It’s an age-old question with many variables and no blanket answer that’s right for all: How many days do you really need to visit Walt Disney World?
With four theme parks, two water parks, a massive shopping/dining/entertainment district, and countless other activities to experience, there’s no question planning a Walt Disney World vacation is complex (to say the least). One of the central questions — one which determines just about everything else you’ll be able to do — is how many days to stay.
That’s the subject of today’s AllEars TV video. We’re exploring the factors you’ll want to consider when planning your length-of-stay.
What’s the perfect length of stay for your Walt Disney World vacations? Share your thoughts and tips in the comments below!
I had a coworker who needed just one day. He took his family on a massively over crowded and brutally hot day in the middle of July. That one day was all that was needed to convince him that to never return.
Adding a few things:
Along with a crowd calendar, rope dropping with a touring plan is a must. It may be tough to get little ones up and around, but for tweens and older, this is very doable.
A 5-day ticket for a week-long trip has worked well for us in the past. It has given us one day per park plus one day to redo our favorites or anything g we may have missed due to unforeseen circumstances. We also have a couple days for rest, short days at a water park or hotel pool, and shopping.
For a first time visitor, a family can skip parkhoppers to save money. There is more than enough at each park to satisfy any Disney fan. For returnees, go ahead and get the parkhopper for more flexibility. Add the parkhopper plus option for a cheap trip to visit the outstanding Disney water parks.
Finally, a huge money saver is to stay off property. There are very comfortable condos that sleep six or more just outside of Disney property. We stayed at one at Windsor Hills for $110 per night during a week in June, a 3 bedroom, two bathroom unit. Compare that with a $150 room at the All-Star Resort that is about the size of a Motel 6 room! Even if you have to spend spend $40 a day for a rental car and $25 per day to park, you are still under the cost of a $200 Art of Animation room. Plus you and your family will be more comfortable. The bigger savings on staying offsite is in the cost of food. Being able to fix a much cheaper breakfast and dinner in a condo kitchen and eating restaurant meals off Disney property saves hundreds of dollars.
You sound like you do Disney the exact same way that I do. I very rarely stay on property these days. Only for a very short visit if I’m splurging. We typically get a house or use Armed Forces Vacation club. We can get a 5 bedroom house for around $800 a week. When you split that with your family members your trip just got dirt cheap! We drive down so we all have a car and know our way around pretty well. We used to do park hoppers, but with the insane price increases I have learned to stop and smell the roses, and I’m glad about that. I used to go commando from dawn to dusk and a park hopper was a must, but I find I enjoy the park I’m in so much more if I don’t feel the need to hop to the next park making sure I have enough time to get things done in both parks. For instance, I had never seen Animal Kingdom at night because I was heck bent on leaving by 3 to get over to Epcot for the night. Honestly, nothing beats AK at night! It’s such a beautiful park and with the addition of Pandora it doesn’t seem so much of a half day park anymore. She handed that honor over to DHS. lol I also agree that 5 days is a good number and we do as you do by going to all 4 parks with a repeat visit to our favorite or to the one where we might have missed some things due to an over crowded day or something. (that being the one really good thing about a park hopper…if you walk in and it’s a madhouse, you don’t have to suck it up and stay). So long story short…I concur with your assessment lol!