Too many days at Disney?

[Senk]

We are doing 7 nights 6 days on our upcoming first trip. Now I'm worried it won't be enough!
It seems like a lot though. I'm always ready to go home on any other vacation after a week.

 

[bryanb]

I'd do the same thing if I was fortunate enough to be a DVC member. The only thing stopping me is the cost of accommodations.

DVC is really a huge investment, prepaying for many years of expensive (but nice!) Disney accommodations. If you're looking for cheaper ways to enjoy long trips, there are some other options. Would you consider a split-stay with some days offsite? Some friends just got back from a trip where they used AirBnB to rent a four-bed condo for two weeks, housing six people for less than the cost of a 3 night stay onsite.

 

[StaciaRae]

I'm struggling with this too! Our first trip was in 2016 and we did 8 days. By the last day, I was ready to go home. We had a wonderful trip - I was just ready to get home to my dogs and back to my bed. Our next trip is in January - we're doing a 4 day cruise and 4 days at WDW. I SO want to add on another day because I can't imagine only being in WDW for 4 days - but I don't want to make it too long and exhausting.

 

[Jamie77]

DVC is really a huge investment, prepaying for many years of expensive (but nice!) Disney accommodations. If you're looking for cheaper ways to enjoy long trips, there are some other options. Would you consider a split-stay with some days offsite? Some friends just got back from a trip where they used AirBnB to rent a four-bed condo for two weeks, housing six people for less than the cost of a 3 night stay onsite.

Nah, I hate driving on vacation so I tend to stay onsite.

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

I keep hearing that 6-7 days at Disney is just too long. We'll be bored, tired and won't enjoy it.

How many days is too many for you and your family?

*This is our first time ever!

I don't understand the question. Too much time at WDW? That is a thing with which I am unfamiliar. There can never be too many days and I don't think it can ever all be done.

 

[bryanb]

For anyone who is reading this advice.... Keep in mind that the people on Disboards are not your average guest. Here, you will find a range of people from casual fans to die-hard Disney fanatics (who are thinking about or planning their next WDW vacation at least once a week, if not several times a day).

That said, I'm surprised at Disney's advice (which you can find on their website here:

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/tickets/#howLongShouldIStay
(Click on the "how many days" link.)

How Long Should I Stay?

There's so much to see and do at each of our 4 parks! Consider staying 4 days, so you can:
- Discover the magic of nature on Kilimanjaro Safaris at Disney's Animal Kingdom
- Experience new intergalactic Star Wars adventures at Disney's Hollywood Studios
- Design a virtual vehicle and take it for a spin at Test Track in Epcot
- Race through a diamond mine on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train family coaster in Magic Kingdom Park​

This answer would seem to imply that a lot of people aren't buying at least 4 day tickets? That's so baffling.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

6-7 days is definitely not too long.

Seven nights is a good amount of time for my kids.

We did 10 nights last trip and there were a few times I wanted to strangle them, well mostly DS15.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

For anyone who is reading this advice.... Keep in mind that the people on Disboards are not your average guest. Here, you will find a range of people from casual fans to die-hard Disney fanatics (who are thinking about or planning their next WDW vacation at least once a week, if not several times a day).

That said, I'm surprised at Disney's advice (which you can find on their website here:

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/tickets/#howLongShouldIStay
(Click on the "how many days" link.)

How Long Should I Stay?

There's so much to see and do at each of our 4 parks! Consider staying 4 days, so you can:
- Discover the magic of nature on Kilimanjaro Safaris at Disney's Animal Kingdom
- Experience new intergalactic Star Wars adventures at Disney's Hollywood Studios
- Design a virtual vehicle and take it for a spin at Test Track in Epcot
- Race through a diamond mine on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train family coaster in Magic Kingdom Park​

This answer would seem to imply that a lot of people aren't buying at least 4 day tickets? That's so baffling.

Most people I know that go to WDW go to Orlando for a week long trip, stay off site and stop into the MK for a day. I don't know that many people who go, stay onsite and do a week long vacation.

When I come back from a WDW vacation I'll get people who will ask me what parks did we go to. When I say "all 4 Disney parks" I sometimes get "Oh wow, last time we went we only did AK" or something along those lines.

Actually growing up I knew no one who did a week at WDW.

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

In my mind, I was thinking that 6-7 days would give us time to "stop and smell the roses". We won't be rushing to the next ride or character meeting to get it all in. We could always go back to a park the next day.

I think 7 days would be perfect for a first trip.

When we travel, we stick to the Rick Steves motto of "assume you'll be back." That allows us to stop and smell the roses without worrying that we need to see and do everything. We leave every vacation (Disney and non-Disney) with a list of things we want to try next time. Does that mean we missed out? No, but it means we are eager to go back! To paraphrase Mr. Steves, it's a blessing that we can never see the whole world!

 

[helenm29]

I think 6 to 7 days is a good first time visit. We did ours for 10 days because we don't generally have a lot of time or $$$ for vacations so we did it up big....EVERYTHING we could squeeze in but still had time to relax by the pool. I just remember the excitement the first time we went with our kids! so fun with 5 year old twins and a 10 year old! seeing the wonder in their eyes just made the trip all worth it. If you have small kids, that amount of time seems great. HAVE FUN!

 

[TXHauntedMansionFan]

7-8 days is our standard visit now. If we were going to add in Universal or the Waterparks, we could stretch that to 10. The only time we did more than 10 (did 12 nights), we had done everything we wanted to do by the end of the 10th day and were ready to head back home. The morning of the 12th day, we couldn't come up with where we wanted to go because no one really had a big desire to go to any particular park.

However, if someone wanted to subsidize a two week (or longer) trip, I'd be happy to try and make the best of it!

 

[Felicis]

We have 10 nights for our one and done coming up in October. I wanted more rather than less so that we don't feel like we have to keep charging through, when exhausted. We are doing arrive (late)/2 days/rest/2 days/rest/3 days/move to Universal. I feel that this will mean that we can have afternoons at the resort, maybe see a bit more of the wider area on a rest day etc.

 

[Mousemommy1]

We don't do less than 9-10 nights.

 

[Anniefrances]

We are fortunate to go usually 1-3 times per year, and for our summer vacation trip, around 10-12 days is ideal. Two of those days are half days of travel (we drive). Once there, we take things at a leisurely pace and usually have 2-3 days when we don't go into the parks, instead lounging by the pool, or maybe venturing out to one of the waterparks for a half day. This allows me to feel relaxed, in contrast to our shorter trips, which tend to be a little more commando style, rope-drop paced. It also helps with dealing with the heat.

 

[DWillowBay]

Let's see...I'm 57 years old. On average, I have 20 years left. 20 X 365 (Not considering any Leap years in there...) = 7,300 days! Yep! That sounds about right to me! 7,301 seems TOOOO long.

 

[izzy25]

Our first family trip back in 2014, we did 6 nights, and a 6 day park hopper pass. It was a very crammed week, no down days, and by Friday we were parked out. This time around, we are staying 8 nights, but only got a 5 day park hopper pass so we will have down days to just hang out at the resort, or explore other stuff. I think everyone has their own preference. Some can do parks everyday others can not. I know even after 8 days I still won't be ready to go home.

 

[DaisyJ]

We are usually gone from home for 7-8 days, with 5 park days, which leaves us time for rest days or to do other non Disney things. I can't imagine staying for 13+ days, doing only disney. I'd be bored out of my skull.

 

[ohiotodds12]

So fun to read what other's perspectives are. We consider a quick trip 5 days, that is go go go. Now it is just my husband and myself, and we are going for 16 days this fall. Our "kids" (who are going to be 21 and 22) are jealous. We go in the morning, go back to swim and rest and go back in the evening. I feel like anything less then 10 days is not good for us. The first time we stayed on property was 6 days and we had been going for years. If it was my first trip, I would at least do 8, having maybe a good rest day in the middle of the trip, gives you a little more time to redo something maybe you want to try again or see. Have fun!

 

[NH-to-FL]

6-7 days is not too long. Especially for a first visit. Actually I think it is a good length for a first visit. One day for each park with 2-3 days of follow up visits to catch up on what you missed. And to visit Disney Springs. You can get pretty tired after 6-7 days. There is so much to see and do.

For DW and I our vacation trips evolved into 8-10 day visits. This allowed for plenty of relaxation in between park visits.

How long is too long for us? Well, we now snowbird near Disney.

Disboards might not be the best place to get a balanced answer to your question.

 

[dreiwhit]

Our first trip was 5 days - 1 Epcot, 1 DHS, 1 AK and 2 MK. There was a lot we didn't get to see and do at Epcot as well as MK.

On our second trip, we did 6 days - 2 Epcot, 1 DHS and 3 MK. We did get to see and everything we wanted, and then some! We did feel rushed at Epcot (our favorite park) though.

I don't think six days was that long. But, it would be nice to have a down day in the middle of a six day visit.