How to plan an Orlando theme park week with kids

How many park days you actually need

Most families arrive in Orlando with more park days booked than they can enjoy. Four ticketed days across a seven-night trip is the sweet spot for children under ten, because it leaves room for a pool morning, a slower afternoon and the inevitable late night after a fireworks show.

Walt Disney World Resort alone holds four theme parks and two water parks, and Universal Orlando Resort adds three gates of its own. Trying to see all of them in one week is how a holiday turns into a march.

A seven-day shape that works

Days one and two

Land, food shop, swim. Give yourselves an easy first evening, then open one park on day two while everyone is still on early body-clock time. Rope drop is genuinely worth it in Orlando, where the first ninety minutes can be worth three hours later on.

Day three, a non-park day

Gatorland and Orlando Science Center both work well here. They cost a fraction of a park ticket, they are quieter, and they break the pattern of queueing that wears younger children out.

Days four to seven

Alternate: park, slow day, park, slow day. If you have booked Discovery Cove, put it on a slow day rather than between two park days, because it is a full day out even though it feels restful.

What to book ahead

• Park tickets and any date-based reservations, as far ahead as you can.
• Discovery Cove, which caps daily attendance and sells out in summer.
• One sit-down meal per park day, so there is a guaranteed air-conditioned hour in the middle of the afternoon.

Good to know

Afternoon thunderstorms are normal from June through September and usually pass within an hour, so ponchos beat leaving the park. Strollers are allowed in every park listed here, and every park on this list has free water refill points, which matters more than it sounds when the heat index sits above 100F.

Check each venue's official site for current hours and prices before you travel, since Orlando park calendars change by season.