2 weeks 2 long for a Young Family

[hsmamato2]

when mine were little, we did up to two weeks at OKW,and we enjoyed our picnic by the pool days etc. I could have stayed longer lol. Recently took my 2 yo nephew..... not so much. ALL he wanted was his own bed,home and routine after a few days. You know your kids best.

 

[DisTXMom]

At that age children, we would more likely get a condo on the beach for a more relaxed second half of the trip. Eat normal food, laze around, let the kids play at the beach.

 

[Smittolis]

Split stays with bigger families are the best! while some may not like the logistics of having to move and change, it breaks up the vacation into 2 different parts that keeps things fresh. We usually go for 2 weeks (3 kids) and spend 1 week offsite and plan to do different things such as Daytona Beach (visit family), Cocoa Beach etc... And as we have AP's we can simply come and go as we please with respect to the parks so knowing we have so much time it makes it so much more relaxing. It definitely allows more days at the pool, slower days without the constant mindset of 'got to get my money's worth!!' We also spend a good few days playing Sorcerer's at MK, allows you to take in a lot more of the parks without having to do so by standing in line. Definitely worth looking at.

 

[PollyannaMom]

If it weren't for worrying about how our pets would do without us, I could easily spend 2 weeks there! It gives you much more flexibility to roll along at kid-pace, and not feel like you have to squeeze in all the stuff you paid for.

 

[LNMom]

Definitely do beach club. My kids love it.

PS we also love going to Boca Raton or Miami on Florida trips.

 

[tjmw2727]

If your in a 2bedroom at OKW your fine - do a grocery shop and you can have breakfast in the condo as well as other meals on down days, no need for "nuggets every day" any more than at home. The layout here is one of the biggest on property so you will have plenty of room for everyone and can enjoy lazy days/nights in the condo as well as busy park days.

We were reluctant to visit OKW, one of the last properties onsite we tried and we were so surprised and happy. We loved the layout of the condo, the amenities and the general feel of the resort. We were fortunate to have a location close to the hospitality house and between two bus stops (one was the first pick up the other the first drop off) but I think any location could work. Ours was a "cousins and nana" trip with 3 adults and 4 kids and even with a few really rainy days we made it work with 7 people!

Not sure if I would move with a family of 5 - but if you can swing it a 2 bedroom at the beach club would give you access to a great pool area and 2 parks in walking/boat distance. Otherwise I would go with OKW and then just include several down days/ waterpark days/ DS days. Also - as much as we love US and IOS I would probably take a pass until your kids are older - at least until most of them are 48 + and want to ride the coasters, can do the HP rides etc.

 

[monorailsilver]

The most I have done is 11 days but I think I want to do 12 next time. When we went last August we did an every other day as a park. So we just had 5 park days with park hoppers. Plus we added another non park day as a water park day.

It was the most relaxed Disney vacation I ever did! My husband was ready to leave after day 8!

If you are planning to relax then I would do it.

 

[Wosmama6]

i am having this dilemma right now. our 18 mo old is super amazing when she's on her routine. the short weekend trips we've taken to grandma and grandpa's have been... challenging. however, if we go somewhere like the zoo or great wolf lodge she is content to marvel at everything she sees for a few hours in her stroller and then pass out in the car. my 6 year old is old enough to go with the flow.

right now we are booked at UO for 5 nights onsite with 1 evening at disney for DS and I (villains party) and the rest at UO/Legoland/resort. for the same price, we could do 9 nights offsite in a 5 br house and visit disney and universal, even with buying UO express passes.

my thought was that 9 nights is too much for an 18 month old. both sets of parks too much for an 18 month old. just go to UO, which will keep hubby happy (lines/crowds turn him into a toddler) and keep costs down, and do disney springs and a villain party for a disney flavor.

but i wanna do both. now. here from the comfort of my home with my well-rested toddler. will i still want to do both while we're there? will she be a total mess or will more days allow her to get into a new routine?

HELP ME WHAT DO I DO. The only thing I know for sure is that we are taking direct southwest flights LOL

 

[ClapYourHands]

i am having this dilemma right now. our 18 mo old is super amazing when she's on her routine. the short weekend trips we've taken to grandma and grandpa's have been... challenging. however, if we go somewhere like the zoo or great wolf lodge she is content to marvel at everything she sees for a few hours in her stroller and then pass out in the car. my 6 year old is old enough to go with the flow.

right now we are booked at UO for 5 nights onsite with 1 evening at disney for DS and I (villains party) and the rest at UO/Legoland/resort. for the same price, we could do 9 nights offsite in a 5 br house and visit disney and universal, even with buying UO express passes.

my thought was that 9 nights is too much for an 18 month old. both sets of parks too much for an 18 month old. just go to UO, which will keep hubby happy (lines/crowds turn him into a toddler) and keep costs down, and do disney springs and a villain party for a disney flavor.

but i wanna do both. now. here from the comfort of my home with my well-rested toddler. will i still want to do both while we're there? will she be a total mess or will more days allow her to get into a new routine?

HELP ME WHAT DO I DO. The only thing I know for sure is that we are taking direct southwest flights LOL

I think the offsite house is a good idea. Being able to spread out and give LO a separate room will likely go a long way towards everyone sleeping well. I also think that 9 days will give you more time to settle into a rhythm and get LO onto a vacation schedule,

 

[Wosmama6]

yes, part of me thinks exactly that. the other part of me thinks that the driving to and from parks (instead of walking whenever we feel like it, which is the case with our UO resort), parking, hauling car seats, cleaning and cooking will make it LESS relaxing overall. but can't afford to stay 9n onsite since we need extra space.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Every family and person is different. In general, my husband is ready to go home by day 5 of any trip. With the exception of Disney trips, I'm usually good until just before the 2 week mark. Disney is the exception. Somewhere between days 6-8, I am just done when it's Disney. It's usually a little bit better if I plan some non-park days, but if it's parks every day (even if it's not all day), I'm ready to leave. So, I'd gauge what's normally good for the adults and then think about how your kids have been with other travel and use that to form your decision.

 

[Wosmama6]

My hubby is the same. He loves our house so much and is home so little because of his job that he would be fine never going anywhere.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

There is so much to do in central Florida, not that you dont have ideas but i stongly suggest SeaWorld they have an awsome sesame street area for young kids. We did all you can dine it was an great experience eating every hour. I do not think 2 weeks is too long. You can take it easy doing a park every other day maybe even going to the beach one day. We have stayed on site off site there are pros and cons to both.

 

[Wosmama6]

We definitely are considering sea world too depending on how much time we end up spending at the resort and uo parks

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

6 days is the longest we've done and the longest we'll do. WDW is so overstimulating, especially for little ones. We even usually take one morning in the middle off as well to just enjoy the resort's pool and playground before heading to a park for dinner and a few rides that evening. But, we stay deluxe which usually makes transportation to at least one park quicker. We always RD including morning EMH. We usually take midday breaks when the parks are hottest and most crowded for a few hours. I still feel like we get everything done that we want to do.

 

[Wosmama6]

So, we are stretching the trip out and choosing to take it easy each day. Couple hours in the park each day. No chance they will make the 12 hour marathon it takes to see what wdw has to offer, so turning the 1 day highlights intinerary into a 2 day... not doing more, just taking more time and in shorter snippets. That way baby will have time to adjust to new setting too.

 

[Surgie2]

We did 10 nights at Poly with four little ones (ages 1-5) and had 10 day park passes which was great. We went to a park each day and we didn’t do any full park days, The pace was perfect for our crew. Staying at a monorail Resort with young kids saved our sanity, especially since MK was our most frequently visited park. Everyone was wanting more when we left, but another 4 days would have been too much for us. We’ll be back....

As others have said, definitely skip Universal until the kids are much older.

 

[Wosmama6]

That sounds exactly like what we want to do. But dh is having sticker shock. Currently booked a 2 br in Westgatefor a week for less than 1 night on site. But I'm betting when we get there he is like *** is this disaster lol

 

[wendlle]

Have you looked at renting DVC points? That was the only way we could afford such a long on-site stay (20 nights) it cost us a fraction of Disney prices.

 

[Wosmama6]

we are looking at it. actually, for our dates, OKW is cheaper on priceline... but AKV is cheaper renting points.