Erin Explores Travel

6 Parks in 6 Days

When your foreign exchange student from Norway tells you that the #1 thing on her US Bucket List is to go to Disney World, you figure out how to make it happen! Having been a past season passholder at both Disney World and Universal Studios (as well as Busch Gardens Tampa) I know my way around the Florida theme parks pretty well. Knowing my student, and how much she loves coasters, I knew we needed to hit up Universal in addition to Disney. Then an amazing Black Friday deal popped up for a Sea World and Busch Gardens combo ticket, and that’s how we ended up planning to hit 6 parks in just 6 days during her Spring Break 2026! Below you’ll find our itinerary:

Day 1 – Monday: Disney World’s Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom is THE park for Disney lovers, and the #1 most important stop on our itinerary. The Castle is one thing my student is most looking forward to experiencing in person. This park embodies that magical Disney experience of the “Happiest Place on Earth.” While this park doesn’t really have a lot of large thrill rides, it does have Tron, which is such a unique and fun ride, especially if you get a chance to ride it at night!

Day 2 – Tuesday: Disney World’s Animal Kingdom

While many will argue that this is the least exciting park at Disney World, I have to disagree! Avatar Flight of Passage is my all-time favorite Disney ride, and one experience that you just can’t miss. That ride coupled with Expedition Everest, makes Animal Kingdom the logical choice for our second Disney park. I also selfishly want to go to this park, as it’s the only place you can get the elusive Safari Amber, a specialty amber lager brewed exclusively for Disney’s Animal Kingdom!

Day 3 – Wednesday: Universal Epic Universe

Ever since this park opened, I have been dying to see Mario World in person! Luckily, some of my friends that have been already posted pictures and videos on Facebook; I showed them to my student and she was like, “Yes! I want to go to that park!” So we added it to the itinerary! In addition to Mario World, Stardust Racers looks like an awesome coaster for us coaster lovers and I saw on social media that this park has Mac N Cheese Cones that look and sound amazing – perfect for this Foodie!

Day 4 – Thursday: Sea World

I have never been to Sea World and my friends haven’t either, at least not since they were children, so when I stumbled upon an unbelievable Black Friday ticket deal, we decided to add it to the itinerary. The deal was for a two-park combo ticket for Sea World and Busch Gardens for less than the price of a one-day ticket to Sea World alone! Even if we don’t make it to Busch Gardens (since it is in Tampa, not Orlando), it was worth the purchase of the deal. Plus, hello large coasters – ever since I learned about the Pipeline stand-up coaster, I’ve wanted to ride it!

Day 5 – Friday: Busch Gardens

I mentioned the Black Friday combo ticket deal to my brother and he informed me that there is a free shuttle that will take us from Orlando to Busch Gardens Tampa! What?! How perfect is that – now it seems like Busch Gardens is an even easier possibility for us. Hence, how we ended up with 6 parks on our itinerary, and zero rest and relaxation days as I was originally planning! The coasters here though, particularly Iron Gwazi, are top-notch! I just know my student is going to love this park as much as I do!

Day 6 – Saturday: Universal Islands of Adventure

Islands of Adventure is my all-time favorite theme park, and with how much my student loves coasters, I knew it had to go on the itinerary. VelociCoaster and Hagrid’s Motorbike Adventure are my top two favorite coasters of all time! Knowing she also likes Harry Potter, I want to take her to that world because they did such an incredible job making you feel like you’re in the movie, especially with the added touch of the fire breathing dragon!

Now that we have our itinerary set, we are just counting down the days until our magical Spring Break trip! My brothers who were originally planning to do this trip with us can’t make it now, but two of my best friends from Florida are driving up to meet us, as well as one of our other friends from Wisconsin that is flying in. This is an ambitious itinerary, I know, and most of my friends are only doing 3 park days with us. But I can’t wait to enjoy the parks with my foreign exchange student and experience the magic for the first time again through her eyes!