During our first WDW trip (children ages 4 and 6), we spent all but one of our 8 days at the WDW parks.
Notwithstanding the 7 for 4 promotion, you have paid a premium to stay on-site at BLT when you look at the total cost of accomodations compared to offsite. So, I would recommend taking full advantage and spend most of your time touring the WDW parks at a moderate pace rather than doing 3 or 4 "see everything" WDW park days.
Also, adding the non-expiry option may not be worth it on a per day basis when you take into account what you are paying for the MYW ticket. As an example, a base 7-day ticket is around $228 and with non-expiry is $338 (i.e., an $110 difference). Although one way of looking at it is that the per day rate on the regular ticket is about $33 and the non-expiry is about $48, the proper way of looking at it (in my view) is considering how much the days you are carrying over are costing you. If you use 4 days and carry over 3, you are paying an additional $110 for the privilege of carrying over those 3 days or $37 per day. If you add that to the $33 per day rate on the regular base ticket, you are essentially paying $70 per admission for those three carryover days...which is pretty close to the $75 regular gate price for one-day admission to the parks.
I also agree with previous posters who noted that, with the ages of your children, your family won't miss the water parks. It's something you can save for a future trip, if you make it back to WDW.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
Notwithstanding the 7 for 4 promotion, you have paid a premium to stay on-site at BLT when you look at the total cost of accomodations compared to offsite. So, I would recommend taking full advantage and spend most of your time touring the WDW parks at a moderate pace rather than doing 3 or 4 "see everything" WDW park days.
Also, adding the non-expiry option may not be worth it on a per day basis when you take into account what you are paying for the MYW ticket. As an example, a base 7-day ticket is around $228 and with non-expiry is $338 (i.e., an $110 difference). Although one way of looking at it is that the per day rate on the regular ticket is about $33 and the non-expiry is about $48, the proper way of looking at it (in my view) is considering how much the days you are carrying over are costing you. If you use 4 days and carry over 3, you are paying an additional $110 for the privilege of carrying over those 3 days or $37 per day. If you add that to the $33 per day rate on the regular base ticket, you are essentially paying $70 per admission for those three carryover days...which is pretty close to the $75 regular gate price for one-day admission to the parks.
I also agree with previous posters who noted that, with the ages of your children, your family won't miss the water parks. It's something you can save for a future trip, if you make it back to WDW.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
