Orlando With Kids Without Losing Your Mind: The Plan I Give Every Family

Orlando is the trip every American child asks for and the one that exhausts every parent who does it without a plan. Here is the plan I give families, and it works.

Five nights. Stay on property at one of the resorts, because the early park entry, the transport and the walk back to the pool at two in the afternoon are worth the price once. Off property is cheaper and it is the right call for a second trip.

One park a day, and the park opens early for hotel guests. Be at the gate for it. Ride the two big things first before the lines build, then the shows and the slow rides, then back to the hotel for the pool from two to five. Back into the park at six for dinner, the parade and the fireworks. The kids who rest in the afternoon are the kids who are still smiling at nine.

Which parks

Magic Kingdom on day one, because it is the one they picture. The animal park on day two, with the safari at opening. Then the movie park or the studios, then a rest day with the water park, then the last big one. Universal is a separate trip or the last two days, and the Wizarding World is worth it for anyone who has read the books.

The space center at Cape Canaveral is an hour east and it is the day out that has nothing to do with a cartoon. A rocket garden, the shuttle Atlantis hanging in a building, a bus tour to the launch pads, and if the dates line up, a launch. Do it on the way to the airport on the last day.

Reservations for the character meals a month out, the reservation app before the flight, a stroller for anyone under seven, a refillable water bottle each, and a budget for the one souvenir per child that is agreed before the gate. Then let them have it.

Planning United States with kids? Start with the full United States family travel guide, or send me the ages and the dates and I will come back with what is really available.