How many full days in wdw?

[cottontail]

Hello:

We have not been to wdw for over 6 years now, I am having a difficult time figuring out how many full days we should take at wdw resort for our holiday. We want to have a couple of resort only days, probably one at the beginning (if we can stand not going into the parks) also this will be after the long 23 hour drive from ontario, and one day before we head home again.

So, I'm thinking around 8 or l0, I don't want the stay to get stale with too many days, as if it ever could. We are splitting our stay, a couple akl, dolphin, and thinking about one or two at the poly before the drive home. Is this what others do, or do they do longer or shorter? any suggestions, we have not seen the boardwalk area, or ak park and love animals and beautiful gardens.

Thanks,

Deb.

 

[Pluto4President]

I think that is a great range. If you figure 1 day per park, at the least, that's four. Throw in a day inbetween to relax, thats eight. Considering a 23 hour drive. I would want an extra day or two to work up to that or even hit another park.


Keep iin mind, so much has changed in 6 years. The kids, if there are any, will enjoy it so much more if they can just take nice breaks by the pool, at a water park, etc.

 

[DixieDreamer]

We have found that a 10 day stay is perfect. We rarely do a "full day" of WDW and we never just do a "resort day" either ... rather we go to the various parks or the water parks every day. We generally get up early and go to a park in the morning.... then return to the resort around noon or 1 pm and relax, swim, nap, play on the water mice, check out the resort shops, etc... until about 3 or 4 pm. Then we go to another park or Downtown Disney for the evening. On waterpark days - we sleep in a bit... and get there by the opening (10 am) and hang out there until about 3 pm. Come back to the room and change and then go to a park for the evening or downtown disney. A waterpark day is actually very relaxing. Later start, you are not marching around in the hot sun - rather splashing around in your barefeet and lounging in the sun! All in all, it is like a resort day as far as resting, but it is alot of fun.

The mid day breaks if long enough - allow for lots of time to enjoy the resort. Spread over ten days - you have ample time to try the different fun things to do there. 10 days also seemed to allow us to do each park fairly thoroughly, and to repeat the absolute favorite things. It also allowed enough time to try several different restaurants on property.

 

[cottontail]

Thanks for the suggestions, my children are now young adults and my son and daughter have said exactly that they wants time to lounge by the pool, just take in the sites around the resorts.

Yes there are tons of changes there, and who knows if we will ever travel with our family again, after all it was 6 years ago since our last trip. With the bad canadian dollar it costs a fortune to go to the united states, but I love florida and wdw.

So depending upon holidays it will be 8 to l0 days, I am getting tired thinking about that long drive, but I have to change my attitude and make it a positive adverture type drive.

Bye,

Deb.

 

[Andrew Bichard]

Cottontail,

However long you stay, it won't be enough.

My only comment is that if you are restricted to 10 days or so, you should stick to one hotel. I know that Disney will move your luggage for you, but you still have to pack & unpack, check out and check in, which is more hassle than I would want, especially if I had been stopping at motels on my way down from Canada.

My perfect holiday is to stay at the Boardwalk full time because Epcot & MGM (our favourite parks) are very close by. We have passes for our entire stay, but hang out at the pool much of the time, maybe nipping in and out of Epcot now and then as the mood takes us. Magic Kingdom (for us) warrents no more than one visit, Animal Kingdom two. We stayed at AKL las visit and it was good, but we've been there, done that now, and we will be back to Boardwalk next visit.

We get to visit WDW most every year, so we no longer feel we have to see everything commando style because we will always be back another year. We think that park passes for the entire stay are needed, even if you don't use them some days because it gives you the freedom to do what you want without planning in advance. If you stay at the Boardwalk, you can use them too to eat in the Epcot Restaurants in the evening.

Andrew.

 

[WDWfanatic288]

yeah i agree...moving around too much is a big hassle maybe 2 hotels or so
but i think 10 is great! we usualy go for 9(a trip was 7 and one was 16)but its a good number and espcially if you want rest days at the hotel.

 

[cottontail]

Thanks everyone, I guess with us not going down too often I am trying to squeeze alot of resorts into this trip. Have never stayed at the dolphin, the boardwalk area sounds neat. I love animals so I would like to try the ankl.
But we have been to the poly 6 years ago and fell in love with it. Big decisions, I guess I will have to talk hubby into a second trip in a year or two if that is possible to check out the other resorts.

Also I have to put my two dogs in a kennel for 14 days if we stay l0 nights, (we have two days to drive down and two to get back home) I hope they will be okay for that long.

Deb.

 

[eller]

I've found that the longer we stay, the more we need to move around. Two years ago I never would have said that, but after our last two trips, I say go for it. I'll stay at just one when I have stayed at them all and *know* which one is my favorite.

Polynesian is, so far, my favorite, so I know how you feel. With older kids, staying at a resort near Epcot/MGM is time saving. AKL is wonderful! I think we will try to stay there at least one night every trip, just so we can do the Sunrise Safari. We did our first in October and I thought that was great, but the one last week was increadable.

There is one advantage to packing up everything with each change: you see how much stuff you have to take home. Driving isn't so bad, but when you fly, getting all in can be a challenge.

Just my two cents!

Oh, and to really answer your question: Almost 3 weeks was too long. Seven days was not enough. Ten days (with a day at Busch Gardens and a day at the beach) was too short to see WDW. At least that's how it's been for us.

Good luck and happy planning!

Lori

5/1997 Off site, 2/2000 Off site, 2/2001 Poly, 10/2001 POFQ, AKL & Magic, 1/2002 ASMo & AKL

 

[Dodie]

My two cents...

Epcot -- 1 full day and evening
Magic Kingdom -- 1 full day and evening
MGM -- 3/4 day
Animal Kingdom -- 1/2 to 3/4 day
Water Park plus an evening at Downtown Disney -- 1 full day
Time to go back and see stuff you missed -- 1 full day and evening