They definitely closed Christams Eve and opened on 26th last year.
In my opinion, there are too many rest days in what has been suggested.
Out itinerary for our first trip last year with kids aged 9,7,5 and 4 months was:
Arrival - Walmart for shopping / kids in pool while adults unpack
Day 1 - Magic Kingdom
Day 2 - Seaworld
Day 3 - Wet N Wild (back in villa for 3pm to chill)
Day 4 - Universal Studios
Day 5 - Rest (Magic Kingdom for fireworks in the evening)
Day 6 - Discovery Cove
Day 7 - Gulf of Mexico
Day 8 - Blizzard Beach (back in villa for 3pm to chill)
Day 9 - Islands of Adventure
Day 10 - Rest / Hollywood Studios (stay for Fantasmic)
Day 11 - Busch Gardens
Day 12 - Aquatica / Epcot (stay for Illumi-nations)
Day 13 - Animal Kingdom
Day 14 - Shopping / Airport
We did this easily with not too much tiredness for kids. We have also learnt from last year that we are better staying out at the end of the day and going for dinner, rather than coming back and getting changed to go out for dinner (that really wiped the kids out).
We go next Friday and the itinerary is not that much different (other than staying out to eat).
We figure that if this is the last time we have the chance to go then we don't want to spend it relaxing in the villa when there is so much out there. no you can't do everything in one 2 week holiday but you can give it a good go!
Hope this is of some use to you and have a great time.
Garry Pullan
Garry, thanks for the suggestions - I suspect you are more active than us(!), but I certainly agree that we don't want to feel afterwards that we wasted time. Sounds like you don't count the water parks as "full-on" parks, but are they really more like rest days, or somewhere in-between? I'm not sure how long you can sensibly spend there before kids (ages 5 - 14) start getting bored/cold/tired (depends on the kids I suppose[msnwink]).
Anyway, hope you have a great trip.
Roland
I think a water park day is much more relaxing than a theme park day. I doubt the kids will get bored, getting cold will depend on the weather, the younger ones may get tired but I am always surprised at how kids will find extra reserves of energy when they are having fun.
Lyn
No way the kids whatever their age would get bored! Specially considering it's your first trip to Florida.A lot of people here will tell you that just staying at the villa in the pool is a blast for their kids and they have to drag them out of it to go to the parks .
Unfortunately I don't think you will know how "resistant" your children will be until you get there, but Lyn is true when she says that they tend to find that extra reserve of energy when need be. And you can't really plan on what they will love most, they could surprise you. My kids (11 and 14) would have spent their day at Seaworld sitting by the mantas and petting them, that's something I could not have anticipated .
Now, I don't hear you express concern about YOU getting tired, and I would definitely take that into consideration [msnwink]. Don't forget it's a vacation, and that you won't be able to do everything in one trip anyway.
I still think that 1 day in a park then 1 day out doing something else is a great way to enjoy yourself in Florida without exhausting yourself. By something else I mean National Parks, beach, airboat trips, visit orange groves, gator farm, fishing, Old Kissimmee (the old cars show is cool), Celebration, and so on. You can even do a few hours in a water park on those days.
You're probably getting combo tickets, valid several days, so why don't you release the pressure and play it by ear depending on how you feel? Don't forget you can always order more tickets and get them at the office once in Kissimmee if you feel you're not doing enough.
Whatever you end up doing, I'm sure you'll have great fun. I think you are really putting yourself in the best conditions for a wonderful vacation. And isn't the planning lots of fun and excitement [msnwink][clap].
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Rolmill
Garry, thanks for the suggestions - I suspect you are more active than us(!), but I certainly agree that we don't want to feel afterwards that we wasted time. Sounds like you don't count the water parks as "full-on" parks, but are they really more like rest days, or somewhere in-between? I'm not sure how long you can sensibly spend there before kids (ages 5 - 14) start getting bored/cold/tired (depends on the kids I suppose[msnwink]).
Anyway, hope you have a great trip.
[/quote]No the water parks are definitely more relaxed than say walking around Magic Kingdom. The reason we go back to the villa around 3pm is that we went in October last time and are going next Friday this time so it gets dark/cool in the early evening. If we get to the park for opening then we have a good 4-5 hours in there which for a water park is enough for us.
The only 'full on' days we have are:
Busch Gardens
Gulf of Mexico
Magic Kingdom
Epcot
All the others we find can be done by around 3pm so still get to go back to the villa to relax and recharge the batteries for the next day.
For us we find we don't want to miss anything and basically do every major park and water park along with a day on the beach in the 14 days. Sounds a lot but we do relax and the kids love it. [high5]
Garry Pullan
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