How to plan a 7 day Orlando itinerary?

A week in Orlando covers a lot of ground, as long as you don’t try to do everything. This itinerary is built for families staying in a vacation home in Kissimmee, ChampionsGate or Davenport and driving to the parks. It covers 7 full days, with the trip home on day 8. If this is your first trip to Orlando, start there and come back to plan the days.

What can you do in Orlando in 7 days?

In 7 days, plan 4 or 5 park days, one rest day in the middle, and keep day one for arriving. The structure that works for most families looks like this:

• Day 1: arrival, groceries and pool time.
• Days 2 and 3: two park days, one of them with fireworks.
• Day 4: rest at the house.
• Days 5 to 7: three more park days, or two park days and one day off-park.

It follows the rule we explain in how many park days you need in Orlando: about two thirds of your days in the parks and one third free. If you have more time, see the longer 10 day Orlando itinerary.

What does a 7 day Orlando itinerary look like, day by day?

The table shows two versions. The first is Disney only, with all four parks and one day off-park. The second mixes Disney and Universal, including Epic Universe, and trades the off-park day for one more park.

Day	Disney focus	Disney + Universal and Epic Universe
1	Arrival, groceries and pool. Dinner at home	Arrival, groceries and pool. Dinner at home
2	Animal Kingdom. Dinner at home	Magic Kingdom, stay for fireworks. Dinner in the park
3	Magic Kingdom, stay for fireworks. Dinner in the park	Epic Universe. Dinner at home
4	Rest at the house. Dinner at home	Rest at the house. Dinner at Disney Springs
5	Hollywood Studios, stay for Fantasmic!. Dinner in the park	Islands of Adventure. Dinner at home
6	EPCOT, stay for the nighttime show. Dinner in the park	Universal Studios Florida. Dinner at home
7	Day off-park. Dinner out	Hollywood Studios. Dinner out to close the trip

Day 1, arrival. Whether you fly into MCO or drive down from Georgia or the Carolinas, keep this day light. Stop for groceries on the way to the house: breakfast for the week, water, snacks and sunscreen cover the first few days. We list the stores near each area in where to buy groceries near Orlando vacation rentals. Then it’s pool time and an early night.

Day 7 in the Disney version. Sleep in and pick one outing: the outlets, the beach, Kennedy Space Center or Disney Springs. Standard parking at Disney Springs is complimentary, according to Disney’s official parking page. In the mixed version, that outing moves to the evening of day 4.

If your flight home leaves on day 7, drop the last row of the table. In the Disney version you only lose the outing. In the mixed version, skip Hollywood Studios and buy a 1-day Disney ticket instead.

What is the best order for the Orlando theme parks?

The order follows three things: each park’s hours, how tired the family gets, and drive time. These are the hours we found on the official pages:

Park	Hours on the day checked	What it means for the plan
Animal Kingdom	8 a.m. to 6 p.m.	Opens and closes early. A good first day, with dinner at home
Magic Kingdom	9 a.m. to 6 p.m., separately ticketed event at night	On party nights, a regular ticket doesn’t cover the fireworks. Check your date
Hollywood Studios	9 a.m. to 9 p.m.	Time to stay for Fantasmic!, a 30-minute nighttime show
EPCOT	9 a.m. to 9 p.m.	Luminous The Symphony of Us started at 9 p.m.
Islands of Adventure	9 a.m. to 8 p.m.	Opens before Universal Studios
Universal Studios Florida	10 a.m. to 7 p.m.	A slower morning at the house
Epic Universe	10 a.m. to 8 p.m.	Later opening, good after a late night

Sources: Walt Disney World and Epic Universe on October 6, 2026. Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios on October 5, 2026. Hours change from day to day.

In the Disney version, Animal Kingdom comes first because it closes early, so the family is home by evening while still settling in. Magic Kingdom is day 3, with energy still high, so you can stay for Happily Ever After, the 18-minute fireworks show. It’s the longest day, which is why the rest day follows. Hollywood Studios and EPCOT sit at the end because both had nighttime shows at 9 p.m. on the day we checked, and the free day 7 makes up for two late nights.

In the mixed version, Magic Kingdom opens the trip and Epic Universe follows, because it opened at 10 a.m. and lets everyone sleep in after fireworks night. Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios run back to back because they share the same garage at 6000 Universal Boulevard. Epic Universe has its own parking at 1001 Epic Boulevard. Hollywood Studios closes the week because it’s one of the closest parks to the Kissimmee homes. For park-by-park strategy, read our Magic Kingdom tips and the Epic Universe guide from a vacation home.

What time should you leave the house on park days?

Leave between 6:35 and 8:35 a.m., depending on the park and where the house is. The math: opening time, minus arriving at the parking lot early (60 minutes for Magic Kingdom, 45 for the others), minus drive time, minus 15 minutes of buffer. The table uses the opening time on the day checked and no-traffic routes calculated with OSRM.

Park	Opens	Leave Kissimmee (Storey Lake)	Leave Davenport (Posner Park)
Animal Kingdom	8 a.m.	6:35 a.m.	6:35 a.m.
Magic Kingdom	9 a.m.	7:25 a.m.	7:15 a.m.
Hollywood Studios	9 a.m.	7:45 a.m.	7:35 a.m.
EPCOT	9 a.m.	7:45 a.m.	7:35 a.m.
Islands of Adventure	9 a.m.	7:35 a.m.	7:25 a.m.
Universal Studios Florida	10 a.m.	8:35 a.m.	8:25 a.m.
Epic Universe	10 a.m.	8:35 a.m.	8:25 a.m.

Sources: official hours for October 5 and 6, 2026, and OSRM routes calculated in October 2026. The lead times are our recommendation, not a park rule.

Vacation home guests don’t get the 30-minute early entry Disney gives guests of its own hotels and select other hotels. So the goal is to be at the turnstile at opening. The full walkthrough, including the trip from the parking lot to the gate, is in what time to arrive at the Orlando theme parks.

Which tickets do you need for 7 days in Orlando?

Buy tickets for the number of park days, not the number of vacation days.

• Disney focus: a 4-day ticket, one park per day. Disney sells 1 to 10 day tickets, the price per day drops on longer tickets, and the days don’t have to be consecutive as long as they fall within the valid window. The rest day in the middle doesn’t use up a day. The ticket page says you need a park reservation for each date, so check availability before you pay. With one park per day, you don’t need Park Hopper.
• Disney + Universal: a 2-day Disney ticket and Universal’s 3-day ticket with one park per day. Universal’s 2026 multi-day tickets include Epic Universe. If your family wants to ride the Hogwarts Express between Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios, Universal requires a Park-to-Park ticket.

Prices vary by date at both resorts, and 2027 rules may change. Always compare on the official site. How to buy safely is covered in Disney World and Universal tickets.

What changes in an Orlando itinerary with kids?

With toddlers or young kids, go with 4 park days and use the house midday. The Disney version is already built that way: Animal Kingdom closes early, the rest day follows the longest day, and the last day is free.

Two swaps help. On Magic Kingdom day, leave after lunch, nap at the house and come back for fireworks, if your ticket rules allow re-entry. And eat at home whenever the park closes early: a big table, baths, a load of laundry and everyone in bed earlier for the next day.

In practice: the night before each park day, open the official calendar, write down the opening time and the nighttime show, and decide then whether dinner is at home or out. Load backpacks and snacks into the car before bed. The plan only works if the family leaves at the time in the table.

If your week leans Disney, start with vacation homes near Disney. If it includes Epic Universe and Universal, see vacation homes near Universal.