Shorter vs. Longer trip?

[mshanson3121]

I'm just curious what your experience is with shorter trips vs. longer trips, which you find better for your children? We have one with ASD and health issues and one with SPD/Tourettes. I'm torn on this, on one hand, I think a longer trip allows us to take more "relaxation" days where we just hang out at the house, no parks. But on the other hand, a shorter trip is less time away from home, less time being away from their routine etc...

So what are your thoughts, experiences etc?

 

[lanejudy]

Our trips are usually a week long. That usually fits our vacation allotment from jobs, and since we travel a distance to get there multiple shorter trips are not really an option. That said, we have structure our trips in a variety of ways: multiple park days, just one or two park days, combined WDW and a DCL cruise. Our preference is fewer days in the parks with time to relax at our resort or spend a few hours visiting other resorts or non-park activities. I'd love to do longer 2-week trips, but between jobs, school and other responsibilities at home plus financial constraints, that length trip isn't an option for us at this time. I don't think there is a right or wrong way...just whatever fits your family's needs and interests.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[Bete]

I'm in favor of longer trips. All the effort to get there is one consideration. Then, you don't really know how many up or down days there will be and having more time there allows you a better chance of more up days. Park tickets decrease in cost per day the longer you are there. More time allows you to have shorter days in the park which can help all around with everyone.

It's always cheaper taking one longer trip over two, shorter trips.

 

[Momto2minniemice]

A longer trip allows time to enjoy things vs being rushed. With kids it is nice knowing that there are more days come if the kids are having a hard day. This way you can also tailor the trip per the norm of kids a lot easier. Tickets for a longer trip are much cheaper than a short trip. In Orlando there is so much more to do than just Disney, this allows you to get away from the craziness of Disney! We have taken trip from 7 days to 13 days. The longer the trip the better off the kids did. We just went with it and allowed the kids to kind of drive the vacation! If the cost of travel is a huge factor then that weighs in a lot.

 

[Erin1213]

I have a teenager who is on the Austism Sprectrum along with ADHD and we prefer to take long trips, so we can schedule resort days for down time from the parks.

 

[buffettgirl]

We like longer trips as well. We never feel like we're missing out if we end up only doing half a day in the park, we never feel rushed. Especially when my son was younger, it was easier to keep a partial normal, home, schedule of naps and meals and bedtimes, when we weren't feeling like we wasting our vacation.

 

[Accident]

My daughter has an anxiety disorder and it's been night and day different since we started to be there longer. For her, we can adjust what or when we are doing anything and she never feels like she is ruining the vacation. If we have to go into any park 5 times for a few hours each time, it's no big deal. For me, we take it slower, enjoy being there, it's really allowed me to rediscover the place and appreciate it much more. I come home feeling like I actually went on vacation.