Ideal WDW Length of Stay

[MouseOfCards]

No. It is round trip transportation from MCO to your resort with a 30 minute grocery stop on the way to your resort. No sightseeing. When we did it we stopped at a Publix on the way to WDW.
WE stay for 5 -8 days 2 or 3 times a year. I do not enjoy split stays. They are a major hassle to me.
We use Disney transportation. It meets our needs. We do not want to drive on vacation. We get a grocery delivery from GardenGrocer.com. It is well worth it, especially with little ones.

Thank you. Why don't you use Magic Disney Express for pickup/dropoff from MCO?

 

[MouseOfCards]

Must be double digit stay. This year it was 12, 14 ,10 night stays. We fly so we feel like it is better money spent. That said we never go all day. We do lots of pool time, we rent a car so we can see family that lives in flordia...go to dinner off site. Just enjoy everything

I don't know if we can handle 10+ night stays. We're the type that go on trips and start getting homesick after a few days. At least this has been the case for many of our vacations. And with small kids now, we often come home needing a vacation from our vacation. Hopefully this changes with DVC. We're waiting to pass ROFR now.

 

[MouseOfCards]

trip 1 was end of april to beg of may 2013
trip 2 was end of jan to beg of feb 2015
trip 3 was dec 20-26 2015 (1st trip as DVC)

3rd trip slowed down since we knew we would be back at least every other year. We still haven't seen everything as things do change and this dec plan to check out all the countries stories. plus we havent gone during all the event times so theres still more to see
Yes having the DVC has changed our way of going to the parks. we don't mind going for a couple hours and leaving. plus transportation using the monorail and walking to the parks has made such a difference. it was such a pain to always fold the stroller and unload sleeping kids. now they can sleep in the stroller and not be disturbed which makes for a happier rested toddler and happier parents .
also got an annual pass this time and that is saving us since we went 7 days, and will go 12 days this dec. paid for itself

Nice. And thanks for the good info about going back at different times for different events to make more use of the DVC membership.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

I know many love a split stay. We can not get up the energy to finally get settled into a room and two days later pack it all up and do it all over again for another 2-3 days. Just seems like some wasted time and we are there to relax if you can believe that. We don't even bother putting clothes in the dressers ( but I will hang clothes up).

 

[Hopefully]

Thank you. Why don't you use Magic Disney Express for pickup/dropoff from MCO?

We do

 

[3 DD love princesses]

Nice. And thanks for the good info about going back at different times for different events to make more use of the DVC membership.

No problem does make it fun to see different things. Flower and Garden was the first time we went and I want to go back again sometime now that they are older and can appreciate it more. christmas was well worth it and if it weren't for pulling kids from school every year I would go early Dec every year. pulling them this year as this trip was planned as soon as we were pregnant with DD3. good luck with your ROFR and hope you pass soon feel free to message me with any questions

 

[Pennyguy23]

I don't know if we can handle 10+ night stays. We're the type that go on trips and start getting homesick after a few days. At least this has been the case for many of our vacations. And with small kids now, we often come home needing a vacation from our vacation. Hopefully this changes with DVC. We're waiting to pass ROFR now.

It takes me a couple days to relax. We like to be ready to go home vs wishing we could stay longer. For us it takes that long.

 

[rwcmath]

With children I would not do a split stay. I would also be in a 1 bedroom, and ideally I would stay for a week.

We would get groceries from a delivery service.

 

[jerseyduke]

Take the current life expectancy for your gender. Subtract your current age. That gives you the ideal length of stay!

As new DVC people, you will probably vacation more like non DVC people. The metamorphosis takes some time. I would probably make this trip longer, 7 to 10 days.

In the future, they will probably get shorter.

4 young kids = 2-3 days at MK, 1 day at each of the other parks is 5-6 days right there.

However, "IDEAL" is very individualistic.
Are you paying a lot for airfare? If so, then a longer stay might be better. If not, then maybe 2 shorter stays in the year, and experience different seasons.

I am not a fan of the split stay at all, but again, that is different among individuals. When I do do it, I do a short stay at the front, so we do not have to unpack everything; maybe 2 days. I just do not have any interest in packing and repacking. Some people don't think a thing of it.

 

[TagsMissy]

Next year, we're hoping to go to WDW with our young kids (4 and under) for the first time, and hopefully will be DVC members by then. The plan is to try 2-3 different DVC resorts and visit all the parks, but make sure we have time to relax and enjoy the resorts.

What would be ideal length of stay? And how many days recommended in each park (just read that Hollywood Studios is least popular)?

Thanks for your insights!

We usually stay 10-12 days and often do 1 split stay so we try 2 resorts 5/6 nights each. The resorts are so different from one another it's like 2 vacations in one. The only time we ever changed more than 2x was when we had developer points we *had* to use at SSR and we already had plans at Kidani and BLT so we tacked on those SSR dates to the one big trip. In saying that I wouldn't necessarily recommend 3 changes in one trip especially if you have kids so young in your travel party.

Caveat we no longer are on a mad rush at the parks morning to night. We take our time and relax. We've been known to head to Tampa Bay for a day to catch a baseball game if the Mariner's are in town or just hang out at the pool. We have friends who live locally or that try to match up vacations with us. Often when we're in the parks with them we're just wandering about and going with the flow knowing we have dinner reservations but other than that we're just hanging out and enjoying the sights. In time as a DVC member you'll really learn to enjoy the scenery as it were.

 

[MouseOfCards]

Take the current life expectancy for your gender. Subtract your current age. That gives you the ideal length of stay!

As new DVC people, you will probably vacation more like non DVC people. The metamorphosis takes some time. I would probably make this trip longer, 7 to 10 days.

In the future, they will probably get shorter.

4 young kids = 2-3 days at MK, 1 day at each of the other parks is 5-6 days right there.

However, "IDEAL" is very individualistic.
Are you paying a lot for airfare? If so, then a longer stay might be better. If not, then maybe 2 shorter stays in the year, and experience different seasons.

I am not a fan of the split stay at all, but again, that is different among individuals. When I do do it, I do a short stay at the front, so we do not have to unpack everything; maybe 2 days. I just do not have any interest in packing and repacking. Some people don't think a thing of it.

Thank you for this interesting idea!

 

[MouseOfCards]

We usually stay 10-12 days and often do 1 split stay so we try 2 resorts 5/6 nights each. The resorts are so different from one another it's like 2 vacations in one. The only time we ever changed more than 2x was when we had developer points we *had* to use at SSR and we already had plans at Kidani and BLT so we tacked on those SSR dates to the one big trip. In saying that I wouldn't necessarily recommend 3 changes in one trip especially if you have kids so young in your travel party.

Caveat we no longer are on a mad rush at the parks morning to night. We take our time and relax. We've been known to head to Tampa Bay for a day to catch a baseball game if the Mariner's are in town or just hang out at the pool. We have friends who live locally or that try to match up vacations with us. Often when we're in the parks with them we're just wandering about and going with the flow knowing we have dinner reservations but other than that we're just hanging out and enjoying the sights. In time as a DVC member you'll really learn to enjoy the scenery as it were.

I hope that's our experience as well. Thanks!

 

[TedH]

I have done a lot of resort hopping. Usually because I book really late and get what is available. Normally DVC is very reliable about forwarding your bags. I have never had a problem. But don't expect to forward in the morning and have the bag there by 11:30 lunch. They normally don't start moving bags till after 10:30and they cant be expected to arrive at the next resort until after 13:30. I have had 1 day stays and jumped and 3 day stays and jumped to another resort. But I just don't know how easy it would be with 4 children below 4 years of age.
I normally do Disney for 4 to 6 nights. Any longer and I worry to much about the animals at home. I think it would be great to stay for 9 or 10 days but that is a lot of points.
Also if you do an OKW 1 Bedroom those are basically 1 bed 2 bath apartments and it would give some room for the kids.

 

[MouseOfCards]

I have done a lot of resort hopping. Usually because I book really late and get what is available. Normally DVC is very reliable about forwarding your bags. I have never had a problem. But don't expect to forward in the morning and have the bag there by 11:30 lunch. They normally don't start moving bags till after 10:30and they cant be expected to arrive at the next resort until after 13:30. I have had 1 day stays and jumped and 3 day stays and jumped to another resort. But I just don't know how easy it would be with 4 children below 4 years of age.
I normally do Disney for 4 to 6 nights. Any longer and I worry to much about the animals at home. I think it would be great to stay for 9 or 10 days but that is a lot of points.
Also if you do an OKW 1 Bedroom those are basically 1 bed 2 bath apartments and it would give some room for the kids.

Thanks for the info. BTW, what type of animals can you leave alone at home for 6 nights?

 

[Canadian Disney Mom]

We prefer 10-12 days and like to do splits to change things up mid stay.

 

[TedH]

Cats.

 

[TedH]

Cats.

 

[MouseOfCards]

Cats.

Oh. Our dogs would starve if we weren't there to open their canned dinners for them!

 

[MouseOfCards]

Your are a DVC owner, stop the madness!

No longer do you do each park every trip, you can sleep in. During your ownership you will stay at all of the resorts and spend days in all of the parks and they don't really change that much.

I would limit to 8 nights, 2 split stays, with the resorts close to the 2 parks that you will visit. One MK resort and one Epcot or AKV. Next vacation, one MK resort and another resort/park.

Take your time and set a new pace, enjoy the kids, pool time, activity center time, visit the horse stables, rent a surrey bike at the resort.

Bill

Thank you. BTW, where are the horse stables? And my understanding is that surrey bikes are available at BWV and VWL - any other locations?

 

[TedH]

That's one of the advantages of Cats. It would be nice if they could travel with us but most cats (not all) don't travel well and they are safer at home with a drop in from family once every other day. Most dogs seem to travel very well. My sister has taken her dog on several occasions and boarded him somewhere on Disney.