3 night weekend trip?

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

Have you ever or would you consider going on a 3 night trip to WDW (fly down thursday leave sunday)? Would be first weekend of F&W festival- so last weekend in September (is that a crazy time to consider going?)
Flight is direct, about 2 hours. Would leave after work thursday, get home sunday and possibly work monday.
Have the points, and now have annual passes- so extra costs would be flights and food

If you have done 3 night trips- are they exhausting? Would you bring kids with you (9 and 6)? (Im having a hard time picturing a trip without our kids with us- mommy guilt)

We are going May 2015 for 8 days, December 2015 for 7 days, and May 2016 for 7 days all on one Annual pass and then will take a year or so off before heading down again. We have extra points so I'm not sure if we should just head down in late September 2015 for food and wine or if that would be disney overkill

 

[heynowirv]

It's not uncommon for my wife and I to do a Fri-Tue. trip in Dec. .We unwind and get away from the cold and get into the holiday spirit.Depending on your kids ages and whether you want to spend all your days in the parks will determine how worn out you'll be. Either way have fun.

 

[Anal Annie]

I approach these kinds of trips from a monetary standpoint and look at the cost of the airfare compared to the trip duration so that I have a per night cost pp to consider. We have done a couple of 4 night trips but personally I feel that the cost of airfare lately is too high for anything shorter. I wouldn't call a short trip any more exhausting than any of our other longer trips but the time does go by in a hurry. Back in the day we used to be able to fly roundtrip on Air Tran or SW out of BWI for as little as $119-129 pp. THOSE WERE THE DAYS. For that price yes, I would definitely spring for 3 nights. But nowadays airfare is $250ish+ roundtrip (on a GOOD DAY). More likely closer to $300-350 pp. I have also found the direct flights from our area to be fewer than ever and I HATE to book a connecting flight that turns a 2 1/2 hour trip into a 5 hour trip. (I have done a search out of BWI for this summer and there are absolutely NO direct flights from there to MCO other than on SW and their price is high compared to United out of Dulles, probably bcuz they're the only ones flying direct.) I considered doing a 3 or 4 night trip over Memorial Day weekend this year for our sons 18th birthday and his HS graduation but the only flights that work for us at the moment are on Jet Blue from Dulles and are $310 pp. I refuse to pay that much for just a weekend trip - it's hard enough to pay that much for a WEEK long trip but $100 / night pp is too rich for my blood. The airlines are really jacking things up in my book lately so we're planning to drive this summer just out of the principle of it. The airlines are gouging us.

So I guess if money is no object for you for the flights and if you can fly direct from wherever you live then sure, go ahead. Just personally, with college looming directly ahead of us we have to be pretty frugal so at today's air prices I wouldn't pay that much for such a short trip and I wouldn't spend forever trying to get there & back. But IF I could find a deal I could afford I would do it...

 

[gdrj]

Have you ever or would you consider going on a 3 night trip to WDW (fly down thursday leave sunday)? Would be first weekend of F&W festival- so last weekend in September (is that a crazy time to consider going?)
Flight is direct, about 2 hours. Would leave after work thursday, get home sunday and possibly work monday.
Have the points, and now have annual passes- so extra costs would be flights and food

If you have done 3 night trips- are they exhausting? Would you bring kids with you (9 and 6)? (Im having a hard time picturing a trip without our kids with us- mommy guilt)

We are going May 2015 for 8 days, December 2015 for 7 days, and May 2016 for 7 days all on one Annual pass and then will take a year or so off before heading down again. We have extra points so I'm not sure if we should just head down in late September 2015 for food and wine or if that would be disney overkill

We did Fri 6 AM flight and got home Monday at midnight! It was well worth it, we got 4 full days in. Our kids are older so we did not have that concern. Also without kids we didn't need to see every attraction, or be at the gate at opening. I'm assuming you are spending time at F&W so food and beverage will be your focus. If you can take Monday it would be a plus! Instead of exhausting it was a recharge for us. We did this because our AP's were going to expire, we had taken 4 trips in the past year, no Disney overkill for us.

 

[RabbitFood]

We love long (3 or 4 day) weekends at WDW! For some reason, we tend to take them really slow and lazy. Go. Take the kids. Enjoy!

 

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

Thank you! Just to make sure I have this straight as far as booking- If I book the september trip using our 2015 points (DEC use year so I will be borrowing the points) and end up canceling by July 31st we can still bank the points. If we cancel any time after July 31st then we have to use them by Nov 31, 205 or lose them?

 

[nalajms]

If you have done 3 night trips- are they exhausting? Would you bring kids with you (9 and 6)? (Im having a hard time picturing a trip without our kids with us- mommy guilt)

With my oldest starting school last fall, we've started doing the short trips. For Jan we flew out Friday after work and came back Tuesday night. Next week we're doing the same thing. We would have made it 3 nights but flights dropped significantly for the holiday weekends if you extend it one more day.

It's only exhausting if you make it exhausting. We were just there Thanksgiving and have a longer trip planned for summer. We don't do the commando thing, but take it easy. I make FP starting mid morning so we're not rushed. Since we're not staying at MK in the summer, I booked both Jan & Feb trips for MK resorts and we spend more time at MK.

If you book Sept with your borrowed Dec 2015UY points, you won't be able to bank them if you cancel. If you booked with Dec 2014UY points, then you can bank. If you've finished your 2014 points, I wouldn't risk booking Sept with borrowed proints unless you're absolutely sure you'll go.

 

[heynowirv]

Annie,
Does Spirit fly out of BWI? We've found them to be extremely cheaper than SW or Airtran. We're doing a 4 night trip over spring break @ 115.pp r/t. And it's even cheaper to book airfare at an airport that they fly out of vs online.

 

[heynowirv]

Annie,
Does Spirit fly out of BWI? We've found them to be extremely cheaper than SW or Airtran. We're doing a 4 night trip over spring break @ 115.pp r/t. And it's even cheaper to book airfare at an airport that they fly out of vs online.

 

[DisneyHeather]

If I was close enough that the flight was short I'd do it in a heartbeat. I've done it with Disneyland which is an hour and a half flight for me. I say if you can afford the plane tickets go for it and enjoy

 

[LoverDisney]

We have a 3 night trip planned in November because I need to use my points by February 2016. We plan to arrive early and leave late.

 

[Sandisw]

Thank you! Just to make sure I have this straight as far as booking- If I book the september trip using our 2015 points (DEC use year so I will be borrowing the points) and end up canceling by July 31st we can still bank the points. If we cancel any time after July 31st then we have to use them by Nov 31, 205 or lose them?

Borrowing is a final transaction so no, points will be locked into your 2014 UY, regardless of when you cancel. So, if you book, and can't go, all points will still need to be used by November 30th, 2015. If you cancel less than 31 days out, the points go into holding and would be restricted to booking 60 days or less out, but still would expire November 30th, 2015.

 

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

makes complete sense! Thank you!

 

[abner1776]

For me 3 days is just too short but when my DD heard that I booked a 1bdrm at OKW for 6 days, she immediately booked a Fri-Mon "three dayer" cause...hey...dads payin'...might as well go.

 

[bobbiwoz]

It's just DH and myself and we went down for Frozen festivities for just a weekend this summer. I wanted to see the fireworks and do the dessert party. It was great!

 

[DisneyRegulars]

I would definitely go. My husband and I do a three or four night trip each year without our son. It's fantastic! Love the time to reconnect with each other in our favorite place.

 

[disfanforlife]

I am doing my first "short" trip next month. Only 4 nights. Going with my mom to visit my daughter who is working at Disney this semester. Can't wait! I think 3 full days will be enough for us. We might okay go to parks 2 days and have a rest or shopping day in the middle.