Are you looking for the ULTIMATE 2 week Orlando itinerary? In this guide we put together our favorite 14 day Orlando itinerary that includes Disney World, Universal Studios and the other best attractions that Orlando has on offer.
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But before we get into the specific details on each of the 14 day itinerary we thought it would be a good idea to outline some provisos and planning tips for those who are in the early stages of planning their 2 week Orlando trip.
How to Plan a 2 week Orlando Vacation
2 week Orlando Itinerary / 14 day Orlando itinerary
If you are still in the planning stages of your family Orlando trip itinerary then some of the things you need to consider before travel include:
- where to stay
- whether you need a rental car
- if you want express passes / fast passes / genie + and
- how many rest days and day trips you want to add in your itinerary.
We will look at these below:
Where to stay for this 14 day Orlando itinerary
2 week Orlando Itinerary / 14 day Orlando itinerary
When I am looking to put together any 14 day Orlando itinerary there tend to be 4 options in terms of where to stay. These are:
- on-site at a Walt Disney World Resort
- on-site at a Universal Orlando Resort or
- in a Disney good neighbour / partner hotel or
- in a villa, VRBO or AirBnb in the wider Orlando / Kissimmee area.
Personally I don’t feel that there is one right answer in terms of where to stay at Disney World as there are benefits to each option.
By staying at an on-site resort, you do get added benefits such as Early Magic Hours which can be great for getting some of the rides with traditionally longer queues done before the crowds arrive.
Disney’s Port Orleans riverside vs French Quarter
For a full review of places we have stayed at Disney World check out the below posts:
Also it gives you access to on-site dining reservations earlier than off-site guests aswell as keeping you in the Disney or Orlando bubble.
It is also very useful if you don’t want to a rental car while in Orlando as the on-site resorts have transport to the parks in the form of free shuttle buses, ferry and skyliner for those at a Disney resort.
However the cost of the on-site resorts is certainly much steeper than its off-site counterparts and many of the on-site resorts also do not provide kitchen facilities or separate bedrooms outside of the suites which can become a challenge for a family with young children who are staying for 2 weeks in Orlando.
Click here to see prices of Disney World on-site resorts
On the flip side staying off-site can give you more space and can be calmer than staying in the Walt Disney World bubble. However it will not come with perks such as the early entry and you will have to pay for parking.
Best Time to Spend 2 Weeks in Orlando
Magic Kingdom Halloween
We always recommend checking a Disney World Crowd Calendar and a Universal Studios crowd calendar before cementing your 2 week Orlando itinerary. The reason for this is that the business of each park changes day to day and month to month with some obvious peak times such as Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Therefore you may want to alter the order of the days in this itinerary to try and avoid the worst of the crowds in specific parks etc.
Make Park Reservations
When we visited Disney World we got an offer of 14 days for the price of 7. It is therefore worth shopping around and looking out for offers. Click here to see current Orlando theme park ticket offers which may save you money.
It is also worth checking with each park to see if you need to reserve park entry along with buying your ticket as this is sometimes required.
2 Week Orlando Itinerary
Note about this itinerary: while this itinerary outlines the order we prefer to do the parks please feel free to more the days around to suit your itinerary and your family priorities.
Day 1 / 14 day Orlando itinerary – arrive
If you are looking at doing a 14 day Orlando itinerary changes are you are flying internationally or at least doing a long distance flight or road trip to Orlando. For this reason we recommend not trying to over fill your first day in Orlando.
Most flights from the UK or Europe to Orlando land in the Early afternoon or evening which does not leave much time for you to do much exploring.
Therefore on day 1 we recommend that you collect your hire car if you are getting one, check into your hotel or accommodation and sort out any groceries that you may need for your stay.
When we arrive we usually also manage to find time for a quick dip in the pool to help us acclimatise to the Florida weather.
Day 2 / 14 day Orlando itinerary – Animal Kingdom
Many people who go to Disney World will often try to head to Magic Kingdom first as this is the park that has the iconic Disney Castle. While you are certainly welcome to move these days around and head to Magic Kingdom first we recommend starting with Disney’s Animal Kingdom for several reasons.
Firstly Animal Kingdom is usually the park at Disney World that opens first and that you can get an early morning in. Note: Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios tend to alter their opening times depending on expected crowds and time of year.
Going to a park that opens early on Day 2 is definitely a good way to get over your jet lag if you are coming to Disney World from UK or Europe.
Also this is a park where you will not need genie+ in our opinion. This makes it a good choice for an early visit where you may not want to do a full day in the park.
Finally, the evening entertainment at Animal Kingdom is not as late or scheduled as in other parks. The evening show at Animal Kingdom is the lighting up of the tree of life which starts when the parks starts going dark so you are not waiting around until very late.
Next read: be sure to check out our guide on what to wear at Animal Kingdom.
Pandora at Animal Kingdom
When entering Animal Kingdom, we recommend heading straight for the World of Pandora which is to the left hand side of the park as you enter. But don’t worry most of the crowds will be heading there if you have Early entry by staying on site.
The most popular of the 9 rides at Animal Kingdom is Flight of the Passage which is why we head there first to beat the worst of the crowds.
As we were traveling to Animal Kingdom with toddler in tow, I took my daughter on Flight of the Passage first while my husband and toddler went on the Navi’i River ride – one of the best rides for toddlers at Animal Kingdom. We then did rider switch so my husband got to ride too!
Kilimanjaro Safari – best Animal Kingdom rides for toddlers
After that we recommend heading to the Kilimanjaro Safaris. It is a well documented fact that animals on safari are most active in the early morning and at dusk. Therefore you will want to head straight to this ride as soon as it opens which is usually at 9am.
After riding this we heading to our breakfast booking at Tusker’s House. This is a character dining experience at Animal Kingdom and is the best place for both breakfast and lunch.
This is available as both a breakfast and lunch experience however with our jetlag we found that breakfast time was the perfect time to take a break.
Tusker’s House – Animal Kingdom Character dining
At Tusker’s House we met Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Daisy and Donald Duck all in their safari gear while eating a really great breakfast. We definitely recommend.
Once breakfast is over we then headed back into the park to finish the rest of the rides and see some of the shows this park has on offer including the Festival of the Lion King, Finding Nemo and the Birds of a Feather show.
If you only have 1 day in this park as we have suggested in this itinerary I recommend prioritising either the Lion King show or the Finding Nemo show.
Triceratops Spin – Animal Kingdom Toddler Rides
Of all the rides here I personally found the Dinosaurland USA rides to be the most disappointing, therefore if you are running short on time these are the rides that I would cut from your itinerary.
If you want to stay to see the Tree of Life light up then you will need to wait until it starts to get dark however if you are still suffering from jetlag head home when you are tired as there is no point overdoing it on the start of your itinerary.
Alternatives: if you can’t get a booking at Tusker’s House then we recommend heading to Harambe Marketplace or to Yak and Yeti for lunch. If you plan on using a quick service restaurant at Disney World be sure to have the mobile ordering set up on your phone.
Day 3/ 2 week Orlando itinerary – Magic Kingdom
How Many Days for Magic Kingdom do you need?
For your second full day in Disney World we recommend heading to the Magic Kingdom park. This is likely to be one of the parks that you come back to so you will want to spread out your days in this park and pace yourself as you are unlikely to do everything in one or even 2 days.
Magic Kingdom has so much on offer whether you are traveling with a toddler, teenagers or even as adults. There are lots of toddler friendly rides at Magic Kingdom as well as thrill rides so depending on your priorities will influence your Magic Kingdom itinerary.
toddlers at Magic Kingdom
If you are traveling with toddlers the best places to start is obviously fantasyland which has the most toddler friendly lines. In particular I would recommend starting your day on Peter Pan’s Flight. This ride consistently has one of the longest queues in the park so is a good one to get on during early Magic house.
However if thrill rides are more your thing, we recommend heading straight to Snow White’s Mine Train. This is one of the few Magic Kingdom rides that is not available on Genie+. It is however available as as one of the lightning lanes which can cost up to 20USD which really adds to your budget. Therefore we recommend trying to get to this queue as the park opens during early magic hours.
From there on day one we recommend trying to complete as much of Fantasyland as possible. We recommend selecting rides with short queues in order to get as many done in the morning as possible.
Also if you want to meet princesses it is a good idea to do these early in the day as the queues get longer as the day goes on.
For lunch we recommend doing a quick service restaurant and utilising the mobile ordering as this will save you a lot of time.
If you plan on catching the afternoon parade then we recommend heading to Casey’s Corner for hotdogs and grabbing a spot along Main Street in front of the Cinderella’s Castle to watch the parade.
Then for your afternoon we recommend heading to one of the lands you have not yet done i.e. Frontierland or Tomorrowland depending on what you want to achieve most and what is available on Genie +.
You can then go to dinner at one of the in-park restaurants or you can have Dinner outside of the park.
Day 4 – Rest Day
2 week Orlando Itinerary / 14 day Orlando itinerary
Now it can be tempting if this is a once in a lifetime trip and when you have spent a lot of money on tickets to want to be in the park every day. However I think it is important to plan some rest days. We think adding a rest day after two whole days in the park is a good idea.
For this day we recommend spending some time at your hotel pool and heading out for some dinner or lunch. We like to have at least one lunch at Disney Springs.
Disney Springs is outside of the parks Disney complex for dining and entertainment. In our opinion some of the best restaurants at Disney Springs include:
- Rainforest Cafe – my kids love the animatronic animals
- T Rex Cafe – my son loves the moving dinosaurs. But for something more high end you could try:
- Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’
Alternatives to Disney Springs could include heading to downtown Orlando for dinner or heading to International Drive. Our favorite restaurant on International Drive is Chuy’s.
Day 5 – Epcot
Now that you are feeling well rested we recommend heading back into some of the Disney parks. For today we specifically recommend heading to Epcot.
Epcot was designed as the world of tomorrow and has a mixture of rides and attractions from thrill rides such as the Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind and Test Track to more sedate rides like Journey into the Imagination with Figment and Spaceship Earth, to more informative attractions such as the World Showcase where you can wonder around the different countries.
Note: we did not find that we needed Genie+ for Epcot however you may need it if you are visiting at a very busy time. We did however buy a lightning lane pass for Cosmic Rewind.
Epcot with kids – best age for Epcot
We prioritised the rides in the morning. Generally speaking we recommend heading to the Frozen Ever After Ride or Ratatouille first as these are some of the longest queues in the park. As we are big fans and frequent visitors to Disneyland Paris we headed to the Frozen ride as we have done Ratatouille many times.
After this we headed to Soarin’, another of the favorite rides in the park before ticking off some more rides.
One of the things that I love about Epcot is the amazing food and drink options even if you aren’t visiting during the Epcot Food and Wine Festival. If you want another character dining experience we recommend heading to Akerhaus to do Princess dining. Otherwise we recommend the table service in the the Mexico Pavillon.
2 week Orlando Itinerary / 14 day Orlando itinerary
Once you have had lunch we recommend walking around the different countries and pavilions and meeting some of the characters. Some of the characters you can meet here include:
- Jasmine in the Morocco Pavillon
- Mulan in the China Pavillon
- Alice in Wonderland in the British Pavillon.
though this is subject to change so be sure to check the app on your day of visit.
We recommend staying in Epcot until the evening to see the current nighttime lightshow and fireworks.
Further Epcot reading:
Day 6 – Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Galaxy’s Edge in Hollywood Studios
Today is your day to visit the last of the Disney World parks you have not been to – Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Depending on your interests I recommend either starting your day at:
- Slinky dog Dash in Toy Story Land or
- Rise of the Resistance in the Galaxy’s Edge land.
These two rides consistently get at least 2 hour queues so it is important to do these early in the day. As Rise of the Resistance has a lightning lane we tend to head first to Slinky Dog Dash and grabbing a lightning lane for RoR for later in the day.
Once we have ridden Slinky Dog Dash we finish the Toy Story Land rides such as Toy Story Midway Mania and the Alien Twirl.
For lunch we recommending hanging around in the Star Wars land called Galaxy’s Edge as this is one of the most immersive lands in any of the Disney parks. If you can snag a table at Oga’s canteen it is a great place for snacks and a drink otherwise use one of the lands quick service restaurants before heading onto SMuggler’s Run where you can pilot the Millennium Falcon.
After that we recommend trying to complete some of the bigger thrill rides such as:
Hollywood Studios Rides for Toddlers
- The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith
- Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
Note: if you are traveling to Hollywood Studios with a toddler and don’t plan on doing character dining you don’t necessarily need a whole day in the park. There are actually only 2 rides at Hollywood Studios that toddlers can ride on so you can probably limit your time to half a day and park hop back to one of the other parks.
However if you like thrill rides it is definitely worthwhile buying a Genie+ Pass to make the most of your day.
It is worth if you are able to stay to watch the evening entertainment at Hollywood Studios. The Fantastic Show and Fireworks are some of the best things to do in Disney World at night and shouldn’t be missed.
Further Hollywood Studios Reading:
- Best age for Hollywood Studios
- How to meet characters at Hollywood studios
- Instagram Captions for Hollywood Studios
Day 7 – Water Park
Now you have visited each of the Disney World theme parks at least once it is time for another break from the parks. Today we recommend heading to one of the many waterparks that Orlando has on offer as the theme park capital of the world.
The main water parks in Orlando are:
- Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon
- Disney’s Blizzards Beach
- Universal’s Volcano Bay and
- Aquatica Orlando
Personally I would choose one of the parks that is included in tickets you already have where possible to save on the budget.
Note: if you are traveling to Orlando in the winter it may be too cold to use a waterpark. If this is the case for you please check out our list of alternative day trips from Orlando below for inspiration for your Orlando Winter itinerary.
Day 8 Rest Day or Day Trip to Kennedy Space Center
Day Trip to Kennedy Space Center
After so many days in the park we recommend having today as a rest day or otherwise doing a day trip.
For a great chance of pace one of our favorite day trips to do from Disney World is Kennedy space center.
Kennedy Space Center is located on Merritt Island, Florida, USA on the Space Coast near Titusville and is just over an hour away from the Orlando theme parks.
Kennedy Space Center is famous for launching the Apollo and Space Shuttle missions and you can explore the rockets in the rocket hall, and do a tour of the launchpads. Toddlers will also love the interactive play area and experiment booths.
Just be sure to check that there isn’t a launch on your intended visit day as this can impact your visit.
We recommend buying your tickets in advance. Click here to see current prices.
However if this is not your thing some of our other favorite day trips from Disney World are:
- Cocoa Beach – the closest beach to Disney World
- An Airboat Ride
-
Everglades national park
-
Busch gardens
- Seaworld – if you want to add more theme parks to your itinerary or
- Legoland Florida
Day 9 and 10 – Universal Studios
2 week Orlando Itinerary / 14 days in Orlando Itinerary
After your break from the theme parks we are returning but this time heading to Universal Studios. Universal Studios is made up of two parks:
- Universal’s islands of Adventures and the
- Universal Studios Park.
As such we recommend having two days in the park concentrating on one park per day. However we do recommend getting at least one 2 parks one day tickets. The reason for this is so you can ride the Hogwarts Express, one of my favorite things to do in the park. For the best value Universal Studios Tickets click here.
If you do not have a 2 parks 1 day ticket you will not be able to ride the Hogwarts Express.
For the first day we recommend starting at the universal Studios park especially if you are a Harry Potter fan. This park is home to the wizarding world of Harry Potter and Diagon Alley. We recommend heading straight to Diagon Alley and Olivanders Wand shop to do the wand experience first especially if you plan on using an Interactive Wand on your trip.
The wands aren’t cheap so you want to have as much time with it in the park as possible.
2 week Orlando Itinerary / 14 days in Orlando Itinerary
Once you have done the wand shop we recommend trying out the spells in Diagon Alley, doing some shopping and riding Escape from Gringotts.
Once you have finished in Diagon Alley we recommend having lunch at the Leaky Cauldron before heading to the rest of the park.
If you have budget, we recommend either buying the Universal Studios Express Passes or staying at a Universal premier hotel where these are included in the price of your stay.
Some rides I would prioritise in this park include:
- Hollywood’s Rip Ride Rockit and
- The Revenge of the Mummy.
2 week Orlando Itinerary / 14 days in Orlando Itinerary
If you have time today ride the Hogwarts Express over to the other park before heading out of the park to Unviersal’s City Walk for dinner and see if you can catch some live music too.
Your second day in the Universal Park will be spent in the Islands of Adventure Park. If you love Harry Potter head straight to try and ride the Hagrid’s magical creatures Motorbike Adventure.
This ride consistently has the longest queue in the park and is not available on the express pass system so it is worth doing first thing.
Once done, enjoy wandering around Hogsmeade and ride the rest of the Harry Potter Rides.
Once you have finished in the Harry Potter world head out to Jurassic World to ride some of the amazing rollercoasters such as the Velocicoaster and Jurassic Park the ride.
After that depending on whether you are traveling to Island of Adventures with toddlers or thrill seekers will depend where you head next. For toddlers, head to Dr Seuss Land and for adrenaline junkies head to the Hulk Coaster.
Once you have got everything you want done, head to City Walk for dinner again.
Note: if you are traveling to Universal Studios with toddlers you probably will only need 1 day with an express pass. The reason for this is that many of the rides at Universal have high height restrictions. Instead you could replace 1 Universal Studios Day with a Legoland Florida day trip which is more orientated to little kids.
Further reading for Universal Studios:
- Universal Studios Instagram Captions
- What to Bring to Universal Studios
- Movies to Watch before going to Universal Studios
Day 11 – Day Trip or Rest Day
After a couple of intensive days at universal it is time for another rest day or a lighter day trip.
Day 12 – Repeat Disney World Day / Day Trip
Today is all about finishing a park that you feel you have more left to see in from Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios or Epcot.
However if you feel that you have done everything you want you could replace this with a day trip.
Day 13 – Magic Kingdom
Carousel – best things to do in Magic Kingdom with toddlers
Today is the time to go back to my favorite theme park Magic Kingdom. As you started the day on your last magic Kingdom day in Fantasyland we recommend heading to a different land, and doing rides you have not yet done.
Popular rides that get long queues as the day goes on are:
- Jungle Cruise
- Space Mountain
- Big Thunder Mountain and
- Peter Pan’s Flight.
We recommend trying to get on any of these rides that you have not yet done first thing in the morning before the queues get too long.
2 week Orlando Itinerary / 14 days in Orlando Itinerary
As this is your last day in the parks recommend staying late into the evening, even if that means resting back at your accommodation in the daytime, so you can end your trip with the fantastic firework show over the iconic Disney World Castle.
Day 14 – Travel Home
Finish up any last bits of souvenir shopping you want to do and close up your suitcases and get ready to fly home.
I hope you have found this 2 week itinerary useful and would love to hear how you like to spend 14 days in Orlando.
FAQs about our 2 week Orlando Itinerary
Is 2 weeks in Orlando enough?
Yes I think 2 weeks in Orland is enough to get a good overview of many of the theme parks and have some day trips. However if you really wanted to do more day trips and some extra theme parks then you might be better with our 3 week Orlando itinerary.
Is 2 weeks too long at Disney?
The answer to is 2 weeks too long at Disney for me is yes and no.
Personally even as a Disney fanatic I could not spend 2 weeks solid in the Disney parks. However I find that 2 weeks at Disney with a couple of rest days and day trips is actually the perfect time and itinerary.
Can you do Disney and Universal in 14 days?
Yes you can absolutely do Disney and universal in 14 days in Orlando.
Do you have any other questions about spending 14 days in Orlando? Please let us know in the comments and we will do our best to answer.