First time at WDW, how many days to plan for trip

[Mark Dana]

This is our first trip to WDW. We are grown adults (40+) with no children. I have been told we can do the parks in 2-3 days, other websites say 5-7 minimum. We don't want to do everything, just get a good flavor and do a few key rides a day. I don't know how excited we will be for Magic Kingdom without kids either, maybe we will love it but not sure. We also would like to do Sea World and maybe Universal but have only 8 days. We are also considering staying off site a the Four Seasons to get some adult down time away from Disney. I was hoping we could get away with a total of 3 or maybe 4 days at the 4 Disney parks but everyone seems to say that is too little time. Considering we will not be ride crazy since my wife is not a big ride person, is 3 or 4 days enough time? Also, is staying off site a bad idea if we don't care about coming and going, I envision us arriving at 9am and staying the day, then leaving the park, not going back for naps, etc. Thank you in advance for your advice.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

I have been told we can do the parks in 2-3 days, other websites say 5-7 minimum.

As first time WDW visitors you're going to want to take in an awful lot, explore the parks, visit the shops and sample the restaurants and that's before you take on board the rides and the shows, the parades, the fireworks...... You HAVE to be looking at 1 day for each of the 4 parks and possibly an additional day for MK and EPCOT due to their physical size

I don't know how excited we will be for Magic Kingdom without kids either, maybe we will love it but not sure

MK ISN'T just princesses and kids - it's a fully fledged theme park and will take your breath away.

We also would like to do Sea World and maybe Universal

SeaWorld will take a full day and Universal has two parks - Islands of Adventure and the original Universal Studios. You state that your wife isn't big on rides so perhaps you'll skip IOA but then there's the World of Harry Potter.....

but have only 8 days.

that's your 8 days.

We are also considering staying off site a the Four Seasons to get some adult down time away from Disney.

"Adult down time away from Disney" I don't know quite what you imagine Disney to be ? Disney isn't all young kids running around screaming - there are some very nice top end resorts with top class restaurants, swimming pools etc etc. You then have the added bonus of free transportation to the parks etc etc. Sure, 4 season will save you some $$ but you're going to miss out on so much else

I suggest that you pick up a copy of The Unofficial Guide to Disney and read it - fully. Then with a little more insight you can revise your plans

 

[mouse_luv]

4 days Disney with hoppers, 2days Uni and 1 day Sea World.

 

[epcotisbest]

The very first thing you should do is ignore anything else the person who said you can do the parks in 2-3 days says. You might can go in, walk around some and see a few things, but you can't fully experience it in 2-3 days even if you don't do a lot of the big rides. We have been going for many years and I have not been on a roller coaster in about 10 of those years.
And, the Four Seasons is incredible. Probably the nicest, most luxurious place we have ever been. It is pricey, but if luxury is your thing, it is hard to beat. The pool complex there rivals, or beats depending on perspective, Stormalong Bay.
There are plenty of nice places to stay offsite, and if you are including SeaWorld and Uni., you might want to look at Ritz Carlton Grande Lakes or JW Marriott, which share amenities.
There are many who say you must stay onsite, and we do about once a year, but plenty of nice offsite places as well, especially if you are driving. If budget allows, you can stay onsite for far less than at Four Seasons and take advantage of all the onsite perks, which is what I think I would do for a first trip, maybe at a moderate like POR. For Four Seasons rates you can stay deluxe if you plan it right, depending on when you go.
And, trying to do all four Disney parks, both Universal parks and SeaWorld seems a bit much to me. Yes, you can do it, but to me that would be like trying to eat everything at a buffet just because it is there instead of eating and truly enjoying a reasonable amount of the good stuff.
Good luck, and as has already been mentioned, buy and read the unofficial guide, then read it again.

 

[Mark Dana]

The very first thing you should do is ignore anything else the person who said you can do the parks in 2-3 days says. You might can go in, walk around some and see a few things, but you can't fully experience it in 2-3 days even if you don't do a lot of the big rides. We have been going for many years and I have not been on a roller coaster in about 10 of those years.
And, the Four Seasons is incredible. Probably the nicest, most luxurious place we have ever been. It is pricey, but if luxury is your thing, it is hard to beat. The pool complex there rivals, or beats depending on perspective, Stormalong Bay.
There are plenty of nice places to stay offsite, and if you are including SeaWorld and Uni., you might want to look at Ritz Carlton Grande Lakes or JW Marriott, which share amenities.
There are many who say you must stay onsite, and we do about once a year, but plenty of nice offsite places as well, especially if you are driving. If budget allows, you can stay onsite for far less than at Four Seasons and take advantage of all the onsite perks, which is what I think I would do for a first trip, maybe at a moderate like POR. For Four Seasons rates you can stay deluxe if you plan it right, depending on when you go.
And, trying to do all four Disney parks, both Universal parks and SeaWorld seems a bit much to me. Yes, you can do it, but to me that would be like trying to eat everything at a buffet just because it is there instead of eating and truly enjoying a reasonable amount of the good stuff.
Good luck, and as has already been mentioned, buy and read the unofficial guide, then read it again.

Thanks for the thoughtful response. We are leaning to 3 1/2 days at on of the park hotels and use the first night for downtown Disney, day 2 at Epcot, and split day 3 between MK and Hollywood. Then the plan is to go to the Four Seasons and take in Universal for 1 day and Seaworld for one day with a free day off to relax. We feel that gives us the best of a Disney on-property hotel as well as a luxury off property luxury hotel that we enjoy so much. If we had an extra day, we could stay one more at Disney, but since we won't spent a ton of time on the ride lines, maybe 3 full days will work for us, if not, I guess we will just have to come back! Thanks again.

 

[DManRightHere]

If you are not big into rides I would just stick with Disney. I was originally against spending an entire vacation at WDW, but there is really a TON to do, and not just rides, and it is mainly MK that is kiddified, it is not horrible, but they also have the best classic rides. Epcot should be a favortie for adults. We easily spend a day dedicated just to the world showcase countries. Shopping, shows, snacking, taking in the architecture and hidden nooks and crannies (even though we see it about every year). Also, making time to see the fireworks. FYI, Magic Kingdom foreworks is majorly kiddified, but the fireworks display is amazing. Illuminations at epcot is excellent as well.

With that being said, if you do not find yourself visiting FL again in the next few years, and you really enjoy Harry Potter, check out Universal. If not, I would skip it. I definitely would not commit to more than Disney and Universal.

As for hotels, Disney is the best in my opinion (but it is an extra cost). The theming is awesome and the free transportation is worth it. I would not stay at a value resort. Our favorites for moderate is Port Orleans or Coronado. Our favorite deluxe is Animal Kingdom Lodge. You could always stay at an offsite hotel for cheaper, but there is nothing as special about them and you lose the inclusiveness feel of Disney's resorts.

 

[DisneyDaver]

This is our first trip to WDW. We are grown adults (40+) with no children. I have been told we can do the parks in 2-3 days, other websites say 5-7 minimum. We don't want to do everything, just get a good flavor and do a few key rides a day. I don't know how excited we will be for Magic Kingdom without kids either, maybe we will love it but not sure. We also would like to do Sea World and maybe Universal but have only 8 days. We are also considering staying off site a the Four Seasons to get some adult down time away from Disney. I was hoping we could get away with a total of 3 or maybe 4 days at the 4 Disney parks but everyone seems to say that is too little time. Considering we will not be ride crazy since my wife is not a big ride person, is 3 or 4 days enough time? Also, is staying off site a bad idea if we don't care about coming and going, I envision us arriving at 9am and staying the day, then leaving the park, not going back for naps, etc. Thank you in advance for your advice.

I didn't have a child until I was 42 y/o so I had many couples trips to WDW without kids. The Four Seasons was not open when I was going just as an adult couple so I have not stayed there, but the next time my wife, my 1 year old and I go Orlando without extended family, we plan to stay at Four Seasons.

If I were going on an 8 day (7 nights I assume?) adult only visit to Orlando, I would do the following:

5 nights at the Four Seasons

2 nights at the Portofino onsite at Universal

While I was at the Four Seasons, I would do 1 full day at MK, 1 full day at Epcot and 2/3 of a day at AK. I would skip DHS (or just go for a couple hours to see Fantastic and walk around a bit). I would spend the rest of the time hanging out at the Four Seasons (with a visit to Disney Springs for a dinner). If I could fit it in, I would also have dinner one night at the California Grill at the Contemporary hotel followed by watching the fireworks from the restaurant's viewing deck). I would try to my best to work the schedule so I was at the WDW parks on weekdays and hanging at the hotel on the weekend days to somewhat avoid larger crowds and get more done. Right after breakfast of my last day at the Four Seasons, I would take a cab to the Portofino. I would spend the next 2 days at the Universal parks taking advantage of the Express Passes and Early Admission that come with staying at a Universal on-site hotel. I would skip SeaWorld and save that for another visit. While at Universal I would dine at Citiwalk (making sure to go to Cowfish one night).

 

[Mark Dana]

The very first thing you should do is ignore anything else the person who said you can do the parks in 2-3 days says. You might can go in, walk around some and see a few things, but you can't fully experience it in 2-3 days even if you don't do a lot of the big rides. We have been going for many years and I have not been on a roller coaster in about 10 of those years.
And, the Four Seasons is incredible. Probably the nicest, most luxurious place we have ever been. It is pricey, but if luxury is your thing, it is hard to beat. The pool complex there rivals, or beats depending on perspective, Stormalong Bay.
There are plenty of nice places to stay offsite, and if you are including SeaWorld and Uni., you might want to look at Ritz Carlton Grande Lakes or JW Marriott, which share amenities.
There are many who say you must stay onsite, and we do about once a year, but plenty of nice offsite places as well, especially if you are driving. If budget allows, you can stay onsite for far less than at Four Seasons and take advantage of all the onsite perks, which is what I think I would do for a first trip, maybe at a moderate like POR. For Four Seasons rates you can stay deluxe if you plan it right, depending on when you go.
And, trying to do all four Disney parks, both Universal parks and SeaWorld seems a bit much to me. Yes, you can do it, but to me that would be like trying to eat everything at a buffet just because it is there instead of eating and truly enjoying a reasonable amount of the good stuff.
Good luck, and as has already been mentioned, buy and read the unofficial guide, then read it again.

Great information and very good to hear. We are still tossed up on staying on-site versus Four Seasons, we like luxury hotels a lot and I agree about trying to do too much, I think we will drop Universal for sure and do that on another trip. The main advantage we see to staying on premise is to go back and forth if we wanted to go back to the hotel during the day, I don't know that we would do that however since if I went back, I might want to stay! If we stayed at the Four Seasons and had the nice hotel we like and drove in every day, I think we would just leave when we are done and be ok, so that is our dilemma to figure out. Also, I think we will do 4 days at Disney just to e sure based on everyone's advice, worst case is we go back to a park we liked a lot like Epcot. Again, thank you so much for your thoughtful response, it was well thought out and very helpful!

 

[Mark Dana]

I didn't have a child until I was 42 y/o so I had many couples trips to WDW without kids. The Four Seasons was not open when I was going just as an adult couple so I have not stayed there, but the next time my wife, my 1 year old and I go Orlando without extended family, we plan to stay at Four Seasons.

If I were going on an 8 day (7 nights I assume?) adult only visit to Orlando, I would do the following:

5 nights at the Four Seasons

2 nights at the Portofino onsite at Universal

While I was at the Four Seasons, I would do 1 full day at MK, 1 full day at Epcot and 2/3 of a day at AK. I would skip DHS (or just go for a couple hours to see Fantastic and walk around a bit). I would spend the rest of the time hanging out at the Four Seasons (with a visit to Disney Springs for a dinner). If I could fit it in, I would also have dinner one night at the California Grill at the Contemporary hotel followed by watching the fireworks from the restaurant's viewing deck). I would try to my best to work the schedule so I was at the WDW parks on weekdays and hanging at the hotel on the weekend days to somewhat avoid larger crowds and get more done. Right after breakfast of my last day at the Four Seasons, I would take a cab to the Portofino. I would spend the next 2 days at the Universal parks taking advantage of the Express Passes and Early Admission that come with staying at a Universal on-site hotel. I would skip SeaWorld and save that for another visit. While at Universal I would dine at Citiwalk (making sure to go to Cowfish one night).

What are your thoughts about not staying at Disney as some people say it is great to come and go from the park to the hotel? I don't know that we will go to the park, back to the hotel for a nap, then back to the park and if that isn't important then staying off site at the Four Seasons wouldn't make much of a difference and we get a much nicer hotel, we just have to rent a car and drive 15 minutes to the park once a day.

 

[Mark Dana]

If you are not big into rides I would just stick with Disney. I was originally against spending an entire vacation at WDW, but there is really a TON to do, and not just rides, and it is mainly MK that is kiddified, it is not horrible, but they also have the best classic rides. Epcot should be a favortie for adults. We easily spend a day dedicated just to the world showcase countries. Shopping, shows, snacking, taking in the architecture and hidden nooks and crannies (even though we see it about every year). Also, making time to see the fireworks. FYI, Magic Kingdom foreworks is majorly kiddified, but the fireworks display is amazing. Illuminations at epcot is excellent as well.

With that being said, if you do not find yourself visiting FL again in the next few years, and you really enjoy Harry Potter, check out Universal. If not, I would skip it. I definitely would not commit to more than Disney and Universal.

As for hotels, Disney is the best in my opinion (but it is an extra cost). The theming is awesome and the free transportation is worth it. I would not stay at a value resort. Our favorites for moderate is Port Orleans or Coronado. Our favorite deluxe is Animal Kingdom Lodge. You could always stay at an offsite hotel for cheaper, but there is nothing as special about them and you lose the inclusiveness feel of Disney's resorts.

We are considering the off-site Four Seasons, a luxury hotel. What do you think about driving in every day and not being able to go back to the room like you can if you stay on-property, that seems to be what we give up the most is that convienance but not sure if it is worth giving up the luxury of the Four Seasons in exchange?

 

[epcotisbest]

We are considering the off-site Four Seasons, a luxury hotel. What do you think about driving in every day and not being able to go back to the room like you can if you stay on-property, that seems to be what we give up the most is that convienance but not sure if it is worth giving up the luxury of the Four Seasons in exchange?

Not sure if you know where the Four Seasons is. It is actually onsite and is very close to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, just down the road from Fort Wilderness. It is actually closer to MK than many Disney resorts. If you are driving, staying there will be great. It is a fantastic property. Plan to spend some off time enjoying the pool and amenities at FS. Driving from FS to just about anywhere at WDW is a breeze.

 

[Mark Dana]

Not sure if you know where the Four Seasons is. It is actually onsite and is very close to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, just down the road from Fort Wilderness. It is actually closer to MK than many Disney resorts. If you are driving, staying there will be great. It is a fantastic property. Plan to spend some off time enjoying the pool and amenities at FS. Driving from FS to just about anywhere at WDW is a breeze.

No I did not know it was that close as I never looked on a map and online it says 4.5 miles or something like that, GREAT info, I am sold, so glad you replied and made my decision easier thanks for your efforts and I will pay it forward some day!

 

[epcotisbest]

No I did not know it was that close as I never looked on a map and online it says 4.5 miles or something like that, GREAT info, I am sold, so glad you replied and made my decision easier thanks for your efforts and I will pay it forward some day!

WDW is huge. 4.5 miles from MK is very close.

 

[DisneyDaver]

What are your thoughts about not staying at Disney as some people say it is great to come and go from the park to the hotel? I don't know that we will go to the park, back to the hotel for a nap, then back to the park and if that isn't important then staying off site at the Four Seasons wouldn't make much of a difference and we get a much nicer hotel, we just have to rent a car and drive 15 minutes to the park once a day.

Staying at one of the Monorail resorts is nice for convenience, especially if you are coming and going from the parks, but for an adults only trip I find that less important (with young kids it's a different story as midday naps come into play). The Grand Floridian is the "nicest" of the WDW reports and I have stayed there a number of times. The Grand Floridian is great, but if you and your wife enjoy the Four Seasons service and ambience, however, you will not get the same level of service and ambience at the Grand Floridian. My wife and I are big Four Seasons fans for those reasons and have stayed at many of their resorts. While we have not stayed at the Orlando Four Seasons because it opened just after out last adult only visit, we plan to stay there next time.

Note that the Four Seasons IS on WDW grounds and there is bus service from the Four Seasons to each of the parks (I think it goes to the Ticket and Transportation Center for the Magic Kingdom so you will have a short monorail ride after the bus drops you off) so you still won't need to drive to the WDW parks.

 

[DisneyDaver]

If we stayed at the Four Seasons and had the nice hotel we like and drove in every day, I think we would just leave when we are done and be ok

Why would you drive instead of taking the Four Seasons' bus service to the parks?

 

[Mark Dana]

Staying at one of the Monorail resorts is nice for convenience, especially if you are coming and going from the parks, but for an adults only trip I find that less important (with young kids it's a different story as midday naps come into play). The Grand Floridian is the "nicest" of the WDW reports and I have stayed there a number of times. The Grand Floridian is great, but if you and your wife enjoy the Four Seasons service and ambience, however, you will not get the same level of service and ambience at the Grand Floridian. My wife and I are big Four Seasons fans for those reasons and have stayed at many of their resorts. While we have not stayed at the Orlando Four Seasons because it opened just after out last adult only visit, we plan to stay there next time.

Note that the Four Seasons IS on WDW grounds and there is bus service from the Four Seasons to each of the parks (I think it goes to the Ticket and Transportation Center for the Magic Kingdom so you will have a short monorail ride after the bus drops you off) so you still won't need to drive to the WDW parks.

Thank you so much, this is all confirming what I suspected and I think we are not inclined to go back and forth, so we will go with the ambiance of the Four Seasons especially since we will be doing other things potentially in Orlando, thank you again for the thoughtful response and the time to do it!

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

Thanks for the thoughtful response. We are leaning to 3 1/2 days at on of the park hotels and use the first night for downtown Disney, day 2 at Epcot, and split day 3 between MK and Hollywood. Then the plan is to go to the Four Seasons and take in Universal for 1 day and Seaworld for one day with a free day off to relax. We feel that gives us the best of a Disney on-property hotel as well as a luxury off property luxury hotel that we enjoy so much. If we had an extra day, we could stay one more at Disney, but since we won't spent a ton of time on the ride lines, maybe 3 full days will work for us, if not, I guess we will just have to come back! Thanks again.

My mom isn't a huge ride person and we are planning a trip for her. My advice to her and you is to take it all in, especially Epcot, where you can get a feel for each country in World Showcase, by watching their performers, tasting food, seeing the movie (20 min) about their country (Canada, France, China have this). The Animal Kingdom is INCREDIBLE, even if you aren't a big ride person. The Festival of the Lion King show is a must-see and the Safari isn't a ride as much as it is an experience. You can take the train out to Discovery Island in AK and learn about animal conservation and see vets at work. You can also wander through the jungle safari paths that show the Gorilla and bird enclosures.