1st visit disney/orlando
 

visiting disney area late March for 7 days. 2 seniors, 2 four year old twin boys and their parents. staying Westgate Town Center in Kissimmee
any ideas on what would be best venue(s) for twins and for how long at each? what about exhibits within the venues? ticket options are overwhelming. do we buy at park... thru the resort... ..on the way down (seniors are driving).... or online at site such as undercovertourist.
Also, any suggestions on other area attractions for kids & their parents and seperately for healthy seniors in early 60's.

I realize I'm asking a lot here but would appreciate any input you can give.
Thanks/Mike K.

4 year olds will enjoy Magic Kingdom and Sea World. Both have attractions that appeal to all ages.

For all things Disney (particularly ticket options), try the disboards or allearsnet websites.

What are your interests? Theme parks, nature/wildlife, art, golf, shopping? If you let us know we can guide you to what appeals to you.

Seniors tend to really like Epcot--but 4 year olds may be bored there. Magic Kingdom is loved by all, 4-99 yrs old. Animal Kingdom is fun for all ages if the individuals love wild animals. The water parks are great for older kids. 4 is too young. It almost doesn't matter where you buy Park tickets, because there are hardly ever any discounts on them. But you might want to consider getting the Park Hopper tickets----they allow you to go to more than one park in one day. Four year olds will get very tired after miles of walking so plan on naps back at the hotel (maybe seniors too :).

There aren't a lot of savings to be had, but you save a little by buying from undercovertourist.com. If you go to mousesavers.com and sign up for the monthly newsletter, you can get an extra discount from undercovertourist.

mousesavers.com was really helpful when I planned a family trip to Orlando a few years ago. Lots of tips for all apsects of the journey.

The site you want for all things Disney is www.disboards.com. Speaking as a veteran of 4 year old twins + older brother, don’t waste your money on the Parkhopper option. It is a lot of parking and walking to get out of one park and into another on the same day. We also never made the afternoon break back at the hotel work either. We found that the following pacing worked for us, and all three of my kids were “high maintenance”. Be at the park 10 minutes before it opens. The best 3 hours of the day are the first thing in the morning. We would make one loop around the park, (kind of in commando mode), getting a ride on all of the things that tend to have long lines. By the end of that the kids would be getting antsy from all the activity. It would be time for lunch, and then we would find one of the playground type areas and just let them run around. As much as they enjoyed the rides, after riding in strollers and sitting on rides, they needed to just play. Then we would take a slower walk around the park and let them look at whatever they or we wanted to, maybe do a few smaller rides. If they were still pretty happy, we would eat dinner in the parks. Otherwise, we would leave between 3 and 5 o’clock. We usually let them play in the pool in the evening after dinner. We never pushed them once they were tired, we went back to the hotel. Then we would put them to bed pretty early, like 8 or 8:30. I see plenty of parents wheeling the kids out of the park at 10 o’clock at night, but my kids needed a good long sleep to enjoy the day.

Thanks to all for your helpful info.
Note to 321go et al: My wife & I plan to go to parks just one day with the kids. After that, in no particular order, we like nature & vistas, back road drives. people watching and a good meal. We would also be interested in a good comedy club or a 60's bar/club.

Regards/Mike K.

To hop from one park to another, you don't need to use your car. Just get on the shuttle buses. For nature, you would like the Animal Kingdom. For an international flair, most adults like Epcot ( if you go there, don't miss the Soarin' ride. It's fabulous.) Epcot also has many fine restaurants with cuisine from various countries. For adult night time activities, check out Downtown Disney. The night time fireworks shows at Magic Kingdom and Epcot are both fantastic. Also, it's fun to visit the highend Disney resorts that are easily reached on the Monorail.
Have fun!

Nature and vistas we've got!

Wekiva Springs: http://www.floridastateparks.org/WekiwaSprings/
Bok Tower Gardens: http://www.boktowergardens.org/
Forever Florida (ziplines, eco-safaris, trail rides): http://www.foreverflorida.com/
Airboat rides: http://www.bcairboats.com/index.shtml

And over on the coast:
Merritt Island Nat'l Wildlife Refuge: http://www.fws.gov/merrittisland/
Beautiful beaches at Canaveral Nat'l Seashore: http://www.nps.gov/cana/index.htm

disney in march is good, the tempetures are cooler.
all ages enjoy disney,epcot,animal kingdom and the disney water park, the fireworks at closing are great.
if you get a chance take an airboat ride in the kissimee
area. food in disney are pricey, but trying to go outside
to eat is a real hassle.
enjoy your trip.

You guys are great! Thanks/

You should really add more than one day at Disney. The Magic Kingdom really needs two days and the adults would enjoy Epcot a lot. Definitely buy your tickets from AAA. You get a parking pass from them and it allows you to park right next to handicapped parking. Makes life much easier.

Just came back from Disney with a 4.5 year old and a two year old.

They enjoyed the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom - I'd skip EPCOT & Hollywood Studios.

I agree that the Magic Kingdom needs at least two days ot exploring, the Animal Kingdom is a small park that is meant to be enjoyed at a slower pace.

Echoing what zlaor said: Skip EPCOT and go with Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. Minimum of one day in each of the two parks, specially if you leave by mid or late afternoon. If you want to go back to one of the parks for a second day, maybe the seniors can go to EPCOT. After multiple visits, EPCOT's Future World got really old (except for one fast ride for the teens), but we enjoyed eating at the two restaurants in France (at the World Showcase) and watching the Japan's drummers perform.

Regarding Sea World, when my kids were younger, they loved the shows the most.

If the seniors can baby sit, maybe you can enjoy Downtown Disney's night life for a fun change of pace.

Get the twins their own Disney autograph books so they can ask their favorite Disney characters for their autographs while you furiously take pictures of them doing so.

If the twins can stand to have one late night, wait for the fireworks. Our favorite place is in EPCOT (I know I just wrote that kids won't like EPCOT, but...) - we would wait for the fireworks at the World Showcase by the country that's closest to the exit. That way, we always had a head start in the mad rush to leave the park after the fireworks.