How long to stay at WDW?

[Fairy Godmother]

How long is your ideal vacation at WDW?
We are having a debate about how long to stay when we go next May. This May we stayed 8 nights at WDW and 3 nights at Universal and that was too long for us because the boys got bored with WDW parks. They are 40, 11 and 8 and into thrill rides. We made a huge mistake and did a split stay while at WDW and we hated the 2nd hotel because we loved are 1st hotel so much.
I think we should spend 6 nights at WDW We will arrive arround 5 or 6 PM. We will probably leave arround 11 AM on the day we check out and then go to Universal and stay for 3 nights.
The rest of my group thinks we should only stay in WDW 4 or 5 nights and then spend 4 nights at Universal. I don't think we will be able to do everything we want if we only stay 4 nights and I don't want to stay at Universal for 4 nights.
We will be staying at the Poly and plan to spend afternoons by the pool. We also plan on going to a water park for 1/2 a day. The boys hate Epcot and I don't know if I will be able to drag them back there.
So how long would you perfect stay at WDW be?
Thanks for your opinions.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

One week this year, we love 10 day vacay like last year.

We;ve done mini trips of 4days and found that not enough if it's only once a year, so 2 of those would be great!!

WE have also done 3 weeks when we were there for our wedding and then a 4night cruise on the DCL and we found this to be <<gasp>> just too long!! so we like the idea of a week long trip or two mini trips

 

[jenk99]

My perfect length stay would be about 8 nights. I would do no park on the first night. Then 3 days of parks, take a break from all parks on the 5th day. Then 3 more days of parks. That would be an ideal wdw vacation.

However, as my kids get older, I could see reducing the amount of time at wdw to 4-5 nights and 3-4 nights at Universal.

You'll have a great time no matter how you do it!!

 

[Hugpug]

I always prefer 7 or 8 nights. I only tour parks 1/2 day and rest the remainder of day. I do this because a vacation should be just that.

 

[Sonno]

Head to Ohio, hit Cedar Point and King's Island.

(oooo... post 200!)

 

[boomhauer]

I like 12 nights. By the end, I'm ready to come home.

 

[scanne]

Last year we stayed 9 nights/10 days - but only had 9 days in the parks. For me, that's not enough. This year we're doing 7 nights/8 days - all 8 days will be park days, then I have a mini-trip booked for MNSSHP which will be 4 nights and 4 days in the park (arrival day we're going to DD). Next summer we're going for 2 or 3 nights at Portofino Bay Hotel then 9 nights at the Polynesian. That trip will be "almost" long enough for me. I would love to stay 14 nights at a WDW resort alone and spend time relaxing at the resort and dining in the really nice restaurants - but that trip will have to wait until my kids are a bit older and can use the supervised childrens clubs. Just a few more years!

 

[STEAMBOAT209]

If no other family plans are going on, baby, reunion, wedding, oops, wedding should be before the baby, anyway.... if none of these is happening, we like to plan on two 10 night stays. We do everything in scouting out the parks to pool and rest time, and we also get to do a little bit of night life in the clubs. We're trying to figure out how we can manage 3 trips per year, without moving down there. Some day...

 

[essmom]

we are going 5 nights which seems perfect- one day at a water park- my kids are older so we won't be at MK all day- We haven't been since '99 when they were 5 and 7 so i think this will be a fun trip but we will not go back again.We like to try new places- we've been skiing, to Mexico, to jackson Hole, Wyoming, on a cruise-

 

[AStamm]

We prefer to go as long as possible--usually Friday or Saturday until the following Sunday, giving us about 9 days of possible park fun. I'm one of those "lets do each park twice" kind of gals so anything less gets to me.

 

[Jen_in_NH]

Well, DH and I went for 3 days the first time - clearly not enough. The second time, we were there for 2 weeks, between Disney and Universal. We changed hotels 3 times, and were with 1 group of people for a week, my family for 4 doays, and then ourselves for 3. I had a conference for 5 days, which broke it up nicely for me, but DH was definitely ready to go home by the end.

I'd have to say 5-7 days. Enough time to see everything, but not long enough for it all to get routine / boring.

Jen

 

[FionaLovesShrek]

We usually do 7 days and it never feels like enough. But DD just returned from WDW after a 12 day trip with her Dad, and it was too much for her. She was tired and Disney'd out. She doesn't want to go back except to see WDW at Christmas Hopefully that will change.

 

[samano]

I think it also depends how often you go to WDW....4 nights might be enough if you are planning to go again soon. If you know you won't be back for awhile, a few more nights to take it all in would be good.

I am only able to pull off a WDW vacation every 2-3 years, so for us, we want to make the most of the time we are there. Two years ago, we stayed 4 nights and it just wasn't quite enough. This year, we're staying 5 nights with an early arrival day and late departure day, so I'm hoping in the end I'll feel like we did it all (or at least all that we wanted to do!) Ideally, for me, I would want to stay 7 nights/ 8 days.....for a full day in each of the 4 parks, a couple of half days in our favorites, a 'down' day, and a water park day. Maybe one day I'll make that happen!

 

[Dina]

Though we can't always do it (this year my husband couldn't take as many days off)-- we like to do 9 nights -- Flying out Friday night and leaving the following Sunday. But, we have young kids, and we almost always take afternoon breaks-- we like to take our time touring.

 

[JulyGirl]

I think first timers need at least 5 days to see the highlights at a nice pace. Notice I said "highlights". To see EVERYTHING WDW has to offer, you'd need at least 10 nights.