Too many non-park days?

[bumbershoot]

RELAX! This is the kind of thing I think many people here don't understand. There's a lot of people out there who would say, "OK, I've been active four hours. Done." AND THEY LOVE IT! Not everyone wants to go commando all the time.

Swimming actively is not relaxing. Shopping at a mall isn’t relaxing. Being with an 8 year old isn’t relaxing lol. Being at a pool with a kid isn’t relaxing (I don’t leave my son’s safety solely to the lifeguards).

Wondering what they are going to do once those things are done (or when they are simply tired of shopping etc) doesn’t mean “go rope drop to parks close with 5 attractions an hour”; it’s saying “you might be overestimating the time that these things will take”...

Its sort of stick out hand and see if its raining kind of thing.

Yep.

Or being in bright sunshine at MK while off in AK’s direction you see the massive raincloud and realize that today’s x% chance of rain in Lake Buena Vista hit *over there*. (And sometimes vice versa)

 

[happymommy]

Rather than do a non park day, we tend to only get to the parks at lunchtime at the earliest. We do get every day (we can swim at home or on other vacations, although sometimes our youngest swims one evening). We just don't go morning until night; that would be too much!

It doesn't cost much to add days to your ticket once you have four days, so we'd rather go every day for a week, but just not ALL day.

We also do not like to have to get up early on vacation. Sleeping in a bit is part of vacation to us!

I would never go for a week and only go to the theme parks 4 days. I also don't like Disney Springs now; it's just a huge outdoor shopping mall with restaurants. I can do that at home! The bus service is not as good there as it used to be either, so I don't ever plan on going back (went last year and swore never again). There is plenty of good dining elsewhere, at the parks and resorts.

Why not add days, but just have them half days, then you can swim or take in a relaxing meal.

 

[Shanti]

Hello everyone,
I am planning our very first trip to the Disney World and have been doing tons of research. I read that it's a huge place and it can be tiring -- needing another break when you return from the trip We are family of three with 8 years of girl. Although all the attractions and the parks look amazing, we want to have a relaxing vacation. We are also visiting during the busy time, Spring break. Out of 9 days of our trip (including arrival and departure dates), we plan to use only 4 days to visit the parks. For the three non-park days, we plan to swim in the resort, visit Disney Springs and join the Chip 'n' Dale's Camp. Do you think we are missing out a lot by staying many days off the parks? We are staying at the off-site resorts as we are utilizing hotel reward points to stay for free. Any thoughts will be much appreciated. Thank you very much!

For a 9-day trip, I recommend a maximum of 4 days off, not 5. You should do 2 days at Magic Kingdom, plus probably a 2nd day at whichever of the other 3 parks you are most interested in. Spring break will be crammed with people and it isn't going to be as easy to get things done as you think. Personally, I'd hit the parks at rope drop all 9 mornings, and take a several-hour midday break each day, rather than doing full park days during such a busy time of year.

 

[Sue M]

We go for 14 days usually. We get going in the morning for rope drop, always take a mid day resort break to relax at the pool, then go to a different park at night. But not till closing unless we want to see the fireworks. So our touring is pretty relaxing.
We have 1 non park day mid trip where we’ll go to a water park, then later go to Disney Springs. Arrival day we may go to a water park. I have an AP but my daughter has the 10day hopper plus water parks.

 

[Dbktmc]

I have a 6 year old and I can't imagine how I would keep him entertained on non-park days. Even if we go swimming (which we do everyday) he gets bored and wants to move on to the next thing. We go to the parks every day that we are at Disney but, many times, only go in the morning for 4-5 hours or in the evening for the same amount of time. As others have said, it isn't much money to add another day to your tickets and you don't have to make the decision right now. You can still keep your "off" days and add additional days if you think that you need too.

 

[buzznina]

Swimming actively is not relaxing. Shopping at a mall isn’t relaxing. Being with an 8 year old isn’t relaxing lol. Being at a pool with a kid isn’t relaxing (I don’t leave my son’s safety solely to the lifeguards).

Wondering what they are going to do once those things are done (or when they are simply tired of shopping etc) doesn’t mean “go rope drop to parks close with 5 attractions an hour”; it’s saying “you might be overestimating the time that these things will take”...

I find playing with my 2 DDs at the pool very relaxing and fun, probably because I am in the pool with them having fun, and my DDs are 8 and 13. I also do not find walking at DS or a mall very taxing either. Not everyone thinks relaxing is sitting doing nothing or reading a book etc. Different strokes
OP, what works for us is a day break after 3 or 4 days of parks and we do not go RD to close. We much prefer the parks at night so we get up when we get up and head to the parks and Since we started doing this, DW and I always feel like we had a fun AND relaxing time and do not feel like we need a vacation from our vacation

 

[AllieBoo]

I think you will definitely want two days at MK, especially with an 8 year old. There are so many rides, characters and shows at MK to see, that one day is not nearly enough. We always do at least 2 1/2 - 3 days at MK.

 

[Minnesota!]

At that age. and for a first trip, especially, I would do at least 5 days. You are going to want at least 2 at one park...be it MK, AK, etc.

Although, we LOVE resort/non-park days. if this were your 2nd+ trip, I would say schedule every other day as a rest day. But, for a first time...5 or 6 is good.

 

[Minnesota!]

Swimming actively is not relaxing. Shopping at a mall isn’t relaxing. Being with an 8 year old isn’t relaxing lol. Being at a pool with a kid isn’t relaxing (I don’t leave my son’s safety solely to the lifeguards).

I 100% disagree....all of those things are incredibly easy and relaxing. And a great break from the chaotic parks.

 

[Deb & Bill]

If it is lightning outside, you stay inside and find inside things to do. If it is just raining (and not cats and dogs rain), you hit the parks. Lots of people won't go to the parks when it is raining, so it's a great time to try to do things you didn't get to do before. Bring along an extra pair of shoes so you can have one wet pair and one dry pair. I'd do seven days in the parks and keep your arrival and departure for those non-park activities. Or do nine days in the parks, every day of your stay and add the extra days. It will only cost a few dollars to add those extra days to the four day ticket.

Going to the parks doesn't mean from the time to the park opens to the time the park closes. It means getting a good day of fun and then hitting the pool, doing shopping etc. In 45 trips, we've only stayed in the park a full day one time. And it was a day we were moving out of our WDW resort and moving to a free offsite hotel for one night (and returning to the park one more day the next day). We were so tired after a full day in the park that we packed up and left to go home the next morning instead of heading to the parks one more time.

 

[SharonZ]

I like the flexibility of going to the parks during the morning, having lunch, and returning to the hotel for relaxing and visiting the pool. I normally go back to the parks in the evening. That's more than enough downtime for me. Five non-park days would be too much for me. And, if you are going during spring break, you might not get to enjoy all that the parks have to offer during that busy time.

As for the princess outfit after BBB, if it's raining hard, it would be uncomfortable with the wet princess outfit and wearing a poncho would defeat the purpose of being a princess.