Disney world vacation length?

[skriegerjr]

We've done 5 days, 6, 7, 9 and we're about to a do a quick 3 day surprise trip. We've been so many times, and the kids are getting older now that we can hit the parks hard for 3 days and not feel like we got short changed.

My favorite vacation was the 9 days, but we had 9 days in the parks (3 MK days and 2 days in all the other parks.) We pushed too hard. If I did that many days again, I'd have at least 1 or 2 down days to just relax, swim, enjoy the resort.

 

[Candleshoe]

Our first trip to Disney was 5 nights with 5 day tickets. Our next stay was 7 nights. After that our stays stretched out to 9-10 nights. We usually don't go more often than once a year, so I don't think I would want to go for for less than 5 nights. I would do a shorter trip if I knew we would be coming back soon.

This was close to our pattern, too. First couple of trips we drove, so left home Friday after work arriving Saturday evening. And leaving Saturday returning home Sunday.

When we started to fly I began Saturday-Sunday, the Friday night to Sunday then I started asking for Fridays off, too. This next trip is 10 Park days.

I fully expect that if they push it to a 12-day MYW I'll find a way to make it 12 days.

 

[arcticdisneylovers]

I prefer 10 nights, DH prefers 7 night but tis time we will only be there 6 nights because we are squeezing a 7 night Disney Cruise. But 6 is better than nothing, not long enough bit we will make the best of it We're arriving on Friday and I'm counting the minutes

 

[lovin'fl]

We do a lot of 3-6 night trips and they are great (we have APs). But we were flying, from MD, a lot and the airfare started to really add up so we are going back to driving and that means longer stays. We have a 7 night stay booked for this Aug.

 

[samsteele]

I'm not sure if there are children or teenagers in your party, but you may decide to slow down the pace of your trip and not try to do one entire park for each day . . . particularly if there is a strong chance of returning in the future. In the past, I would take a young niece and we would "do" every park once during our 6 day stay and then have one day off for downtown disney and one day to return to a favourite park. I usually ended up with a very tired, grumpy young companion because of the amount of rushing and walking involved. In hindsight, I would do what I now do on solo trips . . . I divide the two big parks of Magic Kingdom and Epcot in "half" and then devote one full day to Animal Kingdom, one day for Hollywood Studios and a few days left to return to favourites or take a break at downtown disney or by the pool. With the Magic Kingdom, I divide the park down Main Street and on one day I spend the day on the left side doing Adventureland, Frontierland and Liberty Square and enjoying classics like Jungle Cruise, POC, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain, Tom Sawyers' Island/Riverboat, etc. On a different day, I go to the right of Main Street to enjoy the new Fantasyland including fastpass for 7 Dwarfs Mine Train and the classic Tomorrowland attractions. If I have any downtime, I hop on the train or take the monorail to tour the nearby resorts. At Epcot, I try to divide the park in half as well with Future World (at the front of the park) and World Showcase (back of the park). I take one day to focus largely on Future World including the aquarium, science pavilions including the build your own roller coaster Sum of All Thrills, and the handful of headliner rides such as Soarin and Test Track. The Behind the Seeds Tour in the Land Pavilion is also wonderful and a relatively low cost extra add-on. I may sneak into the edge of World Showcase for meals that day. Another day, I don't do rope drop at Epcot, have a later start and head to World Showcase for the day. I may take the boat to the Boardwalk area for a break, enjoy shows like Oh Canada, China, France and the American Experience. I usually schedule my fastpasses for much later in the day and do the Future World rides on my way out of the park that evening. To ratchet down the touring experience like this means either enjoying a longer stay or, within a smaller footprint like your planned vacation, simply highlighting the 2 or 3 parks that your family truly wish to see at this time. When I travel now in the Fall for the Food & Wine Festival, I try to stay for a week and a half to make this style work for me. However, I will be traveling to Disney for a short 5 day stay next month and, as a result, I am not trying to do everything but am focusing on the 3 parks that I most enjoy. Hollywood Studios is off the list this time as it is not a personal fave and with so many attraction closures, there isn't as much to enjoy right now. The 2 water parks are also off the list as they are not must-dos for me and it is the winter season and may well be much chillier. Maybe to get the most bang for your buck, you might want to sit down with your family, figure out what they really want to see, and then "do less" to get more. Good luck and enjoy!

 

[Dis703]

We normally shoot for at least 8 park days. Like this trip we are there for 9 nights, 8 full park days and then taking it easy on arrival and departure day. Only time we went for a shorter trip was when I took my 5 year old by myself and we did 5 total days including travel. We had already been there 6 months prior and were returning with the family 6 months later so it was just a quick getaway for us.

 

[Frozen2014]

We arrived on a Sunday and left following Saturday...so 6 nights with following schedule:

Sun (Arrival day) - we checked in and had dinner ADR.
Mon & Tues - Full Park Days
Wed - Day off, but Epcot from 5pm to evening
Thurs & Fri - Full Park Days (plus MNSSHP)
Sat (Departure day) - breakfast ADR and checked out.

Trip was perfect...maybe we could have used another park day but really, can't complain. Amazing trip and length.

 

[teddygurl28]

10 day trips are my favorite.

our last trip was 5 days, and our upcoming trip is 7.

we have gone for as little as 3 days before. for me, any time is better than no time.

that being said with shorter trips you just have to adjust your plan to hit the big things you want to do and FP+ what you can.

ive done all 4 parks in our 3 day trips (which always includes late morning starts due to late nighths at jelllyrolls) so even without going open-close it can get done

 

[RustManFan]

we have usually gone for about 6 nights.... one day at each park, travel time and a day around WDW not at a park

 

[SabbyR]

We go for 3 weeks. do 2 days in AK and DHS and 3 in MK and EP as well as WP days and Universal days and a beach day etc. The only reason we do this is because airfare is outrageous from Saskatchewan. If we lived closer we would go for shorter trips more times a year instead of just once

 

[nemo998]

With a 9 and 4 year old we do 5 days, but only 4 at the parks. You would just have to prioritize your must do's and accept ahead of time that you won't get to everything. A few days at Disney is better than no days at Disney!!

 

[ReelRedHead]

We always do 10 days. We visit parks every day, we have never done a "non-park" day. We get hoppers because we usually end up at MK or Epcot every night.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Hmmm. Unintended (or intended) consequence of FP+?

Intended - that's been my contention for sone time. IMO Disney is trying to get guests to spend more (but shorter) days in the park.

 

[skedinger]

For many of our trips, we arrived on Sunday and departed the following Saturday. We bought five day base tickets for M-F and spend two days in MK with one day in each of the other parks. We did not hop or visit water parks.

In 2013, I had to be at the Dolphin for a conference before our planned vacation days. With airfare from the UK, we discovered that it would be cheaper to plan a full 14 days away: 6 days for the conference and 8 days for the vacation. We bought conference tickets with PH/WPF&M options since the conference tickets were cheaper to begin with.

What a difference! Our pace was so much more relaxed and we had so much more fun. At the end of eight days, we still felt it was a bit too short. We are returning in 2015 for 10 days with PH/WPF&M tickets and are really looking forward to it.

You will have a great time on your five day trip. We did for many years.

 

[Frozen2014]

With a 9 and 4 year old we do 5 days, but only 4 at the parks. You would just have to prioritize your must do's and accept ahead of time that you won't get to everything. A few days at Disney is better than no days at Disney!!

This is pretty much what we did (kids 9 and 5)...but I guess we were 4.5 days. I did a lot of research, booked FP+ and had a touring plan. Worked great with no issues. Saw tons. Only skipped AK but did MK 2 days, HS 1 day, two half days at Epcot. In that time we saw Illuminations, Electrical Parade, Fantasmic, MNSSHP and went on all desired rides. You can do it in this amount of time and definitely worth a trip.

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

We used to do 8 days but now we do 9.

We used stay Dec. 24th to Jan. 1st - taking a morning flight home on Jan 1st. But it became too much - we would be on edge NYE, looking to get back to our hotel room as early as possible. We would have to catch a 6 or 7am ME, meaning we'd be up around 4:30am - 5am. We'd only get a few hours of sleep, making us all cranky. This year, we decided to stay until Jan. 2nd, which made Jan 1st. a relaxing day.

Anyway, we arrive on Dec. 24th. We go to DTD and have a nice dinner, and then relax for then night. We go to the parks just about every day of the trip, except for Dec. 31st. On NYE, we go ONLY at night.

We've already seen everything at Disney. At this point, we know what we want to see and we know what we could skip. As a result, the 9 days allow us to spend about a half a day at the park and the rest of the day relaxing.

 

[GatorMama]

We generally go for a weekish and have four park days every time. I like it because it always leaves us wanting a little more. sometimes we add water parks and sometimes we don't. We have done the halloween party every time we've been there for it and that adds a half day to our park experiences.

 

[KB'sMom]

Our upcoming trip is 15 days - 2 travel days, 10 park days and 3 rest days. Airfare is so expensive (~$2500 for 4 of us), that it makes the trip more worthwhile - and travel days are 12 hours or so, so no going to parks on those days.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

5 days is our normal trip length. That includes travel time so it's more like 4 days actually at Disney - my husband has a part time business and doesn't like to be gone longer than that.

For solo it's usually 6 days - including the travel time so it's really more like 5 days total at Disney.

 

[100acreHiker]

Our first trip in 2012 was 4 nights and 5 days in parks. It wasn't enough. This year we went for 6 nights and 6 day park passes. It was perfect. We had a resort day, and we totally skipped AK, since it's under so much construction and it's our least favorite park. It's tough for us to go for a full week, since we go in the fall and have to take our boys out of school. They missed 4 days and that is the max that I'm ok with.

If we're lucky enough to go again (my son will start middle school in a year so I won't be able to take him out of school then), I would love to do 6 nights again, but not less than 5.