How long should I allow for my trip?

[erinstar]

Hi, I'm new to the boards. i'm from Australia by the way

My friends and I are 22 year olds planning a trip to WDW nexy year in late August-September depending on our other plans, and would like to know realistically how long we should allow for our trip.
It is our very first time to WDW for us all, and want to see/do/ride pretty much everything but are prepared to take the time to do that, i.e. visit all four parks plus the two water parks and enough time to spend a day or two strolling in DTD, visit Disney Quest, and most of the other stuff within the WDW area.
We aren't really interested in backstage tours or anything like that... we are more shoppers and riders than tourer's (if that makes sense)
My thoughts were to allow a day at each park, plus two extra days to go back and see anything we missed or wanna visit again. A day at each water park, and a day or two at DTD and exploring the other resorts and surrounds and also spending a night or a few at Pleasure Island. Which brings me up to about 10days.

What do others think?

Also if for example we stayed at one of the All Star Resorts, are we able visit the other resorts and use their pools/food courts/restaurants etc?

Thanx everyone in advance for your thoughts and I look forward to your replys.

 

[Got Quattro?]

EVERYTHING.....that's next to impossible.

But, a 10 day trip will do you pretty well.

2 days at MK
1 day at water park and Pleasure island / disney quest
2 days at EPCOT
1 day at waterpark and DTD
1 day at MG
1 day at AK
1 day hotel touring
1 day going back to parks for what ever you want

 

[jcemom]

Welcome to the DIS!

I think one day for each of the water parks is fine, and you could go to Downtown Disney and/or Pleasure Island those evenings. You may want an additional day for Disney Quest/Downtown Disney. I think one day is fine for MGM and Animal Kingdom, however, in my opinion, Magic Kingdom and Epcot need two days each. If money weren't an issue, I would say two weeks...that would allow an additional day or two to go back and see your favorites and/or whatever you might have missed the first time around.

Whatever you decide, have a great time!

 

[WDSearcher]

Ten days is a good time span, but twelve will give you a bit more breathing room. You're coming at a fairly busy time, so if you really want to see/do everything, you might want a bit more leeway. You may also want to add a day at the top of the trip just for the jet lag factor.

If you've never been before, you'll need at least two days for MK, and two days for Epcot. You can get by with one day each at MGM and DAK, especially if you've got another day in there for re-visits if there's something you really like. So six days for the parks alone would be my suggestion, with water park days sprinked in between.

If you stay at All-Stars, you are more than welcome to visit the other resorts and eat in their food courts and restaurants, but you won't be able to use the pools. Each resort's pools are for the exclusive use of those guests at that resort.

 

[loriandmatt]

ditto on pretty much everything said here. i would go with a solid two weeks. (14 days) if money allows. all that running around will surely tire you out. We have had our best trips when we allowed enough time to relax and take a break if we wanted to. a bit more time gives you that option without making you feel like you are missing something.

but i do have to restate what others have said - it is very hard to see/do it all. (even after all of our trips, most being 10-14 days long, there is still somethings we haven't done.) There are so many activities/shows/attractions at WDW (at parks, DTD and at the resorts) it is almost impossible to do it all and feel like you have absorbed the details.)

Good luck and i hope all of you have a great time (no matter how long you book your trip for.)

- lori

 

[erinstar]

thanx for your replies everyone.

I release that we won't be able to do EVERYTHING so we're gonna aim to do all the stuff we've read and heard about and wanna do first and everything beyond that is a bonus, that way we won't be too disapointed if we miss out on something.
Though having never been there before we obviously wanna make the most of it.

thanx againa everyone!!!

 

[oogieboogie]

get a good guidebook first. The Unofficial Guide is an excellent guidebook to get that gives you an overview of how much time you would need in each park.

I agree with everyone else - 10 to 14 days would be good, because you can build in some down times/relax days when you're not always on the go.

Have fun planning!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I would suggest that you wait to come until September, after Labor Day. The weather may be a little cooler (well, maybe not ), but the kids have gone back to school, which means a lot less people. Also, shorter hours, but that would give you time to do other things in the evening, such as Downtown Disney.

I would say at a *minimum*, 2 days for Epcot, 1 each for MK, MGM, and AK, and a day or two to revisit parks, plus 2 days for water parks and a day for Disney Quest/more Downtown Disney. That totals 9-10 days. That assumes that you'll be up and running in time to be at the parks before opening and that you'll stay all day. You're young and probably have lots of energy , but you may also like to sleep later in the mornings.

Have fun planning!

T&B

 

[DepCor0311]

I think it really depends on the time of year you plan to be at WDW. I would agree with most everyone here that you need a good 10 days...if you visit during peak times. If you visit at a slow time (say the first week of December...which is when we always go), you can pretty much catch all of the "big" attractions in 5-7 days. One tip...if you plan a shorter trip, more intensive planning is required to make sure that you hit the major stuff.
Hope you have a great trip...and, oh yeah...G'day!!! (always wanted to say that... )

 

[erinstar]

hehe G'day!

thanx again everyone.
Can someone tell me when Thanksgiving is, i.e. the actual dates?

i'm Erin by the way.

 

[oogieboogie]

if you go here you can pull up a yearly calendar that will give all the US major holidays - that'll help you plan when to go.

The busiest holidays are Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, July 4th. If you're planning September, then go after Labor Day because that's when schools are already in session here and the crowds drop significantly. However, August and September are also prime hurricane season.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Oh, yes, I forgot, I meant to put an extra hurricane day in the there. Better to plan for a storm and then not have it happen than the other way around.

T&B

 

[erinstar]

ohh ok thanx for the advice about the hurricanes.
we had already pretty much thought 2 solid weeks would be ok, we then started to second guess ourselves and ask if that would been too much, and we might get disney overload, but after reading everyhintg u've all said and taking that into consideration thats prolly how long we'll have there!!

i'm getting soo excited just planning for it!

thanx again

 

[TwingleMum]

Hi Erin, Welcome to the Dis. I would recommend last week of Oct & first week of Nov. Staying for 14days. Two of the best events take place then Mickey's not so Scary Halloween party and the Food & Wine Festival. There is lots of info about both here. check the Theme park, Dining and trip report boards.Also the home page. Also check out allears.net for info. Oct/Nov is also great weatherwise.

 

[jcemom]

Originally posted by erinstar
we might get disney overload

Disney overload? Is that possible? LOL JK

As oogieboogie suggested, a guidebook would be a terrific thing to have...I'd recommend the Unofficial Guide by Bob Sehlinger and/or TourGuideMike.com, the two guides I wouldn't consider doing without!

 

[Rhongepooh]

This was my 10th trip to WDW with the most recent visit being in 2002. We did MNSSHP to avoid the crowds. We bought 4 day park hopper passes (we don't stay all day at AK) and ended up adding a day to the trip at the end because there were things that we felt we missed or wanted to do again. So I've been there many, many times before and the 5 day park hopper only (didn't do the water parks this time) was just right. If you want to do EVERYTHING, I'd suggest at least 7 days. But you should avoid alot of waiting due to the time your going so that will help alot.