Is two days too short?

[alm99]

Is two days too short? We have been getting the Disney itch.

Our last trips were late January 2012 and 2014 both 7 day trips with all 5 of us. Kids are now 13, 11, 9.

Every summer my in-laws take our 3 kids for a weekend and take them out of town. During this time DW and I have gone to NYC for the past 2 years. I have been toying with idea of the two of us going to Disney, the only problem it would be a short trip. Arrive late(10pm) on Thursday have all day Friday and Saturday and then fly back early Sunday(8am). Is this too short of a trip? We will be without the kids so we could hit our favorite rides and probably see/do things we wouldn’t normally get the chance with kids in tow.

The cost to go for room only discount, park tickets w/PH, and then OOP food would be on par with a trip to NYC(food, a broadway show, hotel). Our flights would be covered under some CC reward points.


Am I crazy? We have been eyeballing a trip in December with the free dining, but the cost is kind of prohibitive at the moment.

 

[RLGNC]

I don't see anything crazy about this idea. Sounds perfectly reasonable and, most of all, fun! Go for it! Kids might be jealous, though...

 

[china mom]

I always feel that any time in Disney is worth it. I came down for 6 hours this past Sat.

My kids, on the other hand, don't care for a short trip. they need at least 5 days for them to consider it worth it..

 

[brooke789]

Without the kids, definitely worth it!

 

[bookgirl]

If you are not new to Disney (ie wanting to experience everything) I think two full days is enough for a quick trip to your favorites and a nice hotel stay.

I'm in Orlando next month for a conference and got a two day ticket. I'm just going to hit the highlights but two days in a year when I would not be doing any WDW (just got back from DLR and plan on DLP this fall) is enough for me.

 

[RCMommy]

We have only just decided to come to WDW for one and a bit days pre-cruise in October. We did have plans to stay in Cocoa Beach but the idea of landing at MCO at being that close to WDW was too much!

We are flying in at 7pm on Thursday, staying at CSR, going to MK for the MNSSHP on the Friday, and then leaving for Port Canaveral early Saturday morning. Ideally we would like more time, but I am thrilled we are taking advantage of the opportunity!

If that is what you want to do, I say go for it.

 

[tlmadden73]

Without the kids? GO FOR IT!

If you've been before 2 days isn't an issue. You just have to pick two parks you DON'T want to go to. (I wouldn't pay for hoppers for just two days).

For a vacation without the kids to a place you'll love, I don't see how it won't be worth it even if you just wander around and enjoy the dining and seeing the sights without ever going on a ride!

I took two short trips in 2014 and 2015 that were only 2 parks days (the trip itself was actually 4 nights, but I had one non-park day scheduled there (for resting my toddler). The trips were great. Sure, at the end of it, we wanted to stay longer, but that will happen no matter how long the trip!

I've found the short trips quite affordable since the hotel cost is low and you can take advantage of room-only discounts, but the ticket cost is a bit high for only two days. I cut that cost by getting 10-day no-expiration tickets, but that isn't an option anymore.

My philosophy (since I live within a day driving) is more frequent short trips rather than less frequent long trips.

 

[cruisingtwins]

I would do disneyland in that scenario.

 

[bookgirl]

See, I went the opposite way and think the Hopper is worth it on a short trip. I'm planning on all four parks in the 2 (well really 1 1/2) days.

Mainly I'm going to MK and DHS but I plan to end a day at AK to see the River of Lights (hopefully) and I plan to start one day at Epcot to ride the new Soarin' over the World.

 

[alm99]

Thanks all for the replies.

The real issue I could see is being able to hit the favorites at the different parks so park hopper is a must, but I fear how much time we would waste shuttling to the other park.

AK we could easily skip, but HS I love the tower of terror and she loves the Rockin Rollercoaster, plus Star Tours
MK - Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain,
Epcot - Soarin, Test Track, Mission Space, then the countries we were never able to see with the kids

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Yes I would do it! In fact, I'm doing something similar with DS8 next week.

Given your preferences, I would do HS/EP on one day and MK on the other. DHS and EP are so close, park hopping between those would be simple. Consider staying at an EP resort to cut the travel time down even more.

 

[isabellea]

I would do DHS at rope drop then hop (walk or take the boat) to EPCOT for dinner and illuminations. And one full day at MK.

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

I would do DHS at rope drop then hop (walk or take the boat) to EPCOT for dinner and illuminations. And one full day at MK.

This is what I would suggest for you as well. I've done this before and it worked well for us. Definitely splurge on hoppers if you can afford it. It buys you so much more freedom.

 

[Ser Arthur Dayne]

If you go in with realistic expectations about how much can be accomplished I think you could have a good time, though I would second the recommendation of Disneyland as the parks are designed for shorter trips. Hopping at World can eat large chunks out of your day. Hopping at Land takes only a three-minute walk between parks.

All that said, it is not too short.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

As the voice of dissent, we would not do this. WDW can be a reasonable value when traveling a long distance, but only for longer trips. While we love WDW, we also expect more value than this from our trips.

 

[Barbara76]

Sounds like the perfect grown-up only trip! I think you could even hit all 4 parks depending on what the hours are when you go!

 

[JimmyV]

As the voice of dissent, we would not do this. WDW can be a reasonable value when traveling a long distance, but only for longer trips. While we love WDW, we also expect more value than this from our trips.

I concur. While all time at WDW is something to cherish, with a Thursday night to Sunday morning timeframe without the kids, WDW would be very, very far down my list of places to go. But a lot of this depends on where you live. You mention flying, so for me, this would be a "no". The cost of airfare plus the cost of WDW would make this prohibitive for a short getaway. I would pick a city that is closer to you that you haven't explored as much as you would like, and do that. We did this over the past couple of years to Montreal and to Boston on just about the same timeframe and loved it far more than we would have enjoyed a similar amount of time in WDW. For the price of what Disney charges for its resorts and food, you can get a really nice hotel room and some very nice dinners in most major cities that will be of much higher quality than WDW. Add in some very affordable museums, galleries, historic sites and window shopping, and you get way more bang for your buck. That's my $0.02.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

We've done a couple of short trips to Disney without the kids and loved every minute of it. However, we can drive there in 6 hours, and the years we did it we had APs so there wasn't an extra ticketing expense. We would arrive mid-afternoon, drop our stuff at the resort and head to a park, spend 2 full days, then drive home the next day. On one trip, we hit all 4 parks in that amount of time, park-hopping from Epcot to AK just to ride Everest and Dinosaur, then back to Epcot for Illuminations. On another trip, we skipped AK, and didn't park-hop at all. It was nice to get to ride the things we most enjoyed, and actually sit together instead of splitting up one with each child. We tried different restaurants we weren't sure if the kids would like. We stayed out late without anyone being tired. We closed a park down and still went to (then) DTD for shopping and ice cream and closed it down, too. It's not a typical "adult" vacation, but we've enjoyed it.

 

[ravenclawforever]

Another vote for DLR. The weather is so much better: cool mornings and evenings, with no rain. Everything is right together: both parks and hotels (that's one thing I love about Universal Orlando).

 

[J'Adore Disney]

2 days is sufficient time, especially if you have been before and know your way around... make your FP reservations, wing the rest and have a great time!!!