How long of a stay is too long?

[terpgirl]

I’m sure there are some people who’d love to stay forever, but...

We’re planning a split stay for our 25th anniversary (6 nights at Riviera and 5 nights at GF). We are DVC, so we’ll be in studios and will have some food with us. Planning on 8 park days with the buy 6+2 free promo. So arrival, 3 park days, day off, 2 park days, day off, 3 park days, then departure. Are we going to be absolutely worn out? Are we going to be sick of perpetual masking? Is this too long of a stay? I am a homemaker, so I’m not used to wearing a mask all day. Not looking for a lecture, just some helpful advice.

We are experienced Disney folks pre-covid. Just wondering what to expect...

 

[Robo]

For USA guests, they offer up to 10 Park days -and- 10 Water Park (etc.) visits on one ticket.
We have purchased and used the 10-day tickets many times.
If they offered a longer one, we would have bought that, too.
However, if you want to take "days off" etc. and, with masks, etc. that is your limit... that's fine, too.

 

[TTA Rider Matt]

I’ll stick to your parameters of quick bits of my advice:
-No such thing as too long a stay in my opinion!
-You have rest days built in which is awesome.
-You can also take mid-day breaks. We often go to the parks from opening to about 1:00, head back to the hotel, then head back to the park for 4/4:30 to finish out the night.
-Masks are a pain, bring multiple masks to the park so you can switch them out. I even had a designated “water ride” mask because a wet mask can get really uncomfortable.

 

[cjlong88]

With mask wearing at WDW, I found myself more dehydrated than on previous trips, and in turn that made me more tired and gave me a bit of a headache. You can always build in break times at those relaxation stations they have to give you some much needed time with the mask off and a good opportunity to hydrate. Personally, I had no problem wearing the masks, even in the heat. It was just reminding myself to drink water and stay hydrated.

Scheduling those rest days in between your park visits is really smart, and I think 8 park days is doable with how you created your schedule.

 

[Moliphino]

We did 10 park days in a row in Sept/Oct with masks and didn't feel any more worn out or tired than usual. Actually, I felt less beat up than after our pre-Covid 9 day trips, since the park hours were shorter and we couldn't hop at that time we did less walking than normal.

 

[terpgirl]

We figured we’d devote 2 days to each of the parks reservation-wise, but we are getting park hoppers because we love EPCOT and can’t imagine going there only 2 days.

 

[hereforthechurros]

So subjective but 7-8 nights is plenty for us. Two days for each park, give or take. Plenty of dining in that time too. Especially right now the limited resort dining menu options get old fast. We prefer multiple shorter trips to one big blowout trip but that’s just us.

We don’t mind masks but can confirm it gets old at WDW. We spent more time in the room than usual because it was such a welcome break.

I’ll never forget a poster here planning a five week trip from overseas!

 

[Yensid67]

I plan on retiring there in a couple of years and intend on going to the parks/Springs as often as possible. I'm one of those people who has to have something to do, even on vacation. I can't sit around for very long. The parks provide a lot of activity/movement.

 

[MudQueen22]

We stayed ten days on our last trip. I wouldn't have minded a few more; I didn't want to go back home.

It might have been too much on my oldest child. She had been away from home prior to our departure, and she was homesick.

 

[MrsBooch]

I feel like there is no right answer to this - on the other half of it I think there is such a thing as too short of a trip. Five days is the shortest I would ever go down for - outside of a random Moonlight Magic DVC event that we might schedule last minute (ish).

So anything more than 5 days is good - 10 days is solid. I could spend 2 weeks and still not do everything I would want to do.

 

[dreamit]

I think your plan sounds great! You have a good balance of down days and park days. I imagine in no time you’ll be used to wearing a mask. Too, if you’re a pool-person, hanging out in the pool or in a pool lounge chair for part of your down-days will give you a break from your mask.

 

[Gehrig1B]

We are APs and have stayed as long as 12 days with no rest days. We do not commando visit, often arriving for rope drop and leaving early afternoon. We will return in the evening (4-5 o’clock these days as the parks close early) for dinner and a few attractions most often at EPCOT. Usually back to the resort before 9-10 o’clock... Have never found the need for “rest days”.

 

[Future_WorldPhonencian]

We have small kids and for us, a week is the max. After about a week we are satisfied and ready to go home. A lot of that has to do with managing 3 kids. It can be exhausting but its always a blast. This next trip we are forcing ourselves to take a non park day right in the middle of our trip. Maybe that will change our minds.

 

[DWillowBay]

Tell ya what....If someone else will foot the bill, I would be happy to do the research on how long is too long and get back to you.....in several years!

 

[Heather07438]

We figured we’d devote 2 days to each of the parks reservation-wise, but we are getting park hoppers because we love EPCOT and can’t imagine going there only 2 days.

Your whole plan sounds great. We recently got back from a 9 day trip with 9 day hoppers and honestly it would've been nice to have a day off here and there. We had a split stay between Poly and Beach Club. I only reserved 1 park day at Epcot because I knew we'd spend many evenings there.

For days where we were hopping, we liked hopping to the park near our resort. It's so nice to be back in your room within minutes.

Don't forget to try the resort boat from GF to MK or back. It goes in a loop between Poly, GF and MK... so in one direction it stops at Poly but not on the return. I was surprised how quick these show up and get you there. Bonus- we were returning from MK closing to Poly and were out on the water with the Electric Water Pageant. It was great! Have a fantastic trip and Happy Anniversary

 

[holden]

We did a 10 day trip a few years ago and loved it. It was a more relaxing trip.

For me two weeks in any one place would probably be enough.

 

[MMR76]

We did 10 nights 3 years ago and did 8 day PH. We scheduled 2 days at each park for FP purposes but hopped from AK early on our 2nd day there. We did not spend 2 full days at Epcot, either. We stayed at Beach Club on the far end closest to EP and walked over several times for food. We also spent a day at Typhoon Lagoon and went to MK that evening. I think your plan sounds great. I love longer vacations because they can be more relaxing. We are headed back in May for 11 nights.

 

[mousestruck]

Our longest stay was 10 days. It was wonderful... but expensive! We did a split stay, experiencing two different resorts, so it felt like two mini-vacations. We built in plenty of pool and relaxation time, which was nice, and visited each park two or three times. I will say that we were ready to head home by the end of the trip, and spent a TON of money, but definitely had a fantastic time. Most of our trips are 8 nights/9 days - and we're always to sad to leave - so, for us, 9 or 10 nights is perfect!

 

[ElizabethG]

I like a 15 night trip, so I get 2 full weeks there. For me, if I have extra time, I can just relax. If we feel like sleeping in, we do that. Sometimes we leave the park at 6 and just go back to the resort. The longer you stay, the more you have to make sure you are getting enough sleep. I find, with all of the activity, I need more sleep than I do at home.

 

[SheHulk]

I agree with everybody else that this is very subjective. Covid is definitely going to make things different though.

My kids were petered out by the end of a 7 or 8 night trip every time, and still are. I distinctly remember my then-10 year old turning to me, about a week into our trip, as we were standing in MK, and saying, "I'm ready to go home, it's just too much going on everywhere, all the time!" Literally just as he was saying this, a booming marching band approached around the corner into Liberty Square headed right toward us.

I'm wondering if Covid is going to change this tendency to overstimulate though. No parades, No fireworks, just less "stuff" going on. That, plus "off" days you've built in, should help with that.

We have 5 nights planned in June because we are not sure how long we will be able to stand masks in June in Florida. That's going to be the real limiting factor for us I think. We live in a pretty isolated spot, and DH and I work from home, and we can go days at a time without needing to wear one at all.