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

[BensWife]

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?

 

[dansdad]

As we have gone more, we now thoroughly enjoy having some resort days and down time. We have found 9 -10 nights is perfect! We actually come home feeling refreshed.

 

[firstwdw]

May 2012 was our first visit since 1997 when we were in college so we are no experts. We took our 6 year old child. We flew down on an early Sunday morning non stop flight and arrived at our resort on Magical Express around noon. We went to the Magic Kingdom to see the parade but we were SO TIRED from traveling. We then had a full 5 days (m,T,W,TH and F) and travelled home on Saturday. We could have used one more day BUT we did take all of Weds to go the space center. I thought 6 nights was a good amount of time. We had Park Hoppers and we did get to the parks at opening and then by 1 or 2 we headed back for a rest and swim. We did not do Hollywood Studios or any of the countries in Epcot and we didn't make it to Downtown Disney or any water parks. We loved it so much we are heading back but we are not doing hopper tickets and we are doing less park days this time around. We just wished we had more time to enjoy the resort last time.
Not sure this is helpful but that was our experience.

 

[Coconuts]

On our first trip with the kids, they were 5 and 3. We went for 4 nights and that was WAY too short. We were way too rushed and the kids were exhausted. The more we go back to WDW, the longer we want to make our trips! Basically DH and I have resolved to never go for a family trip if its less than a week.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[Wood Nymph]

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?

We have been doing five nights on most of our recent trips and it works out fine. But we also go during a low crowd period, so most rides are a walk on. Five nights means six park days. We hit the highlights of AK and DH and then spend the rest of the time at MK and Epcot. It saves money, too.

The only reason we are doing six nights on our February trip is because the airfare is about $240 cheaper if we stay until Monday. That is worth the cost of one night.

 

[2manypets]

When our children were younger, we'd go for 9 nights so we could have plenty of down time and still get to do a lot. Now that DH & I go alone, we only need 5 nights.

 

[dminnie]

We used to do just a day trip (before kids) when we lived an hour away. Not enjoyable at all. I didn't think I even liked WDW, although it was a beautiful place. When our kids were little, we'd go for a day or two of our vacation and stay offsite. Still didn't think I liked Disney so much and didn't go for several years. A few years ago, the kids really wanted to go and stay on-site. We went down, used ME (no rental car at all), and stayed for 4 nights. We really liked it! Part of that was staying on-site and part of that was that my kids were pre-teens at the time and could really handle the busyness of it/help plan etc. It was so much more fun to stay there and just do Disney for several days!
Since then, we've had a trip where we drove and stayed 3 nights on-site along with 3 nights on the Gulf coast. This spring, we'll stay 2 nights on the Gulf coast and then go for 4 nights at Disney.

I would love to go for a whole week, but I don't think DH wants to be immersed in Disney for a whole week. He still thinks it's about the parks... I'm trying to incorporate more afternoons around the pool, etc.

 

[WILDERNESS FAN 55]

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?

With your size family and kids ages I would suggest 7 nights. That gives you 6 full days. 1 for each park and 2 "down days" exploring-shopping-boat rentals-swimming. I also had 2 of my own close together in age. It was afun time but now that they are older(early 20's) ......they still go with us ! It's awesome (but expensive) Have fun

 

[Jasperann]

On our first trip we went for 6 nights and visited the parks for 5 days. We ran ourselves into the ground that trip trying to do it all. On our second trip we went for 7 nights and went to the parks on 8 days, but we had a lot of mid afternoon breaks. We liked it much better. This time around I scheduled 8 nights with 9 days in the parks. It seems to keep going up...I didn't even realize it until my DH pointed it out.

 

[::danielle::]

We went last March for 8 park days with our kids who were 7 and almost 4. We did not go "commando style" (all day at the parks). We would go back to the hotel each afternoon for a much needed rest. I thought that with so many days we could do almost everything. What I realized is that there is never enough time to do it all!

No matter how many days you go, it won't be enough. I suggest that you go as many days as you can afford without being stressed. If an extra day means you'll count pennies over every trip expense then I would say don't do it. That being said, if you can afford the extra day then go for it. I promise you won't regret it!

 

[coffeecassie]

My daughter and I usually stay 11 days with a 10 day park hopper. We can do everything we want, without ever feeling like we "have to do this TODAY". Lots of breaks and pool time, and we never feel rushed.

 

[danicaca]

Our last trip was 3 nights - no way was that enough! Although, it was a last-minute add-on to our trip to Georgia, kind of a test-run with the kiddos! This trip, we have 11 days, I thought we would have plenty of time, but I am trying to figure out how to fit everything in! We are staying at POR, so we really want to enjoy the resort a little. We already nixed the water parks - our youngest is not a very strong swimmer yet, so maybe next trip? We have 3 days planned in MK, with 2 days for each of the other parks, and one day yet unplanned - it might stay that way until we get there! I think we could go for 2 weeks and still not feel like we did everything we wanted to!

 

[RedfromNL]

Since we come from the Netherlands the trip itself is a big part of the cost. So in May we will be back for another 12 nights, 13 days.

 

[HM]

Originally we took 7 night vacations the first few years. We usually stayed in two different resorts (3/4 nights).
Now they are generally 4-5 nights (in one resort).
The most we've stayed is 9 nights (three different resorts) and the least we've stayed is 3 nights.

 

[Barnhill9586]

We stay either 8 nights or 9 nights now. Excluding travel days that gives us 7-8 full days which we definitely need. We like resort and pool time a lot and we don't want to feel like we're having to cram things in at the parks to get everything done. It took us about three trips in order to figure out just the right number of days for us. Have a great trip!

 

[Marla1106]

Last trip my boys were 5 and 2. We stayed for 7 nights and had 6 days in the parks. We go at our own pace, come back in the afternoons for nap and swim time.

We are going at the end of may and my boys will be 7 and 4. Same plan.. 7 nights 6 park days.

 

[AntFarm]

We went last March for 8 park days with our kids who were 7 and almost 4. We did not go "commando style" (all day at the parks). We would go back to the hotel each afternoon for a much needed rest. I thought that with so many days we could do almost everything. What I realized is that there is never enough time to do it all!

No matter how many days you go, it won't be enough. I suggest that you go as many days as you can afford without being stressed. If an extra day means you'll count pennies over every trip expense then I would say don't do it. That being said, if you can afford the extra day then go for it. I promise you won't regret it!

This. No matter if you go for two days or two weeks you won't be able to do it all. You have to pick and choose and set realistic expectations regardless. It seems like a lot of people on this forum go for 7+ days, some go for 9-10 days and even longer, but that isn't something most Disney visitors can do. Like pp stated, go for as many days your budget allows and plan based on that with what you want to do the most.

 

[ramsfootball92]

My suggestion is 5 nights because you mention wanting to not break the bank. The first 2 times that I vacationed with my 3 kiddos I was a single mom on a very tight budget. I opted to rent points from someone (wanted a fridge and microwave) and purchase my tickets separately. Back then the cost was equivalent to purchasing the value resort w ticket package through Disney.

Each of us picked our top 3 things that we wanted to see/do at each park. Often these overlapped but that is how we planned each day, ensuring that we did the things on our list first. Anything additional was icing on the cake. I will say that being in the parks early helps immensely. This may not be possible given your kids ages but we have found if we are there at or near rope drop that we can really be finished by lunch time with all of our must do's. You can then head back to the resort for nap or pool time and then head back later if you choose.

To save $ I would suggest that Tinkerbell visit your room and leave gifts. This tip really helped my sister save money when we brought her and my niece along. She never asked for a thing and would be so excited to see what Tinkerbell left. The first day it was an autograph book, another day pajama's...

Also, bring snacks to the parks. I typically would take a backpack when my kids were younger with gummies, granola bars and frozen water. That really helped cut down on spending.

Last but not least, my kids really wanted a resort day. Yikes My thought was that I spent all this money on tickets and you want to stay at the resort??? But then I had to remember that my idea of vacation wasn't necessarily their idea and we had a pool day. OKW spoiled us because they have pool games, karaoke, bingo and my boys entered a basketball tournament. They were happy and so was I...

 

[em36]

The first time we brought our daughter, she was 5 and we stayed for 4 nights off site. My husband and I commented that we would not enjoy being at Disney for any longer than that.

The next trip we stayed on site for 5 nights and really had a great time. We were able to take breaks at the resort but we didn't really use the pools and resort perks.

This last trip we stayed at the Yacht Club for seven nights and had the best trip yet. We relaxed, swam, and enjoyed the parks at our own pace.

The key is to make time for the things you really want to do. Make sure that you are comfortable with the amount of money you are spending so that you don't dwell and worry about that end while you are there. Have a wonderful time!!

 

[angelmichelle]

For my friend and I, we're doing Th-Th so seven nights. We're planning to do 1 AK, 1 HS, 2 MK, 2 Epcot.