How do YOU do a quick 3-day weekend trip?

[jpessa]

Whoops pressed send too soon

 

[jpessa]

So much great advice here! I really appreciate it.
I told DH about my idea and he practically forced me to book on the spot! He was super supportive of my needing to get away, and since I already have most of the money saved up it's not going to ruin us.
I'll spend some time today looking at hotels and deals, but for such a quick trip I'm leaning towards staying on-site and using Disney transportation. I usually rent a car but don't feel like the hassle this time. Car seat, etc. Just want this one to be easy. Relaxed. Not too commando. Pool time. Favorite rides and characters. Sounds nice.
We were there for 10 days only 2 months ago and felt like we did it all. So this time, I don't mind if I don't.
Thanks again everyone, keep the advice coming!

 

[ArwenMarie]

So much great advice here! I really appreciate it.
I told DH about my idea and he practically forced me to book on the spot! He was super supportive of my needing to get away, and since I already have most of the money saved up it's not going to ruin us.
I'll spend some time today looking at hotels and deals, but for such a quick trip I'm leaning towards staying on-site and using Disney transportation. I usually rent a car but don't feel like the hassle this time. Car seat, etc. Just want this one to be easy. Relaxed. Not too commando. Pool time. Favorite rides and characters. Sounds nice.
We were there for 10 days only 2 months ago and felt like we did it all. So this time, I don't mind if I don't.
Thanks again everyone, keep the advice coming!

Awesome!

 

[Tigger's ally]

I actually disagree with the staying onsite thing. If you're going to be in the parks for very long days, then why pay extra for a Disney hotel? Maybe you save 20 minutes of commuting time, but you probably won't be at the resort to enjoy its amenities that much anyway. Granted, I say this having just spent $900 for 2 nights at the Poly, and I think I spent a total of 3 awake hours there... And I could've left with a savings of $650 by having stayed at the (in my opinion) perfectly comfortable Holiday Inn near DTD. I also unexpectedly found myself needing a break from the magic at the end of the day. My castle view didn't seem so wonderful at 1am when I was tired of the crowds.

I am guessing you didn't read about the free dining.

 

[Tigger's ally]

My tip consists of Monday.....If you don't want to pay the $160 which I wouldn't for a short trip to the parks, I would suggest a late morning charachter buffet at 1900 park fare. We always do that on travel day because you can fill up the tank and not have to eat in the airports or maybe even till you home if you use a snack credit to go from the hotel gift shop. Plus, just hanging out with the charachters is a good send off. Use the rest of your time to walk around the GF, take a boat to MK and then bus back to wherever you are staying.

 

[jpessa]

My tip consists of Monday.....If you don't want to pay the $160 which I wouldn't for a short trip to the parks, I would suggest a late morning charachter buffet at 1900 park fare. We always do that on travel day because you can fill up the tank and not have to eat in the airports or maybe even till you home if you use a snack credit to go from the hotel gift shop. Plus, just hanging out with the charachters is a good send off. Use the rest of your time to walk around the GF, take a boat to MK and then bus back to wherever you are staying.

Amazing idea! I never even thought about doing a character breakfast / lunch the last day. Brilliant!

 

[katt789]

For a quick trip I usually do:
-Flights that get me there asap on arrival day, and don't leave til after lunch on departure day
-Stay onsite, saves time with transportation to and from the airport and the parks, even if it is a bit more pricey
-Room only discount, the dining plan ends up being far too much food in that little time
-Get a park ticket for every day that you're there, IF, you can allow for enough time in the parks. If you arrive after four pm, and the parks all close around 9, then it's not going to be worth it. If you can zap some EMH in there, then sure, use it.
-I tour very commando in these type of trips, and take advantage of the EMH, rise early, stay late. For Example, I went down for a trip in Oct for 3 days and the schedule was this
Day 1: Arrive at MCO at 3:30pm, go straight to resort to check in, then straight to MNSSHP til midnight that night
Day 2: AK with EMH for the morning, then to DHS for the afternoon and evening, then RUN out of Fantasmic to a cab to get to MK in time for Wishes (that was a specific goal for "fun" for us lol) and spend the evening at MK for EMH
Day3: MK all day followed by MNSSHP, our flight left super early the next morning.

That being said, this was a party of all young adults, who, with the help of coffee, can go for that many hours and be okay. I do advise to use EMH, and I do advise to use park hoppers, but still don't force in everything. Pick your two favorite parks (notice we didn't do Epcot on that trip) and focus on them. If you find an AK emh morning, do that to get some rides in, then a character or two, the first show of FOTLK, and you're done that park by 11am and can head elsewhere.

 

[DisneyFave]

I am guessing you didn't read about the free dining.

I did but I took the room-only 35% discount instead. I tend to only eat 2 quick service meals a day with lots of snacks.

 

[jpessa]

I did but I took the room-only 35% discount instead. I tend to only eat 2 quick service meals a day with lots of snacks.

Yeah the dining plan is too much food for us too, but values only get 15% off.

I ran all the numbers including staying off site (not the $35/day ones... wouldn't stay there) and free dining at a value wins by $50 over all other options (based on 2 QS meals a day and eating breakfast in the room from stuff I bring from home, since I would have the free QSDP at a value).

I'm glad for it since it means no renting a car or doing anything "by myself". Now all I have to do is pull the trigger and book!

 

[Tigger's ally]

Yeah the dining plan is too much food for us too, but values only get 15% off.

I ran all the numbers including staying off site (not the $35/day ones... wouldn't stay there) and free dining at a value wins by $50 over all other options (based on 2 QS meals a day and eating breakfast in the room from stuff I bring from home, since I would have the free QSDP at a value).

I'm glad for it since it means no renting a car or doing anything "by myself". Now all I have to do is pull the trigger and book!

wishing you a happy trigger finger

 

[jpessa]

Booked! Yeeeee! Here I come! 8 days to go until I check in! This is the shortest lead time I've ever worked with. CRAZY!!!

 

[gtpoohbear]

I haven't done a long-weekend trip yet, but it's what we are doing in March. So I can share what we have planned, but no idea how it will work out, lol!

We are staying onsite, at AKL (actually booked a DVC rental for the first time). We are planning one day at AK, one probably at Epcot, though we may end up at MK instead depending on our mood, and the day we leave we will probably go to either DQ or a waterpark, depending on the weather.

I think we are going to rent a car, but that's more about the location of our resort than length of stay.

My goal is just to have a relaxing long weekend, and not over-plan, or feel like we "have" to do too much. And i'm usually an uber-panner, so this more relaxed mindset is a challenge, ha!

For tickets, we went ahead and got 10-day NE tickets through UCT. I just couldn't justify paying almost twice as much per day for the one or two day ones, and we'll use them eventually. Kind of nice to know that we're covered for tickets for the foreseeable future

Whatever you end up doing - enjoy your getaway! Wish mine was a close

 

[KrazeeK120]

DH and I did a Thurs-Sun in January. Stayed at Pop and rented a car.

We did 1 full day at MK, 1 full day at Epcot, and 1/2 day at DHS. I may have considered just 2 days in the parks, but our departure day was my birthday and I wanted to go to a park...so I did!

It was a great weekend and if you can get good flight prices, I say go for it! We were able to do the entire trip for about $1700, which wasn't too bad in my opinion.

 

[Disneylover99]

Booked! Yeeeee! Here I come! 8 days to go until I check in! This is the shortest lead time I've ever worked with. CRAZY!!!

I just wanted to say, we are also from Toronto and flew down for a 3 day weekend last month. Best. Decision. Ever.

We had so much fun. We booked a RO at AofA. It was our first time not having free dining. I didn't miss it so much, but my husband did.

We have another 3 day weekend booked for next month. This time we are staying at PORS with free dining.

I would say if you have the opportunity for free dining, go for it!!!

One more piece of advice. These 3 day weekends are addictive. You may want to consider upgrading to AP's. That's what we did!!! Have fun!

 

[jpessa]

I just wanted to say, we are also from Toronto and flew down for a 3 day weekend last month. Best. Decision. Ever.

We had so much fun. We booked a RO at AofA. It was our first time not having free dining. I didn't miss it so much, but my husband did.

We have another 3 day weekend booked for next month. This time we are staying at PORS with free dining.

I would say if you have the opportunity for free dining, go for it!!!

One more piece of advice. These 3 day weekends are addictive. You may want to consider upgrading to AP's. That's what we did!!! Have fun!

Thanks, I'm excited! I've already thought about APs... lol! Right now because of Free Dining I'm doing 3 nights for $1300 all in. Not bad at all!

 

[NinaBella]

Since we just went 2 months ago I know we would focus on MK, but should I get a 2 day ticket or 3? (really wish I could use that last day we didn't use on our base tickets last trip... Boo)

I think a two-day park ticket would be best. You are flying in Friday evening so you can always go to DTD after settling into your resort. On Monday, I would suggest a nice place to have breakfast with your DD instead of a park day before heading to the airport.

I hope you have lots of fun!

 

[kathy884]

Just did a three night / two day quick trip with DS 18 last month when he had a Monday off of school. DH stayed home as he doesn't car for theme parks. What to do and where to stay of course is a very personal choice, based on budget and what you'd like to do. I'll tell you what we did to give you a few ideas.

We were going to do a day at SeaWorld and a day at Disney. It thought it would be fun for one of the days not to drive anywhere and because with my SeaWorld package the four star Renaissance Hotel right across from SeaWorld was only costing me about $130 a night, it was a no brainer to stay at that lovely hotel with a WOW factor for my son instead of a Disney Value or Moderate. (My $613 package got me my room for three nights, two adult one day tickets at SeaWorld with quick queue (their front of line pass), and the all day dining deal at SeaWorld for both of us)

Day 1 -- SeaWorld from rope drop till six. Evening relaxing and swimming at the lovely hotel

Day 2 -- Got a one day park hopper (Those are pricey -- like $138 a ticket / loved having it though. This was our one and only one Disney day in the three year period 2012/2013/2014) -- Did the MK from 9-3, went to the Titanic Attraction on I-drive 4-6 p.m. (must to for DS who wants to get a summer internship at one of these) -- Did Epcot from 7-9 (not much time -- just did Soaring (my new favorite ride), had dinner, and did Test Track twice.

I LOVED LOVED LOVED the trip and the great time I had with DS who is practically grown up now. I would do it again in a heartbeat. And no I didn't feel tired from the trip. It was so much fun and I felt energized instead. // Strange but I tend to enjoy the mini get-a-ways even more than full week vacations in the Orlando area.

I'm going to do one of these again in 2015, but this time in Anaheim for something different and we'll so this as an add on to an LA/Hollywood trip.

 

[ToyStory3]

We just went for a 3 night trip last week. It was just my mom and I. We stayed at Pop for the first time. We went to Boma our first night. We thought it would be fun to tour a resort that we've always wanted to see. We hit the parks commando for 2 days and had a great time. We got park hoppers since we only had a couple days. Epcot and HS the first day. MK the entire second day. We had dinner at BOG which was really special for us. We were exhausted but had a lot of fun. Weren't in our hotel much. We also did the dining plan for the first time which was kind of fun to try. Hope you have a good time!

 

[sarahcathryn]

This is a great post as I will be doing a quick trip the end of February I live about an hour and a half outside of Orlando so I don't really have trouble planning what to do on "travel" days but this is still very helpful!