How long to stay?

[a_sailor's_wife]

DH and I are planning our 2nd trip together as a family. The first trip was just DH and I, but for the 2nd one our DS(2 by then) will be going with us. DH is military and they aren't very flexible at times when it comes to getting off. When we went this past time (just the 2 of us) we stayed at SOG 1 night and then Silver Lake-Silver Points (booked through the Armed Forces Vacation Club) for 6 nights. Even that wasn't enough for us! We wanted more Disney This time around we are will be staying on site the whole time to take advantage of those extra magic hours that we fell in love with the first night at SOG All that is to ask, how long would you stay with a 2 yr. old at WDW? We want to be able to take the days slow and pace ourselves, but do not want to overwhelm DS by staying away from home to long. Any other advice is welcome also! TIA!

 

[sara74]

Our first trip was last year with a 4 year old and a not quite 2 year old (21 months). We were away from home for 11 nights total. 9 at Disney and one at Nana's before and after the trip. We had park passes for 7 days and those days were action packed. We did have pool time too, but we were at the parks early and some nights had late dinners or went back for a parade or fireworks. It was an incredible trip! And the kids seemed to show no bad effects over being away too long.

We are returning to WDW next May, this time with another child in tow who will be 20 months. DD will be 6 and DS1 will be just shy of 4 years old. We are planning another 10 day trip and I have no anxieties about the kids being away from home that long.

Enjoy your trip!!!

 

[dismom22boys]

We have gone for 10 days the past 2 years - the first time we had our 1 yr 2 mo old and almost 4 year old - and obviously a year later they were 2 yrs and 2 mos and almost 5. Both times I think 10 days worked out perfectly. We only spend 1 day at Animal Kingdom - and allocate the rest of our time to whatever fits in best with dinner reservations and what we would like to see. Taking advantage of extra magic hours is key for you to enjoy the park yourself as well. We put the boys in a double stroller when they fell asleep and took turns on all the roller coasters we could not ride with the kids. (Be sure to take advantage of the parent pass). My boys have plenty of energy and were able to endure long days - so we were able to have a wonderful vacation. I think the most important thing is to keep in mind that the children get thirsty (defintely throw some frozen juice boxes inthe stroller for when the line is incredibly long and the little guys are thirsty NOW), tired and hot - and are more sensitve than we are. Have fun!

 

[ndgqccmiller]

Our first trip last fall we went for 9 days. We took our ds9, dd7, dd just 2. She did really well. Didn't mind staying at the hotel , enjoyed the parks and the pools. We all had a great time.

 

[Steph9072]

We leave Friday & check in Saturday. We will be in WDW for 7 days then off to the beach for 3 days. With travel time we will be gone 12 days
We are traveling with a 11, 6 & 2 yr old
HTH