How many days/nights do you stay at Disney World?

[closetmickey]

5 nights is enough if time and/or cost is an issue. If you don't know if/when you'll ever return, 7 is wonderful.

 

[married2mm]

we're in the UK,so it would not be worth our while to pay the small fortune on flights for a quick trip- shortest 12 nights,longest 15- next trip 17 nights in August can't wait!

op- I think it depends what you want to do during your vacation.
do you want to go to all the parks?
do you want to spend time at the resort?
are you going to be out for rd?

I do think anytime spent at wdw,is better than no time there at all.

 

[ilovedisney1982]

I have only been to Disney World once - in 1995, so obviously, that was a million years ago when I was in college. Now, many years later, there are more resorts than were there in 1995. We are planning a family vacation the first part of June. Would 5 days be enough time or do we really need to do a full week? We are trying to save some money, but at the same time not cut too much. Our kids are small (6 and 3 when we would go), so we would need to take some breaks. How long do you stay?

I usually stay anywhere from 4-7 nights.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We don't go less than 7 nights, and 9 nights is perfect for us. DH and I did a 4-night trip for our 10th anniversary without the kiddos, and it was too short, but we went back for a longer family trip two months later.

 

[GreenCntryGirl]

7 nights. I like having 6 full days.

 

[Mousemommy1]

We have found that 10 nights/11 days at a deluxe resort has given us the most relaxing vacation around. We did that in July and enjoyed it so much that we are doing it again in April. It gives you time to slow down and enjoy the resort, and not feel the need to rush from one thing to the next. It would be hard to stay any less than 10 nights, I think.

 

[Xclusive2WDW]

I would suggest 7-nights especially if you could go during a non-peak season. We don't go the parks on travel days (I save that for Downtown Disney, mini-golf and resort sight-seeing). That allows you 6 full days (1 day each for the theme parks and 2 days of water parks or 1 day for water parks and one ull day to relax and enjoy the non-park areas of WDW).
AoA suites seem to have the amenities that would allow you to stay at a value and bring your own items to re-heat and snack on from home or a store in order to save money.
Typically I tour as follows: MK- 1 full day with a midday break; Epcot- FW morning, DHS afternoon; AK- morning and water park afternoon; MK/ Epcot WS with a midday break. That allows for most (if not all) of the park attractions, some rest and that is doable on a tight budget: 5 nights at a value (or deluxe with a nice discount if available) and 4 day park hoppers, pay for the water park out of pocket if your only going one day. I only add the water park and more option if I am staying longer and know I will be using the water parks at least twice and Disney Quest. Hope that helps and gives you some ideas on different options

 

[ThumperThistle]

We stay for 21 nights, got to make the long journey worthwhile.

 

[Sue M]

If you can, I would allocate:
2 days MK
2 days EP
Because these two parks are spread out, you really need 2 days to do them.

1 day DHS
1 day AK

So 6 full days of touring, not counting travel days. I would use this as a guideline but go with what your budget allows. Have a list of must do's and go from there.

But as mentioned, even with this, you won't see or do it all.

We like a more leisurely trip, and go twice a year, 7 -10 days in Jan. and 12 or 13 days in August. For us it's not just about touring the parks, but also relaxing and enjoying our resort, go to a water park or 2, and DTD.

 

[jennybdis]

With the ages of your kids, I think to feel like you hit the highlights of each park for your kids' ages, you need to have 2 days at MK, and one day at the other parks. If possible, I would add in one additional day for relaxation/perhaps going back to a park you liked for a few hours to repeat a few rides/attractions.

We have done Disney twice now. The first time, we stayed off property and only allocated one park a day in our itinerary. We went to the parks mid-morning (10 a.m.) and stayed until about 6-8 p.m. (or whenever the park closed). Our kids, at that time, were 2, 5 and 7 (our 2 year old was a very good stroller napper). While I felt pretty satisfied leaving AK and HS after one day, we still didn't get a chance to do everything or see everything. With MK and EP, there were many things we didn't get a chance to do or see, but we hit the highlights that were age-appropriate for our kids.

This past trip (kids then aged 5, 8, 10), we stayed on property for 7 nights. This time, we got to the parks around 9-10 a.m. and stayed until about 7-8 p.m. (no naps). It took us a good 3 days to do MK and see *everything* (there are only 2-3 things we haven't done now in MK), 2 days to do Epcot (there are still a few things we haven't been able to do), and 1 day again in AK and HS (again, a few things we haven't done). My kids aren't super adventurous with roller coasters and the "scarier" rides, but there were many more rides and attractions that we were able to do this time because they were older. We are booking the same number of nights for our upcoming trip: Because we were just there a few months ago, there are several things that we did that we definitely won't do again, a few things we have to do because they were closed or we didn't get to them last time, and a few things that we have to do again because we enjoy them. But we plan to take it at a much more leisurely pace and enjoy the resorts more.

I will also say that after 7 nights, I was beat and ready to get home. Even being in good shape and being physically fit, our first two Disney trips were anything but relaxing. I was glad during our last trip we scheduled some time at Hilton Head following our trip and had a few days to unwind at home before getting back to work.

 

[mickeystoontown]

When we first started going to Disney World, our vacations were 4 or 5 days with a day at Sea World and a day at Universal Studios. We were instantly hooked on Disney. Over the years, our vacations have increased to either 11 or 12 days. The Magic Kingdom will take two days to see as will Epcot. Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom can both be done in a day each but are worth a second day if you can fit it into your schedule.

We like to take at least two days to do "nothing". We sleep in, hang out at the resort, re-energize our batteries and then go to Downtown Disney. Otherwise, we'd be burned out pretty quickly.

 

[neptuneflame]

I would never ever get DH to stay longer than a week, but I've realized this is about perfect for me. I get to do everything I want with a little left over for next time. Plus, it's long enough to make me just a little homesick. I always return from a trip grateful to be home but looking forward to the next visit!

 

[LoveToTravel2001]

We started our trips when DD was 5. We go for 5 nights, leaving on the early flight out and taking the late flight home. We always stay on site and never rent a car. our car service makes a stop at the market for us to grab water, juice, and snacks. We always do park hoppers and limit the amount time we spend for sit down meals - between waiting for a table (even with an ADR) and eating, it sucks up a lot of time. We find for us five nights works. We don't go back for mid day breaks but rather get a snack and find a nice place to rest at the park or rest during the parade. We found that traveling for a break also sucked up a lot of time. We usually do a buffet character dinner early and then head back to the resort for a swim, a snack and to watch the fireworks happening at Epcot (we could watch from the pool at CBR).
The upcoming trip in March is for Cheer Nationals and DD and I are only doing four nights because of school. We have carefully decided her must dos while we are there but also realize that we will be commuting to ESPN World for competitions so we are limited in what we do. She chose DTD over AK. I was surprised but thrilled.
I agree with other posters that said, do what you can afford comfortably. If staying an extra day will stress the vacation budget and having to decide if the kids can get the extra Mickey ice cream or balloon - the extra night is not worth it.
I also agree - there's never enough time. As many trips as we've done, we've still not done it all.
Pick your days, make a plan, relax and enjoy iy, and have a magical time.

 

[aml3679]

We are staying for 11 nights and are worried about fitting everything in. We plan on:

- visiting all 4 parks
- visiting Downtown Disney
- seeing La Nouba
- going to Splitsville
- going to Disney Quest
- playing mini golf at both
- attending DVMCP
- visiting all resorts including the Swan and Dolphin
- relaxing at our resort for a day (Wilderness Lodge)

 

[momof2gr8kids]

Our first trip was 11 nights. We did 10 days in the parks, but they were not all full days. It was great. We didn't feel rushed, kids could take time to swim, play in arcade, watch parades, enjoy the sit down meals and ambiance of the different resorts, etc.

Our next trip is 9 nights and I'm hoping it's enough!

 

[jphilhower]

We have stayed as little as 4 nights and a much as 12 nights. This May we are staying 8 nights.

 

[pamkat1820]

We have planned our last 2 trips 7 nights 8 days. But I don't think it's enough time for us. I don't like to be rushed. And Disney is far from relaxing with 2 kids lol. This time we are planning to stay at BC and I want to really enjoy both the parks and the pool with my kids. If we can rent points we are adding a day to this years trip.

 

[TACK]

Because I have to count 2 days for travel, I am now booking at least 10-14 days. Thankfully I have 6 weeks vacation, so it's doable. I used to think more than 10 was too much, but I am finding that now it's not enough. I have a busy job so I appreciate the downtime of getting away from it all. And Disney is my number one destination.

 

[smellyia]

Last time we did 5nts Disney and 2nts USO. we won't be back to USO until DD is a little taller to go on more rides. We didn't feel like we had enough time at WDW. If we drove and stayed at Value we could get two 5-6 day trips a year in for the price of one huge trip,but we waste two full days traveling and would still have the issue of not enough time to do everything we'd like. So this year we decided since we're flying to do one long trip - 9nts Deluxe with the 30% discount. Our itinerary allows to do all we want plus pool time for a more relaxing trip- if anyone can call a WDW Vacation that! Even if we tried to do the multiple trips times would probably mess that up for us. Also, the one trip with discount comes in cheaper than two shorts at a lower category resort. So I'm a fan of one longer trip as opposed to multiple shorts in a year.