Hello there,
I realize at the outset this is not a question with an answer that fits everyone.
My fiancee and I are considering going to Disney World for our honey moon. It would be a be a roughly 5-7 day trip (TBD).
But what we're trying to gauge basically is if it's the trip for us. We have been to DL before (last year) and loved it. We're both pretty active and like to get things done. So we did everything in both DL and DCA in three days (most of it numerous times). We're planners by nature and looked to maximize our time - lots of research, getting up early, etc.
We also live in Vancouver, so it's a very long way to Florida and considerably more expensive than going back to DL/DCA.
Could two people I've just described successfully get through most of WDW in 5-7 days or is it just not a possible feat?
Also, last time we went to DL/DCA it was late November/early December and the parks were relatively quiet (by, well, giant theme park standards). Is that also a generally slower period to WDW?
I appreciate any feedback anyone can provide given that this is something that's pretty much impossible to answer!
The major thing to remember about the difference between WDW and DLR is that WDW is a major planned self contained "Resort" while DLR is pair of theme parks that a city built itself up around.
DLR is two parks in the middle of a city with a "mall" and hotels nearby/attached. I'm sure you saw plenty of the real world poking up around the parks there. You could wander just outside the security gates of the esplanade and go get some food elsewhere. The rest of Southern California was accessible if you so chose.
Walt Disney World is, by itself, the size of a city. 55K+ people work there and there is infrastructure, systems, etc.. that are all owned by Disney. No matter how much I try to impress this idea on friends who have been to DLR but are first-timers to WDW they're very much taken aback by it once they arrive. Publicly owned roads end - and the ones Disney owns literally look different with different street signs and different levels of care (Disney is constantly repaving their roads and has crews whose job it is to drive around the property doing the median landscaping and trimming - it's all very meticulously kept.)
And while that may sound quaint - it's not a small town. Everything is spread out across the property and you'll be driving or taking buses or boats or monorails to get around. There is no "walking" from park to park across a promenade. This isn't a dealbreaker, but if you for some reaosn think you can "just leave one park and go to another" the way you did at DLR you'll be in for a rude awakening. It's doable, but it's time consuming and can be rough to navigate if you're new and don't know all the alternative for transportation.
For example, you leave Epcot at 6pm thinking you'll make a dinner reservation at Magic Kingdom at 6:30pm. No sane avid-WDW visitor will tell you that's a good idea. Yes, the two parks are connected by monorail, but that requires a monorail being in the station, not having any breakdowns or delays (they happen from time to time) and making the connection from the Epcot line to the Magic Kingdom line at the Transportation and Ticket Center without missing one or more trains.
And even then, there might be problems at the TTC - what if their monorails are down? What if it's an event night and it's packed and a multi-train wait? Would the ferry boat be faster? (Depends on if a ferry boat is arriving/boarding and just how long the monorail line is.) Heck, you can even run over to the Magic Kingdom resort monorail - but that's going to make stops at Polynesian and Grand Floridian before Magic Kingdom - but it might be faster.
See? It can be very complicated.
If you know the big differences I don't see why you wouldn't enjoy it. Can you do everything i one trip? No, no one does. You need to pick out the highlights you know you want to see and prioritize them. Also, be wiling to adjust and let things go if they're not working out. If you want to just lay on a beach it really isn't the vacation for you - but I know myself and I'd be bored out of my mind at some resort town by a beach even if it was in the Caribbean or Hawaii for 5-7 days.
My experience is that most people make it about 36-48 hours after arriving before they hit a wall and need like a half day to sleep and adjust a bit. If you plan on going all-out for 5-7 days you're going to be exhausted and probably hate life by the end of it. When at DLR on day 3 you're probably backtracking to one of the two parks - essentially having done the bulk of the attractions already - and just picking up things that were less important but looked interesting. On day 3 at WDW you're probably setting foot into your third brand new park - so there's a big difference in energy level and "rush rush rush" mentality. You still have 1 more major park to go, nevermind the waterparks, downtown disney, minigolf, boardwalk, golf, parasailing and nitro bass fishing excursions.
If you loved the DLR and the idea that there's a "bigger" version of it that you can't see the outside world from within, you're probably going to enjoy yourself a good deal at WDW. If your major lure to DLR is the nostalgia of the 50's and the sort of quaintness of the first theme park.. not so much. It's big, it's commercial, and it can be overwhelming.
If the idea that you can do lunch in Epcot's France and then take a monorail to the TTC and transfer to the resort line to end up at Contemporary - shop the Grand Canyon Concourse shops - work your way down to the ground level and out the "back" of the resort to the boat dock and then take a boat over to the Wilderness Lodge for a dinner with a view of manmade geysers all while never leaving Disney and not dealing at all with the "real world" then you'll probably enjoy the trip a lot.
) I've had my fill, especially crowds/lines...I just want a small-portion-home cooked meal, the privacy of my own bathroom (no lines), and quiet. Over seven days, we've had lots of great meals, been on most of the rides (more than once), been to the pool, visited several resorts, ridden the monorail, seen shows, a few characters, and spent a fair bit of $. I've found seven day is about my limit.
