How long for our first family trip to Disney?

[hollyb]

Our kids will be 7 and 9 when we go. How long is a good first visit? We want to spend at least one full day at our hotel. (Nick hotel). Would you drive (24 hours) or fly 3 1/2 hours?

Thanks
Bon

 

[Jenn Lynn]

We always fly.

I stay a minimum of 6 nights/7days. Usually it's 7 nights/8days.

 

[staci]

Our kids will be 7 and 9 when we go. How long is a good first visit? We want to spend at least one full day at our hotel. (Nick hotel). Would you drive (24 hours) or fly 3 1/2 hours?

Thanks
Bon

Well, IMHO you want at least one full day for each park. Then I like to have one extra day for returning for favorite things (usually MK for us). So that is 5 full days, if you want a full day at the resort, I would do 6 days, 7 nights.

We drove from Iowa in 1990 (when I was 10). It wasnt bad, but we didnt go commado, so we stopped along the way at various attractions. So add in the expense of those things if you are planning on doing anything; extra hotel rooms, admission fees, food, etc. It wasnt bad driving once, but all of my other trips we have flown.

It all depends on your budget, if you can afford it flying is worth it, IMHO.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

FLY!! I can't imagine losing two days of my vacation time doing nothing but DRIVING! And that's if you drive straight through! If you stop overnight you would lose at least a day & a half on each end. DH says we will never drive for that reason, and also because after a week (or whatever) at Disney the last thing he wants to do is drive all the way home.

Our first trip we only had 4 days and it was WAY too short. Last trip was 9 nights, 8 days. We flew in one evening so we could hit the parks first thing the next day. We had 8 days in the parks and flew home on the morning of the 9th day. Still not long enough. We didn't do any water parks, we missed a ton of stuff at Epcot, and we were hardly in our resort room at all. Get there as early as you can and stay as long as humanly possible!

 

[Danestress]

We are going to be there seven days, six nights for our first visit. I really want to take it easy though - no compulsion to ride ever ride, try every attraction. We are going to use one full day for Sea World, though (which my 8 year old twins are WAY more excited about than they are Disney itself). So that's a day for each park, a day for SW and a extra day and a half for whatever.

I would fly. We will drive because it's about nine hours from here and it would be nice to have a car. Plus we have friends to visit with a couple days after in Florida. But for you - FLY!

 

[princessjv]

FLY!

I would suggest no less than 6 days, 7 nights. With that you will still not see everything, but you should be able to see a lot. Taking a break mid trip is nice to keep the sanity.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

If at all possible fly! I would spend at least 7 nights/8 days. You'll want at least one day per park (4), 1 day at the Hotel, a day or two to return to your favorite parks and maybe a day for either US/IOA or Seaworld.

BTW, we stayed two nights at the Nick Hotel last summer before going over to WDW and the kids LOVED it! Make sure you sign up early for tickets to the night time Nick shows, the kids had a ball. Have fun!

 

[marcyinPA]

Definately fly! My kids are 10 and 6, and we've always done 7 nights 8 days. Last trip, we did 6 nights 7 days, and it WAS NOT ENOUGH!! Next trip, I'm pushing for 8 nights 9 days....As the kids get older, they want to do more and have more stamina...plus we like to take a day or two to stop and smell the roses and enjoy our resort pool, DTD, etc.

 

[rd0127]

Fly if you can. I would suggest at least 6 days. 2 days for MK and 1 for the other parks and that gives you another day for your hotel.

We drive from our home in Birmingham, AL. We take it in 2 days. It is definitely not my favorite part of the vacation, but our youngest is disabled and has a ton of medical equipment. We stopped flying with her a few years ago. Our drive is about 11 hours (we spend the night in Lake City, FL), I cannot imagine a 24 hour drive!

 

[mannasn]

Fly! Driving would not even be an option for me (assuming that money is not an issue). Who wants to spend 24 hours in a car with 2 kids? Not me!

 

[thelionqueen]

ITA!
FLY, no way would I drive and miss even 1 extra minute of the magic.

Also, I think a minimum of 7 nights 8 days is a must. Actually 8 nights 9 days would be more relaxing. I now stay 10 nights or more, and it still isn't enough.

 

[hollyb]

I think I am going to suggest to my DH that we stay for at least 7 nights 8 days. Thanks for the advice. We really do want the kids to just relax and have fun. DH wants to fly so we will stick that plan.

 

[princessjv]

I think I am going to suggest to my DH that we stay for at least 7 nights 8 days. Thanks for the advice. We really do want the kids to just relax and have fun. DH wants to fly so we will stick that plan.

That is a great plan! Enjoy your trip!

 

[kizmac]

Our kids will be 7 and 9 when we go. How long is a good first visit? We want to spend at least one full day at our hotel. (Nick hotel). Would you drive (24 hours) or fly 3 1/2 hours?

Thanks
Bon

We always drive from PA. There are 8 of us though and it is just way more in our budget. I actually don't mind the drive and it holds many great road trip memories for our family. Since you are staying offsite, driving may be a better option than the cost of flying and renting a car, but it also may take away from your vacation time if you only have so many days. Personal budget decision for you. Driving is not bad though and I do it with 6 kids. Yours are at a good age too.

Anyhow, about how much time....Are you doing Universal Studios too? Just wondering since you are staying at the Nick Hotel. If you are only doing Disney, flying and staying onsite will definitely give you a more relaxing trip. Do you plan on doing water parks or just parks? I think if you have atleast 5 park days, maybe 1 day for a water park, 1 resort day and maybe one Down Town Disney day you'd be good. So that is 8 days, if you aren't doing a water park, you could cut it down a day to 7. Personally, I would find 10 days perfect but not always in the time budget or money budget. First trip though, you atleast want 7 or 8 days not including the travel days. (Now if you are doing Universal too, then you need 2-3 days more days to see all of Universal too.)

 

[crisi]

I fly. If I don't get to heaven, my hell will be roadtripping with small kids.

As many days as you can. Disney is 51 square miles. You can easily spend a day in each theme park and not do EVERYTHING. Then there are two waterparks, minigolf, Downtown Disney, resort touring, swimming, fishing, horseback riding, boats to rent, restaurants to visit. You can stay a month and not get bored, if you turn out to be a Disney person. (Not everyone is, and some people don't like it on day one).

We've taken three trips in the past five years - all a week long - and there are still things I'd like to do that I haven't yet found time for.

 

[MICKEY88]

We are going to use one full day for Sea World, though (which my 8 year old twins are WAY more excited about than they are Disney itself). So that's a day for each park, a day for SW and a extra day and a half for whatever.

!

the last few times I was down, Seaworld was offering 2 days for the price of one, you might want to check that out, gives you more time to see everything...

 

[budbeerlady]

We flew down for 7 nights, that wasnt long enough. We still had things we didnt do so darn, we have to go back! We spent a day at epcot, a day at mgm, two half days at Ak and the rest was MK.