How many hours per day are you at your resort? (not counting your sleep time)

[Bete]

I'm really curious how much time is spent at the actual resort. Time in your room, poolside, meals, etc. all count towards time in the resort.

 

[Beanie]

I voted for 6 or more hours because I have a 5 and 3 year old, who right now are much more interested in swimming in the pools than anything! Don't get me wrong, they love MK, but that is the only park they want to go to and we spend about 2 hours there before they are tired and want to leave...which is fine with us since when we go on vacation, we let the kids decide what to do! We are much more a Resort family anyway and enjoy the resorts more than the parks!

 

[RobinMarie]

I said 4 - 5 hours not including my pre-sleep room time or prep-time in the morning, otherwise I don't know how it would be possible to spend less than 6?

1 hour to fetch coffee/breakfast, relax and walk resort alone in the morning.

2 hours a day swimming (have a 5 yo - 'nuff said)

2 hours a day 'down' time - returning from parks, refilling the mug, playing in the game room, lobby gift shop.

 

[Tink]

I voted for 4-5 and that's AT LEAST. We have two kids and we hit the parks when they open (both girls are early risers) and then we come back to the hotel after lunch for a nap. Sometimes we swim then too.

We also tend to go in the off-season. MGM, MK and AK close earlier. We do take advantage of Epcot some evenings, but not every one. Those nights we swim and enjoy the hotel (and mommy does laundry!)

Before the kids, we did not stay at the hotel as long. We would go to Epcot every night and stay late.

The one nice thing about going avery year is that we take it easier, don't feel that rush to see everything. We enjoy our time together as a family and have fun.

 

[jcanary]

We have been going yearly since we joined the vacation club 10 years ago so we really enjoy the pool time and leisurely pace ourselves with the parks. I still love them, but I know what I want to see and what I don't enjoy.

 

[Luv2Roam]

I said three - four, but that's being generous.
I use get up earlier than DH, and get ready. Once he's up, he's ready to go in about a 1/2 hour. We grab breakfast on the way out and may not return to our room until 10- 11:00 pm.
I do have pin sorting time to account for though! I need to get my trade lanyards in order!

 

[soccer mom]

Up until last November I would have said 1-2 hours. Couldn't understand why anyone would want to stay at the resort when you could be in the parks! WELL, we stayed at AKL in November (our first deluxe) and decided there was more to Disney than the parks! Now I would say 4-5 hours on several days. We have decided to try all the deluxes (we'll be at the Poly this November!) I can hardly wait to see what we can find to do there!

 

[wdwnutze]

I felt the same way as Soccer Mom until we stayed at the Poly in a lagoonview last August. I looked forward to leaving the parks and returning to the resort. We loved every minute of the time we spent relaxing at the resort.

 

[Lisa P.]

I said 4-5, only because I was thinking of when we stayed at the moderates. Then, we used to spend less than an hour in the morning and less than an hour at night, plus 2 or more hours midday for a swim. BUT...

When we stay at a deluxe for a day or two at the end of a trip, we're there much more, nearly the whole day. When we stay offsite at a really nice timeshare resort, we may sometimes skip returning to the resort midday but spend a few entire days at the resort enjoying its activities and pools. At the All Stars (or any similar motel offsite), it's just to sleep, perhaps an hour, total, awake otherwise!

Maybe I shouldn't have answered in the poll!!! LOL!

 

[GEM]

I voted for six or more. Because we go to WDW frequently, we tend to really spend a lot of time at our resort. In fact, the "resort time" is one of the things about our vacations that we look forward to most. We always spend at least one big chunk of each day just enjoying our resort - swimming, reading by the pool, relaxing in the hot tub, renting bikes or boats, just walking around the grounds, etc. Last December, when we stayed at the Wilderness Lodge, we spent a lot of time just hanging out in the awesome lobby (reading in the little nooks, drinking hot chocolate in front of the fire place, etc.) and a lot of time playing checkers in the Iorn Spike room! We never spend a whole day in the parks anymore, although we did when we first started going. Now our days tend to look like this -

Sleep late and enjoy the resort, then head to a park for the late afternoon or evening.

OR

Head to a park first thing in the morning, then head back to the resort after lunch to relax and enjoy the resort. Then, sometimes we head back out to a park around dinner time. Or sometimes we just eat at one of the restaurants at our resort and spend the rest of the evening hanging out at the pool, etc.

In fact, we usually have at least one day on each trip when we never even leave the resort! That's why the great Disney resorts are worth the extra money to us. They are so much more than just a place to sleep! You could have a great vacation in some of the resorts we have stayed in (Wilderness Lodge, Polynesian, Coronado Springs) and never even set foot in a park! Don't get me wrong - we LOVE the parks!! We just don't feel like we need to see and do everything anymore so we enjoy relaxing and hitting our favorites. That gives us more time to really enjoy our resort!

 

[Bete]

I think I'm going to have to give the Disney resort time more of a chance. I've been a person who thinks you need to be in the parks as much as possible. There are other vacations where I'm more resort oriented; so, it's been hard for me to stay and enjoy a Disney resort. I think I'll try it more at Christmas on our next trip.

 

[Luv2Roam]

I guess my thought has always just been, if I wanted to spend time in a resort I could go about anywhere and do that. But it's not often (enough) that I can be in the parks.

 

[juliesue]

I voted for 4-5 and I would guess the is average for us. Until we joined DVC it probably would have been a little less, but new we typically eat at least two meals in the room (breakfast and lunch).

We also have kids, so that has increased our room time too. I echo the comments that the kids love the pool and want to spend time each day there. In addition, my children (and my DH) are addicted to Toon Disney. It is close to impossible to get them out of the room sometimes.

I also agree with the posters who said that going every year (or twice a year even) allows you to take it easier. We take time to enjoy our vacation and have really learned what terrific activities the resorts have to offer too!

 

[ncligs]

I would say at least 4-5 hours or more. Since we are DVC members and go at least 2 times a yr, we don't have to go commando style to the parks. Sometimes just my wife and I go and don't even enter a park. We go to different restraunts, Pleasure Island, Cirque Du Solei,Comedy Club, etc.
We love having coffee and breakfast on our balcony at OKW. We know we will be back every year so we do the parks about every 3rd time down, if there are new attractions to see. We have relatives in Melbourne, we visit them or they come to OKW.
We like to sleep in and just relax when we are in Florida.Spend a little time every day at the pool.We also pack very lightly because we have a washer and dryer, ironing board,hairdryer,etc in our 1 or 2BR at OKW.We always rent a car, so we have the freedom to go wherever we want.

 

[opal]

For us, it really depends on what time of year we go. When dd was school age we would go in August. We would spend more time in the resort because we did early opening almost every day and then return around noon for a few hours by the pool or water activities (CBR) and then head back to the parks late afternoon until closing.

Now that dd is in college, we usually go in Jan. We spend less time at the resort mostly due to shorter park hours, no early entry and a lot of trips, it really hasn't been "pool weather". Also dd would rather be in the parks than at the pool.

Either way, we always have a great time!

 

[Mickey76]

This past May/June when Piglet203 and I stayed at the Coronado Springs, we spent a good amount of time there. We spent at least 2 hours almost everyday at the Dig Site and spent some nights walking around after the parks, taking in the awesome scenery. If we didn't plan on seeing much of the resort, we wouldn't have stayed at a moderate.

Mickey76

 

[Angel M]

We've always been going constantly to one of the parks until we went in Dec. 1999 and stayed with my parents in the RV at Ft. Wilderness. That was so relaxing, we had a great time.

We've just purchased APs, so we'll be able to go more often since we live 3-4 hours away. In the past we've had seasonal passes and were limited on dates. Our September trip, we have planned at LEAST one day at the resort. We're looking forward to exploring the Polynesian. We're also planning a trip in December, so if we miss something in one of the parks, we'll catch it then.

 

[All Aboard]

During trips I take with just my daughter, we tend to wake around 8:00 and get out the door at about 8:30. We either return within an hour of bedtime or an hour earlier if we plan for the pool. So, either 1.5 or 2.5 hours a day. That's why it's almost always the All Stars for us. Otherwise the $ per hour would never be worth it.

 

[LindaBabe]

because it's a rare day I don't take afternoons off and sometimes evenings as well. And when I stay at AKL, I would just as soon never go out.

 

[Poohbear123]

I TRIED to stay in the room longer, but, there is TOO MUCH to do! I always stay at Sports!