LaraM

My family of four is planning a trip to Disney World at the end of February. After spending too much time agonizing over hotel choices I'm now wondering if we're spending too much time at the theme parks. My children are a newly turned three and six year old. We'll be staying off of the resort using credit card points and will have a rental car. We had originally planned on five days at the parks: two days at the Magic Kingdom, two at Epcot and one at Disney Studios. I'm concerned that two days at Epcot may be too much for small children and that three days at the Magic Kingdom may be too much for me. So, I thought that an overnight at Clearwater might be nice. We land in Orlando at 2pm, go to Clearwater, spend the night and the next day at the beach and get back to Orlando the next evening. In your opinion is this too much? With the temperatures being in the high 60's/low 70's at that time of year I don't anticipate using the hotel pool. Also, my kids don't take naps and our hotel really isn't someplace we would break up the day with by spending "relaxing" time at. I want to maximize our time but also not overdo it. Thank you for helping out!

nytraveler

That seems like a lot of Epcot for little kids. What about Animal Kingdom or Sea world?

Orlando_Vic

The end of February is not beach weather anywhere close to Clearwater. Five days at the parks seems adequate. How many spare days will you have? If you have one day, consider a day trip to Blue Springs State Park (north of Orlando) to see some manatees in their natural habitat. http://www.floridastateparks.org/bluespring/default.cfm

This is a preview of what you will see: http://www.savethemanatee.org/savethemanateecam.html

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Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

LaraM

Thank you for the suggestion of Blue Springs State Park. We are arriving on a Sunday and will be leaving the following Saturday. Originally, we had intended to hit all four Disney parks but on the advice of some family members who said that the Animal Kingdom was only good for a few hours we thought to cross that off our list. Sea World was also thought of, but my children seem to loose interest rapidly looking at animals/fish in cages. - I didn't think we'd go swimming in the ocean if we went to Clearwater, but I thought playing on the beach would be Ok. We're coming from Chicago so any temperature over 50 is going to be like summer. I mainly just didn't want to be at Disney so long that it looses it's magic.

Amy

I've been to Disney with children of that age and, actually, they seemed to really enjoy Animal Kingdom, partly because of its "playground" areas. I know it's a pricy playground, but it does seem to be a more relaxing park.

Epcot has also done a lot to add appeal for the younger set, sometimes involving something as simple as the opportunity to sit and color for a while.

Park hopper passes are of course great for those days when one park is unexpectedly busy/you burn out on too much "It's a Small World"/you're craving some meatballs with lingonberry sauce at the Norway restaurant.

Four days of parks might be a bit better than five in some ways, but then again, the five day ticket isn't much more than the four day one and it means you can do some things on a more leisurely basis.

Dukey1

I suppose what I am about to say will be disdained by some but I think your situation is one in which a stay ON property, specifically at the Yacht and Beach with it's sandy bottom and "beach" pool might have worked (so think about it for the future). The kids would probably have loved it and you would have saved the time, effort, and money of driving in, parking, etc.

I hope your planned trip goes well.

schmerl

Your children would enjoy the shows at Animal Kingdom a lot more than thy will enjoy Epcot.

LaraM

thank you for all of your replies, especially for building up the Animal Kingdom. We've decided to get the five day ticket but with the park hopper option so we can be more flexible if the kids require it.

lelee092

Deff recommend Animal Kingdom! especially the shows! and maybe just one day at Epcot? and if your buying the park hopper, go have a nice dinner at epcot on another day?
Are you planning on spending the whole week in Clearwater? I don't have kids but was born and raised in florida. When my roommate was little her parents used to do is drive up from tampa early in the morning, get to the park when they open (not too crowded, less lines, better fastpasses) do most of the stuff and leave by 3pm or after the 3 oclock parade. you'll just be burned out (literally and physically) by then. And enjoy the evening in downtown Disney or nearby places. Drive back home at night.