How many "days off" do you take at WDW?

[Meech Loves Mickey]

Most trips we do 2 "on" and "1" off.

This. We usually stay for 9 or 10 nights and always have non park days planned. We stay at BLT and our boys love the pool and community hall. We usually plan a DTD day as well.

 

[puffkin]

We are DVC and PAP holders and usually stay for 8 days. We usually do something off site 1 day. But we pretty much go to a theme park everyday even if it's just a few hours.

 

[nooneshome]

Our trips have either 5 or 6 days. DW & DS usually take off a day and hang around the resort while DD and I head to a park. Usually our AK ends around 2 or 3 so that counts as a half day. We will rest up and head to DtD that night.

 

[HookdonWDW]

Except for our Universal days, we are usually in the parks for some portion of each day. We are never in a park from opening - closing.

 

[sunkissed4]

We live close so when we actually stay there we take a lot of rest days since we're pretty commando on our day trips. We stayed at BC with family last year for 10 days and took 2 rest days. We still went to parks for dinner and maybe hit a ride while there, but we really made sure we enjoyed that pool!

We're big afternoon breaks people. Start off at RD and get a lot done then take an afternoon break at the pool. Head back out for dinner and some evening attractions.

We obviously tour differently though, if I was only once a year it'd be harder to take it easy. If you're paying for a nice hotel though, I'd definitely take a day off to enjoy it.

 

[LMN]

We never take a down day, but we do go back to the hotel for rest/swim frequently during the summer. And then back out in the evening for dinner and night time in the parks. If I were you going in January, I wouldn't bother to get WP&M, but would get the 7 day ticket instead

 

[Gumbo4x4]

In 7 days we did 4 park days and 3 water park days. If I had if to do over, we probably would have done 5/2 instead of 4/3. We don't have time to do "off" days at Disney.

 

[Disney9.9.10]

We used to get a ticket for every day, but lately we are liking to spend some time at the resort just relaxing (especially when splurging on a deluxe!). Some trips we might do a party ticket in lieu of a park ticket, but that doesn't save you anything. My last trip was only 5 days, but we got a ticket to MVMCP, and 2 park days so we had a couple of days that we used for resort time, going to DTD, and just relaxing. I really enjoyed doing it that way.

 

[Crystal824]

It depends on how you want to do it. We usually go to a park everyday (although the last couple of trips, we have done one full day at Universal). We usually get Disney park tickets for everyday except the Universal Day. We don't, however, do WP&M anymore (we have small children and just don't think it is worth it right now).

We usually have one sleep in/rest/pool day but usually still go to the park in the evening for dinner and a show. We usually have a least one day where we come back to the hotel for swimming in the afternoon. I would just plan out your days and see what you think you might want to do even on those WP/Disney Quest days. Then buy the number of tickets you need. You should be able to upgrade when you get there if you find you need more or your plans change.

 

[dsdeleon]

It varies but we are on a trip with two days off in the middle - Universal, IOA, MK, AK/MK, off, off (fishing and la nouba), MK/Epcot, Universal, IOA. 7 on, 2 off. Half the family only does the early mornings, the other half goes back late nights.

 

[Woodmnky]

We don't take any days off, unless someone is sick, but we do take a break for several hours each afternoon and only head back once we are rested. For us this works a lot better than going commando for entire days and then trying to keep a 3yo occupied for an entire day outside of the parks.

 

[Judyfun]

Interesting thread. We go often and go at a very relaxed pace, we do our favorites, pool time, nap time, and back out in the evenings. I have never done a non-park day, but I can see where if you plan on being a parks from rope drop to close, that you would want too.

Judy

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Zero. If I'm at Disney World, I'm going to Disney. I didn't pay the big bucks to swim in the hotel.

 

[Mrs Green]

Our situations are different, especially since we are going in august! We are doing 6 days at the 4 major parks but on other days going to water parks, disney quest, chef Mickey, dtd, campfire with chip and Dale. I feel like there are so many cool things beyond the theme parks that I just want to take time to experience some of that during this trip.

 

[bladiator]

Zero. If I'm at Disney World, I'm going to Disney. I didn't pay the big bucks to swim in the hotel.

This exactly. My wife wants to spend more time not having to run from ride to ride this year which I am going to TRYYYYY to do, but I'm there to get the most bang for my buck, and that does not include swimming in the community bath.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

This exactly. My wife wants to spend more time not having to run from ride to ride this year which I am going to TRYYYYY to do, but I'm there to get the most bang for my buck, and that does not include swimming in the community bath.

I didn't mean I'll never swim in the pool. I just won't spend more than an hour of vacation time doing something I can do at home.

 

[dayvewc]

I normally go for a week at a time, 7 nights, and will usually buy 5 day one-park tickets.

Since I usually drive, I generally arrive for check-in around 8 pm, and that becomes an early night to be ready for the next day. Also, my "leave day" I try to be on the road by 8 am, so arrival and leave days are not park days. With 7 night stays, that leaves 6 park days.

I am a rope-drop-to-close, so I like having a couple of days that I can recuperate. It also allows me to decide to NOT to go to a park if the weather is looking really bad. I will plan parks for every day I am there, knowing that I will not go on at least 1 day.

But that is just me. I am on the school calendars, so can only really travel during spring break and summer, so there are longer hours and hotter weather, but also more people. I enjoy taking a break in the afternoon, but not by going back to the resort but by eating a really late lunch and simply taking my time over it. That saves me travel time back and forth, lets me sit in a temperature controlled environment, and I can use the time to plan the evening.

 

[ajwolfe]

No days off, no breaks, very little rest. We hit the parks, and we hit them hard. Even the two-year-old. If we do a seven-night stay, we almost always have eight-day PHs. We love going straight to a park right after checking in and just soaking in the Disney magic. We also go to the parks on departure day to wring as much as we can out of every minute.

However, for our upcoming trip, we are traveling with family members who are more "relax and take it easy" types. It should be...interesting.

I could have wrote your post to a tee!! My boys go hard at Disney and so do we. I can't imagine taking a day off to not go into a park at al.. We are also traveling with a very easy going, spend the day at the pool family in May. I'm curious how it will go!!

 

[HookdonWDW]

I could have wrote your post to a tee!! My boys go hard at Disney and so do we. I can't imagine taking a day off to not go into a park at al.. We are also traveling with a very easy going, spend the day at the pool family in May. I'm curious how it will go!!

My prediction: You'll come back to the hotel in the late afternoon, your kids will jump in the pool (where your friends have been hanging out all day), and then you will head back to the parks (either with or without your friends).

 

[henry72]

We don't take days off from the parks. If I had the water park option, I would plan a day or maybe half days there (and the same with Disney Quest if that was our goal.) As it is, we had a hard time finding time for DTD as we would rather be at the parks riding rides. That said, I know there will be an afternoon or evening or two where we hit the pool.