Non-Park Days-How many do you usually include?

[scoobygrl79]

So, here I begin my FIFTH attempt within the past 5 years to have a REAL Disney vacation, NOT one where my kids get the vacation and I just feel so battered and tattered when it's over that I start thinking I should have gotten paid for this cr*p! My typical "template", is 5d/4n which as you can see, leaves very little down time when touring the parks.

For all you frequent flyers (and even rookies), how many days OFF do you schedule per days ON...perhaps 1 day off for every 2 days at the parks? 1 to 3? This time I've really pulled out the big guns necessary to have my FIRST enjoyable Disney vacay (like a more lengthy stay, etc) and no 8, 6, or 4 yr old brat is gonna stop me!!

Am I setting myself up again if I do 2 parks, day off, 2 parks, day off, 2 parks, leave? What if some of the off days include DIsneyquest, shopping or something? How do you work it...am I the only one who just stuffs my trips with the park tours just to leave like I've been put thru the wringer? Perhaps everyone tours then doesn't leave until after a couple down days at the resort because we usually do one last park visit on depart day, which is sooooooo relaxing and puts the kids in wind down mode....said NO MOM EVER! I'm just tired of being......tired!

 

[JadeDarkstar]

I am planing two days off but they will be the days I do party's so can go in at 4 pm. If all goes the way I want it too. I am doing 5 or 6 days at the parks with those two party nights. I know I can't do 5 or 6 full days and no rest.

 

[clarkinstlouis]

We are going March 13 for 8 days. No days off! We are there, entire family would be lost if we weren't in a park

 

[mousefan73]

So, here I begin my FIFTH attempt within the past 5 years to have a REAL Disney vacation, NOT one where my kids get the vacation and I just feel so battered and tattered when it's over that I start thinking I should have gotten paid for this cr*p! My typical "template", is 5d/4n which as you can see, leaves very little down time when touring the parks.

For all you frequent flyers (and even rookies), how many days OFF do you schedule per days ON...perhaps 1 day off for every 2 days at the parks? 1 to 3? This time I've really pulled out the big guns necessary to have my FIRST enjoyable Disney vacay (like a more lengthy stay, etc) and no 8, 6, or 4 yr old brat is gonna stop me!!

Am I setting myself up again if I do 2 parks, day off, 2 parks, day off, 2 parks, leave? What if some of the off days include DIsneyquest, shopping or something? How do you work it...am I the only one who just stuffs my trips with the park tours just to leave like I've been put thru the wringer? Perhaps everyone tours then doesn't leave until after a couple down days at the resort because we usually do one last park visit on depart day, which is sooooooo relaxing and puts the kids in wind down mode....said NO MOM EVER! I'm just tired of being......tired!

We do 8 days parks every day. BUT. We do half days. We sleep in, do resort time and head out between 2 and 4pm. If I hit an outlet mall I do it on my own while the kids are swimmimg. WDE shopping we do on the way out of parks or ship to resort. You can also do rope drop and end your park days in the afternoon and do a relaxing ADR or evening pool time.

I found having a car helps for things like disney quest ( though DTD is a challenge), water parks and other resort ADRs.

One time we did disney buses from Boma to POR. That was exhausting. Having a car saved alot of time for the things above. Time to chill, sleep longer etc. parks we usually used buses. Though AK and HS we drove.

 

[SplashMo]

Zero. We often hit a park from open to noon on the way to the airport.

 

[myrtleturtle]

We always go 5 nights, and do 4 park days. Start early, take a mid day break, back in the evening for a little while but we never close the parks. I think it helps that my family doesn't do roller coasters, so we have fewer headliners to hit. I think time of year helps with that mom-doesn't-get-a-break feeling. We go sometime between September and February, less crowded and less hot.

 

[twinnersmama]

Staying 9 Days (including 6am flight in and 7pm flight out - so those are almost full park days too) ... only day "off" is the water park/Disney quest day (don't know if that's considered a non-park day) ...but I've found the water parks are actually relaxing !

unfortunately, we don't sleep in either (maybe 1 later day where we get to the park around 10am) ...nor do we come back to the resort before closing.

and yes, we are tattered by the end ... but it wouldn't be a Disney vacation without feeling like that (to us anyway)

I always said "I want to take one day in the middle ... just ONE... to relax "... but that never seems to happen

Everyone has their own way and own idea of what makes it great ... and if taking non-park days is what makes YOUR vacation enjoyable... then do it !
However you make it... enjoy !

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

Are you sure a Disney vacation is even the right choice for you? Disney is not sit by the pool with a drink in the hand while the pool boy waits on you--especially if you have kids! Yes, you can relax and build in some down time, but it is DISNEY!

 

[fitnessmouse]

We go for 2 weeks and only have 5 park days.
3 waterpark days. A day mini golf. A day disney quest. Fill in the gaps with down time, swimming at resort or shopping.

Then the next time we do the same with Universal and sea world.

 

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

Wait! I need more info! How many days are you planning this time? It looks like 8 correct? Where are you staying???

Our first trip was 5 days and I felt the same- when I got home I wanted a vacation from our vacation. Second trip was much better- we were there 10 days and had time to take it slow (still no park-free days though- weather was cold and I didnt see the point), Third trip was the BEST. Here's how we made it work....

Again- longer stay- 10 days. We didnt plan for any days off from the parks per se- but I went in being much more flexible. Less dining ADRS helped. Mornings we rope dropped- some days the kids wanted to stay in the parks after lunch, some days they wanted to go back to the resort to swim. So? We let them. Instead of forcing everyone to stay in the parks for a ADR or FP I went with the flow and everyone was much happier. We did end up taking a whole day to stay at our resort- woke up early planning on rope drop and no one was feeling it. So we went back to bed and slept in. Woke, breakfast at resort, spent whole day at pool, dinner- we got a pizza from the resort and ate it while watching the pool-side movie. No Downtown disney, no disney quest, no parks, no shopping- it was one of everyone's favorite days.

This upcoming trip will be 8 days- Im still not planning on a park-free day- but if one happens, then I'm going with it. Reason I don't plan them???? WEATHER! I would hate to be locked into a park-free day and it storm all day- kids would be bored out of their minds and drive me nuts. So we wait till we get there and decide last minute.

The more and more I go (which will be yearly now since we joined DVC) the more I am able to slow the pace down and not worry about seeing/doing it all

 

[Kellykins1218]

We only do park days. I don't want to waste any of my vacation.

 

[HollieS]

We're going for 8 days no days off, but like another poster said we're planning mostly half days at the park. The truth is even on your day off if you're rushing yourself, trying to get everyone to do the same thing at the same time, trying to keep kids from being "bored" in the room....you're going to be frazzled and stressed. It is more expensive but our strategy is to spend more days in the parks and try to do less each day.

 

[TwoMisfits]

So, here I begin my FIFTH attempt within the past 5 years to have a REAL Disney vacation, NOT one where my kids get the vacation and I just feel so battered and tattered when it's over that I start thinking I should have gotten paid for this cr*p! My typical "template", is 5d/4n which as you can see, leaves very little down time when touring the parks.

For all you frequent flyers (and even rookies), how many days OFF do you schedule per days ON...perhaps 1 day off for every 2 days at the parks? 1 to 3? This time I've really pulled out the big guns necessary to have my FIRST enjoyable Disney vacay (like a more lengthy stay, etc) and no 8, 6, or 4 yr old brat is gonna stop me!!

Am I setting myself up again if I do 2 parks, day off, 2 parks, day off, 2 parks, leave? What if some of the off days include DIsneyquest, shopping or something? How do you work it...am I the only one who just stuffs my trips with the park tours just to leave like I've been put thru the wringer? Perhaps everyone tours then doesn't leave until after a couple down days at the resort because we usually do one last park visit on depart day, which is sooooooo relaxing and puts the kids in wind down mode....said NO MOM EVER! I'm just tired of being......tired!

As a kid, when my family went 2 weeks, we did 1 day on, 1 day off...but the on day was from just after rope drop to the end of the park hours in the August heat. So, everyone always needed a day to recover to do it again (and on that day, we swam in our resort's pool, played mini golf, played arcade games, went to a nice offsite dinner, saw a movie, walked DTD, etc)...as a grown-up, I now do 2 theme park days and then 1 off day over a 10 day period, since I go during shorter hours and slightly cooler weather. Since we now have multiple family members in the area, the off day is easy to plan (and still usually involves swimming and eating...

 

[JESSketeer]

DF and I usually go for 9 days in September, and we definitely plan for off days while we're there. When we go to the parks our days start at rope drop and they're not over til the park closes, our only 'break' being when we eat. We benefit from our off days for sure! We'll head down to Downtown Disney and do some activities there, DisneyQuest, Splitsville, shopping. Mini golf is also one of our favorite things to do on an off day so we'll head over to Fantasia Gardens. Hanging out at the resort is also relaxing, swimming in the pool. Although we do quite a bit of stuff on our off days, we take it easy not rushing from place to place!

 

[Mikie]

We generally go 8 days, 7 nights and often our travel days aren't quite enough to fit in park time.. I always say I want a day off, but the kids and my sister who travels with us have the "go-go we're at Disney!" Mindset I can't seem to break. I have adjusted my expectations and now always call a Disney trip an "adventure" rather than a "vacation" because we do NOT come back rested!

I have at least gotten to where we do not always chase the park with longest hours and we do have at least 3 times when we're hanging at the pool and not worried about when we have to get out and leave for something (usually arrival day, an evening, and maybe a day we only did til early afternoon in a park)

I don't know your kids ages, but we've been going with toddlers/preschooler's for years. This last trip, my 3 were all 6+ and carrying their own park bags with autograph books and small necessities. They carry their own food at quick service. My vacations are getting better! I don't spend all evening unpacking and re-packing my park bag and they are a bit more self-sufficient. It gives me more energy for the park days!

 

[TXHauntedMansionFan]

We go anywhere from 7-10 days per trip usually and haven't taken an entire day off from the parks yet. Typically we hit the parks hard for the first 2-3 days since everyone is really excited and then take things a little bit easier for the next day or two (sleep in - set up FP for early afternoon rides).

We also have found, like previous people have said, that going during less crowded times makes things much less stressful. We've been in mid to late December where we had to hit the parks pretty much all day every day just to get everything we wanted done.

Definitely just go with what you think best suits your family. Maybe have a rest day planned but don't put it down in stone. You never know when it's gonna downpour all day at WDW!

 

[GillianP1301]

Our usual stay is 8 - 9 nights and we really don't have an "off" day. I do get water park & more on our tickets, so one day is usually a waterpark for 3/4 of a day and then some mini golf or resort time.

We don't do rope drop to closing on our park days though, we generally do just after opening to somewhere around mind afternoon or dinner time. I have usually 2 later nights in our plan for Wishes and Fantasmic, the rest of the nights we're back in our room and my son is in bed at his usual bed time and then I get a couple of hours to unwind in the room before I crash. We also park hop almost every day and I find the transit time in between (we drive) relaxing and a bit of a break from all the stimuli in the parks.

That approach has worked well for us. When my son is a bit older (he's 7 now) and he's able to handle later nights and we do start being in the parks longer, then I may rethink the need for a true "down" day in the middle of an 8 or 9 day trip.

 

[nfceagles]

In 4 trips we've never taken a day off and with the structure of ticket prices and 3 FP+ per day I don't think it makes sense to for us. BUT our days are rarely exhausting. Except for one breakfast ADR per trip, we get up when we get up (which for us isn't very late) and get to the parks when we get to them. We go until we're starting to get tired and then head back to the hotel and hang out by the pool for the afternoon. Sometimes we go back to a park later and sometimes we don't. It helps if you can do longer trips. Fewer ADRs help too. Resort days don't really sound that relaxing to me because I can't help but wonder what I'll do to keep the kids entertained all day. Going to DTD, DisneyQuest, Minigolf, the arcade doesn't really sound like any less work than strolling casually through MK and hitting up a few Sorcerers portals.

 

[Luv2Run]

Our trips are 7 days/6nights, with three non-park days (1 is arrival day, 1 is departure day - we get in early and fly home late, so I counted those).

 

[dixielanfan73]

We usually go 7 nights and schedule 2 off days. My kids are 12 and 9 and love the resort pools so we like to sleep in, swim and relax by the pool and usually plan the Hoop Dee Doo or a Signature at night .