How many days...

[RuthieT]

We will be going Mid January 2017.... How many days would you give yourself with 2 adults and 2 kids (12 and 7) at each park? Trip time isn't limited, we want to make sure we can see and do it all.

 

[dis_guy]

Many families go for a week's vacation. That's the length of time we go most often, you can certainly get nearly everything done in this time. We did a 10 day trip once and for first time visitors it will allow enough time to do everything and have some down time at the resorts if it all becomes a bit too much. How much time in each park is an individual thing. We do go to the MK more often than the other parks. We are in EPCOT most days as we love the restaurants there. We probably spend more time in AK than most people do. We go to HS mostly for the headliners. Now having said this with our "all over the place all the time" touring style, it's no wonder we get park hoppers.

 

[JimmyMartin]

One day for AK and DHS
2 days at MK
1-2 days at Epcot
One day off in the middle
Also have to consider adding days since the price is not too much to do so. Always have a day of rest in the middle.

 

[gap2368]

this is really a it depends on you I go a lot ( about 50 days last year and I do not live in orlando so I have to stay on site) with that said I have not even spent a full day at AK maybe 6 hours total but I know people know someone that could spend a week there
but if you would like to go and do a lot I would do one of two thing

1 go for about 8 to 10 days
3 days at MK
2 EPCOT
1 day at each AK HS
this would leave you with a day to go to a water park or you could go to what ever park you felt you would like to see a little more or go to disney springs

or go for 5 days spend one day at each park then spend a lot of money for a privet VIP tour for the day ( between 400 and 600 an hour for a minimal of 7 hours, or do the one of the VIP day of thrills or for young family )

 

[GaryDis]

We will be going Mid January 2017.... How many days would you give yourself with 2 adults and 2 kids (12 and 7) at each park? Trip time isn't limited, we want to make sure we can see and do it all.

I'm going to drag out my soapbox and say there's no such thing as doing it all. I'm sure that many of the locals with Annual Passports haven't done it all. And that's because "doing it all", if taken literally, means not just riding every ride, seeing every meet and greet, show, parade, and fireworks, doing Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom indefinitely, Agent P, experiencing the outdoor rides both night and day, etc. And that's not even counting all the special tours, extra cost shows like HDDR or dessert parties, or eating at all the park table service restaurants.

Obviously I'm exaggerating the problem, but still, you need to get a handle on what you really want to accomplish. I haven't done Sorcerers yet, but I get the impression you could spend an entire day doing that without running out of cards - but few would want to. (Or maybe I still don't understand it.). At a minimum, there may well be things none of you want to do. (Epcot travelogues, anyone?).

Most people who try to accomplish "everything" have a sense of what rides they consider important, which characters they consider important to meet, and work around that. People who start out with a one week constraint and have kids typically allocate two days to MK and one to the other parks, or they'll get park hoppers and maybe do less at DHS/Epcot/AK and hop back to MK. With two weeks, I think I could successfully plan 6-8 days in the WDW theme parks, with time off for USO, relaxing, or other things. There would still be undone things for the next trip, but out people would be burned out with that many days before they could see and do everything.

 

[pepe.depew]

I agree that there is too much to see at WDW in one trip. However, part of the fun in planning is finding all of the right stuff for your family! I think a week would give you plenty of time to see all you want without being run down.

 

[jk2006]

We never do a rest day in the middle. Park tickets are cheap after a certain number of days so to add on a day after 5- 6 park days is quite reasonable. We fly, so if we spend $1200 on airfare for 4 it is a no- brainer to spend approx $50 total for all of us to have more day at the park, we can take breaks but once we are home we miss it. We try to have 9 park days with hoppers, to answer your original question. Good luck!

 

[SaintsManiac]

We go for a week and do 6 day PH tickets. We don't go to the park on arrival or departure days. We don't take a day off in the middle. Instead we sleep in half the days, because we are not early morning people and cannot do it on vacation.

Next year we are going to Universal at the beginning, so we will be in Orlando for 10 days.

 

[glassslippergirl]

If you're not limited, the maximum ticket you can get is 10 park days that need to be used within two weeks. You'll never do it all, but this will give you a chance to see every major attraction and most secondary attractions in the parks, with a few extra days to explore Disney Springs, the Boardwalk, and some resort areas/recreation activities. I'd go through the WDW website and make lists of every attraction that you want to do, every restaurant, every resort activity and try to figure out how you want to divide them over your staY. If you do stay for the full two weeks, maybe even look into a tour at the end of your stay.

 

[ReluctantDisaholic]

Lately we do 8 park days - 3 at MK, 2 Epcot, and 1.5 each at DHS and AK. Other trips we've done 9 and it's been 3 MK, 2 Epcot, and 2 each at the others.

Agree with everyone else that you still can't fit everything in. I'm a huge planner and can fit a lot into our schedule, but we leave Friday for trip #7 and there's still stuff we haven't seen yet.

 

[brownhaired_girl]

With time not being an issue, I would get a 10 day ticket. I would plan a 2 week trip, stay at the best pool oriented resort I could afford (which for me would be an off-site timeshare). No park day on arrival and departure. Plan days that are not overwhelming. Mid-January is not always real warm so it is easier to stay in the parks longer. The kids are old enough to have some stamina, but once someone in the group is tired it takes a lot of the fun out of the trip. I would plan for 2 down days. Some parks take less time to tour, I would do later mornings on some of those days. Maybe on one of the off park days, I would try to get to the Hoop De Doo Musical Revue. Your kids are the perfect age. Be flexible, see and smell the roses.

 

[Mmk1997]

This is our first time so our plans this month are:
Arrive at MCO at 0500, pick up minivan, hit universal. Leave and go grocery shopping arrive at VRBO for 1600 await both sets of grandparents. 2nd day universal. 3rd day universal. 4th day Epcot. 5th day Hollywood Studios. 6th day Animal Kingdom. 6th day SeaWorld. 7th day Magic Kingdom. 8th day Kennedy Space Centre. 9th day Clearwater Beach or Rays baseball game. 10th day Epcot. 11th day Magic Kingdom. 12th day Cocoa Beach. 13th day Animal Kingdom. 14th day Hollywood Studios. 15th day Magic Kingdom. 16th day leave for home.

 

[Nancyg56]

On our first trip back since my own children were little, we planned an 8 day, 7 night trip and found that we wanted a few more days. The next one was 10 days, and it was the number if days that worked best for us during the first trips.

If you have unlimited time, I would plan a ten day parks ticket, and I would probably add hoppers, which would give you plenty of time to decide for youself how much time you want to spend in each park. Start with at least two days in MK and Epcot, and make sure that you are in those parks at night at least one of those days. 1 in DAK and DHS. Personally, I would plan 2 days and 1 evening in north MK and Epcot, 1 day and 1 evening in DAK and DHS, and leave the hopper to get me back in if I wanted to see evening entertainment again. I woudl allow for at least one DS day, that included resort time and hopping, and plenty of blank space so we could go where we wanted.

 

[TristiK]

This past June we did 3 MK, 1 Epcot and 1 AK with a pool day in the middle. Next trip we're doing 3 MK, 2 Epcot, 1 AK and 1 HS, with a pool day.

 

[Klayfish]

I'm going to drag out my soapbox and say there's no such thing as doing it all. I'm sure that many of the locals with Annual Passports haven't done it all. And that's because "doing it all", if taken literally, means not just riding every ride, seeing every meet and greet, show, parade, and fireworks, doing Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom indefinitely, Agent P, experiencing the outdoor rides both night and day, etc. And that's not even counting all the special tours, extra cost shows like HDDR or dessert parties, or eating at all the park table service restaurants.

Obviously I'm exaggerating the problem, but still, you need to get a handle on what you really want to accomplish. I haven't done Sorcerers yet, but I get the impression you could spend an entire day doing that without running out of cards - but few would want to. (Or maybe I still don't understand it.). At a minimum, there may well be things none of you want to do. (Epcot travelogues, anyone?).

Most people who try to accomplish "everything" have a sense of what rides they consider important, which characters they consider important to meet, and work around that. People who start out with a one week constraint and have kids typically allocate two days to MK and one to the other parks, or they'll get park hoppers and maybe do less at DHS/Epcot/AK and hop back to MK. With two weeks, I think I could successfully plan 6-8 days in the WDW theme parks, with time off for USO, relaxing, or other things. There would still be undone things for the next trip, but out people would be burned out with that many days before they could see and do everything.

I couldn't agree more. "Seeing it all" will have different meanings to different people. However, if you truly want to experience all that WDW has to offer, you're not going to get it in one vacation. We just got back from our 9th or 10th visit to WDW...and 6th in the past 12 months. This most recent trip was 17 days and we still didn't get to everything we really wanted to. Some of it was because we did things we really liked multiple times, or we just decided to call it a night when we got tired. But there's just so much to do. To get a strong taste of Disney in your first visit, I'd say 7 days minimum, 14 days are ideal. Many people will plan breaks in...such as the beach or a full day at their hotel or something like that. We "plan" those too...we had planned to go to Daytona for a day. But it rarely works out because we'd rather spend the time at Disney.

 

[Nancyg56]

I couldn't agree more. "Seeing it all" will have different meanings to different people. However, if you truly want to experience all that WDW has to offer, you're not going to get it in one vacation. We just got back from our 9th or 10th visit to WDW...and 6th in the past 12 months. This most recent trip was 17 days and we still didn't get to everything we really wanted to. Some of it was because we did things we really liked multiple times, or we just decided to call it a night when we got tired. But there's just so much to do. To get a strong taste of Disney in your first visit, I'd say 7 days minimum, 14 days are ideal. Many people will plan breaks in...such as the beach or a full day at their hotel or something like that. We "plan" those too...we had planned to go to Daytona for a day. But it rarely works out because we'd rather spend the time at Disney.

Oh my gosh! That "seeing it all" thing just hit a nerve. My DD just returned from an 8 day trip. They stayed at teh Poly, their favorite resort. (Well, not my DGD, she prefers the Grand LOL!!! Nana created a monster, I am told!) Anyway, it was blistering hot last week, and they were glad they had not planned to be in the parks all day. Towards the end of the trip they were returning back to the resort late in the evening, and DD was chatting with a mom, who had three kids, ages 2, 4 and 8 in tow. All dead asleep. Turns out she had booked the Grand, ran those kids from RD to park close.... Packed sandwiches in a backpack from a cooler that she kept changing the ice in. She told DD the sandwiches were pretty awful when they ate them, but she did nto want to take time to leave to eat. DD almost fell over, and asked her why she made teh plans she did. TO make sure they saw it all!!!! It took all DD's restraint to tell the lady that they did nto see it all, despite running those poor kids ragged in that heat and eating sandwiches that were by her own admission, pretty awful. They paid a lot of money to stay at a resort they did not use, and could have downsized their choice, used the difference to ad a food budget, and still had enough of a difference in cost that they did not feel the need to pack so much in to have a value from the vacation cost they had.

DD said none of them looked happy. I think you choose a balance tha works for you, but recognize that no one can do it all, so it is counter productive to try.

 

[GaryDis]

Oh my gosh! That "seeing it all" thing just hit a nerve

I think there's just something in the way the OP is worded that makes me think it was intended literally.

 

[Nancyg56]

I think there's just something in the way the OP is worded that makes me think it was intended literally.

It sure could be taken that way, but I hope that we have at least given some insight that for most, that is an impossible goal. Everytime someone says that want to do it all,all or to get the Big Bang for this very expensive vacation dollar, I cringe. Clearly every individual family has their own stamina level and their personal vacation style, but even given a commando touring style, and seemingly unlimited time (which is subjective time as well), you cannto do and see it all. I do not want people to set themselves up for failure.

My DD was so sad for those poor worn out kids last week. This Mom said they took no breaks. No swimming. No inside lunch breaks, no naps, and no escape from afternoon sun. RD to park close. In 105 degree heat. At the Grand. Yikes!

 

[Tomh]

Everybody will have a different answer for this, but here's my two cents. Our typical vacation is 12 days, we get 10 day park tickets. We spend one day at AK, one day at DHS (actually, we are skipping DHS this year) 4 days at EPCOT (Love to wander the World Showcase) and 4 days (5 this year) at MK. We find that this gives us enough time to hit rides in the morning, getting all the popular stuff without long lines, and then to go slow in the afternoon, doing long attractions and shows, shopping, and just taking time to "smell the roses." It allows us a mostly leisurely touring pace, and plenty of time to see and experience much of what the world has to offer.

 

[Pmlocke]

I agree with GaryDis. My wife and I go down every year in February and we still find things to do that we hadn't done before. DO NOT EXPECT to "do it all". Slow down, enjoy the moment, cherish what is in front of you at any given time. I read with great distress the agendas of many posters on this site and it seems to me, when do you actually slow down and enjoy yourself. Getting on every ride is not the answer to a "great time at Disney". How many times have I been pushed out of the way by parents dragging their kids because "our fast pass expires in ten minutes, move it". Ask the kids what they want to do. For my family, the kids and now the grandkids wanted time at the resort pool. The younger ones want to climb on rocks more than sit in a ride. To make a magical experiance, I have found that being there with my family is what made it magical. Not going on Space Mountain or Sourin. But beware, as Gary satted, there is soooooo much to see and do, if you set yourself up to see and do it all, you set yourself up for a quick paced, weary experiance.