Is 7 days too short, or 9 days too long??

[mommyof2boys1girl]

We're booking our trip to DL with flights on Aeroplan miles (similar to air miles, but a different company...anyway...)
We have one of two options, because of the stupid way flights are limited and such through miles....

We can take a 7 day, Tuesday to Tuesday trip with direct flights both ways. We will be travelling with 3 kids, 5, 3 and 1, so to me, this is a very good option. We will get a 5 day parkhopper, and have a day off for just relaxing somewhere.
However, hubby is concerned that 7 days might not be enough to see everything, so he is proposing Sunday to Tuesday trip, with connecting flights on the way to LA, direct flights home.

Can anyone offer some insight here? This is our first DL trip - is dh right, and 7 days (5 in park, 1 in DTD) not enough? I am concerned that 9 days will be too much, and we might be all "vacation'ed out" by the time we arrive home, and I SO want this to be a good experience for all of us (since I intend to spring on Dh that since it was such a wonderful trip we need to do it every other year.... )

How long is too long at the park with kids as young as ours? or is there such a thing as too long?

Thanks so much for any input...
I really want to get this booked, but we have to iron out all these snags first....Wish me luck!
Carm

 

[DangerMouse]

IMO, I think 5 days in the parks will be plenty. This is DLR, not WDW, and even during the busy seasons, you will be able to see everything you want in 5 days.

 

[mindylovesmickey]

If you don't plan on coming back for years and years, go with the 9 days. If you plan on coming back in a year or so like you suggest, I would do the 7 days. I don't think you can ever see "everything", they do add shows and attractions and things, and somethings are bound to be down for refurbishments, etc. I think 9 days might be too much for your little ones and might get to be too much for you, too.

 

[CoolPool]

If you aren't running around trying to see the rest of SoCal, then 5 days at DL is terrific.

I know when I fly across country with my kids I only go nonstop. Like I want to keep them entertained for an extra several hours enroute! No way!

And why is the rum always gone?

 

[Alex2kMommy]

I agree with Mindy, but I think it really depends on your touring style. With three little ones (we traveled the first time with DS6 and DS2), I'm guessing you'll go back to your hotel for mid-day naps, which seriously cuts into the park time. That leaves you mornings and late afternoon/evenings to see things. If some of the little ones are walking, you'll be moving slower. If you're stopping a lot for food/potty breaks, that will slow you down. If you stand in lines to see characters or park yourself for parades or fireworks, that makes less time for you to do other things. And so on.

Our first trip we did 2 character meals and saw lots of characters in the parks as well. The character meals are a great way to see lots of characters at once without waiting in lines.

It took us a day or two to get our bearings as well, we seemed to do a lot more walking around than actually doing something!

We did NOT take advantage of Fastpasses (I'd say, "Oh, let's grab a fastpass!" and DH would decline and push on, saying we'd come back later. ) I think DH just didn't understand how they worked until near the end of our trip, so we wasted a LOT of time.

Our first trip was 8 days (really 7 full days, as our first day was only 1 hour of park time). We made sure during the trip to hit our Must Dos (or most of them anyway), but there was plenty of other stuff we never got to, and we couldn't wait to go back!

Our second trip last October (9 days!) we hit our Must Dos again, did some seasonal things (Aladdin Musical, Mickey's Halloween Treats), repeated many favorite rides, did different character meals, but still haven't had a chance to do Nemo yet... So that's on the list for our next trip!

 

[brenda1966]

I would do the 7 days, direct flights for a few reasons.

I think you will be quite tired enough at the end of 7 days! If you add on 2 more days and then have to take non-direct flights home, i'm afraid your memories will be of how miserable you were that last day.

5 days in the parks is a great amount of time to spend. You'll be able to see and do everything you can with little kids in tow. You'll have 5 full days, and even with midday naps outside the park, can still see a lot if you get up and get moving in the morning.

I think a week is plenty to see DL, especially if you're really just doing to stay at DL and not venture anywhere else.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

If you aren't running around trying to see the rest of SoCal, then 5 days at DL is terrific.

I know when I fly across country with my kids I only go nonstop. Like I want to keep them entertained for an extra several hours enroute! No way!

And why is the rum always gone?

There isn't enough rum in the world to make me go multi-stop with young children!

 

[mommyof2boys1girl]

And why is the rum always gone?

I think that is one of my favorite lines from a movie - I was so glad they had that line in At World's End - it totally made the movie for me!

Perhaps the rum is always gone because I have 3 kids under 5!!

 

[J. Galt]

I don't have any experience with DL (our first trip there will be in Nov), but I've taken plenty of trips to WDW. This past December we decided to try a 9 day trip (we usually just stay a week) and we were soooooo ready to come home by day 7. The kids (5 and 1.5) were kind of losing it at the end. We all missed our beds and craved things like a simple pb sandwich and apple lunch. Next time, we won't take this long of a trip, but we know that we go there at least every other year, so if we miss something it isn't a big deal.

 

[bumbershoot]

Assuming the whole family is there, I'd go for the long version. I just spent too long away in December, but the main reason it was too long was b/c we didn't have DH with us for quite a bit of it, and DS missed his papa.

We did 6.5 days in September and barely cracked the surface (and we didn't even go back for naps, so I don't know WHAT we were doing with our time), then went back in December because we hadn't seen enough, and now I'm going AGAIN next week.

So obviously I don't agree with dangermouse on this one thing.


May I suggest something? Since you're going to suggest going once a year, please look into the option to upgrade to APs during this trip. Then you could have your next-year's trip a week or two before a full year goes by, and you won't have to buy admission for the second trip... does that make sense? Plus you'd get AP discounts on things.

And if you were staying longer and therefore buying a longer parkhopper, it would be that much less to upgrade to the AP.

 

[mommyof2boys1girl]

May I suggest something? Since you're going to suggest going once a year, please look into the option to upgrade to APs during this trip. Then you could have your next-year's trip a week or two before a full year goes by, and you won't have to buy admission for the second trip... does that make sense? Plus you'd get AP discounts on things.

And if you were staying longer and therefore buying a longer parkhopper, it would be that much less to upgrade to the AP.

Makes sense - if we do decide to go every year (kinda depends on how this year goes.) If we do decide to upgrade, how do you go about it? I assume you have to do it while you are there? I haven't even looked into AP's - figured we were too far away to make it worthwhile....Thanks Bumbershoot for the suggestion!

 

[mystic_path]

You can see the park in 5 days even if busy season. If you add on a day or so its good so you can go back to see things you enjoy one last time. Thats what I like to do, but if you cant, dont fret you would have a great time anyway and would be able to take it all in.

 

[bumbershoot]

Makes sense - if we do decide to go every year (kinda depends on how this year goes.) If we do decide to upgrade, how do you go about it? I assume you have to do it while you are there? I haven't even looked into AP's - figured we were too far away to make it worthwhile....Thanks Bumbershoot for the suggestion!

You upgrade while you're still at the parks. You pay the difference of what you paid to the AP. Right now the deluxe AP (10% off most food, some blocked out dates) is $259 per person (no matter the age for 3 and up) and the premium AP (10% off most merchandise, and 15% off most food, NO blocked out dates) is something like $379. But if you have plans to go inside the year of your first in-park day on this trip, comparing prices to buying another set of parkhoppers makes sense financially, probably. You'll have to do your own math. It worked for us, even with DS's upgrade.

The thing you'll miss out on is the MM day that comes with the parkhoppers, unless you stay on-site. I am so sorry, I don't remember where you are staying for this trip. If you are staying on-site, you can upgrade whenever you want during your stay, because you will get MM days each day it is offered during your stay. If you are staying OFF site, you will want to do your MM day, and then upgrade, because otherwise you won't get your Magic Morning day.

You would also want to make sure your trips woudln't have a blocked out day, if you end up upgrading to a deluxe AP, b/c suddenly you might not be able to get in for a day! Also need to check on the timing of a next trip, to make sure you don't plan for a blocked out time.


Depending on the price you're paying for your parkhoppers, and depending on your level of food-consumption (lots, or expensive, food?) and even souvenir-buying (3 kids could equal tons of souvies!), even if you decide to not come back inside of a year, it *might* make sense to get one adult an AP, just for the discounts. Maybe.

I personally have tried every which way to justify my upgrading to a premium AP, but we are cheap eaters and have only one kid, and even if I buy a blockout ticket in April, I can't get our expenditures up to the level they would need to be to make up the rest of that money!

But another family with other spending patterns might find it differently.

 

[DorkyDisneyMom]

I aree with mystic on this one. We did the park at the end of November. My kids are 7, 5, and 3. I remember when I had 1, 3, and 5. I believe my favorite phase at that point was, "What were we thinking?" Oh man those were the days, just getting to the grocery store was a major production.

I would say that the direct flights would be a major deciding factor. Unless you have really energetic kids and you think it would be fun to let them blow off steam at the airport between flights. Even then, though, I'm not sure about getting all of your stuff off the plane and then reboarding and trying to get the kids settled again. I also think if you are planning on coming back, if you miss stuff, you will get to go again. Also the next time you come it will be that much easier, your kids will be bigger and they will still love it. I'm not sure if your boys are nappers but, my DS3 and DS5 didn't have naps, they never nap though, and did pretty well. We missed a few things because we did so many doubles of things. We plan on going back too. We loved our vacation. My kids are asking to go back this summer. I would love to, but we would have to win the lottery or something.

I would suggest you get Ridemax just so you make sure that you get all your "must do's" done. Also this board is great for your trip. I checked it everyday at least. I learned so much stuff and everyone is so great here. I'm not sure what your stroller situation looks like but the Disney Visa made it worth it. We always got two, because even DD7 was sometimes too tired to walk. It also helped us get around faster. I would tell you though that my kids were ready to be home on our last day. I was a little too comando, next time we will take our time. We didn't get AP's because we didn't know if we would be back. I would have waited for my last day to make that decision too, that way you won't have to miss your MM, or worry about black out dates while you are there. Just my $0.02.

 

[DisneyFans4]

We'll be visiting Disneyland for the first time this year also and I was concerned with my length of stay there but after reading these posts I think I'm good. We are ending our stay in Disneyland but will start in San Fran. We are doing 5 days in San Fran and staying on the Wharf and then 3 days in Hollywood and then 7 days in Disneyland. Our package at Disneyland included park hopper passes. We'll be staying at the Disneyland Hotel.

We are WDW vets for the past 12 years in a row so this will be a change but we've always wanted to visit Disneyland so I'm looking forward to it, not to mention just visiting Calif. in general since I hear it's beautiful. DH has been there twice on business but not the rest of us.

 

[Mickey&Donald]

Wow! I am amazed that people spend such long trips at DLR. I've done DLR tons of times, as I'm a native of CA, and I've got it down to a science -- can do all of the Magic Kingdom in one day, with CA Adventure in half a day.

I'm spending 5 full days this trip, and I'm kind of bewildered.. what ARE we going to do with all that time?!

 

[GailT]

I say 4-5 days is enough, I did 6 and it started to get boring. Amazing, I though I would never say that about Disney but DL is not like DW that i sprobably why

 

[Hound 109]

......as I'm a native of CA, and I've got it down to a science -- can do all of the Magic Kingdom in one day, with CA Adventure in half a day.

....

I know what you mean....I can do Magic Kingdom in a day too. But i need a full 2 days to enjoy Disneyland

(& another day & a half for DCA.)

 

[Leofoenget]

We're booking our trip to DL with flights on Aeroplan miles (similar to air miles, but a different company...anyway...)
We have one of two options, because of the stupid way flights are limited and such through miles....

We can take a 7 day, Tuesday to Tuesday trip with direct flights both ways. We will be travelling with 3 kids, 5, 3 and 1, so to me, this is a very good option. We will get a 5 day parkhopper, and have a day off for just relaxing somewhere.
However, hubby is concerned that 7 days might not be enough to see everything, so he is proposing Sunday to Tuesday trip, with connecting flights on the way to LA, direct flights home.

Can anyone offer some insight here? This is our first DL trip - is dh right, and 7 days (5 in park, 1 in DTD) not enough? I am concerned that 9 days will be too much, and we might be all "vacation'ed out" by the time we arrive home, and I SO want this to be a good experience for all of us (since I intend to spring on Dh that since it was such a wonderful trip we need to do it every other year.... )

How long is too long at the park with kids as young as ours? or is there such a thing as too long?

Thanks so much for any input...
I really want to get this booked, but we have to iron out all these snags first....Wish me luck!
Carm

5 days just at Disneyland is more than enough. We usually burn out on day 3. I have 2 kids 9 and 4. 9 days at Disneyland... thats just a little too much joy

 

[jakoky]

hi there, we have done DL in may 06 and sept 07...my kids are older than yours but both trips have been 10 nights( we did DW in dec 04 and did 9 nights and it was NOT enough there)..we figure if we are paying all that airfare from bc, we are staying longer...both trips have been 5 days at DL which i think is perfect...one of the days at DL was an evening ony for fireworks and fantasmic and some rides in the dark....we have lots of rest and relaxation on our trip too, pool days, shopping days, wandering downtown disney days...i think 9 days would be great, as you could do 5 days in the park and then a 2-3 days of hanging out with the kids...we are planning a trip next june ( 09 ) as my oldest daughter is gradding and i am turning 40 ...we are planning another 10-11 night trip, with 5 days at DL and 5 days at newport beach...we cant wait, and have fun in whatever you decide...
sharon