Short trips... what does your itinerary look like?

[BlueFairy]

We choose something to focus on. My kids are changing their tastes as they get older, and there is something new-to-them around every corner. They have more stamina, so we are ticking off the nighttime shows they haven't seen. Not doing "favorites" over and over keeps it fresh.

Aug 2014 our focus was exploring WL and Fort Wilderness and everything new in the MK (hadn't seen New Fantasyland, Festival of Fantasy).

This time - was going to be AK and Epcot F&G. But the kids are Star Wars crazy, so we'll have 1 day at DHS. Staying S/D.

July - 3 night Poly trip. Will enjoy the hotel, do MK and Epcot and skip the rest.

We stay deluxe - focus on all those wonderful amenities and minimize travel time as much as possible when time is short. Get an early arrival and late departure. Cut out at least 1 park, if not more. We don't park hop (put that money toward the hotel). It helps us resist the temptation to spread ourselves thin. Limit TS time. I find TS necessary on long trips but it is SO time consuming.

Our March trip will be the test, but I think we've found this is a better system for us. Those long trips are too draining and cut into our budget to do anything else the rest of the year. We are lucky to live close enough for cheap, quick direct flights, so that helps.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Oh, we've done all kinds of crazy combos. One tidbit to know is that onsite guests get the perks of being onsite from arrival on check-in day to park close/pool close/midnight of check-out day. A few folks have posted about early late fights, but not the option of split on/offsite or deluxe/value stays on either your first or last night.

We like combining Disney with US and other FL locations. We can save $ flying into a different FL city. FL has some amazing beaches, state and national parks. The two coasts are only about 120minutes from WDW tops, and that is all the way to the beach. Stay slightly off the beach, and it is 90minutes to WDW because the worst traffic is right along the shore.

I've done probably every combo of parks: both mega-hopper marathon days and one-park trips.

Right now MK gives the most bang for the buck if you've only got one day in the parks. Too many rides are closed at Epcot, but that is often our second choice. I'd combine all but MK with hopping.

We don't always hop, but we try to max our time. If Epcot is your park- stay in the BC/Bwk/Swan area. If MK is your park, pick a MK area hotel.

A car helps.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Thanks for all the input. It seems like people around here talk about making trips longer and longer and though that can be fun, I think making Disney less of a vacation priority is the direction my family is going in.

Us as well.
Another aspect of short trips is the cost of travel/airfare or driving. If you live far from WDW, then short trips to FL don't make as much sense, unless there is some non-WDW days in the mix, and WDW is just part of the vacation.

For short trips, I agree that your best bests are either value or deluxe. Avoid the mods. Values are the way to go if you just want your hotel to have a bed/food court. Deluxes work well if you like afternoon breaks.

 

[Dis703]

I have a short trip of just 3 nights planned for next week. It was a last minute thing for just me and one of my boys and the plans are basically 1 day MK, 1 day at HS. Last day we will get picked up by ME around 4pm so we have lunch reservations at Disney Springs and plan to hang out there after exploring a resort in the morning.

On our park days I'm trying to keep our ADRs to inside the park or at least very close to them, but really that's the way I plan most of the time anyhow.

 

[oufpat]

This is the what we have planned for the end of April, staying at BWV (last minute trip when we realized our daughters and grand-kids all have the same spring break)
Day 1- afternoon arrival, Epcot, dinner at Mexico (group choice)
Day 2- MK dinner at Crystal Plaza (have not eaten there yet and one of grand-daughters loves piglet)
Day 3- MK late afternoon lunch at BOG (did dinner there last August and the kids loved being in the beasts's castle , but could were too late for dinner reservations)
Day 4- Epcot, afternoon pool break (kids love the clown pool), dinner at Teppan Edo (daughters birthday)
Day 5-HS late lunch at SyFi Cafe (we have eaten there, but not the kids), late flight home
We are going to try to keep it simple, 1 decent meal a day, breakfast in room, we try to eat at new places each time.
Last August we were there for 6 nights and tried to schedule too much, it was too hot and crowded and a bit overwhelming.
No Park Hoppers and avoid parks with EMH.
Last day we like to visit a park with easy access to make it simple for the sad ME ride back to airport.