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

[ktlm]

We usually spend 7 or 8 nights there. We get hoppers for the entire time we are there including arrival and departure day. We have yet to do a non-park day. Even if we planned on one, I would still get the ticket as the price per day goes down the more days you get so it isn't that much per ticket to add that last day or two. Even if we planned a non-park day- I can still see us deciding to just hop to a park for a couple of hours in the evening after spending the day swimming etc.

 

[Andtototoo]

On a week-long vacation now -- having been to Orlando MANY times -- we would probably do something other than a theme park for one day. In our case, we would spend the day exploring some other location with a car, so we'd be just as busy as if we went to the parks. We do not go on vacation to relax because from our pov, we can do that at home for free.

 

[Satchmo128]

Our trips are typically 9-10 days long. We usually spend at least 6 days in WDW, one day at another park or tourist attraction (Universal, Kennedy Space Center, Sea World, etc), and then have a couple more leisurely days (DTD, tour resorts, etc) thrown in.

Since we don't stay on-site, it is pretty much all-or-nothing when it comes to rest days and park days (meaning, we don't usually just go to the parks for a few hours).

 

[mrsmomo]

We always plan for a day off but it never happens. ...

 

[bdtracey]

I just ran the numbers for our trips since 2006...we've spent 107 days in Florida and I can honestly say that easily 100 of those were spent in the parks. We've been to SeaWorld once, Universal CityWalk once, 1 day off for stomach flu in 2009, and 3 non-park days in 2007 (we had 10 day tickets and were there for 13 days).

We generally hit each park for RD in the morning, stay for lunch then head back to the resort for a swim/rest/nap, then head back in the evening for/after dinner and stay as long as we're comfortable and people are still happy.

As stated above, if we wanted to relax we would just stay home. Our idea of a vacation is not sitting on a beach sipping drinks that come w/ an umbrella.

From our POV - go hard or stay home.

Just my $0.02.

 

[dtaylor98]

If we go 7 - 8 days we get park hoppers for the entire stay. When my daughter and I went for two weeks we got a 10 day park hopper. We didn't visit a park our first or last day and took 3 days off.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

We tried taking a mid-week day off on our first trip. But the MK sucked us in, so we've never even tried to take a day off since. Instead, one of our mid-week days is pretty light...maybe morning in a park, then swimming in the afternoon.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

we typically go for 9/ 10 day trips and take no days off. We drive down overnight - usually getting there around 7 - 9 am (depending on what time we were able to leave). If the room is ready we'll do a quick round of showers and head to the parks. If the room isn't ready we'll just head directly to the parks. Last day we are only able to stay until 2 pm at the latest before we need to head home and that time is spent (you guessed it) in the parks.

 

[LucyBC80]

We have 4 completely off days planned for our 24-day trip, plus we're doing lots of half days between parties and shopping trips.

 

[disnemma]

We never take an "off day!" My motto is, if you're down there, you might as well be in the parks because you can swim anywhere, you can play golf anywhere, etc. However, we don't have any little kids in our family, so that definitely makes a difference. If you do have little ones then a pool day/relaxing day may be in order.

 

[wendyt_ca]

We will plan for an off day but generally end up at a park. So it is very rare for us to actually not at least go to a park at some point during the day.

 

[mickyzzzzz05]

We get a Park Hopper for every day we are there. The day we arrive we head in in time for a dinner at the park and we head in for the morning of the day we leave. We hit the park early every morning and always take a rest in the afternoon and head back in for the evening activities. Our longest stay has been 10 days we went into the parks every day. We do take it a bit easier now then we did years ago.

 

[tsme]

We usually go for 7 nights. This is how we usually plan it:

Day 1 Arrival day - No Park. settle in, unpack, eat out
Day 2 Park
Day 3 No Park. Either a party at night (MNSSHP) or this year horse back riding & pool day
Day 4 Park
Day 5 Park
Day 6 Park
Day 7 No Park. Easy day. Relaxing at pool, shopping, resort site seeing, & repacking (boo)
Day 8 No Park. Departure Day.

We find this is plenty for us. We see everything we want, without rushing about, plus we get nice rest days to do other things around Disney.

 

[moriaw76]

We usually go at Christmas and attend MVMCP. For a 7 night stay we get the 4 day hoppers and a party ticket. We do not go to the parks the day we arrive or the day we leave. The day we go to the party we do not go until 4p

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

Years ago we went to the parks every day. Now with ticket prices up and us being older and having seen it all we go to the parks an average of 1 day per 4. So 25% of the vacation.

 

[KittyKat1978]

In my 5 trips I have never taken a day off. I don't have one planned for my upcoming 6th trip either.....maybe I will try one on my next trip.

 

[Virtucomp]

One of the things we found to be relaxing and fun was to plan one day where we just saw the shows, parades and fireworks. No running from E ticket to E ticket. Just wander in to Country Bears or Philharmagic. You can watch the quartet on Main Street, get a good spot for the parade. At the end of the day everyone is not wiped out from running around waiting in line so you enjoy the fireworks show more.

Look at the time guide for show times. http://wdwent.com/


I usually pick a day for the second time of the week into Magic Kingdom.

 

[PEC]

There is no right or wrong and I have done it both ways.
That said I think if I did it now I would go for everyday but just shorter days. A somebody else wrote about, maybe RD one day at MK but leave early then arrive afternoon another day and do parade/wishes. Same with EP with RD one day and arrive afternoon and illuminations another day. AK is a by its nature a short day, and that leaves HS. Either a long day at HS or 2 short days there.

Most important with that many days is don't burn out. IF the plans are long days at all parks then yes you will have to have a rest day.

 

[Tomh]

On our first trip, we spent 7 days, and went to parks every day, all day long. It was fun, but exhausting.

Since then, our trips have been 13 nights, 12 days with 10 day park tickets. we try to space the two non park days out evenly in the middle of the trip.

This summer, we will be staying for 14 nights, 13 days with 3 non park days. We are thinking that a little extra down time might make the trip a bit more relaxing.

Heck, who are we kidding, we will jam pack those off days too hahaha. We've already planned an evening at Old Town, and will be getting the water park fun and more tickets for the first time, so at least one water park, one mini gold, and a trip or two to Quest will be happening.

 

[myadventurebook]

After having three trips of go-go-go and extreme exhaustion, BF and I have decided that next trip we will be taking at least one day off. We always end up with a trip "hangover" where we've had to recover for several days after coming home. We want to avoid that next time.

We really want to try Fantasia mini golf, so it won't be a total rest day, but we definitely do want to ease up on what we've normally been doing. It's different for everyone though. Some people are fine with the go-go-go style and some people are more leisurely folk. It's really up to you and your family.

You mentioned the minuscule price increase per ticket, per day- what you might want to do is just take an afternoon rest every day or take half days. A lot of families find this to be the best option for a nice energy boost.