better at that time. You can finish Animal Kingdom in a little over half the day and then I would suggest going over to Epcot. Epcot is open until 9pm or so.

ilisa

I would suggest limiting your trip to just the Disney parks given your time frame. Whenevery we have gone to Animal Kingdom, we've only needed a 1/2 day each time. I have found that the lines move fairly fast, and now, you can get the Fastpass for both the Safari and the Kali River Rapids which are the most popular rides. I also found that MGM takes only about 1/2 a day. The thing to remember about Epcot is that World Showcase (the countries) opens two hours later that Future World. It usually opens at 11:00am. Your children just may like World Showcase. If they are younger, buy them "passports." At each country, a cast member will stamp them and sign a greeting in his or her native language. Each country also has a kidstop where children have a chance to do crafts with a cast member. You must see the Tapestry of Nations parade - it's fabulous. My personal favorite of the parks is the Magic Kingdom. Some people will disagree with me, but I believe you should plan on spending at least a full day there. It truly is the essence of the Disney experience. I'm planning my 19th trip now, and have also done whirlwind trips to Disney (though I hope those days are behind me), so let me know if you have any more questions. Have fun!

Cindy

Dave, sounds like a great time to me. You've received good advice so far, so I'll only add that I really enjoyed the book "The Unofficial Guide to WDW" by Bob Schessinger (sp?). It really gave a realistic feeling for the various parks, which should help you pare down your list from 4 parks to 3. We found it was tough to do more than one park in a day. Yes, you can hit the gate at the crack of dawn, race around and then go to another park. But there are inevitable delays, and we found it took quite a while to move from one park to another. Anyway, have fun in the sun!

Lily

Hi Dave. I agree with all of the above! My point is that all suggestions above are great depending on your personal needs and likes.

My husband and I recently spent a whole day at Animal Kingdom, it's really a nice place to just stroll around! However, our 14 year old daughter who ran around with 6 of her high school band friends spent only 3 hours there - the same day! The band actually enjoyed Epcot much more!

Have fun!