How long do to Disney "right"?

[MrInfinity]

As others have said, around a week is pretty good. This minimizes the vacation time and off-school time to 5 days, plus a weekend before and after sets you up for around 7-9 days there depending on travel. That's enough time to get in and feel settled before having to pack up. That is what separates a relaxing vacation from a weekend getaway to me... when you reach that point where it feels like you live there and are going home each night. Nothing wrong w longer or shorter of course if you have the time off...

 

[Virtucomp]

The time of year you go is also important to how many days you need. Since you have young ones I would not try to go RD to close every day. We like to visit Magic Kingdom over multiple days with different goals in mind. Some days we visit the attractions and other days we plan to see the Shows like country bears and the parades. Its better to not run from one attraction to another and also try to get a spot for parades.

I would make sure to visit each of the four main parks as you don't no what the kids will like more until you try. We usually fly in early and leave late the last day so we get at least half days on both. A good trip for me is 8 days in the parks. Park hoppers would be a big expense for you family that you can skip with good planning.

I would also recommend getting to rope drop at MK on the first full day to see the opening show at the train station. It really sets the mood for the park.

 

[summerw]

How many hours are people thinking makes a "day" in the parks? 8, 12? How many 10+ hour days in a row can people go? We spent about 9-10 hours each day with a break every 3rd and we were EXHAUSTED by the end. Part of that was not adjusting to the time zone very well though. I think it was a rare night that DH or I got to bed before 1 that trip.

 

[nanalisa]

It depends on your family and how fast you want to move. We've gone for as little as 5 days to 15 days and it's never enough. We always stay on property and like to hang out there and swim or watch an outdoor movie. We like to go to Downtown Disney also, at least for 1/2 a day. We don't charge through the parks anymore until the last 2 days. I try not to fret about what we've missed because I know that we'll be back.

 

[angierae]

Our perfect trip was around Easter 2012. We arrived super late on Saturday night, so we were in the parks Sunday-Sunday. We rope dropped the first day and quickly ditched that idea. We did a lot of arriving at the parks around 10, sticking around until after a late lunch, then relaxing at the resort until dinner, then hitting whatever park had EMH that night. So that was 8 days in the parks (including one afternoon at DTD) and it was pretty perfect. Lots of pool/relaxing time, lots of park time, pretty much did everything we wanted to do and felt like it was okay to slow down and just check things out (the girls had a TON of fun interacting with the Main Street Citizens - singing with the Mayor, talking to the band members (both girls were in Marching Band), teasing around with the police chief, etc.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

For us, 10-14 days are required for us to really relax while at WDW. Anything less and we feel like we need to rush around to get to everything that we deem important. The good news - the longer your trip, the less expensive the cost per day. 14 day trips maximize ticket value. If you can go when free dining is available, a 14 day trip is very economical as well as relaxing.

 

[RustManFan]

we have usually stayed around 6 nights with 4 park days but for 2016 I made 8 night reservations and we have 5 day tickets. We want some free time to visit Disney's Wilderness Preserve, go to FW for a meal or two, spend time at Disney Springs and so some resort hopping. We also make sure we experience as many different types of transportation as we can..... trains, various boats, monorails

we also have some days left on old non-expiring tickets so could add an additional park day if we wish.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I believe more important that the time you spend there is the time of year you go and the dynamics of your family.

A good trip we had was arrival day, 7 full days and then departure day. We did plenty with a rest day in the middle. This was in March with a child in a toddler and exhausted parents lugging a stroller and diaper bag and hyper active 8 year old boy.

Last trip we did 5 nights 6 days. We arrived before 9 am and left the last day late. No rest day but it was lots of fun at a low crowd time so we got lots done! It was just magical even though we didn't have a rest day. My kids were 5 and 11 and love to sleep but we hit rope drop everyday (even AM EMH at MK) with no issues and midday pool break daily. They were just so happy to be there. It's amazing how much you can get done with low crowd, bagless and no strollers!

This next trip is 10 nights, 11 days. We have two full rest days, plus a water park day and no park on departure day. I wanted to do a few PM EMH's and more relax time. Plus try two resorts. My kids are older now so it'll be a much more different experience.

 

[Maxpowers]

I'd say 7 days is enough, but might feel a bit rushed with 3 kids. 10 days would be ideal IMO

 

[Ngwira]

We are doing 10 days. Arrival day is DTD, 3 days MK, 2 days EP, 1 day AK, 1 day-HS, 1/2 Day BB or TL and 1/2 day Universal CityWalk and departure day. We leave in 3 days!!!

 

[Alesia]

How many hours are people thinking makes a "day" in the parks? 8, 12? How many 10+ hour days in a row can people go? We spent about 9-10 hours each day with a break every 3rd and we were EXHAUSTED by the end. Part of that was not adjusting to the time zone very well though. I think it was a rare night that DH or I got to bed before 1 that trip.

We generally do 12+ hours a day. We tried taking a day off in the middle of a trip once, but we were bored to tears by noon and ended up heading to MK.

 

[disneysteve]

How long to really do the parks right, enjoy ourselves, relaxed vacation and not need to go commando?

I'd say 6 months would just about do it for me.

Seriously, we've gone for a week many times and it absolutely isn't enough. In recent years, we've gone for 2 weeks several times and that is much, much better. It lets us have time for down days in between the park days which makes a huge difference in how we feel and our energy level. Maybe I'm just getting old but I can't be at rope drop, do the park all day, even with a mid-day break, stay for fireworks, and get up and do it all again the very next day. So we use those in between days for other activities like resort hopping, DTD, and offsite stuff (we stay offsite).

I'd love to be able to stay even longer but 2 weeks is a nice amount of time where we don't feel rushed or that we're cramming stuff in.

 

[edolee]

I'm planning my trip for next March and want to stay on site for the first time. How long to really do the parks right, enjoy ourselves, relaxed vacation and not need to go commando? We've been 2x before, but stayed off site and barely got to hit anything in the parks.
We have 3 kids - 2, 7 and 9.
We want to do all the parks and really experience everything. Would a week do it or need more? 10 days? 2 weeks?

As you will often hear on these forums, "Doing it right" is going to vary dramatically from family to family. I am curious as to why staying off site prevented you from doing anything in the parks? We always stay off site and have never felt it had any negative impact on our park time.

Anyway, my thoughts and suggestions about what has worked well for us:

1) Time. If you work and need to take time off, I have always thought a 10 day vacation was most efficient. This allows you to have 2 travel days, 7 full days in Orlando and one day after return to get things back together at home prior to returning to work/school. Efficient in that you get 10 days off while using only 6 days of vacation. (I really like to have one day upon return to get everything back in order at home)

2) Commando vs. Relaxed. I tried to "commando" my family when they were similar ages you your kids. Huge mistake. I applaud your wisdom in avoiding that. However, your comment that you want to not commando, yet "do everything" is at odds, as many have pointed out.

Given the time of year you are going, it will likely be busy, so I would suggest this for your park days:

• Arrive at rope drop if at all possible
• Tour the park until 1pm or so
• Return to your lodging and recharge your batteries until 5pm or so
• Return to the park for parades, fireworks etc. (As our kids have gotten older, we don't always return in the evenings, and relax/swim/shop/board games... instead)

This schedule contains no great insights, but is widely recommended for lots of reasons by people that get paid to give this advice. It has always worked well for us.

Other posts have gotten into this, but 7 full days gives you 2 days at MK, 1 day a the other 3 parks, and 2 re-charge days. Consider Nasa, Downtown Disney, Gatorland. Also, my kids really enjoy Medieval Times. If your kids like horses it is actually a lot of fun and something different.)

3) If you are planning to stay on-site, good for you, many people swear by it and I don't doubt them. I am curious what you did about off-site on your previous trips. After we had been to Disney a time or two, we rented a Villa at Windsor Hills and it changed our view forever. The Villa had 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, a games room, and a PRIVATE POOL. All this for $165 per night or so. Of course you can get smaller homes and nice condo's for less (sans the private pool). The private pool is a game changer for us. No need to grab a bunch of stuff and kids, head to the pool, fight for chairs, etc.

This year we are renting a Villa at Lake Berkely. In addition to the above, there is a lake that is stocked with fish right behind our pool, so we can go fishing in our off times as well. Yet another thing that will give happy memories.

Good luck on your planning, you are doing a great thing for your family.

Ed

 

[subtchr]

I'm with the others, that time of year makes a big difference. Not just for crowd levels (although that is the primary factor), but also for weather. Grueling heat and humidity -- which is almost a guarantee June-August and a strong possibility May and September as well -- is extremely draining, especially if you are not from an area that has it. All the "magic" in the world won't make it go away! Not that you can't have fun, of course, but pool time and breaks are much more important when it's hot, which decreases the time you have for the parks each day.

 

[LaurenT]

Two weeks let's me forget that there's a real world out there. I can go to the parks for a few hours, go back and hang by the pool and decide how I feel later on and either stay at the resort or head in to do fireworks...

 

[jenrose66]

I'm planning my trip for next March and want to stay on site for the first time. How long to really do the parks right, enjoy ourselves, relaxed vacation and not need to go commando? We've been 2x before, but stayed off site and barely got to hit anything in the parks.
We have 3 kids - 2, 7 and 9.
We want to do all the parks and really experience everything. Would a week do it or need more? 10 days? 2 weeks?

For an adults only trip I think 2 weeks is the sweet spot. With kids it's tough. I know my kids start to miss home around 5 or 6 days...but in order to not feel rushed I still make the trip 8 days so that we have time to take the parks at a do able pace as well as have plenty of pool time which my kids look forward to.

 

[courtneybeth]

Has anyone ever scheduled so many days that they were not sad to leave?

Husband and I have determined that once we get to Day 6 we're ready to leave. But I think much of that is due to the fact that it's Florida and not Disney World.

We usually spend about 1.5 days at EPCOT and two .5 days at MK, .5 day at Animal Kingdom and a .5 day at one of the water parks. We make sure to only hit our favorite attractions at MK: BTMR, HM, People Mover, 7DMT, Pirates, and Flying Carpets (we have a dumb tradition of singing "A Whole New World" with me in the front and hubs in the back). The rest of the rides are 'eh, maybe if the lines aren't too long' for us and we just take it easy by going back to the room and relaxing or hitting the ~spa~.

(Keep in mind we live 1 mile from Disneyland and we're there 1-2 times per week, so MK feels redundant most of the time we vacation at The World.)

 

[Rosebud123]

No fewer than 7 nights, but 9 or 10 is preferable.

 

[tinkerbella16]

We have always gone for 6 or 7 nights and had great trips- we can never do everything, but that is just fine.. we do get done a lot though and all of our favorites. I also feel a tad rushed in a sense though, like I need more days. So this year I booked a 10 day trip (my longest so far) and I already feel great and I haven't even gone yet, just knowing I'll have those extra few days. My 10th day I have a morning flight so I am not really counting that.. So I'll have 9 park days when I usually have 6. My flight on arrival day is less than 2 hours and a morning flight so I will arrive early enough in the day where it is not wasted traveling. I am doing Uni/IOA one of those days. I have the park hopper since I love doing 1 park at rope drop and a different park at night. I am hoping to slow it down just a bit since it is a longer trip than usual. I have heard that 10 days in disney is great from a lot of other members here.

 

[disneysteve]

Has anyone ever scheduled so many days that they were not sad to leave?

I can't say that we've ever not been sad to leave, but I will say that there have been trips that for whatever reason left me somewhat bored at times. Not the whole trip, of course, but toward the end going through the parks when we've pretty much done every attraction I wanted to do, I had just had enough. It felt like we were just going through the motions, going through the park again just because we had a ticket to use. I would have been perfectly happy to skip the park that day and do something else. That doesn't mean I wanted to go home, though.