Anyone ever do a long weekend at WDW??

[slk537]

In the midst of planning our annual Nov/Dec trip, I've started really wondering about heading down sometime this summer too...DH's work has just decided to move to 4 10 hour days this summer so he has Fridays off. So we are pondering taking advantage of this and maybe heading somewhere on a Wednesday night, he takes Thursday off and we don't come home until Sunday (I have vaca days to burn so I'm good).

Anyway...we haven't decided on WDW fully, but I keep thinking about it a lot. I hate heat and humidity, but believe it or not, Wisconsin in the summer isn't much different than Florida so I'm not worried about that. Yuck. And we do go down at least twice a year so we don't have to do and see everything.

But do any of you do this? And if so, what do you like to do while you are on your mini vacations? We have annual passes and DVC points left over and I am itching to take advantage. I'd love to hear what all you other Disney World people do in a rushed and hot August long weekend!

Thanks!!!

 

[safetymom]

I did that quite a few times. A long weekend at WDW is better than no WDW.

 

[iloverags2]

Living in Jacksonville, FL, my husband and I often do long weekends at WDW. Sometimes we hit parks, othertimes we don't. If we do decide on parks, we usually do just one. Most of our time is spent just relaxing and enjoying the weekend. Since we are WL freaks (and pretty much stay solely there), it's easy just to make a relaxing weekend of it. We did stay at CBR a few times, and found ourselves spending a day walking around the lake, lazing in the hammocks, that kind of stuff. Oh, and we also sneak in watersports, such as the watermice (now known as something else!) It really is an enjoyable weekend!

 

[Amirah95]

I know people who have done it all in one weekend and I agree with SafetyMom about that being better than no Disney, but I can't do it. I have to be out there 7nights the least. I wait too long each year to get to Disney to just stay for 3 or 4 days. I'd go home depressed.

 

[llij]

We've done it a few times this year and we really enjoyed it! Our plan has always been to leisurely enjoy the parks on those visits and focus on a few parks (usually MK and Epcot). At first I thought that it would be tough going down just for a long weekend, but they ended up to be great trips with great memories. No commando for us on those trips, just relaxed and enjoying the atomosphere.

Enjoy!

 

[rigsby25]

That's the only thing we've done for the past year. We went down in November leaving early on a Thursday and getting there about noon. Then we have Thursday, Friday and Saturday and come home on a Sunday. We've done that in November for my DD's 18th birthday because they had a Thursday and Friday off of school. Then we did it again in February because they had a half day and a whole day. You get a lot in because you know exactly what you want to do. We always stay in a Disney resort which makes it easier. We are doing it again in October, although this time we are including a Wednesday and just taking my son out for 3 days. We won't get back to a full vacation at WDW until at least May, because we visited family in West Virginia and in San Jose this year, and we don't have that many days left.

 

[cyndibelle]

we are getting ready to head down this week..just hubby and i..this is the second trip we have taken this year alone....its great to get away and just relax....we do all the parks and have nice dinners and spend some time just relaxing.....the kids arent too mad cause they know they get to go in october....

 

[Magic2000]

We do our 7-10 day visits during the summer, and since 2000, we've been taking a 4 or 5 day weekend in early December to see the parks for Christmas! It works out fine for us - our long weekend visits are spent taking our time and absorbing all the different decorations and stuff!! We do visit the parks, but at a nice, leisurely pace! We love MVMCP and Candlelight Processional too!

Enjoy your long weekend at Disney!!!

 

[Bowen9475]

My daughter and I spent a long Mother's Day weekend at WDW earlier this month. We flew down after school on Thursday and flew home Monday. We spent Friday morning at AK and Friday late afternoon and evening at Epcot. We spent all day Saturday at MK. Sunday we did the Princess Tea Party in the morning, swam and DTD in the afternoon and MGM in the evening. We didn't see everything but I was surprised at how much we were able to do. We had a great time and now I'm working on convincing my husband we need an adults long weekend over the winter.

 

[dreamer423]

I grew up in So Fl. and except for out first two trips in the 70's, I've only ever done 1 day (school trips) or long weekends. Have never suffered! Was there in April and returning next weekend!

 

[Kteacher]

I did this last Dec. with one of my kids. We took an early flight down on a Friday. We were in MK by noon, had dinner Friday night at California Grill, did AK Saturday during the day, MGM Saturday night, Epcot Sunday during the day, MK and MVMCP Sunday night, then MK Monday until we had to leave for the airport at around 2:30. We had a blast, and I'm planning on doing this again with my DD in '06

 

[slk537]

Thank you all SO much for your responses - I love this board!!!

I'm going to have my DH read this and we shall see...

 

[pixiepower1971]

We live 2.5 hrs away and have done long weekend trips every month for the past year. Some have only been for 2 nights. They are some of our best trips. We ALWAYS go with the mantra...WE WILL BE BACK AGAIN...makes it easier to walk past long lines and crowds and on to other things...no stress on these trips!

We park hop and hit all our fav rides. Its a great break from reality!

 

[Rootskate]

We are thinking about going for a long weekend in September. Leaving Thursday night and returning on Sunday afternoon. (Otherwise our next "long" vacation there wont be until September of 2006!)

 

[swilphil]

We have done a couple of 4-day trips. It's definitely doable, but I would highly recommend staying onsite, preferrably at either an Epcot area or monorail resort. You don't want to use up a lot of time just sitting on a bus, and it sounds like the crowds are going to be very high this summer. You also may want to come back to your room in the afternoons. The temperature in Wisconsin may be similar to Florida's in the summer months, but the humidity is a different story. It's the tropics there and you will be sweating at 7 a.m. in July. The good news is the parks are open until late in the evening. Take advantage of morning emh also.

 

[Leota]

I have done 3 long weekend trips. Twice with friends & once with my DS. They were all busy trips, with very little sleep But they were WONDERFUL! Each one provided enough of a seperation from the stress of the real world to recharge my batteries.
If I ever talk DH into a long weekend, just the 2 of us, I would spend it really relaxing together & enjoying some of our favorite resort dining experiences.

 

[Disneygrl36]

We did a quick trip over Valentine's day & had a blast. If you want to read about it here's my trip report.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=744282

 

[dgaston]

We did two extravagant birthday trips, one for me when we had SWA flight credits, and one for DH's birthday when we got a pin code for WL and SWA had $49 fares. We took vacation days, or personal days and just stayed 3 nights. We loved getting birthday pins and did some special things, a carriage ride for me, Hoop de doo, and Gospel Brunch for DH. That last trip ended up being pretty costly, because we bought into DVC!! LOL

 

[ricktib]

That's generally what we do each March & October. You can do a whole lot with a little planning.

 

[PamNC]

We've done this a few times and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a great way to get your Disney fix. The last time we did it was this past Thanksgiving. We went for a week in July, we usually go in the summer, but we couldn't wait a whole year so we went for 4 nights over Thanksgiving. Stayed at the Swan with an AP rate of $161.00 - it was wonderful. Had a great time, got our fix. We're going back 7/2-7/9. We actually like the heat and humidity. That's what swimming pools are for.

Once I surprised my husband for his birthday. His birthday and our anniversary are 3 days apart. We went on Friday, came back Sunday. That was a quickie, but it was an annual passholder preview for RnR - had a blast!! Stayed at CSR that time.

One other time we went for 4 nights and stayed at the YC. We went for Memorial Day week, came back and hadn't gotten our "fill." My mom and aunt were there for July 4th week, so we decided to surprise them and go down since my company decided to close 3 days for the 4th. Get this - we were given a total surprise upon check-in - and upgrade to Water View Concierge. It was a truly magical trip.

I say go for it!

PamNC