Is 10 Days Too Long?

[jennpug]

My family and I have reservations to stay at Pop Century for 10 days the last week in September. The last time we were at Disney (much too long ago) was just my husband and myself and we visited for 8 days--which gave us time to tour plus lots of relaxation, and we thought it was perfect. Because we are now bringing children (ages 4,7 and 10) we want to have plenty of time to visit all the parks--including Disney Quest and both waterparks, without rushing around too much. We know that we will have to make allowances for naps and down time at the hotel pool as well. My sister and her fiancee' will also be travelling with us, which will help with the kids somewhat.

My husband and I love Disney and know that we will have no trouble at all filling the ten days, but he is beginning to worry that the kids will be bored by the end. We are buying 10 day passes so we will be able to access the parks every day, and of course our arrival and departure days will be shorter (about a half day each).

We want our kids to have a great vacation and that is one reason we opted for the longer stay---so that it doesn't feel like a marathon of running between parks. (I myself know that I'll want to visit MK a few times!) But we don't want to bore them either. We are looking to purchase our airline tickets soon, and are now confused about the dates we should use. Any tips on the length of stay with three kids? Thanks!

Jennifer

 

[Figment1964]

My family and I are going for 14 days next March. We're building in a couple of half days, or full if we feel tired, for spending time at the pool or just hanging out relaxing. I think I would be exhausted if I did a Disney park every day for 10 days, but if there was enough of a break to catch my breath I'm all for long stays!

Go and have a great time!

 

[S. C.]

We always go for at least that long. No commando touring since we know that we have enough time. It is nice to have a non park day & just visit some of the resorts or DTD, spend some time at your resort pool without feeling like you are missing something in the parks.

ETA: Welcome to the Dis!

 

[the kabuki]

10 days at WDW....

 

[patrenoe]

We always go for at least 10 days. You'll not be rushed and your children will not be BORED. Have a great time.

 

[Suzanne74]

Keep the 10 days - your kids will NEVER be bored - believe me, there is SO much to do down there and downtime is so important to keep from getting exhausted. I would only suggest to buy hopper passes though and not a package, esp if you aren't utilizing the parks everyday. Go to DTD and Quest for sure, take a real hot day off and just hit the pools. Head over to the Boardwalk area one early evening, that is fun too. Play miniature golf too. There is SO much to do, I could spend 2 weeks there easy!! Also check the dates for the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party - they sometimes have their first one at the end of Sept - your kids would love it.

Enjoy your stay!!!

 

[4greatboys]

I think 10 days is great! That gives you plenty of time to enjoy the parks and have some down time. Spend a day just swimming at your resort and and resting up. It gives you a couple of days that you can sleep in and not have to worry that you wont be able to see something you really want before you go.
We went last summer for 2 weeks and it was great. The first week it was my family plus my niece and nephew. We did fun stuff but also took it easy a couple of days. The second week my bil/sil came in and we most of the stuff we planned on showing them.

 

[NewCrew42]

We have two children, DS9 and DD7. Each year it seems we add a day to our trip. This year we are going for 9 days. We have yet go to Disney Quest or a water park. My kids have yet to bored and always leave with a few things on their to do trip for their next trip. Have a great trip.

 

[oogieboogie]

10 days? Not enough for me! I need at least 2 weeks and even then I still wouldn't think it's enough.

 

[carolfoy]

We always have a 14 day pass and use it every day for 14 days! admittedly we'll occassionally have a morning at the pool/mini golf/shopping but we'll still get to a park for the eve parade and fireworks, its so nice not rushing and our last day is always filled with everyones favourite choice to go back and ride again, so No I don't think 10 days is too long at all

 

[soccerchick]

Thanks for posting this...I was going to pose the same question. We are saving for a big trip next year. DS will turn 3 in August of '06 and DD will be 6 so we want to take advantage of DS being free and get there before DD outgrows the princesses.

We have family in Jacksonville, so we will stop in there as well on the way down and the way home. We have invited my sister and her family, as well as the grandparents. They all think we are crazy for considering 10-14 days. I want some time to resort hop, have pool days, outlet shopping, etc. DH is letting me spring for a moderate. If we get my in-laws to go, we may even be able to do a few days in a deluxe (we'll keep fingers crossed).

What's the longest you've stayed at WDW/or any vacation? I know my kids will probably get a little homesick for their own beds, etc., but I think that will (hopefully) be balanced out by how much fun they are having.

 

[jenr812]

I wish we could do 10 days! We're doing 7 though and I'm pretty happy with that. Have a great time

 

[S. C.]

What's the longest you've stayed at WDW/or any vacation? I know my kids will probably get a little homesick for their own beds, etc., but I think that will (hopefully) be balanced out by how much fun they are having.

Last year we were on vacation for a month. We spent a week at WDW then 7 days on the magic eastern cruise, came back to WDW for 3 days with one of those days (july 4th) spent at discovery cove. Went to the smokie mountains and to the indian reservation, then went to ashville NC to biltmore house for a day, than on to FIL's in tennesee for 4 days. Than drove back home.

 

[DisneyJen0504]

I think 10 days is a good amount of days in WDW especially with kids! You can enjoy it so much more having plenty of time to tour the parks, see all the must sees, have some down days by the pool of shopping in DTD. I think 10 days is perfect! You will be glad you did!

 

[Nora94]

We were there 10 days, had a 7 day parkhopper Plus. We arrived late afternoon the first day, and left late afternoon the last day (6:15 pm flight). We felt we really needed about 2 more days. We have 2 girls, almost 6 yrs old and 2 1/2. Ours days were like this
Day 1 - arrival, eat, check in, swim, dinner
Day 2 - Blizzard Beach, got cold though so we left about 3, nap, dinner, swim
Day 3 - Animal Kingdom - dd2 got sick so I left w/her about 1 pm and she napped, threw up and recovered in time to swim that night before dinner.
Day 4 - Chef Mickey Breakfast, Magic Kingdom till it closed at 11!!!
Day 5 - Animal Kingdom - open to close - it was extra evening hours so we stayed till 9, since I had missed almost all of it, this was great to finish it all up and enjoy it. This is NOT a half day park like people tell you.
Day 6 - Epcot in the morning, met with my mom for lunch than everyone napped. Dinner than extra magic hours at night for Magic Kingdom, stayed till 1:30 a.m. (OMG still can't believe I kept them out that late!!)
Day 7 - Breakfast with Cinderella - yes after being out till 2 a.m. we got up to have breakfast at 8, lol. Then did the Family Magic Tour at Magic Kingdom. Back to room to nap, then to Epcot for extra magic hours after dinner.
Day 8 - MGM all day, open to close. We felt we saw everything in that time, dd6 got to ride Tower of Terror 3 times even. It was not crowded at all so that was great.
Day 9 - Typhoon Lagoon, dinner, than since one dd slept through dinner back to the room for the night
Day 10 - pack up, check out, Down Town Disney and Disney Quest.

We really wanted more time at Epcot and more time at DownTown Disney. We got to do a little at Disney Quest but we really had to leave before we had our fill of Ms Pac Man and QBert. So, that is why I say another two days. Now if dd hadn't gotten sick we could have done more that night.

Take advantage of those late hours if you stay on property. 3 hours is a lot to not take advantage of!

Nora

 

[rt2dz]

We always go for 10 days. Always feel like there is something that we didn't do on that trip and need to do the next. It's definetly not too long. It allows you to do things at a leisurely pace and really ENJOY it. No time to be bored. DW is a vacation destination enough without the parks, so with the parks it's two vacations in one.

 

[cheerdancer11]

You can never be at Disney too long! There is so much to do and see, and with that amount of time you can tour at a more relaxed pace and see things that many people miss. You can shop, site see at resorts, and eat relaxed meals. Lucky you, have fun

 

[Merriwind]

Our longest trip to date was 15 days and the end always comes too quickly. Enjoy!

 

[jennpug]

Thank you for all of the responses. We will definitely keep our reservations just as they are. I think 10 days at WDW will be perfect. The hardest part now is going to be waiting nearly 5 more months!

Thanks Again!
Jenn

 

[newholidayx2]

I hope not!
This Aug DS13 & I will be at WDW 14nights!