8 days too much?

[RustManFan]

I would never do 8 park days myself. Max for us is 6!

 

[JimmyV]

Eight days is the minimum for us. That gives us two days for each park, if needed.

I can't imagine spending two full days in DHS with a one year old and a two year old. Again, the OP's question isn't what do we all do, but rather, what do we think their family should do.

Would 8 days be too many, should we cut back to 6? Or will we find plenty to do to fill them with those ages?

 

[smiths02]

We stayed 8 nights in June with 9 year old, and twin 2 year olds. We did go to a park every day versus having a rest day. We mostly did 1/2 days in the parks (usually rope drop to early afternoon, but sometimes we did early afternoon until late). For us, 9 days wasn't too many park days because we toured so leisurely. As PP have said, the cost increase in tickets was worth it for us (and we got APs, so that ended up not mattering) so that we could FP+ 3 rides everyday and eat at the fun places in the park.

 

[biondagirl]

Since the price difference is so insignificant at that point, I'd keep the 8 days. Maybe even 7. We always go to a park on our arrival day (even if it's 5 or 6 hours) to get a "head start" on the trip.

Have a great time!

 

[Baklava]

I think the question isn't really "is 8 days too much". I think the question is "is 8 days too much on an 8 day trip"? In which case I would say yes.

This. We're doing 8 park days but on a 10 day trip. We would be fried without those two days off.

 

[Dis703]

We typically do 8-10 days when we go with the kids. I would prefer to do even longer, but it's just not in the cards. Yes, there will be plenty to do to fill those days. And I tend to feel longer trips are a little more relaxed because I don't feel like I have to fit it all in. Last trip for example Grandma was feeling run down by dinner on one of our MK days. DH wanted to call it quits early and we did without it being a big deal because we had 3 more MK days coming.

 

[smiths02]

Here was our schedule, I don't think it we were fried:
Arrival, drive, arrived at 1 or 2 pm, settle in room, go to Epcot, FP+ Soarin (for those tall enough), ride Land, eat at Garden Grill, back to room
Day 2 AM EMH DHS Sign up for Jedi Training for older DS, TSMM stand by, TSMM FP+, Disney Junior, Lunch at Sci Fi, Star Tours, JTA, back to room (dinner at another resort)
Day 3 pre-park CRT, leave park around lunch (dinner at another resort later)
Day 4 Sleep-in/pool, go to Epcot to use FP+, lunch at 1:45, explore World Showcase, leave around 8 pm
Day 5 Sleep-in , go to DHS around 4 for TSMM FP+ and TSMM, eat at 50s PT, back to resort
Day 6 AM EMH at AK...Dinoland, FP+ Safari, Bird Show, lunch at Yak n Yeti, back to resort
Day 7 Epcot in the morning, explore future world, lunch at Coral Reef, back to resort
Day 8 MK at opening, BOG lunch, leave park
Day 9 Sleep-in, go to MK for breakfast at 10:15...drive home

Now, the only thing that tired us out was that I often planned dinner at another resort. So I would say if you do a half day, just plan to be done (or at least have the option of being done).

On our next trip, I'm going to have planned activities (including ADRs) only in the morning or in the evening. But we didn't really need an off day because for instance, one day at Epcot and one day at DHS was really just to pop in and eat dinner (and get an extra ride on our faves-Soarin' and TSMM).

I would also suggest to OP that you don't attempt to go every single morning...8 days of waking up and getting 3 kids ready was not always fun, so I'm glad we have those 3 sleep-in days.

 

[NYHeel]

We're going for 9 days in late January and we're doing 9 days of tickets but we're doing 5-6 days at Disney, 2-3 at Universal and probably 1 at Sea World. I couldn't see doing 8 days at WDW. Just not enough to do there and too many other really great parks to visit. I love Universal as we're a thrill rides family and I haven't been to Sea World in over 14 years. I really wish Disney was 3 parks instead of 4. Between Animal Kingdom, Epcot and DHS they would make 2 good parks. But we have very little interest in World Showcase. Hated it as a kid and we actually completely skipped it on our last visit 4 years ago. We'll probably do it this time as my kids are now 4 years older but we'll do it quickly.

We don't do "resort" days. We have pools to go to at home so no need to just do that on a vacation. We'll go to a pool for a break to relax but not all day. However, we're Sabbath observers so we have a rest day (literally) from Friday sundown to nightfall on Saturday. So we plan on doing AK on Friday since we have to leave the parks around 3:15 in order to get back and prepare for the Sabbath and we plan on doing Illuminations on Saturday night. Saturday ends up being our day to catch up on sleep and recharge for the second half of the trip.

 

[LiveToTravelNicely]

If you can afford the 8 days, you can schedule one or two (or three!!) FP+ ressies on your off days and just go for those. On our off days, it is still nice to pop over to MK for a dole whip and a quick Thunder Mtn ride or over to DHS for a second spin on Toy Story. Your touring style sounds like you are going to spend time resting every day of your trip. Since you aren't going full-speed some days, I see no reason you need to have a full day or two for absolutely nothing. You could imagine a situation in which you arrive at rope drop at 8 or 830 and stay for evening magic hours until 1am, you would probably need a full rest day after that. But going in the morning for a few hours and possibly back in the evening for an hour isn't going to leave you drained.

As others have said, you can do 6 days and add 2 on near the end if you decide you want them, but there will be at least a slight hassle of having to visit a ticket booth. I think you'll end up wanting them, so I'd go ahead. But it is at least an option if you can't decide.

 

[ajwolfe]

Personally I think get the 8 day tickets and plan to tour leisurely. Like lots of posters I feel like just having the availability to pop in for a couple of rides or a snack would be great. And if the weather is crappy a day or two it won't totally destroy your plans.

 

[andiraye]

8 days feels like too much. I would plan fewer and add more if you want. Except for a few "hot" FP's, most FP's should be available a day or two before, depending on what time of year you go. I like to bake in leisurely rest days.

 

[vanyel]

I like the idea of the luxury of having 8 days tickets. As others have said, you can pop in for a few rides, go get something to eat, watch a parade, whatever, and not feel bad about not closing down the park. And I know everyone is different but I think there are still lots to do at the parks, including a lot of non ride actiivities.

 

[jmkjr72]

We norm lay go for 9 to the 10 days but with the job change had to cut back to 8 and even with having just 1 day to relax and not do parks it's just not enough time

If you get only a 6 day ticket you will only be able to book fast passes for 6 days
Make sure to get your camp site reservation in ASAP as those trying to beat the system to get early fp will book them up and make it harder for you to get o e

 

[happymommy]

Longest trip I've done was 15 days. We bought 10 day park hoppers, so had a few down days (very down - one day we hung out in the condo all day, and I did a lot of our cooking as we were off site).

I do not think an 8 day vacation is too much. But, as far as park days, you can always add days to your tickets, so you don't have to decide right now.

I'm not sure about going back at night with such young ones though. My kids were in bed by 7 or 8 at the latest when they were little at Disney. Especially my youngest - she definitely was in bed at 7. It would have been a lot of pain the next day with crabby kids otherwise! We took breaks at the parks, and they napped in our double stroller. While we rested in the shade with a drink!

 

[kehlyrsmom]

8 days is not too much for us. There is no such thing as too many days for us.

This is definitely my family our last few vacations have been 9 days I don't think you will have any problem finding things to do.

 

[kathy884]

When my son was little his favorite thing was the resort swimming pool. He liked the Disney transportation -- little boats and monorails too -- just loved those. The whole Florida experience was awesome to him, but the parks were not in any way the highlight and weren't that big a hit except for SeaWorld -- He has always been a marine mammal / fish guy. Every child is different and every adult is different. We usually on a week long trip only do three or four theme park days, but that's just us. Extra days after four are pretty darn inexpensive, but we just don't want to do more than that. // It's been a long time for me, but I have very fond memories of staying at Fort Wilderness as a kid back in the 70s. // Sounds like you have a great go with the flow attitude and will have a great time no matter how many theme park days you do.

Sorry if we are just confusing you more and making your decision harder. As you can see many posters like to do theme parks daily, and others like me like fewer theme park days.

 

[stormer]

We go for eight days. We do 2 at MK, 2 at Epcot, 2 at HS, 1 at AK, and one day to relax at the resort and do to DTD. It is perfect for us. Have been doing this since the kids were little.

 

[North of Mouse]

We are driving down and staying at Fort Wilderness, renting a camper. Our kids are 6, 2, and 1 at the time of our trip. Because of the ages and personalities, we are planning to be VERY flexible, spend a lot of time just relaxing, etc. but still want to get the most out of the parks. We are hoping to go in late April 2016. I was hoping to do about 4-5 hours in the park every morning, go back for the afternoon and dinner to relax, swim, nap, etc. and then we would end up either staying at the Fort, taking turns taking our oldest back into the park, or all going together.
We are going to be arriving around noon on Saturday and leaving the following Saturday or Sunday. Would 8 days be too many, should we cut back to 6? Or will we find plenty to do to fill them with those ages? Sorry, first time in over a dozen years and first time with kids!

We went at various times with children of different ages and always had lots to do. We have stayed 7 nights, but mostly stay 10-14 nights and stay in the parks most of the time while enjoying camping at FW.

 

[North of Mouse]

I get home sick after 5 days.