Magic Kingdom
The classics. Castle, parade, fireworks, and the day the little ones came for.
DirectionsOne park is a day
Theme Parks
Disney, Universal, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, the smaller gates, and the water parks, from the middle of The Villages. Tickets, parking, and which water park is open all change. The park’s own site is the one that knows about tomorrow.
Walt Disney WorldUniversal OrlandoSeaWorld, Discovery Cove, and Busch GardensSmaller parksWater parksBefore you rollWhen to leaveWhich parkGrandkidsTicketsCrowdsScooters and benchesDinnerPackingStormsPhotos
Walt Disney WorldFour ticketed parks and a free downtown. One gate is a full day.
Universal OrlandoThree theme parks now, plus a water park. Epic Universe is its own gate.
SeaWorld, Discovery Cove, and Busch GardensAnimals and coasters. Mornings are when the animals are doing anything.
Smaller parksThe gates that do not need a strategy meeting.
Water parksSlides close when the thunder starts. Have dry clothes in the car.
Before you rollThe part that keeps a good park from becoming a bad story.
When the grandkids are actually here
Most of these days happen because someone small is visiting. One park. Leave in the morning. The golf cart stays home. There is no cart path at the castle.
About 1 hour 30 minutes, clear road, from the middle of The Villages. A small cushion. Maps still win the morning of. Plus 25 minutes for the parking lot and the tram. Plan on about 2 hours 10 minutes.
Add the date and the leave-by line will show up.
What the day is actually for
Disney for the classics. Universal for the movies and the coasters. SeaWorld for a seat and an animal. Busch Gardens when the taller kids want Tampa.
Universal Orlando
Movies and coasters. Read whether the ticket is one park, park-to-park, or Epic Universe. Those are not the same gate.
Directions
Busch Gardens Tampa
Animals in the morning and coasters for the taller grandkids. One Tampa park. Not also a water park.
DirectionsBuild the day around the kids
Ages first. Interests second. A second park is how a good morning becomes a congressional hearing in the car.
Magic Kingdom or LEGOLAND. A few bigger rides if they clear the height line, which you look up the night before. A show is the air-conditioned treaty.
Splitting one day between two parks only works when the ticket says hopper or park-to-park, and even then the second gate is a maybe. Height rules are posted at the ride. They do not bend for a birthday. Rider switch, where a park offers it, lets two adults take turns without leaving a small child alone. Look that up on the park’s site the week you go.
Tickets, passes, and whether this year is the year
Prices move. Parking is usually extra. The number on a blog is how people arrive at a turnstile with the wrong barcode. The park’s own site is the price.
Magic Kingdom
A day ticket is the grandkid visit. An annual pass is for the neighbor who goes again after the children leave. Both are sold on the park’s site, and Florida-resident offers show up there when the park feels like it. This page will not invent today’s number.
Current ticketsUniversal Orlando
A day ticket is the grandkid visit. An annual pass is for the neighbor who goes again after the children leave. Both are sold on the park’s site, and Florida-resident offers show up there when the park feels like it. This page will not invent today’s number.
Current ticketsSeaWorld Orlando
A day ticket is the grandkid visit. An annual pass is for the neighbor who goes again after the children leave. Both are sold on the park’s site, and Florida-resident offers show up there when the park feels like it. This page will not invent today’s number.
Current ticketsBusch Gardens Tampa
A day ticket is the grandkid visit. An annual pass is for the neighbor who goes again after the children leave. Both are sold on the park’s site, and Florida-resident offers show up there when the park feels like it. This page will not invent today’s number.
Current ticketsLEGOLAND Florida
A day ticket is the grandkid visit. An annual pass is for the neighbor who goes again after the children leave. Both are sold on the park’s site, and Florida-resident offers show up there when the park feels like it. This page will not invent today’s number.
Current ticketsIs it worth it this year?
If the grandkids are here for two days, buy two day tickets and stop doing math. If you are the one who goes every month whether or not a child is attached, look at that park’s annual pass on its own site and count the trips you will really take. A pass you use twice is a souvenir. A hopper ticket on a 95-degree day is how someone cries in a parking tram. AAA, Costco, or Sam’s only count if you already belong and the price is the real one.
When the park is full of other people’s grandkids
These are the usual weeks, not a live wait-time board. Holidays ignore the polite days.
Magic Kingdom
Weekends and school holidays are the heavy days. Tuesday through Thursday is often kinder outside those weeks. Be at the rope when it drops.
Early entry only counts when your ticket or hotel says you have it. Disney’s paid way to hold a ride time changes its name and its price. Read it in the park’s app the week you go. The big rides are a morning errand.
Universal Orlando
Saturdays fill first. A weekday morning is the kind hour. The big rides are a morning job, not a 3 p.m. idea.
Early entry only counts when your ticket or hotel says you have it. Disney’s paid way to hold a ride time changes its name and its price. Read it in the park’s app the week you go. The big rides are a morning errand.
SeaWorld Orlando
Weekends are busier. Weekday morning is when the animals and the group are both awake.
Early entry only counts when your ticket or hotel says you have it. Disney’s paid way to hold a ride time changes its name and its price. Read it in the park’s app the week you go. The big rides are a morning errand.
Busch Gardens Tampa
Weekends draw Tampa and The Villages at once. Morning for the animals and the big rides. Afternoon is heat.
Early entry only counts when your ticket or hotel says you have it. Disney’s paid way to hold a ride time changes its name and its price. Read it in the park’s app the week you go. The big rides are a morning errand.
LEGOLAND Florida
School holidays and Saturdays. A Tuesday with five-year-olds is the version that still feels like a park and not a parking lot.
Early entry only counts when your ticket or hotel says you have it. Disney’s paid way to hold a ride time changes its name and its price. Read it in the park’s app the week you go. The big rides are a morning errand.
Knees, scooters, and the good bench
A scooter is a tool. The big parks rent wheelchairs and scooters on site. The disability pass each company offers has changed more than once. Read this year’s rule on that park’s site.
Magic Kingdom
Rent a wheelchair or scooter at the park. Main Street has benches. The lands are a lot of walking between them. Shows and the boat rides are the shaded breaks.
Universal Orlando
CityWalk is the flat dinner street and does not need a park ticket. Inside the parks, rent the scooter at guest services and ask which rides let it roll up to the line.
SeaWorld Orlando
The shows are the benches. Rent a chair at the park if the day is long. Outdoor queues still happen. A hat is not optional.
Busch Gardens Tampa
The animal paths are pretty and long. Rent the scooter early. Shade is better before lunch. The coasters can wait until someone else is holding the snacks.
LEGOLAND Florida
Shorter day, still a lot of sun. Benches by the shows. The water park next door is a second ticket and a second set of wet clothes.
Feed the troops
Dinner next to the gate is Disney Springs or CityWalk, already on this page, and neither needs a second theme-park ticket. Dinner back in The Villages is the Dining list. The drive home is the same drive you already survived.
Cody's Original Roadhouse
Burgers and a booth that can absorb a damp grandchild.
On the Dining pageCity Fire
A square dinner when the car is finally back in town.
On the Dining pageJohnny Rockets
The kids already know the menu. That is a gift.
On the Dining pageR.J. Gator's
Casual, loud enough that a meltdown does not echo.
On the Dining pagePortillo's
Hot dogs and cake shakes for a big, tired table.
On the Dining page4 Rivers Smokehouse
A line, then a lot of food. Good when nobody wants a white tablecloth.
On the Dining pageFiesta Grande
Chips on the table before anyone argues about the day.
On the Dining pageWhat to pack for a Florida park day
The sun is not a suggestion. Neither is the thunderstorm that shows up after lunch like it was invited.
Comfortable shoes means shoes you have walked in. A new pair debuts as a blister. Medications stay with you. The change of clothes is for the child who met a fountain, a splash pad, or their own drink. Put the ticket on the phone and take a screenshot before you lose signal in the parking garage.
Lightning will close the pretty rides
Outdoor rides and every water slide stop when thunder is close. This is the hurricane center’s current Atlantic list, plus the ordinary afternoon storm that does not get a name.
Checking the hurricane center…
National Hurricane CenterProof the grandkids were here
Hang the photo, name the park, and skip the algorithm. Maximum chaos is the house style.
Walt Disney World
Four ticketed parks and a free downtown. One gate is a full day.
Universal Orlando
Three theme parks now, plus a water park. Epic Universe is its own gate.
SeaWorld, Discovery Cove, and Busch Gardens
Animals and coasters. Mornings are when the animals are doing anything.
Smaller parks
The gates that do not need a strategy meeting.
Water parks
Slides close when the thunder starts. Have dry clothes in the car.
Before you roll
The part that keeps a good park from becoming a bad story.
