How many days are ideal at DL?

[Disney-Kim]

Just curious for those who go for more than a weekend...what is ideal??

Now remember we have been to Dland 10+ times and we are not newbies. But....we DO want a long relaxing time there...we want down time and around the pool time. We are going to take it slowwww

We are going for for 5 nights...so 4.5 park days.

Just curious how you all do it?? and what other fun things you do on the longer stays...thx

 

[dmked]

I think 4 days is perfect for us. But we have little kids, so if you don't have small children I think 3 days would be enough. We did everything we wanted to do in 3 days (we were there at opening every day) and on the 4th day we re-did anything we loved. This was all at a leisurely pace but we did go with a plan and were very effective in following it. We went back to the hotel one day to swim also.

I think your 4.5 days would be great if you plan on doing other things other than 24/7 Disneyland.

 

[blackjackdelta]

Just curious for those who go for more than a weekend...what is ideal??

Now remember we have been to Dland 10+ times and we are not newbies. But....we DO want a long relaxing time there...we want down time and around the pool time. We are going to take it slowwww

We are going for for 5 nights...so 4.5 park days.

Just curious how you all do it?? and what other fun things you do on the longer stays...thx

That should do it. We always seem to do 5 days, it is our only vacation.

Jack

 

[Disney-Kim]

Disneland has not been a vacation for us in a long time but more of a quick weekend getaway. (we live in Phoenix)but....

this time its a vacation...we are doing a more budget/low key trip than the usual for us...driving to Disneyland is the ticket for us.

So we are going to stretch it out, lay by the pool and veg

We are staying at GCH and will have our car to do other things if we feel like it. We are going to take the parks slowly and not commando at all

 

[Lissame]

Last year we went for 7 straight days to DLR--we didn't go to any other parks or activities.

We rode every single ride and saw every single show. Looked in all of the shops and other exhibits. Every day went back to our hotel for 2-3 hours in the afternoon to swim and rest.

It was a great time, but we were way burned out once we went home. It took a few months to get back into the Disney spirit and want to plan another trip.

The time before that (in 07) we got the City Pass and went for 3 days. Now that trip felt very rushed.

So all that to say I think that 5 is ideal now. You can do everything you want to do, some things more than once, and not feel rushed. But it's not overload either.

 

[PinkBudgie]

Last summer DH and I went by ourselves for a week. The total was 5 full days with a Sat. an AP blockout in the middle, which was good for a rest day. The day we arrived and the day we left we spent half days there.

We really liked the extra time to do somethings we never did before. There are still things we didn't get to like riding the Columbia. We also left the parks around 9pm because we were so tired that we never saw the evening shows. This summer we will be going for 4 full days and a half day on the day we arrive. I expect that to be about right.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

We leave next Thursday for our 3rd 6-day trip on our APs. Anything less than 4 seems rushed.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

We always go for 5+ days and it's never enough. This time we are going to do 6+ days, probably won't be enough either

 

[HydroGuy]

Just curious for those who go for more than a weekend...what is ideal??

Now remember we have been to Dland 10+ times and we are not newbies. But....we DO want a long relaxing time there...we want down time and around the pool time. We are going to take it slowwww

We are going for for 5 nights...so 4.5 park days.

Just curious how you all do it?? and what other fun things you do on the longer stays...thx

Disneland has not been a vacation for us in a long time but more of a quick weekend getaway. (we live in Phoenix)but....

this time its a vacation...we are doing a more budget/low key trip than the usual for us...driving to Disneyland is the ticket for us.

So we are going to stretch it out, lay by the pool and veg

We are staying at GCH and will have our car to do other things if we feel like it. We are going to take the parks slowly and not commando at all

Disney has never been a vacation spot for us. We typically vacation at the beach - in SoCal but have done Hawaii and Mexico a few times. Disney (both DLR and WDW) are just fun things to do.

We have only ever done a four day trip to DLR once - in 2005. We went hard and fast for four straight days - with afternoon breaks of course - but everyone felt that four days was too much. So we have never tried it again.

On our two trips to WDW we have done 10 days. Next one will probably be 7-8.

However, next month we are going to do 4 1/2 days at DLR and will do it differently. This is going to be a much slower trip with a lot more time taken for dining. Storytellers, Napa Rose, Wine Country Trattoria, Ariel's Grotto (for WOC), Blue Bayou, RainForest Cafe (a must do for us) and Big Thuhder Ranch BBQ. We are going to do the Segway tour at DCA. And we are going to stop on Main Street and watch Steamboat Willie cartoons!

We also plan a lot of down time at the GCH and pool.

I think this 4 1/2 day trip will be about right for us. For you? It depends on how you like to tour and what hotel you are staying at.

 

[mommyof2boys1girl]

We did 7 park days this trip - 10 vacation days total, and we found it was a bit too much. The 10 day vacation was good, but 7 days at the parks was just too much - the kids were totally bored with everything by that time! I guess there's only so many times you can ride Screamin' without it getting "old".
In hindsight, our perfect vacation would be 5 days in the park (none of them weekends), still in off season (I hate crowds) but 9 days in total - 2 for travel, 2 for "off" days to shop at DTD, check out local restaraunts (ds's new fav was Bubba Gump Shrimp, which we don't have here...) and just veg by the pool....
Oh, and we only get to DL once every 2 years....

 

[Disney-Kim]

Disney has never been a vacation spot for us. We typically vacation at the beach - in SoCal but have done Hawaii and Mexico a few times. Disney (both DLR and WDW) are just fun things to do.

We have only ever done a four day trip to DLR once - in 2005. We went hard and fast for four straight days - with afternoon breaks of course - but everyone felt that four days was too much. So we have never tried it again.

On our two trips to WDW we have done 10 days. Next one will probably be 7-8.

However, next month we are going to do 4 1/2 days at DLR and will do it differently. This is going to be a much slower trip with a lot more time taken for dining. Storytellers, Napa Rose, Wine Country Trattoria, Ariel's Grotto (for WOC), Blue Bayou, RainForest Cafe (a must do for us) and Big Thuhder Ranch BBQ. We are going to do the Segway tour at DCA. And we are going to stop on Main Street and watch Steamboat Willie cartoons!

We also plan a lot of down time at the GCH and pool.

I think this 4 1/2 day trip will be about right for us. For you? It depends on how you like to tour and what hotel you are staying at.

I absolutely agree with you that Disney is not a VACATION but fun. You are so right. We usually do WDW for fun and a cruise or Hawaii for a vacation...

but...we cancelled a cruise in Sept and have decided to save some money. Air was crazy and all the other costs involved. and then HEY DLand is having a deal with the 3/5 day thing and we can stay at our favorite hotel.

We are also going to make a fun trip into a vacation trip. We also plan on eating at all the places you mentioned. We used to vacation in Dland 15+ yrs ago when we were younger adn then we found cruises adn Hawaii

so this is somethign new for us...we are having a relaxing time at DL

thanks for all the tips...love it...I love the planning....

 

[brocklesnar69]

Just curious for those who go for more than a weekend...what is ideal??

Now remember we have been to Dland 10+ times and we are not newbies. But....we DO want a long relaxing time there...we want down time and around the pool time. We are going to take it slowwww

We are going for for 5 nights...so 4.5 park days.

Just curious how you all do it?? and what other fun things you do on the longer stays...thx

In '08 we went to DLR for 8 straight days and didn't do anything else except for what was on the DLR property. Even on the eighth day we still weren't bored. It actually gave us plenty of time to do everything we wanted multiple times. It was really nice and relaxing.

We had like 3 straight days a piece of DL & DCA, with an extra day for nothing but DTD and the hotels (to explore them) but even then, we still spent a couple of relaxing hours in the parks themselves. Then we had yet another additional day (the 8th day) to make one final sweep of both parks. It was great!

It's especially nice to go for a longer period of time when you know you wont be back anytime soon. It may seem excessive, but it's really not. The memories last at least a couple of years at least. Like I said, I was last at DLR in '08 but only NOW I am starting to think about when I'll go back (probably not till '11).

 

[Tikestoublie]

We are doing 4 full days plus 2 half days this time around. When I fist planned it that seemed like a huge chunk of time and make it easy to do and see all we wanted - now, I am not so sure.

Previous trips have been more rushed and therefor have not been able to enjoy relaxing and eating, or spending too much time on shows. Last year went for friends bday and saw Aladdin and it made me appreciate how nice doing these extra things could be.

Now, looking at my days I cannot fathom how we will fit in our meals, shows - WoC - AND be able to take time to relax by the pool. A must for me as our Oregon summer so far has been dismal.

I think 4-6, assuming you want to do meals, see shows, and actually be able to stop and relax is a good length. Shall see how it goes.

 

[Flitterific]

Wow...I would love to be at the parks 7-9 days straight, lol.

I think 5 days would be ideal though. It should give you plenty of time to check out all the rides and attractions, catch the shows and do your favorites more than once

 

[stevejanelle]

We are doing two weeks total in June (15th-29th).
Tue 15th - Arrive 9:40 am spend day shopping for snacks, character warehouse, early check-in at Doubletree Orange, time at pool, relax in bed by 9pm.

Wed 16th - DL/DCA Up at 5am, MM 7:00am, stay until 5pm
Thurs 17th - DL/DCA Up at 7am, 9am opening, stay until 5pm
Fri 18th - DL/DCA Up at 7am, 9am opening, stay until 5pm
Sat 19th - Sleep-in, Toy Story 3 at noon, Goofy's Kitchen 5:20pm
Sun 20th - San Diego Zoo, Up 6:30am, 9am opening, back by 8pm
Mon 21st - SeaWorld, Up by 5:30am, 9am opening, back by 8pm
Tues 22nd - Universal Studios, up by 6am, 9am opening, back by 8pm
Wed 23rd - DL/DCA Up at 6am, 8am opening, stay until 5pm
Thurs 24th - DL/DCA Up at 6am, 8am opening, stay until 5pm
Fri 25th - DL/DCA Up at 7am, 9am opening, leave at 2:30pm, back by 7:30pm for WOC, leave when tired
Sat 26th - NOTHING planned
Sun 27th - Legoland, up by 6:30, 9am opening, back by 8pm
Mon 28th - Legoland, up by 6am, 9am opening, back by 8pm
Tues 29th - LGB airport by 10am, go home

We have DD 2, and DS 5. Hope we can do it. We will be taking it very easy when in the parks. Lots of rest time. DD taking naps in double stroller (maybe even DS).

I'll let you know if it was too much in PTR.

Steve