This is now the time to start planning out each day and which attractions you want to get done, any height restrictions you may need to take in to consideration for your little ones and also trying to keep a bit of time to relax. You’ll need our guide pages on Walt Disney World and Universal to help you out. And of course the WDW and Universal apps and websites will come in handy here as well.
You can’t do it all!
Not wanting to sound like the party pooper but you also need to manage expectations when visiting Orlando theme parks especially if you’re planning a holiday to Walt Disney World. In your 2 week trip you’re not going to be able to get round every attraction (in 10 years of visiting we’ve still not done everything!) so ensure you’ve made a checklist of the attractions which are the most important on your itinerary and get round those. Obviously you know your kids so if you’ve got Disney Princess fans, or they’re crazy about Toy Story then make sure those attractions are at the top of your agenda. You might consider purchasing Genie+ or a Lightning Lane to complete these attractions but it’s not essential with a bit of planning. You can Google ‘Disney World attractions checklist’ to see some good examples.
After a few days at theme parks you will possibly enjoy a change so have a look at Away From The Theme Parks for what else the Orlando area has to offer. If you’re visiting WDW and are planning on spending time at one of the other resorts (Universal, Sea World or Legoland/Peppa Pig World) don’t forget to leave room in you itinerary for these. People will often have a chill day in their itinerary where they will avoid theme parks altogether. Our chill day is usually spent relaxing at a water park (we can’t keep away!). You can chill on the water park sun beds with a book while the kids play in the shallow areas of the wave pool and then blitz a few of the slides later when you’ve got some get up and go again. Or of course spend time at your villa or hotel pool.
From 2022 a 14 day Walt Disney World UK ticket has an 18 day validity. This means that you no longer have to use all 14 days in a row. You can spread the days out a little over 18 days. This is great if like us, you plan on spending a bit more than 2 weeks in Orlando. You can plan 4 days visiting other resorts (Universal, Sea World etc) or the beach, shopping malls or just relax in your villa or by the hotel pool. So, if your first day in the WDW parks is Monday 7th August your ticket will remain valid until Thursday 24th August as long as you’ve had a few days away from the WDW in that time and not swiped through the ticket scanner over 14 calendar days. This is only included in the UK issued WDW tickets. This includes any entry to WDW theme parks and water parks but not Disney Springs as anyone can visit here. Also, you can still park hop to as many parks as you can manage in a day as well.
Here’s what your itinerary might look like:
If you do get a day with heavy rain it might time to find something else to do like bring forward a trip to the mall or perhaps visit an indoor attraction like Madame Tussauds or The Wonderworks on I-Drive although, this means spending extra cash. You can also just try to continue your day and brave it out in the park by donning that poncho or just doing the indoor rides, but most other guests will probably be doing the same so don’t expect the queues to reduce very much! We love a visit to the movies if the rain is unlikely to stop as they are so much better than our UK cinemas.
If you’re really not sure if a ride is likely to be a bit too fast or disorientating and you’re not sure you want to use up a Lightning Lane for it then you can have a look at our YouTube playlist where we’ve compiled a selection of videos of most rides in WDW and Universal Orlando. Most of these will work with VR headsets like the PlayStation VR and VR goggles. Or simply by moving your phone or tablet around you’ll get a great view. The only trouble is it might spoil some of the experience if it’s going to be your first holiday at the Orlando parks.
Take Me To ORLANDO! 