I would try to visit all 4 parks at least once while you are there. You might want to consider buying a park hopper ticket so that you can visit more than one park per day. Our familes must-do's at each park are: MK-Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, It's a Small World, Buzz Lightyear, Jungle Cruise, Dumbo, as well as the parades and fireworks; EPCOT-Soarin, Test Track, Nemo, walking around the countries, and Illuminations; HS-Toy Story Mania, Beauty and the Beast, and Fantasmic(Tower of Terror and Rockin Roller Coaster if you like thrill rides); AK-safari, Expedition Everest, Lion King show. There is a lot more than just these attractions to do at each park-these are just our favorites. Make sure that you make good use of fastpass plus since you won't be there for long.

Can you tell me a little more about you and your boyfriend? What kinds of foods do you enjoy? Do you like thrill rides, shows, slow-moving attractions, etc? I have some great recommendations, but want to be sure I am giving you info you can actually use!

Hello,

Thank you kindly for taking the time to reply - i appreciate it!

As per your information we are thinking of doing the following -

Day 1 - Magic Kingdom all day. Downtown Disney Evening

Day 2 - Epcot + Water Park all day. Downtown Disney Evening

Day 3 - Animal Kingdom all day. Magic Kingdom in the evening for fireworks?

Day 4 - Hollywood studios all day. Down town Disney evening?

How does that sound as a basic itinerary? Should we go somewhere else in the evening other than Downtown Disney? Are there fireworks every night at the Magic Kingdom?

To give a bit of background - My BF has been Disney before, however its my first time in Disney and I've always wanted to go since I was a child! I'm approaching 30 and we thought what better way to celebrate than Disney! I'm excited but quite overwhelmed with all the information on the site etc! To maybe help with the advice on "things to do" Disney Princesses are my favorite so I guess anything that involves something princessy would be nice to do! I see you can have dinner in the Beauty and the Beast ballroom (Be our Guest restaurant) - things like that is what I am so interested in! Ariel's grotto too! Haha I feel like such a child!

We both love our food so good restaurants would be on our list. Something romantic to do/see in the evening? Fireworks? A Disney princess show?! Anything to do with Ariel, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin!

If anyone could give me any additional advice that would be fantastic!

Thank you!

Lisa

Very excited soon to be 30 year old!!

Lisa,

Just realize you'll be visiting in July which is very, very hot, humid, and rainy in central Florida. You'll need to go at a slower pace during the heat of the day, and even early morning and later in the evenings can be rough on the heat and humidity. You won't be used to it being from London, so just take care that you don't overdo.

Now, as for your schedule, don't "set in stone" what days you visit what parks until you look at the calendar for the days you'll be there. You didn't mention specific dates you'll be visiting, but if you are not staying at a Disney resort during your visit, you'll want to avoid the parks having Extra Magic Hours for the Disney resort folks, as these parks will be more crowded due to that fact on those specific days. Also, you want to avoid Magic Kingdom on Mondays if possible.

Here's a link to the calendar for the parks; check each park to see what days EMH is and is not occuring for the Disney guests.

http://www.wdwmagic.com/calendar.htm

I would not attempt to do Epcot and a water park on the same day either. Epcot is the largest park in foot-traffic territory and you need a full day there to give it justice to see both Future World and the World Showcase area.

If you simply must combine a day at a water park with a day at a theme park, do so on either your Hollywood Studios day or your Animal Kingdom day instead. Personally, because of the threat of bad/stormy weather every single day in July, I wouldn't bother with a water park unless you can go to it first thing in the morning and leave before the storms in the afternoon begin.

Yes, during July, fireworks are done every night at Magic Kingdom...and Epcot...and the Fantasmic show at Disney Hollywood Studios, and all these shows are worth the effort to see. Why not just stay in the parks and see them rather than leaving to go elsewhere in the evening hours. Then, if the rain sets in and it appears they won't be done, then you can go to DTD or elsewhere.

Do you have your park tickets already bought yet? If so, you need to set up a My Disney Experience account on the WDW website and scheudule your Fast Pass+ selections for the days you'll be visiting each park. Now, if you don't yet know what days you'll go to what parks based on the calendar I gave above, it might be wise to begin planning. July is very, very crowded and FP+ is a necessity for many of the major attractions if you don't want a 2-hour wait or more.

Hope this info will help you a little. Visiting Disney World isn't a trip you can just "wing it" and still get it all done in only four days. You really need a plan and an efficient one at that.

You cant miss Magic Kingdom (its the most magical!)

Thank you so much Kat_Cubs_fan for your detailed reply - it helps so much!

Yes - unfortunately we are going mid July (we didn't have a choice in that) and I am expecting it to be unbearable! I'm hoping if like you said we get to the parks early morning and then go somewhere inside for lunch, late afternoon inside for when its raining and then back out in the evening, hopefully that will work out ok!

We are staying at the Holiday Inn Buena Vista Resort from 21st July to the 26th July.

What are Extra Magic Hours? Does it just mean an hour extra that people can get in? Thank you, tips like that are great - We'll avoid Magic Kingdom on Monday!

Thank you for the link - thats so useful!

Wow didnt know EPCOT was the largest of parks - thank you so much for this information. Well do Hollywood studios and a water park on the same day. Would you suggest water park in the morning, then inside for lunch or hotel at 1pm (when its too hot) then off to Hollywood studios at around 4pm? May catch a shower but well have our ponchos!

Cant wait to see the fireworks! Glad they are on every evening! It is the same for the parades?

We are booking them this weekend. Do they get sent to us via post? We have heard about Fast Pass + but I'm confused, do you book a time that you will be in the queue for? Like, do you say, I want to go on this ride at 3pm... what if you are 5 minutes late? What if other people have booked the same time and theres a large queue? I'm not too sure how it works.

Thank you for all your tips and info, its been so very useful having someone talk and explain things - when I read things on website I cant get my head around them, so really, thank you.

Lisa

Lisa,

Extra Magic Hours are just that...extra hours in the parks for Disney resort guests only. Non-Disney resort guests cannot be in the parks during those hours, hence the reason you should avoid parks with EMH since you won't be a Disney guest.

Yes, the Electric Light parade at Magic Kingdom and the Electric Water Pageant parade on Seven Seas Lagoon are normally done each evening in July, so you should be able to see them.

You'll need to get your tickets from Disney before you can book Fast Pass+. FP+ is a "reserved" time to do certain attractions so that you can have a very short wait instead of the long stand-by que line. Please find my Fast Pass+ Thesis post to find all the info on it. You get an hour's window to come to do the ride, but only during that hour with just a short few minutes leeway. The whole purpose for booking FP+ is so you can avoid a long line at that particular attraction, but you only get to do 3 per day ahead of time.

In the upper righthand corner of this page is a list of "Top Questions" and in that list is one labeled "How Does Fast Pass+ Work" so just click on it and follow the link to my "Thesis" I wrote on it and that will explain everything.

If you still don't understand, send me a private message and I'll try to explain further.

Hi Kat_Cubs_fan,

Thank you again for your reply.

I have checked the post about FP+ tickets and that all makes sense to me, thank you so very much!

Just a quick query - If we wanted to visit Magic Kingdom in the morning, then go back to our hotel in the afternoon when it gets too hot and then return again in the late afternoon are you allowed to do this?

We are either thinking of buying from the official website this ticket -

disneyholidays.co.uk/walt-disney-world/… (unlimited 9 day ticket, as it wont allow us to just book 5 days)

or

from The undercover tourist, this ticket - https:/…

Are they pretty much the same tickets?

Are we buying the most cost effective tickets for the amount of time we have there? For example if we booked just base tickets with undercover tourist and then if we decide to go to a water park one day for a couple of hours and pay there, would that be cheaper to do?

I look forward to your reply.

Best wishes

Lisa

Lisa,

If you don't have park hopper tickets (you pay extra for this privledge), yes, you can leave a theme park for a while, then return to that SAME theme park later in the day/evening if you wish. If you thought about leaving one park then returning late to a DIFFERENT park, that's when you'd need park-hopper option on your tickets, but you can always return to the same park.

As for buying Disney tickets, if you would like to use Undercover Tourist, they are an official ticket broker and do sell the exact tickets you need, so that would be fine. I've used them several times myself and have always been very happy with their service and prices. Buying direct from Disney would also work as you get actual tickets and can use those numbers to set up your MDE account.

The "water parks and more" option is only cost-effective if you use it more than once, so if you think you would only visit a water park once and not use any of the other "options" the pass is good for, then just buy the water park tickets "on site" and forego the option on your theme park tickets.

Any other questions? I'm glad to assist.