What is your ideal length of stay?

[Mom to Will and Finn]

Last time we stayed for 8 days and it wasn't enough. This time we'll be staying for 10 days and it doesn't seem like it will be enough. I'd say ideally I'd like to stay between 14 and 18 days.

 

[Merriwind]

Sad to say, it's always too short! But, we get home and start planning our next visit!

 

[DW2006]

is to stay 7 days. We stayed that long on our honeymoon too. Now you could stay longer no doubt, because they didn't even have AK when we were there in '96. But based on our kids ages (7, 5, 3 and 6 months at the time of the trip) we are going to focus on MK and AK with one day at Epcot. But we plan to take it easy, with loose planning and still observing a mid day ''chill'' time for the kids so that they aren't over taxed and tired by the end of the day.

 

[goodferry]

Each trip is not long enough, we haven't figured it out yet either. This is our fourth trip and we are going for 10 days, so we will see how that works out. We keep having kids, so it seems like we have a young one along for each trip, lol. This trip dd will be two and I anticipate it will be more difficult than when she was one. At one, she slept in the stroller and was very laid back, I expect that will change now that she has ideas and opinions and a will, so I think everything will take a little longer! I would love to stay two weeks, but we have our own business and just can't leave for that long.

 

[MamaLema]

We drive from Canada so for us 2 weeks in the min.

 

[wvjules]

We've never stayed more than a week and felt like that was plenty of time, but we don't do the water parks or take a day off, actually we don't do WS either. This year we'll be there for 5 1/2 park days. We might to EMH, we might not, depends on how much we want to see and do. I'm sure we'll miss some things, but we will be back eventually.

 

[summersfam4]

After last year, it will be 10 days for us or more. Last year was the first year that we didn't take our 3 extra days at the beach (due to hurricanes at the last min.) After staying for 10 days in the same resort with our DD's (ages 5 & 1 at the time) we decided that nothing could be more relaxing. We filled most all of our days with a park/waterpark, and did MK 2 times, Epcot once (we wished we had more time for this), and AK/MGM in one day with hopping. It was perfect but could always be longer! Good Luck deciding!

Kelly

 

[jennf]

we went in Dec 04 for 11 days/10 nights.... we have booked our next trip for Aug 05 for the same amount of time...with the 1st and last day basically travel days..that leaves us with 9 full days. This way we can take our time at the parks..

 

[pbharris4]

My ideal length of stay would be 14 days (if it were the summer). 1 week at WDW and 1 on the DCL or VB after the parks. When my youngest is a few years older we'll do it. Ahhh...2 whole weeks! I wish we could do it this year, but DH switched jobs a year ago and needs to bank up some time. After this vacation, he'll only have 2-3 days left so he'll have to volunteer so he can get comp time as well.

 

[funcinderella]

5 nights is definitely not enough (did that once.) Then did 9 nights; getting better, but still not enough. If time isn't an issue, I'd say 2 weeks. The tickets to add on those extra days are so cheap, it's just your hotel and food that you'd be paying for. Sign up for the Mousesavers newsletters for links to unadvertised tickets too, that are for longer than 10 days at an awesome price!!

 

[mill4023]

We just got back from our first trip. 10 days and it wasn't enough time.
But we did spend a day at Universal and a day at Sea World.
We definitely could have used some extra rest days.
Maybe it's different since it was our first time, but I didn't feel like we had enough time at any of the parks. We spent a day and a half at MK, a full day at MGM, a full day at Epcot, and a full day at AK.
Ideally, I'd like to make our next trip a full 2 weeks. That would give us enough time at the parks and enough rest days to just hang out around the resort.

 

[MAKMOM41]

I say 12 days also if you can do it.

 

[dtsaos]

2 weeks

Sorry to interupt this thread, but where is that beautiful picture from? Looks like Vermont...

 

[shellynn24]

I would say that you need at least a week if you are going with kids. That's what we did the last 2 times we went. We are lucky because we usually fly into FL a week before our WDW vacation to visit my parents(Tampa). Then we drive early to WDW on our check-in day. It's like having another full day there! This time we are going for 10 nights, I think that'll be 10 full days at WDW. The last day is just travel. DH will be leaving very early to go back to Iraq so it won't be a very magical day for me, DS, or DD. But the 10 days before that we'll get to see all the parks, the Water Parks for a little while and have some glorious pool/rest time at POFQ! I'm really looking forward to having more time there.

 

[MKFan-PR]

For us it would be 2 weeks. That's ideal. We usually do 9 or 10 days because my ideal vacation is not necessarily my wallet's ideal vaction!

 

[youngdizluva18]

Our family stays anywhere from 3-10 days. I have found that 9 days is just enough to see about everything. This Xmas, we are staying for 16 days and we'll see how that is. It may give more time to relax and shop, but of course, we're also running the marathon, so that isn''t that relaxing!

 

[LegoMom3]

Five days if we're just doing theme parks; a good 7 or 8 days if we want water parks and some "leisure" time built in!

 

[Ladybugsy]

If you are factoring in what season you are at Disney, would that make a difference to you? My family will be going at just about the slowest time of year...mid September. We don't plan on doing any water parks, just the 4 main parks. We're arriving the afternoon of the 14th, and leaving the morning of the 22nd. So, 7 full days, plus the half day on arrival. Can we "see it all"?

 

[Laurajean1014]

I would love to go for two weeks each time we visit, but DH owns his own business and cannot be away for more than 10 days, so we live with that.

 

[Cindy & Mickey]

Ideally, I'd love to stay 9 nights. That would allow for enough time to enjoy the parks, all my favorite restaurants, the water parks, the hotel amenities, and the hotel pool.

I can never seem to get away for more than 4 nights, so we travel there more frequently. The longest I've stayed has been 7 nights, and still I didn't cover it all.