In One Week in Orlando

Days 1–5: Orlando at Your Leisure

A full week is really the minimum amount of time you need to enable you to actually relax and take time to sit by the pool. You don’t have to cram several parks into a single day unless you want to; this combination lets you do the seven major parks in 5 days. Take more time on your first few days: first Magic Kingdom, then one Universal park, then EPCOT. For Day 4, combine the biggest rides of Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios into a single day—it’s doable, but you’ll have to skip the shows. On Day 5, head for SeaWorld or Kennedy Space Center—or, if you want to set your belly on a waterslide, Volcano Bay is now the hottest water park in Orlando.

Days 6–7: Exploring Orlando Beyond the Theme Parks

Hitting the Big 7 in 5 days leaves 2 days to get away from the dizzying pressures of theme parking. Take a day to drive out to Kennedy Space Center, or take a dip in a natural spring, such as De Leon Springs, and make a pass through the American original town of Cassadaga. It would be a shame to miss a collection as world class as the Morse Museum’s astonishing Tiffany glass. While you’re there, take a late-afternoon boat cruise past the mansions of Winter Park—when you’re out on the water, you’ll finally get a feeling for the “real” Florida that attracted the builders of the major resorts in the first place. Afterward, you’ll be near some of Orlando’s best restaurants, most of which the tourists never visit.