How many days should my husband and I spend at Disneyland, Orlando?

Question

My husband and I are planning our "dream holiday" for this coming December. We're from South Africa, Cape Town, and we're going to Orlando, Florida for 2 weeks. I'm at the point where I must book accommodation but I have no idea how long to stay in Florida and do all the theme parks such as Sea World, Universal Studio's etc and how long to stay at Disneyworld Resort? Would it be wise to spend 1 week in Florida and one week at Disney world?

Answer 1

I would spend at least 1 week on the Disney property. The resorts are a destination themselves. I would expect to take a full day each at Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Disney Studios and 2 days at Epcot ( it really is 2 parks in 1). Depending on what else you would like to see and do you may need a few more days. Make dinner reservations well in advance. For Orlando I would say you need 2 days for Universal Studios and 1 for Sea World.

When we planned our trip we used the Unofficial Guide to Disney Worlk and it saved us a lot of time and all of the advice was accurate.

  

Answer 2

The question is not very specific but as far as hotels in each range at disney.  Cheapest would choose POP CENTURY Moderate would choose the Carribbean Beach Resort and Deluxe would recommend the Yacht Club, Beach Club or Boardwalk.  ALong with enjoyable places to say these are in better locations for traveling around the parks - POP CENTURY.

The best centralized location is in the Boardwalk, Yacht and Beach Club area if you stay there its a boat ride to Hollywood Studios and Epcot and a monorail ride from EPCOT to the Magic Kingdom.  Only one you need to get on the bus for is Animal Kingdom.  If you don't want to choose one of these hotels due to price the Carribbean Beach is right accross the street so you will be in the general area.  In that case you can take a bus in the morning to Hollywood studios from the Carribbean and once at Hollywood studios jump on the boat to the other parks as necessary.

Ok if you have never been to Disney you will easily need 2 weeks but if you plan ahead on what you really want to see you can do it in much less such as a week or less.  Go online and list all the attractions and shows etc at each park highlight what you prefer to do and have a plan.  If you don't have a plan you will end up missing half of the things you wanted to do.

There is much to do in Orlando and Sea World, Universal Studios which will also take some time or planning.

I would suggest 7 days at disney, 2 days total for universal and Islands of Adventure and 1 day for Sea World.  Depending on if you are also adding the weekends in your 2 weeks this will give some time to see some other parts of Orlando or go back and see something you really enjoyed.

All planned meals for sit down restaurants on Disney property MAKE RESERVATIONS

Answer 3

If you're not taking kids along, the theme parks will lose it's appeal (lots of the rides are for kiddies).  

You can do Disneyworld in 2 days (1 day for MGM and Magic Kingdom then 1 day for Epcot and Animal Kingdom).  Then u can do 1 day for Universal (morning at Universal studios and afternoon at Isle of Adventures where all the cool rollercoasters are).

Seriously, accommodation is expensive so rather maximise your time by doing 5 days max in Orlando and then hire a car and take a leisurely drive down to Miami for a few days (try and get accommodation in South Beach).  On the way there you can stop and check out Kennedy Space Centre, Palm Beach, etc (the drive is like 4 hours so plenty of time for stops).

I'm from South Africa and spent 2 full days in Orlando where we squeezed in Magic Kingdom, MGM, Universal and Isle of Adventures and then did the drive to Miami - it was awesome.  In Orlando we stayed at Parc Corniche which is on the I-ride route (bus/trolley service which will take you to wherever you need to go).

For more info, go to www.tripadvisor.com

Answer 4

For Disney World itself I suggest--including breaks--8 nights and 9 days.  That leaves you--barely!! enough time for the other great Orlando attractions.

See this page on how long to stay at Disney World: http://yourfirstvisit.net/planning-your-...  

(The same website has guidance on all the other Disney-related parts of your trip as well!!!)

Hope this helps and have a great trip!! Dave

Answer 5

it depends on what you want to see in disney world

you can't see everything in a week

Answer 6

Hun, please do a little more research before you book anything.  Disney World is in Orlando, Florida.  Disneyland is in California.  So, you are asking if you should stay 1 week in FL and 1 week in WDW which doesn't make much sense, since WDW is in FL.  

Now, Universal and Sea World are close to WDW.  You can stay on WDW and drive to the other parks, or stay off property and have to drive to the other parks and to the Disney parks.  Considering that you are flying in from Africa and won't have your own transportation I would stay on Disney property.  That way at least all of your Disney transportation is free and convenient.  

You should call for reservations soon... December isn't very far away and depending on when you want to go, they may be booked already.  Make sure you can get flights for that time too.

Check out www.allears.net for more information, including pictures of the hotels, parks, and restaurants.  You can also find menus and food prices on there for the Disney restaurants.  

Have fun!

Answer 7

Well with Universal there are two theme parks, each is worth one day alone.  Then there are a bunch of theme parks over in Disney.  Depending on what you like, there is Magic Kingdom, thats a day, Epcot is really cool, and thats also a day there, and if you like rides, MGM has a couple really cool rides and Animal Kingdom and Sea World thats also a day. I would rather go to Sea World though.  You can head out to the beach, there is Daytona and Coco Beach approx 1hr travel and Cape Canveral as well, which is an hour.  That is on the east coast of FL.

Or if you want to stay away from tourists, you can to Tampa, FL and visit Busch Gardens which has it all, animals, water rides and roller coasters and shows. And there are plenty of beachs in this area as well, lik St Pete Beach, Indian Rocks, Clearwater Beach, they are all connected by one road and they are all about a 30min drive along one road which escapes me right now.  I would think that one week disney would work...  Universal and Islands of Adventure, Magic Kindom, Sea World, Epcot, and then rest of the time you can visit the areas like Coco Beach and Daytona, and if you have time, a trip to St. Augustine, oldest city in America and the oldest school house, too!

Answer 8

as far as disney world goes i would recommend 3 of the 4 parks.

i'd skip disneys animal kingdom cuz its basically a glorified zoo with a few rides. and the animals hide in there sheltered area so you can't see them well. and the expedition everest ride really isn't as great as everyone thinks it is. the park is really quite babyish. my 8 year old niece even felt like she was too old for the park.

i personally wouldn't waste the time and money to go there.

i would recommend the other 3 parks though.

magic kingdom

hollywood studios

epcot.

i'd spend:

2 days at magic kingdom

1 day at hollywood studios

2 days at epcot.

1 day to relax at the pool and go to downtown disney to shop and eat.

so there is 6 days at disney world.

then i would spend:

1 day sea world.

1 day universal studios

1 day universal's islands of adventure

and the rest of the days do as you please.  

Answer 9

I would say you can do Universal and Islands of Adventure in 2 days, and 1 for seaworld, and I am not sure if you intend on visiting Aquatica as well, but Disney you will need at least 4 or 5. You can easily spend 1 full day at magic kingdom, 1 full day at mgm, and split the rest between animal kingdom, epcot, and any water parks.

I suggest staying at a disney resort, at least while visiting the disney theme parks. Not only are all of the perks worth it but is convenient and easy. The best value resort is Pop Century, and my favorite Moderate resorts are port orleans french quarter and caribbean beach resort. and depending on how much you are looking to spend, they also offer deluxe resort options and villas.

-As for disney tickets, i suggest you add the park hopper option so you can visit any park at any time.

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/ind...

Depending on your transportation options, if you are going to get a hotel outside of disney for some of your stay, make sure you pick 1 that has a complimentary shuttle the the parks, and even on the iride trolley route. (the trolley is cheap transportation around the international drive area)

http://www.iridetrolley.com/

Universal is offering discount tickets if you purchase in advance, online.

I can also offer a discounted ticket of 89.99/per ticket for 1 week unlimited admission to universal and islands of adventure, which is $25 off the gate price.

http://www.universalorlando.com/tickets....

They also offer different flex ticket options to include universal, islands of adventure, seaworld, aquatica, discovery cove, and busch gardens. Either way buy your tickets online in advance, you can get child price tickets for adults that way.

http://seaworld.com/Tickets/Visitors.asp...

if you want any more info, i am a travel agent, email me directly or visit:

http://www.kellystraveltrips.piczo.com

Answer 10

Disney World IS in Orlando, which is Florida, so don't know exactly what you mean.    You can see all the parks in the central florida area in one week.   Maybe go over to Daytona Beach some too. (about 1 hours drive away)    I am from that area, I lived there for many years.     There are alot of things to do.   Try and also go to Cape Canaveral, which is about 1 hour drive away.   There are so many things to see in that central area.   When you get there, there will be brocures of everything to do, then you will see where exactly you want to go.    I know that you will have fun though.    Even Tampa is about 1 1/2 hours drive away too and there are zoo's and alot of things over there too!     Enjoy your trip.

Answer 11

Florida can get very exspenive. It took me 2 days to do everything at Universal Studio's so add 2 days for disney world, one for Sea World. So I would just stay at Disney world you could probably take the shuttles(transportation) to go where you need to. Since your going to in Dec. another place I would suggest is Pigeon Forge, TN they have a theme park there called Dolly Wood and if you celebrate christmas than you might like it. They have christmas light shows and other festivites. Just type in Dolly Wood in the Yahoo search bar and click on the web site. They have all the info on there about it. I hope ya'll have a great time.