It’s not actually 100 miles. The first Disney exit off I-4 is 64 miles from downtown Tampa, and Busch Gardens is about 10 miles north of downtown. So it’s more like 75ish. It’s not an easy 75 miles, either, and it seems to get busier every day.
Epcot really isn’t bad for kids. There are a couple of mild thrill rides (Soarin and Test Track) plus Mission:Space. The countries have a lot of entertainment going on that the kids enjoy (Japanese drummers and Chinese acrobats are favorites). They have the thing where the kids make a paper mask - going around World Showcase to get it stamped - my kids thought that was great at five and six.
MGM is a strange park. There are a couple big thrill rides my 7 and 8 year old won’t ride yet (others do, but the height limit for Rockin Rollercoaster is pretty tall) - Rockin Rollercoaster and Tower of Terror. Star Tours is worth a ride - its pretty mild. Then its shows - from preschool shows to the car stunt show to Fantasmic. It can be a difficult park to feel like you’ve done something in - its all about timing the shows - which are quite spread out.
Animal Kindom - I’m a sucker for the Safari Ride. We enjoy doing the trails in the mornings. Festival of the Lion King is like a mini (and free) Cirque show (not quite as good, but its good). The kids love the dinosaur dig site.
Magic Kingdom is about the classics - Pirates of the Carribean and Haunted Mansion.
Most underrated Disney ride: Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. It’s goofy and a lot of fun. Last I was there, it was easy to get into.
MGM can be skipped if you’re short on time. Even if you have the time, you can probably do it all in about half a day.
I’ve got some bad news for you - it’s still open in Disneyland, but was closed in Disney World on September 7, 1998 and replaced with the Winnie the Pooh ride. And my roommate hasn’t stopped complaining since.
If you’ve got the time for a secret spot in Orlando, you should check out my workplace SAK Comedy Lab. They do Improv comedy (think Whose Line is it Anyways) and have been around for 20 years doing it. In fact, Wayne Brady from Whose Line is a SAK Alumni. Just go check out www.sak.com for more info, drop me a line if you have any questions 
– IG
Wow! Just Wow! This is why I love the SDMB – so much knowledge on everything. Thanks to everyone who has posted a reply. We looked into the meal plans, but cannot get them as we are really doing this on the cheap with discounts galore from every direction. From what I can find, the meal plan is only available if you book a whole package through Disney. That’s cool, though, we had planned on packing easy foods (sandwiches/chips/ramen) and eating in our room for most of the time. I do want to do one big dinner & a show the last night there, though – suggestions welcome for that!
We originally wanted to do Busch Gardens, but since SeaWorld is right there in Orlando, we figured free is free and dolphins are kinda cool. We still haven’t decided if we will stay the extra day or not, so SeaWorld may be irrelevant.
If it helps – we are a family of geeks. Heck the 7 year old has had his own computer (with broadband internet) since he was 3 and yeh – he knows more about computers than most adults. While my daughter and I are adrenaline junkies, and hubby is not – we are not really sure about the boy. He hasn’t been to very many big parks, and at the fairs he has been to he has flip-flopped on the rides he likes. I think he is ok on most of the slower “adrenaline” rides, but I wouldn’t try to get him on a really good roller coaster.
The way our itenerary looks is that we arrive Thursday morning (we will be tired, but trust me, Starbucks will help!) – I am not 100% sure, but I think it may be close to noon before the bus will get there with the kids, so that may be a factor. We expect to have late afternoon/evening for park time. Friday, I believe the band will probably practice at least for a while, and they will be marching that evening, so again I only expect to really enjoy a partial day of the parks. Saturday, we will have the whole day at the park from open to close. We figure that our daughter will spend the first 2 days hanging out with her friends, then Saturday with us.
So, based on everyone’s input, here is our tentative plan – Thursday, not having a full day, we will check out Epcot and Animal Kingdom. We will spend Friday at MGM until about an hour before the parade and then take craploads of pictures of my gorgeous daughter marching. Ok, technically, I will be taking pictures, Mr. Litoris will be video-taping. Saturday, we will spend until lunch at Magical Kingdom and then decide (based on what daughter has/hasn’t seen/done with her friends) what to do after lunch. We definitely want to do a dinner & a show thing for that night. Another friend recommended Hoop Dee Doo – any input?
The links have been a major help – thanks to everyone who posted one. the allears link is awesome – great pictures of the Shades of Green resort – I think we definitely are going to have a blast there.
This will be our first family vacation – Mr. Litoris and I were lucky enough to go to the Marlboro Ranch once, but that was adults-only. (and a total blast, by the by!)
As far as food goes, look into their “meal plans”. You can actually save quite a bit if you know you are going to eat on property many times.
Also, Fast Pass major rides then go stand in line for a “crappier” ride, it will save you time in the long run.
Oh, dear God, sweetie, you won’t be able to get it all done AND do Sea World too. You know there’s four parks altogether, right? There is a recent book out where the author recommends that the family be able to hike 10 miles before visiting Disney World.
That said, don’t rush yourself. You may not get everything done, but enjoy what you can. I highly recommend the Crystal Palace for lunch. The instant the park opens (secret, if the park hours say 9a-11p, they actually open the gates a half hour early. You get there a half hour before the stated opening of the park and you can whip through Pirates and Haunted Mansion in about fifteen minutes, no lines) go make a reservation at Crystal Palace. It’s on Main Street and it’s a buffet style restaurant, so you can pig out for what you pay for.
EPCOT is actually two parks, one with all the fun future stuff, and the other with the “lands,” Japan, England, Switzerland, Mexico, France, Germany, etc.
Disney World is HUGE. This isn’t located in downtown like Disneyland is. It has its own city, water, fire, sewer, etc, through Reedy Creek.
Or, call Disney Dining at (407) WDW-DINE and make priority seating arrangements that way. We often do that in the car on the way to the parks. We’ll ask about seating at our favorite restaurants (Hollywood & Vine at MGM; the Crystal Palace at MK; the Biergarten, the San Angel Inn, or the Akershus at Epcot), and use that to figure out which park to go to first.
But what ivylass said – it’s just too big to see it all in 3 days. We can hit our highlights in 3 days, but I basically grew up there, so it’s all old hat.
Yup! That’s the one! Thanks. Good food, good portions, good price.
Up-thread the OP made reference to a “dinner and a show” night so I offer these.
First is Medieval Times which has actual knights and horses and is lots of fun.
Second is Dixie Stampede which is a Dolly Pardon kinda thing; also with horses and roping and such
Last is Arabian Nights and you can guess that theme. I have been to MT several times and enjoyed them all. DS is in the plans but we haven’t gone yet. AN I know little about but have heard good things.
Be sure to let us know afterward what you all did and share a few pics please.
edit feature is cool!
For dinner and a show, you may also want to look into the California Grill, which is located on the top floor of the Contemporary Resort. I’ve never done it, so I don’t know how it works, but you can get a nice dinner there and then watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks from the restaurant. I hear it’s great.
You might also want to look into maybe getting reservations at the Royal Crown and Pub in the UK pavillion at Epcot. Request a table outside and then you can sit and watch Illuminations without having to fight for a place around the lagoon.
That’s a dirty lie! <B>Tower of Terror</B> may be the finest theme park attraction ever produced.
<B>Muppets 3D</B> also is excellent, and <B>Rockin’ Roller Coaster</B> is one of the best coasters around.
I heard the new Stunt Show is excellent too, though I haven’t yet seen it.
4 attractions? Sounds like a half day to me. I think I did MGM in a couple of hours last month.
I was disagreeing with the"MGM can be skipped if you’re short on time" line. Furthermore, I didn’t list all of the attractions worth seeing, just the ‘best of the best.’
Though I also doubt it can be done in half-a-day by a first-time visitor - part of the enjoyment of Disney World is just exploring the parks and seeing the sights, and in that regard, MGM is certainly not a half-day park.
Haven’t been in a while, have you. They don’t usually open the park early any longer . I remember those days, but haven’t experienced any since before 2002. You’ll have to have reservations for Crystal Palace before you get there (it books completely and since the dining plan being able to walk in is unusual), and Adventureland usually doesn’t open until an hour after the gates open. But with Disney, all things are subject to change depending on crowd levels.
But the advice to get there AT (slightly before) OPENING and get the big stuff out of the way in each park is still good.
Be aware that even when you have a park-hopper pass it still takes quite a while to hop from one park to another. The only two parks linked together by the mono-rail are the Magic Kindom and Epcot. And even then the mono-rail stations are outside the parks.
So when people say “We’ll be at MGM then we’re going to jump over to the Magic Kingdom for lunch” it’s going to take quite a long time and quite a lot of walking/driving to do so.
For example, to get into the Magic Kingdom you must first drive from your hotel to get there, wait in line to get a parking ticket, find a spot, walk to a tram pickup spot, wait for a tram, ride it to the ticket gate, wait in line for either the mono-rail or the ferry, ride it to the main enterance, walk to the enterance, and wait in a short line to get in the gate. Not unpleasant but it does take quite a bit of time.
Now that you mention it, it has been a few years… :o
I still like Crystal Palace.
In MGM there is a cool restaurant where you sit in cars and there is a big Drive-in movie screen playing campy movie previews and commercials. It’s all inside and I thought it was great.
The nice Italian restaurant in Epoct (Alfredo’s?) was really good as well.