Anybody stayed 10 nts, parks only 4 days?

[IloveWINNIEthePOOH]

We are going to WDW over the summer & staying at POP. Just wondering if anybody else has vacationed like we are going to- 10 nights/9 days and only do about 1-5 days of parks? And the others you just chill by the pool or go to DTD or browse the other resorts? Sounds like a great way to have a relaxing vacation!!!!

 

[FINFAN]

Well, once we stayed 3 nights at the Dolphin 12/21-24 and did not do any parks...it was SOOOOOOO hard with 2 kids, but we were just stopping for a few days on our way down to visit family for Christmas. Anyway, we visited DTD and had our picture taken with SANTA there and also with Mickey ( the photo w/Mickey is at a shop and in a studio room, came out nice) , rented a watermouse at the Yacht Club marina, hung out at the beach/Grotto Pool, watched illuminations from the Boardwalk, toured almost all the resorts, hung out at the petting zoo at Ft Wilderness, boated from there to CR and caught the monorail and road it for fun to Epcot and back and then took the bus back to the Dolphin. At AKL we hung out at the observation area enjoying the animals and heard story time. The 75th Mickey Statues were outside of MK then and we saw those, except for the watermouse and pictures, all else was free. There is also Fantasia Gardens mini golf...but we plain ran out of time in 3 days! Not to mention the Dolphin had holiday games going on for the kids that week..scavenger hunts, cookie decorating, letters to Santa. There is never a "lack" of things to do at WDW! eNJOY your downtime on your vacation!

Pam

 

[momrek06]

Xmas 2003/2004 break, we took our kids for 2 weeks. We spent 5 leisurely days at Universal Studios/HRH. That was plenty for those two parks. Then headed to WL for the remainder of the vacation. With that amount of time, we never felt rushed to get to the Parks. We slept late each morn and then stayed late at the Parks each day. I will say my kids were 18 & 21! So I did not have little ones at all. But having all that time @ U.S. and WDW, was sweet. One morning my sons spent hours on the jet skiis in the lagoon outside the WL. DH & I spent one whole evening swimming @ the WL and then getting changed and sitting by the giant fireplace in the lobby. The boys were together at the parks. It is just so nice to once and awhile to just sit and enjoy the sights and sounds of WDW.

 

[Msslaydbug]

When we are at Disney we go Commando. We will be staying at Universals Royal Pacific and it is then we will veg. We have 5 days and only two parks with FOTL access so I figure we will get a lot of down time at the room and pool.

 

[PKS44]

Day 1-arrived midday
Day 2 Epcot
Day 3 Water park
Dau 4 MK and MGM
Day 5 DisneyQuest
Day 6 MK and E ride night
Day 7 rented boats for an hour, Downtown Disney
Day 8 AK and Epcot
Day 9 MGM and Epcot
Day 10 Minigolf Downtown Disney
Day 11 checked out and Left mid day

5 days out of 11 in the parks
Never in any park all day
usually took a 4 hour or more break midday on park days--
Did stuff around the resort, swam, played tennis, relaxed...

It can be done--And it flew by...and it was GREAT!

 

[cstraub]

Not sure of your reasons to want to do the parks for only 4 of your 9 days but just wanted to throw this out there. The cost for an adult 4 day ticket is $207. The 9 day ticket is $221. For $14 dollars more you could at least have the option to go into the parks even if it is just to walk around or have a meal, shop or watch the parade or fireworks. That's less than $3 a day for quite a bit of entertainment. You would not have to do the parks comando style knowing that you have all 9 days instead of 4.

The breakdown:

Adult
4 day= $207
9 day= $221
a difference of $14 or 3 dollars a day

Child
4 day= $170
9 day= $179
a difference of $9 or $2 a day

Even for two adults and two children the difference would only be $46 for the remaining 5 extra days. That would only be $9 a day. That's a lot of entertainmnet for $9!!

 

[IloveWINNIEthePOOH]

Not sure of your reasons to want to do the parks for only 4 of your 9 days but just wanted to throw this out there. The cost for an adult 4 day ticket is $207. The 9 day ticket is $221. For $14 dollars more you could at least have the option to go into the parks even if it is just to walk around or have a meal, shop or watch the parade or fireworks. That's less than $3 a day for quite a bit of entertainment. You would not have to do the parks comando style knowing that you have all 9 days instead of 4.

Yeap, we've been considering this option as well! Especially since my mom already has an AP! We are all night owls so we thought of relaxing all day and then doing to parks at night for EMH, or doing some in the early am EMH and then sleep in the next day!

Thanks for all the input, everyone!!

 

[mjmcca]

When i go I may go to a park each day but it is later after the kids have had a good rest. We have APs so I dont rush around to the parks I always feel like we will be comming back. It took me 3 trips after MS was opened to finnally get a chance to ride it . Same with Soarin, the lines were always too long and FP out.

 

[Leota]

I gotta agree with cstraub. For very little difference in cost, you have the option of doing a Park each day.

I am no longer really commando. When the whole family goes, we definately are not. We do a Park for a few hours in the morning - leave to eat, nap, swim, lounge, dress for a nice dinner & maybe do a Park after. But I like having a few hours in the Park each day.

The only way I think I could do WDW without the Parks at all is a trip with just DH to the Swan or Dolphin for a weekend. But not much longer than that. Being that close to the Parks & not going in would make me a little batty.

 

[RescueRanger]

We go commando style. If I want a relaxing vacation, I don't go to WDW. I can relax at home or go visit the in-laws at the lake for free. If I am driving a 1000 miles and spending all that money once I get there, I am definitely going to be in the parks. That said, you should do whatever is best for you. I also agree that you should go ahead and get the extra days on the pass. Never hurts to have that option when the price difference is so little.

 

[thelionqueen]

For very slightly more in cost you could have the option of going to a park everyday. If you decided not to, fine, but you would still have the opportunity to do so.

The cost is literally almost nothing for many extra days of the most magical place on earth....seems like a no brainer to me.

We are going for 12 days May/June 2006 but have AP's. We will probably be in some park nearly every day (Theme, Water or Universal) for some part of the day, but also like to break in between. Have a blast!!

 

[PKS44]

Day 1-arrived midday
Day 2 Epcot
Day 3 Water park
Dau 4 MK and MGM
Day 5 DisneyQuest
Day 6 MK and E ride night
Day 7 rented boats for an hour, Downtown Disney
Day 8 AK and Epcot
Day 9 MGM and Epcot
Day 10 Minigolf Downtown Disney
Day 11 checked out and Left mid day

5 days out of 11 in the parks
Never in any park all day
usually took a 4 hour or more break midday on park days--
Did stuff around the resort, swam, played tennis, relaxed...

It can be done--And it flew by...and it was GREAT!

when we did the above it was in the last days BEFORE MYW passes...that was on old hopper tickets and so I think if we did it again we would pay the extra few bucks and would probably go into the parks a little bit almost every day given the small extra cost now...

 

[ttfn3]

We done this many times - and stayed offsite. The summer is a great time to just hang out by the pool. We like resorts that have activities for the kids - young and old. Central Florida gets VERY hot in the summer. Orlando has a lot to offer besides Disney. I like going the last week of July and shopping during the tax holiday. Combine that with summer sales and you can pick up some great bargains!