Orlando has enough theme parks to put one on every day of your trip, and most of the planning problem is deciding not to. The harder call is which days earn a park ticket and which ones are better spent somewhere else.
The parks are the compact part. Everything else worth doing is scattered across a metro area that takes real driving to cross, so two stops that look close together on a map can cost you a morning.
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What kind of Orlando day are you planning?
Orlando Theme Parks Worth a Full Day
Disney, Universal, and SeaWorld run the big ones, and they sit close enough together that getting between them is easy. Deciding how many your family can actually stand up for is the hard part. If you are still weighing which of them to buy into, we rank the best theme parks in Orlando separately.
Magic Kingdom Park
This is the park small children picture when they picture Disney. Six themed lands fan out from Cinderella Castle, and the character meets, the daytime parade, and the fireworks are all here, so a four-year-old and a nine-year-old can want the same things for once. It is also the busiest of the four Disney parks, so arrive at opening. If your family would rather ride than queue, read how a VIP tour can help you skip lines.
EPCOT
EPCOT is really two parks. The front half holds the rides, including Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana. The back half is World Showcase, eleven country pavilions built around food, shopping, and character meets. Older kids and adults get considerably more out of World Showcase. If your children are small and your days are limited, this is the park to drop.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Hollywood Studios is the franchise park. Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge holds Rise of the Resistance and Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, Toy Story Land is scaled for younger children, and Tower of Terror and Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster sit at the top end for teenagers. The lineup skews older than Magic Kingdom’s, so it works best once your youngest has cleared the height requirements.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Animal Kingdom is the one Disney park that works as a half day. The safari, the walking trails, and the Boneyard dig site are genuinely animal-led, and Pandora holds Avatar Flight of Passage, which carries a height requirement worth checking before you build a day around it. Go in the morning if the animals are the point, because they are most active before the heat sets in.
Disney’s Water Parks
Disney runs two water parks, and which one is open depends on when you go. Blizzard Beach is built on a melted-ski-resort premise, and its chairlift to the top of the slides is as popular with small children as the slides themselves. Typhoon Lagoon has the larger wave pool and the better lazy river.
Universal Epic Universe
Epic Universe is the newest theme park in Orlando. Guests come in through Celestial Park, the landscaped hub with its own rides and dining, and pass through portals into four more worlds.
- SUPER NINTENDO WORLD, with the Mario Kart ride and Donkey Kong Country
- The Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Ministry of Magic, which moves between 1920s Paris and the 1990s British Ministry
- How to Train Your Dragon — Isle of Berk, a colorful Viking village built around the films
- Dark Universe, built around classic movie monsters and the one to check before you bring a child who scares easily
Whether to buy Epic Universe on its own or as part of a multi-park ticket is the main ticket decision at Universal right now, and our Universal Orlando discount tickets guide works through it.
Universal Studios Florida
Universal Studios Florida is the movie-backlot park, with Diagon Alley and its Harry Potter shops and rides, the Minion area, DreamWorks Land for younger children, and a mix of screen-based and physical attractions. It pairs with Islands of Adventure next door, though the Hogwarts Express between them only works if you hold a park-to-park ticket covering both. Halloween Horror Nights runs here in the fall as a separately ticketed after-hours event built for horror fans, not for children, and we have advice on how to skip the lines.
Universal’s Islands of Adventure
Hogsmeade, Jurassic Park, Marvel Super Hero Island, and Seuss Landing all sit on one loop here, so a family can split up between Seuss Landing and the Hulk coaster and still meet for lunch without crossing a park. Seuss Landing is where the smallest children go, and its rides carry low enough height requirements to fill a couple of hours on their own.
Universal’s Volcano Bay
Volcano Bay hands out a wearable that holds your place in each queue. The day is spent in the water. It operates seasonally, so check the park calendar before you count on it.
SeaWorld Orlando
SeaWorld Orlando pairs animal habitats and shows with a serious coaster lineup, which makes it the useful middle park for a family split between thrill-seekers and younger children. If you are deciding between this park and its California sibling, we compare SeaWorld Orlando and SeaWorld San Diego directly, and our guide to SeaWorld Orlando discount tickets covers the current ways to pay less than gate price.
Discovery Cove
Discovery Cove is a reservation-only day resort rather than a theme park, with a capped number of guests, and admission covers food, drinks, snorkel gear, and a wetsuit. You can float the Wind-Away River past the free-flight aviary and spend the afternoon on a sand beach. It is priced well above a normal theme park day, which is the trade for the crowd cap, and our guide to Discovery Cove tickets covers how to bring that number down.
Aquatica Orlando
Aquatica Orlando is SeaWorld’s water park and sits directly across from it, which makes it simple to pair with a SeaWorld day on a multi-park ticket. It covers mixed ages, from a wave pool and lazy river to a play area for small children and slides the whole family can ride together. See our Aquatica Orlando ticket guide for what it costs.
Things to Do in Orlando With Kids Besides the Theme Parks
These are the days that keep a week from turning into one long queue, and they cost a fraction of a park ticket.
ICON Park
ICON Park on International Drive costs nothing to walk into, which makes it a workable evening when nobody wants to buy another ticket. The Orlando Eye, Madame Tussauds Orlando, and SEA LIFE Orlando Aquarium are all here and ticketed individually, and the smaller attractions around them will absorb a rainy afternoon.
Gatorland
Gatorland has been running since the 1940s and has never been polished, which is exactly why children like it. They hold a baby alligator, watch the feeding shows, and ride a zip line over the breeding marsh. Check our Gatorland ticket guide first. No single checkout here is cheapest for everyone: adults, children, and seniors each come out ahead somewhere different, and Florida residents do best of all at the admissions window.
Fun Spot America
The local amusement park, Fun Spot America, runs go-karts, the only wooden roller coaster in Orlando, and single-ride pricing alongside the wristbands. That pricing is the reason to know about it, because it suits a family with one child who wants to ride everything and another who wants to ride twice.
WonderWorks
WonderWorks is the upside-down building on International Drive, and inside it is a hands-on science attraction with a ropes course above the exhibits. It lands best with elementary-age children, and being entirely indoors makes it a workable rainy afternoon.
Crayola Experience Orlando
Crayola Experience sits inside The Florida Mall, and almost everything in it is something a child makes and takes home. That is the difference between an hour and twenty minutes. It is also indoors and air-conditioned, which matters more in July than it sounds.
Orlando Science Center
Four floors of exhibits, a planetarium, and a giant-screen theater, and all of it downtown rather than out on International Drive. That location is worth using. Lake Eola Park and Leu Gardens are close enough to make the three of them one full day away from the tourist corridor.
Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive
This is an eleven-mile, one-way drive through restored marshland northwest of Orlando, taken at a ten-mile-an-hour speed limit with the windows down. Alligators and wading birds are the draw, and because nobody leaves the car it works with children who will not walk far. Allow one to three hours.
Free Things to Do in Orlando With Kids
Not everything here costs money, and the free days are what make room in the budget for the paid ones.
Disney Springs
Disney Springs costs nothing to enter and holds the LEGO store, splash pads for small children, and live music most evenings. Parking in the garages is complimentary.
Universal CityWalk
On the Universal side, Universal CityWalk is the same idea. It is free to walk through, with restaurants, shops, a cinema, and a mini-golf course. Parking is charged.
Lake Eola Park
Lake Eola Park is downtown Orlando’s centerpiece, with a playground, a flat paved loop around the water that takes a stroller easily, and swan boats to rent. The resident swans cost nothing to watch.
Celebration
Disney built Celebration, and wandering it is free. The main street around the lake is small and walkable, and it is the closest thing to an ordinary afternoon inside the tourist corridor.
Things to Do in Orlando With Toddlers
Under about five, the theme parks stop being the obvious answer. Height requirements rule out most of the headline rides, the days are long, and the queues are the part small children handle worst. These activities suit that age better.
SEA LIFE Orlando Aquarium
SEA LIFE at ICON Park is indoors, air-conditioned, and small enough to finish before a toddler runs out. The walkthrough tunnel is the part they remember.
Harry P. Leu Gardens
Near downtown, Leu Gardens is one of the few Orlando attractions where a toddler can simply be turned loose on grass. There is a butterfly garden and a rose garden, and the paths take a stroller.
Peppa Pig Theme Park
A small theme park scaled entirely for ages two to five, with rides, themed playgrounds, and a splash pad. It is not in Orlando, though. It sits next to LEGOLAND Florida in Winter Haven, about an hour southwest.
Magic Kingdom, if you are doing one park
If a family with toddlers is only going to buy one theme park day, Magic Kingdom is the one. Fantasyland is dense with rides that have no height requirement, the characters are the draw at that age anyway, and the parade needs nothing from a two-year-old but a curb to sit on.
Day Trips From Orlando With Kids
Everything here is within about an hour of Orlando, and each one is a different kind of day from the one you would have in the parks.
LEGOLAND Florida Resort and Peppa Pig Theme Park
LEGOLAND Florida is in Winter Haven, about an hour southwest, and it is built for ages two to twelve in a way none of the larger parks are. Peppa Pig Theme Park is a separate gate next door, scaled for toddlers and preschoolers. Our guide to discount LEGOLAND Florida tickets covers the combination tickets, which is usually where the value sits, and we also compare the LEGOLAND Florida annual passes if you expect to come back.
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
Kennedy Space Center is about an hour east on the coast and earns a full day rather than a half. The Space Shuttle Atlantis building and the Apollo/Saturn V Center sit at opposite ends of the complex with a bus ride between them, so families who allow three hours end up rushing the better half. Our guide to discount Kennedy Space Center tickets covers what to buy.
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
Busch Gardens is about an hour west and is the roller coaster park of this group, wrapped around a Serengeti-style animal area with a Sesame Street land for smaller children. A SeaWorld multi-park ticket covers it, which is worth knowing before you buy anything separately, and our guide to discount Busch Gardens Tampa tickets has the rest.
Wekiwa Springs State Park
About forty minutes north, Wekiwa Springs sits at 72 degrees year-round, so it swims cold in August and comparatively warm in January. There is a designated swimming area, canoes and kayaks on site, and shaded trails.
Where to Buy Orlando Attraction Tickets
Orlando ticket prices move constantly. Each guide below carries the current numbers for one attraction, along with which authorized sellers come in under gate price and which discounts are not worth chasing.
- Universal Orlando discount tickets – Epic Universe, Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, and Volcano Bay
- Walt Disney World ticket discounts – the four theme parks and both water parks
- SeaWorld Orlando discount tickets – including the multi-park passes that cover Aquatica and Busch Gardens
- Discovery Cove tickets
- Aquatica Orlando tickets
- LEGOLAND Florida discount tickets
- Busch Gardens Tampa discount tickets
- Kennedy Space Center discount tickets
- Gatorland tickets
When a sightseeing pass makes sense
A Go City Orlando pass bundles many of the smaller attractions on this page, among them WonderWorks, Madame Tussauds Orlando, SEA LIFE Orlando Aquarium, Gatorland, Congo River Adventure Golf, and Boggy Creek Airboat Adventures. It pays off for a family doing three or more of them across a few days. It does not pay off for a family who is mostly inside the big parks, and the passes exclude Disney and Universal admission entirely.
Bundling tickets with a hotel
If you are booking a Walt Disney World hotel and tickets together, the concierge service at Get Away Today puts a person on the phone with you while you choose, which helps on a booking with this many moving parts.
FAQs About Visiting Orlando With Kids
What is there to do in Orlando with kids besides theme parks?
Plenty, and these activities are usually the cheaper half of the trip. ICON Park on International Drive is free to enter and holds The Orlando Eye, Madame Tussauds, and SEA LIFE. Gatorland, Fun Spot America, WonderWorks, and the Orlando Science Center all run as half days. Disney Springs, Universal CityWalk, Lake Eola Park, and the town of Celebration cost nothing to walk into.
What can you do in Orlando with toddlers?
Under about age five, height requirements rule out most headline rides. SEA LIFE Orlando Aquarium is indoors and short enough to finish before a toddler tires, Harry P. Leu Gardens gives them grass to run on, and Peppa Pig Theme Park near LEGOLAND Florida is built entirely for ages two to five. If you are buying only one theme park day, make it Magic Kingdom, where Fantasyland is dense with rides that carry no height requirement.
How many days do you need in Orlando with kids?
Five to seven days works well, with no more than three or four of them as theme park days. Park days are long and physically demanding, and they are also the expensive ones.
What free things can you do in Orlando with kids?
Disney Springs, Universal CityWalk, and ICON Park are all free to enter, and you only pay for what you choose to do inside them. Lake Eola Park downtown has a playground and a flat loop around the water. The town of Celebration is free to wander, and Disney Springs parking is complimentary.
Is Orlando worth visiting without going to a theme park?
Yes, though it is a different trip. The springs, the airboat rides, Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, the science center and gardens downtown, and the Gulf coast beaches within a two-hour drive make a full week without a park ticket. It is a quieter and considerably cheaper trip than a park-based week.
What is the best month to visit Orlando with kids?
Weather and crowds pull against each other here. Summer brings the highest humidity of the year and near-daily afternoon thunderstorms, so build the indoor attractions into those afternoons. Late winter and early spring are the mildest months for a full day on foot, though the weeks around spring break and the major holidays are the busiest.
