Should we take days off?!!

[2BoysMum&Dad]

Hi Everyone

We will be visiting WDW for three weeks in the summer and are staying in the Caribbean Beach Resort Hotel. We have never been to Florida before.

We have booked our flights and the hotel but haven't bought any of our tickets yet. I'm planning to buy ten-day tickets for each of us and want to go to various outside attractions too - Universal, SeaWorld, Discovery Cove etc etc.

If I now add up the ten days with the other attractions - it comes to 17 days. Is that about right? How many days would people recommend for just chilling out, shopping, sitting by the pool etc? Is it very tiring going to theme parks and attractions solidly every day for three weeks? I expect so!

2BoysMum&Dad

 

[Goofyest mom]

When we go, we usually will take every other day off to just chill out or go shop and stuff like that. I would sit down and get a game plan before you go. It is such a big help for us. That way you can see everything you want to do and when.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

For an extended trip like that I would definitely recommend taking some "off-days" to relax at the resort, shop, etc. As for my family, we usually hit the parks for 4-5 straight days and then go on home. But WDW tends to be an annual trip for us now-a-days so we kind of like taking it in small doses.

Have a great trip!

 

[skiwee1]

We go for 2 weeks at a time and take half days off just about every day. We plan on doing a park either in the morning or evening and spending the other part of the day at the pool. We have on occasion taken a whole day off from the parks and went to Downtown Disney. If you are planning of hanging at the parks all day when you do go then a few full days off would be a good idea.

 

[dylansdad]

wow i wish i had this problem it depends on your family. our idea of relaxing is going to typhoon lagoon, or going to MK early then hang by the pool at the resort

 

[2minny]

My family doesn't know the meaning of "relax", so we go, go, go while there. Since you're there for so long I'd think 4-5 "free" days is good! You'll want to experince it all while there, so your plan sounds good to me! We usually need a down day after about 4 park days. You may want to consider the space center too!

 

[scotthart]

You would probably be better off buying annual passes, as opposed to the ten day passes. Check out the comparison here:http://allearsnet.com/pl/breakeven.php. Three weeks, WOW have fun!

 

[dcmbshafe]

We have two kids (DD 4, DS 3) and have found that we need to take every other day off from the theme parks. We will usually do a water park or hang out by the pool. DTD is also a good off-day thing to do. Of course, we also take afternoon breaks even on the days we take in the theme parks.

 

[drogerstn]

If we visit the parks 4 days straight, we are usually tired on that 4th day. We prefer to take a day off after 3 days of park visiting and really need a day off if we have gone 4 days straight. A “chilling off day” for us might include visiting a water park since we will sleep later on that day and we will not be out very late that evening. Other than a possible water park visit, we do as you mentioned, chill out at the resort (pool, bikes, boats, etc.) and do some shopping.

When we visit the parks, we often return to our resort during the middle of the day to relax, nap, or swim. If we stay at a park all day without a midday break, we will usually choose that day as a day to have a sit-down meal for lunch or eat at a counter-service location with good seating and air conditioning.

Have you considered staying at a Universal Resort while you visit Universal Studios? The unlimited express pass feature for resort guests is awesome.

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

I'm going to be down there for 6 full days. I'm getting a 4 day park hopper and visiting Universal for a day (maybe). That leaves me with an extra day. I'm planning on taking Wednesday off to recuperate and maybe visit DTD. A day off here and there is a great way to unwind. I highly recommend it.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Yes, look into the annual pass. At the very least one of you should consider getting one to get the possible room discounts.

How old are your kids?

I haven't been to Seaworld, but I know they usually (always?) offer the second day free promotion.

Discovery Cove would be fun, albeit expensive. I would love to go there some day, but I have 4 kids so I need to wait until some of them are grown or go if I go to Orlando with just my husband sometime.

Allow about 3 days for Universal, assuming that you staying at a Universal onsite hotel. Those hotels are wonderful, close to the parks, and the front-of-the-line perk is worth staying onsite by itself.

If it were me I would prefer half days in the parks instead of taking very many whole days off. The exception would be the waterparks--it's nice to devote a whole day to them. If I was taking whole days off I think I would do about 3-4 park days, then a day off to go to a waterpark, shopping, enjoy your resort, etc. I was at WDW recently with my 4yo and we went for 7 straight days and we were exhausted after that. Next time I will either build a rest day into my plans mid-way or will stay less days. I couldn't come back to the resort during the day to rest because the parks closed early since it was slow season.

If you want 10 days at WDW, by the time you add the other parks, I come up with 16 days, plus rest days. I would think at least 20 days. Yikes, that's a long trip!!! Sounds wonderful, though.

T&B

 

[disney4us2002]

Three weeks in Florida sounds like a slice of Heaven! Have you looked into the Fun in the Sun tickets? They are good for 30 days so you could come and go as you please. The advantage of the FITS tickets over the annual pass is that it includes the water parks, DisneyQuest, PI, breakfast meal for every person, and even Kennedy Space Ctr and other FL attractions. The ones I've read about recently expire in 5/04 but I'm sure they'll be releasing new dates again. How old are your boys? They'd probably love DisneyQuest if they're over 6.

Have a great time!

 

[2BoysMum&Dad]

Thanks for all your help with this subject guys.

If it helps, my children (both boys) will be 8 and 10. My 10 year old will be having his 11th birthday while we are there, DH is having his "too high to mention" birthday while there and it will also be our 17th wedding anniversary - all three events within five days of each other!

SeaWorld do "behind-the-scenes" encounters when you can actually get into the penquin enclosure and meet the penquins. That is the top of our off-Disney excursions list - along with swimming with dolphins at Discovery Cove.

I am spending a lot of time planning this trip as we are travelling over from the UK and it takes quite an effort to arrange. But, thinking about it, I expect it is the same for anyone else travelling from within the US by plane - it's just our flight is likely to be quite a bit longer!

I want to get every detail right. But saying that, if we don't get to go on a particular ride or attraction - it certainly won't ruin our holiday. We will have so much to do and have so much fun that I cannot see how we won't have the best holiday ever!

2BoysMum&Dad

 

[leighe]

Lucky you! We're spending 8 days over spring break and we're going to take off about 2. It was the only way I could get DH to go back. I can be a little bit of a park commando, I'm afraid. For some reason, WDW is the only place on earth where I can get up early with no problem or moaning!

BTW - you will love CBR. The pool is great. We were pleasantly surprised with Shutters - the sit-down restaurant.

Have a great trip!

 

[dgaston]

Definitely look into the Fun in the Sun Passes. These are designed for visitors like yourselves, coming from outside the US who will be staying longer in FL. They include admission to all the WDW major parks (MK, Epcot, MGM, and AK) plus the water parks and Disney Quest and Pleasure Island. They also have an admission for Kennedy Space Center and some other museums. In the past Virgin airlines sold them, and some other outlets in the UK. I would check the UK board for more detail.

Here in the US Paramount International www.gopitravel.com sold them (have to phone for details) and occasionally www.ticketmania.com had some available. The price varied between $300 and $310, so I think this is really something for you to explore.

Flextickets might also be useful for you for non-WDW attractions.

HTH

 

[littlegreydonkey]

you're so lucky - we used to visit WDW 3x a year when we lived in the Uk, now it's once every 3 years but I managed to sneak in 3 weeks this time! I think your planning sounds great, but just one thing - the seaworld backstage tours are really good (i'd recommend the rescue tour too) but I didn't want your kids getting all excited about getting into the penguin enclosure, I won't spoil it for you, you do get to pet a penguin and we loved that tour, but you don't go actually in the enclosure with lots of penguins (unless they've changed it which I doubt).

Also, don't underestimate how much time you'll spend shopping - especially with the $ the way it is. It's fantastic, you can spot all the English in Walmart buying extra suitcases. Pack extremely lightly,you will go home with at least one extra bag - we arrived with one, went home with four this trip.

Finally, if you're going to Busch Gardens, I recommend the Serengeti Safari, it's about $38 each extra but you pet a giraffe which to me was worth every cent.