Length Of Stay For First Timer..

[My 2 princesses]

Please excuse me if I'm being too nosey or personal.....but, does your husband not get any annual vacation (I mean a proper vacation like 2 weeks of at the same time) ?
Also, I am not clear from your original post, are you driving down
or flying ? (obviously driving would be a waste of time for the duration you are talking about). Aas a previous poster mentioned,if you can perhaps line it up with a long weekend, you would at least get the benefit of the extra day.

Long story.....company sold and new company does not have anyone to back him up. Plus he is hourly wages - no work, no pay. We will be flying out, probably from Buffalo. Oh, BTW, he is off Friday and Saturday, works Sunday. off Monday and then works from Tue to Thursday, hence he was trying to leave Friday, return Tuesday so he misses just 1 day.

 

[esdras]

Long story.....company sold and new company does not have anyone to back him up. Plus he is hourly wages - no work, no pay. We will be flying out, probably from Buffalo. Oh, BTW, he is off Friday and Saturday, works Sunday. off Monday and then works from Tue to Thursday, hence he was trying to leave Friday, return Tuesday so he misses just 1 day.

Okay, as someone who has some HR training - everything you mentioned in terms of your husband being eligible for vacation time is irrelevant - no offense.

If he is on an hourly wage, about the ONLY problem I can see is if the hourly rate INCLUDES 4% vacation pay - people on that system get pay in lieu of actual vacation weeks where they would be paid. This is fairly common for contract positions or part time employment, but even jobs that pay by the hour - if they are full time - usually have a provision for vacation time and instead of getting the vacation pay throughout the year on your paycheck, you get to take x-number of weeks off at the "standard" work-week hours (usually 35-40).

Second, if his company was recently purchased, I can see them not wanting to take vacation immediately - but if you can hold off until October (as some have mentioned this being a pretty good time to go) - this gives the new company almost 6 months to figure out a way to have someone in place who can cover for him. There is NO justification for a company to say to an employee - you can't take a vacation because nobody else can do your job. At WORST, the company needs to have your husband put in overtime to TRAIN someone to be able to cover for him when the need arises.

While they might not be doing anything that is technically illegal in terms of employment law - they definitely aren't acting reasonably in terms of employee relations and valuing their workforce.

Since your oldest is still young enough that missing school shouldn't be an issue - you said 5 years old - so I don't know if this is an SK or Gr. 1 year - but either should be doable. With that in mind, I would definitely see if you can hold off until one of the value season weeks in mid to late October - well before U.S. Thanksgiving. Your husband can then say - I need a week off in October, let's have someone who can cover for me by then. Any company not willing to try to accomodate that... well, I know this isn't the best economic period, but it doesn't sound like a company worth much loyalty.

 

[SandraC]

It's doable.

Just go with an open mind and leisurely attitude. Look at this at your "research" trip for a longer trip in the future.

Make a list of of things you want to see and do and go from there.

Blessings, Sandra

 

[deanie]

I think around 10 days for a first trip. Someone posted that Canadian holidays are a good time to visit WDW. We went during our Thanksgiving in 2006. Little did I know that this is their Columbus Day weekend and MK was VERY crowded. And here I thought I was being so clever!!! LOL

 

[My 2 princesses]

Update - I convinced DH to take the week off. We are in the process of getting things organised. Hoping to go in September. Wish me luck;-)

 

[trivial]

Nice! If you're hoping to take advantage of free dining, I'd book as soon as you possibly can.

 

[My 2 princesses]

Nice! If you're hoping to take advantage of free dining, I'd book as soon as you possibly can.

I've got a tentative booking for Sept 7-14. Just waiting to confirm.

So exciting

 

[calliemom]

My dd was turning 6 on our first trip which was 5 days/4 nights total. We strictly did 2 days (left by 1 or 2pm each day) at the Magic Kingdom. She was only interested in FantasyLand and thought it was "the best trip ever Mom!" We slowly introduced the other parks to her on later trips. Now at almost 9 her fav is Epcot.
Seriously though , if this trip is mostly for your 5 year old daughter, remember it doesn't take much to make a child happy. A day or two at MK and some quality time with her family by the pool and she will be more happy than you could possibly imagine!
Cheers!

 

[ronandannette]

So this will be our 1st ever trip to WDW. My daughter will be 5 and the baby will be about 7 months. How long do you think we need to stay for the 5 yr old to take in all that her age needs to do/see? DH has work and does not want to take too much time off, so he is suggesting leaving early Friday and returning early Tuesday.

So, is 4 full days enough?

TIA

If that's all you have then I guess you make it be enough . If you've never been to Disney before and only have 4 days I'd suggest you go to Disneyland instead of WDW. It's cheaper, much more manageable for a short stay and you simply can't beat that authentic, original "Disney-ness" of it. IMHO, California is a much more pleasant place in general than Florida too.

Annette

 

[disneymath]

Update - I convinced DH to take the week off. We are in the process of getting things organised. Hoping to go in September. Wish me luck;-)

I've got a tentative booking for Sept 7-14. Just waiting to confirm.

So exciting

You'll have a great trip ... now that you've got extra days to work with, make sure to schedule in some down time to just enjoy all the subtle Dinsey touches and magic! Enjoy the planning!

Have a magical vacation!

 

[fivebyfive]

I've got a tentative booking for Sept 7-14. Just waiting to confirm.

That's great, but you also have to book your dining yesterday. So I wouldn't wait too long...

 

[My 2 princesses]

That's great, but you also have to book your dining yesterday. So I wouldn't wait too long...

LOL - I'm going to let my TA deal with it.

 

[trivial]

LOL - I'm going to let my TA deal with it.

You haven't received confirmation yet? Which travel agency?

 

[My 2 princesses]

You haven't received confirmation yet? Which travel agency?

I guess not due to the long w/end. I should have the resort booking in place later today. I'm using Fairy Tale Destinations .

 

[trivial]

I guess not due to the long w/end. I should have the resort booking in place later today. I'm using Fairy Tale Destinations .

Ah okay. I've spoken with the owner of FTD; she's very nice and seems to really know what she's doing. Let us know how it goes, and if you manage to get Free Dining. I'm curious to know if there's still much availability.

 

[bopper]

It is okay to go to Disney for whatever amount of time you have. If you only go to Magic Kingdom and a water park, your 5 year old will never know the difference. I would think given the time to travel and airfare, you would want to try to make it more days if you could. I will say that all day at the parks is tough on kids, so after every two full park days we have a hang out at the pool relax kind of day.

 

[My 2 princesses]

Ah okay. I've spoken with the owner of FTD; she's very nice and seems to really know what she's doing. Let us know how it goes, and if you manage to get Free Dining. I'm curious to know if there's still much availability.

I got it since she had it on hold for me. I forgot to ask her about availability, but it sounds pretty much filled up.

 

[disneymath]

Congrats ... glad the tentative booking is now confirmed!

Enjoy the planning!

 

[fivebyfive]

I'm going to let my TA deal with it

They are TA's, not magicians. If a particular restaurant is sold out, it's sold out and there's nothing that can be done about it. Keep in mind that Disney allows you to book your advanced dining reservations up to 180 days prior to travel. That date has well passed for your travel time.

One piece of advise. This is your first time and you're not visiting for very long. So in short, you will never be able to see and do everything, so don't bother trying. Instead, just as bopper said; whatever you DO end up seeing will be FANTASTIC! So just soak it all up.

Have a great time.