Ideal length of stay?

[prune1977]

I haven't seen and didn't find this posted anywhere and thought it might be fun. What is the ideal length of stay for your family? For us the first time we ever went we did 10 nights, our last few have been 7 nights. If it was just up to me we'd always do 10 as it was very relaxing and just perfect for us. Unfortunately my wife don't feel it fits well with her homeschooling schedule and fights for 7. LOL

 

[tmrose03]

Our first trip was 7 nights and felt that was great! My husband now won't go unless we cam stay a min of 7 nights. We liked a day for each park, a break day, then one more to do MK one last time.

 

[AllieV]

As a twosome, we always did 4 nights, maybe 5, and that was just fine. But now with a little one to drag around, that length felt very rushed. So last time we did 9 days, 8 nights, switching resorts in the middle for better park access. Because out last day was full travel, we sort of lost a day and felt like an additional night would have been much better. So next time we're going to try for 10 days, 9 nights.

The hotel portion gets pricey, but we save on airfare, since it's like two trips in one with only one airfare cost (and tickets get cheaper per day the longer you stay).

 

[katiee37]

For my family it varied between three nights and four nights, no matter where we travel because of our pets back home. But this trip I'm going for a full week so I can't wait to not have to rush through each park and take it easy on a couple mornings.

 

[goofy4tink]

My dh would consider a stay of 5 nights to be more than enough. 4 would probably be perfect! My perfect stay would be at least a week, closer to 10 days. I like to be able to relax and not worry about trying to cram as much as possible into a short stay.

 

[kmb584]

We've found that 9 nights and 8 days is perfect for us. I always wanted a longer stay and, thanks to Superstorm Sandy, got one last October because our flights were canceled and the earliest date we could fly home was 4 days after our original departure date. That took DD and I to 13 nights and 12 days and by the last day we were just ready to get home.

 

[1000HappyWishes]

I personally like a stay of either 5 days if my younger family members travel with us, or about 10 days when it's just my family. 5 days gives us a day at each park with 2 MK days, and 10 days gives two days at each park and 2 days at Universal, and it gives us a little wiggle room to change if we want.

 

[MrsDuck]

We are FL residents who live about 2.5 hours away with DVC and APs. Typically we go up for multiple weekend trips throughout the year.

 

[Dis nerd]

We do 7 days, I really think 10 would be great! I really wanted to try the 10 this time, but we weren't able to switch our dates to go later and free dining wouldn't of started till 4 days in. Maybe next time.

 

[tkbbmom]

DH would say 4-5 is perfect....but since he doesn't book the trip the kids and I pick typically 9 nights/10 days.

By the way, we homeschool too, but I count a couple areas of Disney as school -- at least for my elementary kiddo and since we drive the 9+ hours they have plenty of time for reading and/or educational movies. One of the benefits of homeschooling is flexibility.

 

[OZ 877]

Our trip last year was 12 nights/13days which we split between AKL and BC. We spent 9 days at WDW and 4 days at USO. We were able to relax and enjoy the pools, watermarks, and DTD.

Typically we do 7n/8d.

 

[bigbabyblues]

9 nights/10 days for us.

 

[sweetnjmom]

This will be our son's first trip and we are staying for 6 nights (arrive late afternoon) and have 5 day park hopper tickets. Honestly, I'd have loved one or two days more so we could take it more slowly, but I think 5 days in the parks with a 4 year old is pretty good.

 

[gillenkl]

We do 10-12 days. I homeschool year-round and build vacations into our schedule.

 

[amccu18007]

With our children 8 nights , 9 days. Without our children, 7 days, 6 nights seem to be best for us. Haha, not much difference, with or without our children!

 

[gillenkl]

P.s - look into the YES program for disney classes for your homeschoolers. My DD did this last year and is doing it again next month.

 

[LAS321]

For us 10 days is perfect....longer would be better! Last year and this summer we were only able to do 7 days and felt it was much too short...next year we're thinking of trying for 12 days!!

 

[mickeynut1]

We've done as little as 6 nights and as many as 10 nights. With that said, our usual is 8 nights .

 

[darkwing818]

We used to do 6 or 7 days at WDW. But over the last 3 years we've added a new wrinkle, we do 2 days at the parks & then drive to Port Canaveral for a 7 day Disney cruise . After the cruise we head back to the parks for another 4 days. Really breaks things up.

 

[ABCastillo]

Right now we do 5-6 days. Hopefully some day we can do 10. That would be awesome!