A length of trip question...

[HouCuseChickie]

I get between 5-6 weeks of true vacation each year + 7 sick days and 2-3 personal days on top of that. We also do performance competitions that usually add up to another 2-5 days off per year. So, I have around 8-9 wks off per year. The down side to this...I only get stock exchange holidays, high demand days like Christmas Eve or day after Thanksgiving are awarded through a lottery and you can only have one, I can't use vacation time or personal days to make up for extra sick time, we have black out days during tax season, I have specialized functions and can't be out if my two backups are out, and I can only block time out on our calendar 90 days in advance and may lose out on days (or have to battle for them) if they're in high demand.

It still sounds like a lot, but when you factor in that I have two young children (i.e. sick time and school visits), do cakes on the side that sometimes require days off here and there, and family out of town who always stays with us when they come to visit (i.e. I have to clean the "hotel"), plus some religious holidays for me are not covered in our holiday time...so, you can imagine that every hour counts.

All this being said...I don't think I could handle 2+ weeks at WDW. DH and I have tried a variety of lengths of travel to many places and 1.5 weeks seems to be our travel max for any vacay. He is also not as big of a WDW fan as myself - so I don't ever want to overdo it ... as that could mean a longer waits between trips.

 

[Poofiesdream]

I don't work but my husband gets 6 weeks paid plus five sick days. If you don't use the sick days you get paid for all 5 and you get 3 more vacation days the following year. He has worked there over 35 years.We live near Disney and break up the Disney visits a week at a time to spread them out through out the year with 1 or 2 weeks going someplace else. One week at a time is enough for us knowing we will be back again soon.

 

[lacarp40]

just got back from the world spent 2mk, 1hs, 1ak, 1epcot then got the water park ad on and spent 2days blizzard 2days dis quest and 1 day typhoon 12 days total.

 

[Patricia Melton]

My family stays overnight in Orlando for 6 days. We always take the first flight in to Orlando on that first day, and we take the last flight out on the day we are leaving (so we get a half day in the parks on the last day).

It varies year to year but our most recent groove has been:

Day One -- arrival, enjoy the pool, maybe DtD for dinner...possibly a water park the first day if it's really nice out and we want to bask in the Florida weather (Typhoon Lagoon is our favorite)

Day Two -- usually MK the first day but sometimes we do DAK. We stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge lately so this is a natural fit for us. If my niece and nephew are with us we do MK first because they are so excited to go there.

Day Three -- EPCOT...it's a big eating day for sure because we like to try everything that's being offered in the pavilions

Day Four -- DHS...this is a half-day park for us. Sometimes the other half of the day we'll do a water park or we'll go back to the resort and just enjoy the pool. I always get a Cobb Salad and a Grapefruit Cake at Brown Derby. There is not a lot that I like about DHS but I do enjoy strolling down Sunset Boulevard. This is my least favorite park but my husband likes it.

Day Five -- Either DAK or MK, depending on what we did on Day Two. It's a full day for us.

Day Six -- the last two years, this has been Harry Potter day for us. We go to Harry Potter and to the Jurassic Park parts of Islands and then we go out to dinner somewhere outside the parks and relax at the resort afterwards. It's a half day for us as the only two thinks that aren't junky in Islands are HP and Jurassic Park (and JP is falling apart and getting junky).

Day Seven -- our wild card day. We use park hoppers this day and go from park to park riding whatever we might have missed the day we went there. I always ride HM again one last time. My husband always insists on going on Space Mountain a few more times. We usually leave the parks at around 430pm. We go back to the resort to pickup our bags...then go to the airport and fly home on an 8 or 9 something flight.

Then the next day I start planning for next year's trip to Orlando!

 

[YoungNY]

I get 18 days a year or 12 hours a month. My last Disney trip I stayed 8 days. This trip I'm staying 6 days, but I'm taking an overall 2 week vacation and spending time with family and friends. It was supposed to be three weeks, but I had surgery back in march and I was out of work for a month and had to use a week of annual leave after all my sick time was used up.

I'd love to stay at Disney for 10-14 days. Luckily my leave time rolls over year to year so I can save up, but it might be a few years from now cause after this trip next month,ill owe my job 9 hours.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

I use 2 Weeks for WDW and 1 Week For Disneyland.....What's wrong? I see nothing wrong there?

 

[Tusportsfan]

I've been at my job for 15 years and have about 4 weeks total personal time (sick and vacation is all lumped together), my wife been at her job for 26 and she's got a little over 5 weeks time.

We started off going for a week at a time 8 years ago, and each year the trip seems to have grown a day or two. This year, it's a total of 18 days, and packing it arould a holiday (Labor Day), make it possible without using up too much time.

Allows for the occasional trip in the spring to escape the Northeast in late winter to see some green in Florida.

 

[real mad hatter]

Well Iam now retired but my DW works at a school and DS is still at school so it's usually school hols vacations for us.This year prior to booking we were thinking of doing 3 weeks,but to be honest,at the end of our 14 days,we were ready for home.We had done all our things on our must do list,and ate at all our choices.

 

[WDWNooby]

I get five weeks of vacation. I'd love to spend more than a week at the World but my budget doesn't allow that. My goal however is now that my son is in college to be able to take a couple of trips to the World each year, making one a solo trip...that would help tremendously with the budget issue Visiting all of the resorts is on my bucket list.

 

[Disneydreamer23]

I usually go 2.5 weeks I will leave on a Friday and come back on a Sunday ex Aug 3-Aug 20th I am only using 2 weeks but I have that extra friday plus 2 week ends so i Get an extra 5 days. I only get 2 weeks paid vacation

 

[jane.steve11]

Me and my wife both get 29 days a year, plus if you work up your hours you could theoretically get an extra 2 days a month as flexi-leave, so maximum you could actually get 53 days a year. Woo hoo for working in the UK... often thought i'd like to move to the US but couldn't cope with the lack of hols.... That's how we can get two 2 week trips to Disney and somewhere else a year.

 

[littleroo]

My DH gets 2 weeks a year. I can take what I wish but I don't get paid. For our vacations, we start Friday night before a long weekend so we can maxamize our time together. We fly out early Saturday mornings so the night before we stay at a hotel near the airport w/a pool.


We stay for eight nights/nine days. The last day is purely for travel. We do 2MK, 2-3 Epcot, 1 HS, 1 AK, 1 DTD, and the last day is my 7 yr olds choice.

My bucket list would be to stay for two weeks w/the deluxe disney dining program!!

 

[Sharkreef11]

I took a new job (better job) a year ago and had to down grade on vacation time (the one downfall) to 12 days a year. Our trips are most always 10 days and we plan it right with weekends so I use 6 vacation days. I also get sick time + holidays so I still get 6 days the rest of the year to use how I want.

 

[Kandi]

I get 5 weeks a year paid holiday leave (yay for the UK) which means i get to spend 2 of those weeks at WDW and the other 3 weeks any where else i want.

 

[TWICKERS]

The first couple of times we visited WDW we came for 2 weeks but as you say the cost of coming from the UK is huge and it is not a lot more coming for 3 weeks as 2 as the main cost is the airfare.
We now always do 3 weeks. We have 4 weeks holiday per year and this still leaves a week. We do not get sick leave to use for holidays. If you book now for next year for a value resort the cost for three adults is in excess of £6,000 including car but no free dining or park tickets. Therefore I think it is better to go every 2/3 years for 3 weeks.

Last trip August 2010 All Star Sports next trip, August 2013 Old Key West with free dining (decided to splash out and free dining was available when we booked).

 

[Tiggerfanatic]

I've worked at the same place for 35 years, I get 5 weeks vacation + 4 personal days. With the old company you could work up to 6 weeks, plus personal days & floating holidays for 7 weeks total, but last year's buyout cut most of that out. I get a lot of sick pay, but can't use it for vacation - heck they don't even want you to use it when you're sick! We also get 7 paid holidays so if you plan right that stretches the vacation days out a bit. My Disney trips are usually 6-7 days long, and I have the rest of my vacation days to take as I need them.

 

[ppodangel]

I get 6 weeks holiday per year and we are holidaying for 14 days at WDW. It is a long flight from the UK so two weeks makes it worthwhile!

 

[DisneyDelirious]

We stay 8-10 days at at time, two times a year. I get 4 weeks of vacation and 2 personal days. I incorporatat least one and often 2 weekends in my trip so I save some time. I use another week of my vacation for Boy Scout Summer Camp and the rest here and there on family/ Scout outings.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Most of our trips have been for 2 weeks. There have been two 10 day trips which we felt like we were cheated out of days but they couldnt be avoided because of work schedules. Boy, I the things I could have done with those extra days! I have friends who go just for a weekend, can't imagine flying in and out with barely enough time to enjoy what Disney has to offer.

 

[Mikester71]

We drove down from Canada for all 4 of our trips so far and stayed for 7, 10, 10, & 10 days respectively. Considering that the drive itself takes a day and a half each way, 10 days seems to be the perfect amount of time down there for us. I am fortunate enough to have 4+ weeks of paid vacation every year which I can use whenever and however I like. So the years we go, I will take a day or two before we leave off in order to get things taken care of around the house, 12 days for the driving and the actual vacation itself, and another 5+ days for when we get back, so that I have time to unwind and unpack and get ready to head back to the everyday grind of work.