Four day trip- worth the money for you?

[PSUGuy]

Short answer, we wouldn't fly (at current rates) for that little, we usually stay 8 or more park days, 10 this Oct., but we have stopped in for 4 days on a long car trip through the South when we were near anyway and we drove from Pa for 5 park days once on a spur of the moment. Flights can be as much as one 8 day hopper so we opt for fewer but longer trips. A side benefit of long trips is a more relaxed touring style plus on our last day there, no regrets, we feel like we've had our fair share of WDW.

Bill From PA

 

[yaddakal]

We are thinking of going down 12/15-12/20 which will give us four park days with our 11yo and 9 month old (at travel time). Given that with tickets, hotel and flight it will run us about 3500 do you think it's worth if for four days? Our alternative is probably a longer trip in 2017/2018? I'm worried that me, my husband and older son may be disappointed as the other trip we took was almost two weeks.

Based on your experience, do you think this mini trip will give us a nice taste of Disney or leave us disappointed?

If it was your first trip I would say no , but if you have been there before you might be OK with missing a couple things and still really enjoying your vacation . We are doing five nights and with five nights you get free dining , nov 26th through December 1.. Of course we would like to stay at a deluxe but that time of the year I don't even know if we would be completely enjoying the pool so we settled on the Caribbean where we get a lot for a free dining . For our trip with free dining it was $2800 .
In my opinion if you can afford it it's worth it . Good luck !
But if you decide to wait until 2017 or 18 I say take this $3000 that you're thinking about and put it towards making that trip longer maybe at the 4 night cruise !

 

[mindeola]

Our last few trips have been 5 nights- with just 4 days in the parks. We use the military 4 day hopper and drive so it is not quite as expensive. I would rather stay longer , but I have two that only tolerate Disney in small doses.

 

[Megara5115]

Thank you all so much for taking the time to respond.
The breakdown is (approximately):

Room/tickets/free dining- $2200
Airfare- $900
Car rental- $150 (non-negotiable for husband)
Misc- $250 (possible character meal, souvenirs)

If the dates were Sept 29- Oct 4 where the crowd calendar indicates ot *should* be significantly less busy would your opinion change if you said no before? T would be about $200 less. We live in the northeast so driving not an option this trip.

 

[buzznina]

We love our long weekend trips of 4 or 5 days, but we are able to drive and it only costs half as much, and it is normally a 2nd trip during the year since we have APs. I can honestly say if we had to fly we would not do it.

 

[Anal Annie]

OUCH!! That sounds steep! We have done several 4 night long weekend type trips before (in January or May) DH and I are doing a quickie 4 night trip alone in September this fall however it's not costing us anywhere close to that much. We own DVC so our accomodations [at OKW this time] are covered and we have AP's which we are renewing over the summer. AND I found sorta cheap-ish [$165] round trip flights. We enjoy our short trips but without our DVC and AP's we wouldn't be able to do this. If our circumstances were different (ie no DVC or AP's) then we would wait for the longer trip to get our money's worth....

ETA: Just saw OP's last post. You know that "Free" dining means paying full price for the room right? I've never done the DDP but don't you get character meals with that? Why do you need to add in extra for that? I would skip it if it's costing another $200+ on top of the "free" dining I would def. pass. We also always use DME when we fly. No need to spend extra money on a car rental....

 

[NancyIL]

Thank you all so much for taking the time to respond.
The breakdown is (approximately):

Room/tickets/free dining- $2200
Airfare- $900
Car rental- $150 (non-negotiable for husband)
Misc- $250 (possible character meal, souvenirs)

If the dates were Sept 29- Oct 4 where the crowd calendar indicates ot *should* be significantly less busy would your opinion change if you said no before? T would be about $200 less. We live in the northeast so driving not an option this trip.

I said yes before, and I'd still personally choose December (even the week before Christmas) rather than late September. Early fall is still too hot for me, and I LOVE holiday time at WDW.

 

[amberpi]

I prefer shorter more frequent WDW trips, but its only like an hour and a half flight from where I live to MCO.

 

[pa. dad]

We are thinking of going down 12/15-12/20 which will give us four park days with our 11yo and 9 month old (at travel time). Given that with tickets, hotel and flight it will run us about 3500 do you think it's worth if for four days? Our alternative is probably a longer trip in 2017/2018? I'm worried that me, my husband and older son may be disappointed as the other trip we took was almost two weeks.

Based on your experience, do you think this mini trip will give us a nice taste of Disney or leave us disappointed?

Wow $3500 are you flying from MARS? And eating at Victor and alberts twice a day?

Seriously, for a short 4 day trip, we figure that with just 4 days, we'd be spending 4 full days in the parks. Maybe 4 parks in 4 days. So the hotel need not be that deluxe as we're not going to be in the room that much anyway. And for the tickets, we don;t need the water park option for December and we may not need park hopping. I do think you can have a good amount of fun in 4 days and that you can also look to economize where it makes sense for you and save a few bucks.

 

[jade1]

Christmas and the weather alone is worth it IMO.

A 6 day ticket is only $30 more ($15 a day).

Even a 5 day is only $15 more.

Can you fly in direct on the 15th? With FP+ you can have an amazing evening in a short time.

EX: 7DMT/Pan/BTMRR, work in some SB as well as the parade, Celebrate the Magic, ELSA Castle lighting is awesome, and Holiday Wishes. For $15 ea?

We always fly back in the evening as well, so that way we send our bags, get our boarding passes and have the whole morning and afternoon again with FP+, even after a leisurely check out. That is day 6 on the 20th. Another $15 day at Disney.

 

[Accident]

I agree with @pa. dad , you can probably lower the cost for 4 days. Generally what I call a mistake is people basically spend there first short trip doing nothing but running around and eating.. Enjoy the parks, use quick service for meals and maybe do 1 night lunch or dinner somewhere.. It's going to be amazing just being there, save the additional things disney can charge you for another trip and if you get the price down you may be able to stay longer or apply the saving to the next future trip now that you ahve first hand experience of standing there and what you like/dislike/can't miss...

To answer your question, I'd rather go on a 4 day trip than not go. also we tend to talk about days as how many days we are there, it sounds like this is a 5 night trip with 4 full park days.. that's a pretty good first trip.. of course longer is better but everyone has their budget..

 

[Kimberly9701]

Thank you all so much for taking the time to respond.
The breakdown is (approximately):

Room/tickets/free dining- $2200
Airfare- $900
Car rental- $150 (non-negotiable for husband)
Misc- $250 (possible character meal, souvenirs)

If the dates were Sept 29- Oct 4 where the crowd calendar indicates ot *should* be significantly less busy would your opinion change if you said no before? T would be about $200 less. We live in the northeast so driving not an option this trip.

If you can fit it in the budget then GO FOR IT!!! I don't think it's unreasonable (in Disney terms,sad to say ) My son and I are doing 4 nights in December and our cost is around the same, before flights. HOWEVER- all that matters is what YOU are comfortable with!!!

Keep checking for flight deals.. be flexible with departure cities if possible, but you should be able to catch a 'deal' between now and then. Your resort/tickets/rental car are relatively reasonable (again, in Disney terms).

I am never a fan of postponing something. Ever. Not to sound morbid- but who knows what will happen in a year from now. Grab any memory that you can while you can. Even if it means that it isn't Disney, go somewhere else this year..either way like I said, I don't ever think anyone should put off a vacation and always get shocked when I see people say "maybe we'll save another year". Grab it and go..and make wonderful memories with your family

 

[pa. dad]

I agree with @pa. dad , you can probably lower the cost for 4 days. Generally what I call a mistake is people basically spend there first short trip doing nothing but running around and eating.. Enjoy the parks, use quick service for meals and maybe do 1 night lunch or dinner somewhere.. It's going to be amazing just being there, save the additional things disney can charge you for another trip and if you get the price down you may be able to stay longer or apply the saving to the next future trip now that you ahve first hand experience of standing there and what you like/dislike/can't miss...

To answer your question, I'd rather go on a 4 day trip than not go. also we tend to talk about days as how many days we are there, it sounds like this is a 5 night trip with 4 full park days.. that's a pretty good first trip.. of course longer is better but everyone has their budget..

You make some good points Accident.
We went to DW in 2010 for like the 5th or 6th consecutive year. In 2011, my mother in law fell into bad health and by the time she passed in 2012, my mother's health retreated. She passed in 2014 so it was late 2015 before we could make it back. We didn't plan on a 5 year gap but it worked out like that. For others, it might be unplanned home or auto repairs that derail the timing of the trips.
So 4 days is better than no days and you should be able to see your favorite parks and attractions given 4 days. If i were given 4 days, I'd probably do one day each at the 4 Disney theme parks or maybe I'd pass on the DHS to spend an extra day at the MK. A trip of that length would not allow for leisurely mid day breaks so I'd look to a moderate at best hotel. That's good enough to house my luggage while I'm spending all day in the parks and about town. Keeping the budget in line can help get you t that next trip sooner whereever that may be too.

 

[jvattes]

If I can get cheap enough flights I will do a short trip over delaying a trip. Also, none of us is promised tomorrow, so live while you have breath in your lungs!!!

 

[mshanson3121]

We are thinking of going down 12/15-12/20 which will give us four park days with our 11yo and 9 month old (at travel time). Given that with tickets, hotel and flight it will run us about 3500 do you think it's worth if for four days? Our alternative is probably a longer trip in 2017/2018? I'm worried that me, my husband and older son may be disappointed as the other trip we took was almost two weeks.

Based on your experience, do you think this mini trip will give us a nice taste of Disney or leave us disappointed?

For me, no it would not be worth it, but that's just me. But we can only afford to go once every few years, so I want to make it a longer trip.

 

[Shanti]

You'll have fun and will get a taste, which will have you planning your next trip as soon as you leave. Try to book a bounceback for next time- ask at the front desk about this if you don't know about it.

I say this will be good only if you can comfortably afford it. If you're pinching pennies for this, I recommend waiting for a longer trip at a less busy time.

 

[Mousemommy1]

I would rather choose a longer trip, but for reference, we just had four nights in the parks and that portion of our trip, which included 2 nights AOA, 2 nights GF, 4 day park hoppers, and $500 food budget was about $2750. This did NOT include our flights which were $1300 for 5 of us. Our four nights in the parks were in conjunction with a 4 night cruise on the Dream, so I don't think $3500 is out of the park. What resort are you looking at? Are there discounts?

 

[ZoZo]

I wouldn't do it myself, but that's based upon my circumstances. I travel from the Seattle area, so it's a full travel day each direction, even with a non-stop flight (and right now, there are very few non-stop flights). With the time difference, it's a very, very long day going west to east. If I'm going to spend two days just traveling, I figure I might as well take an entire week! I've never done less than six days in the parks, with a travel day tacked on both ends of the trip.

For a shorter trip, being a "Pacific Northwester", I'd go to Disneyland instead. You can do a very thorough Disneyland trip with three days in the parks, and it would only be a half-day each way to fly down. Easy peasy!

 

[Megara5115]

Thanks agin for all the feedback all! This price is for POP with free dining and park hoppers for four days. We are flying out of Boston and it really adds up!

 

[maxiesmom]

I will take any time at WDW I can get! I've done short 4 night trips, and I've done 8 nights. Only you can really say if it is worth it.