Stretch That Vacation!

[real mad hatter]

Ok Folks..I'am interested in how you go about making your vacation last longer..Now we go for a 14 day/night package,but to be honest,it feels like 21.. Here's my plan of action..Alarm set for 06.30 most mornings ( except 2 ) So after a full morning at one of the parks,approx 2.00pm,its back to our resort for lunch,swim,& chill out..A quick change of outfit,and it's back out to the parks around 5.00pm until midnight ( yet to go pass the midnight hour ).That 3 hour break in the afternoon to us is essential,it's like a battery recharge..My next trip ( when ever that will be ) I do intend to spend 1 night late in MK and see the " Midnight Kiss "...So do you have any other tips on how to make your magic vacation seem much longer than it is.?

 

[disneysince71]

We spend the first night at on offsite hotel... just to rest and recover from the drive.... On that first day we go to DTD and renew our APs or TIW if needed, have a meal at Earl and then head back to the hotel to rest.... Then the next morning head to the WDW resort .... This way the first day we are not so exhausted. In addition we often stay late on our last day and hit a hotel in Jacksonville on our way out of Florida so we can stay at the kingdom as long as possible...

 

[BransonJ]

I'm a early bird, and night owl. If that's even possible? But the rest of my party is mixed. But for my own sanity and bennefit I will be waking by 7am to grab some coffee and sit on the balcony or hope the kids are willing to awake and take them around the boardwalk and pool area while the rest "sleep in" we always do a afternoon nap then back to the parks, sometimes a different park than the previous morning (seems like a whole new day for us) and attempt to stay for however long the kids will endure. If the do retire in for the night earlier than 9, then me and a few others will enjoy time around world showcase if EMH or the boardwalk bars for a much needed alcoholic beverage. Ah can't wait, 43 days and counting.

 

[Bowler Hat Girl]

If I'm flying, I book the earliest possible flight when we go to WDW, and a later one on the way back. When driving, all the plans of "we go this far the first day, then this far the second day, then arrive the next morning" basically ALWAYS turn into getting there the night before we planned and staying somewhere at DTD. And then we're up bright and early and start the day as soon as everything starts opening. Wish I was there right now. I LOVE Disney first thing in the morning

 

[DisneyDebNJ]

We take the first flight out of PHL every year. We live 45 mins from PHL but stay overnight at the hotel at the airport. It beats getting up at 2am and driving! LOL We do the same thing Hatter, but I'm the one up at the crack of dawn on vacation. I love, love, love the quiet times at Disney, early mornings and late at night. We always have a pool day during our trip, then hit Epcot at night. After Illuminations, we take our time getting to the monorail (why fight the crowds out, the monorail will be there when we get there ) We always start and end each day the same way, on the balcony!! It's vacation, and dang it, I'll relax!! When we do Disney in a relaxed manner, it seems longer than a week to 10 days

 

[polynesiangirl]

We always get the first direct flight out of the day. We are fortunate to have an airport only about a 10-15 minute drive away so we can easily make a very early flight without having to get up at 2am or anything crazy. The flight's only about 2-3 hours so it's a wonderful feeling to leave my house and be in WDW only a handful of hours later. Especially if the weather at home is terrible.

We also try to get the latest flight back home if we can, but lately the flight schedules haven't been so accommodating. We used to be able to get a 9PM flight home, now it's more common for them to be done for the day by 3PM which cuts our time on the last day way down.

We don't usually take particularly long WDW trips (they're more frequently like long weekends for us,) but by doing so we're able to go more often, which I like. I could really go for a long weekend in WDW right about now. Sigh...

 

[foreverbelle]

We actually drive to make it a little longer, flying is great but driving means we leave a day earlier. We stay at a hotel the night before we check in, usually somewhere in Florence SC or so and then take our time getting there. And instead of cramming everything into the trip we actually take our time and do things at our own pace. On our way back we leave midday or by two and take our time coming home. I have thankfully family in NC, which means we can stop and see them before heading officially home. We have found that believe it or not if we do both, it somehow makes the trip seem that much longer than it actually is.

 

[Mr Ferret 75]

Ok Folks..I'am interested in how you go about making your vacation last longer..Now we go for a 14 day/night package,but to be honest,it feels like 21.. Here's my plan of action..Alarm set for 06.30 most mornings ( except 2 ) So after a full morning at one of the parks,approx 2.00pm,its back to our resort for lunch,swim,& chill out..A quick change of outfit,and it's back out to the parks around 5.00pm until midnight ( yet to go pass the midnight hour ).That 3 hour break in the afternoon to us is essential,it's like a battery recharge..My next trip ( when ever that will be ) I do intend to spend 1 night late in MK and see the " Midnight Kiss "...So do you have any other tips on how to make your magic vacation seem much longer than it is.?

With the best part of two days travelling each end of the vacation it seems longer from the get go.The other thing i do is to ditch my watch the moment we get to our resort ( it stays in the safe for two weeks).With no ADR's to panic about getting to on time the day seems to go on forever

 

[Mrsdonaldduck]

We actually drive to make it a little longer, flying is great but driving means we leave a day earlier. We stay at a hotel the night before we check in, usually somewhere in Florence SC or so and then take our time getting there. And instead of cramming everything into the trip we actually take our time and do things at our own pace. On our way back we leave midday or by two and take our time coming home. I have thankfully family in NC, which means we can stop and see them before heading officially home. We have found that believe it or not if we do both, it somehow makes the trip seem that much longer than it actually is.

@foreverbelle we do the same thing. Drive from nj and stay in Florence. Then the second night we stay just outside of Disney, go to bed early and get up and get to Mk early the first day @real mad hatter. We have the same daily plan as you guys- up by 6 and at the parks early and then back to the hotel mid day for a rest and swim and then back to the parks at night. Driving makes our vacation seems longer because we take two weeks vacation and we take our time. It is so enjoyable!

 

[Stellajack]

Ok Folks...So do you have any other tips on how to make your magic vacation seem much longer than it is.?

The mid-day break REALLY does make a difference....makes one day seem like 2 park days. Also we try to plan on a resort day in the middle of our trip. This gives rest and also seems to s-t-r-e-t-c-h the visit somewhat.

EMH hours- add to the trip as well. We love the p.m. EMH at Studios!

 

[draybook]

I use a Delorean and the words, "great Scott"!

 

[tsaintc]

We just stay longer now.... 21 days last summer, next trip is 24 days long (June 14th).

Had to cut Christmas short (13 days) because the kids refuse to miss a day of school.

You are already going to be there, just add some days!. I hope you have a great time.

 

[BransonJ]

We just stay longer now.... 21 days last summer, next trip is 24 days long (June 14th).

Had to cut Christmas short (13 days) because the kids refuse to miss a day of school.

You are already going to be there, just add some days!. I hope you have a great time.

I envy you... So much. What I would do for just 14 days... Maybe one day.

 

[tsaintc]

I envy you... So much. What I would do for just 14 days... Maybe one day.

Just figure out a way to do it.... I have learned that life is too short, and if there is something that you really want to do, go for it. Now, I would not suggest that put yourself into financial issues, but if you are creative with your spending, you can always find a way. Trust me, I have experience with this as well.

I hope you get your wish... someday soon.

 

[real mad hatter]

We just stay longer now.... 21 days last summer, next trip is 24 days long (June 14th).

Had to cut Christmas short (13 days) because the kids refuse to miss a day of school.

You are already going to be there, just add some days!. I hope you have a great time.

Trust me when I say 14 days & nights are enough for us..Weve done everything,seen everything,ate everything,my feet are the size of a Hobbits.

 

[kfergdisney]

The only thing we do is try to get a flight that leaves early enough that we have some quality time at WDW on the first day...not an easy task when no area around you flies direct to MCO. And we also get the latest flight out as possible so we can go to DTD one more time or go to the Boardwalk.
We have been to EMH once and it was great. I will do those again. I like the idea of getting up early and taking a nap in the afternoon, but I feel most of the time that I need to be at a park all day so I get as much out of it as I can. This next time, we will probably have to take a break in the middle of the day so that my friend, who hates getting up early, can unwind.

 

[pixiesteno]

We drive down and take our RV so we are in relax mode from the moment we leave home! We will also do mornings at a park, break in mid day to early evening, then it is back to the parks on most days. No, our alarm doesn't go off at 6 am, no, no, no -- DH likes to sleep in. However, with an RV when the sun comes up it lights up the interior to the RV so I am usually up and around fairly early. I have breakfast and make coffee as quietly as I can and then enjoy the great outdoors while DH sleeps. Just being on property is an essential part of our vacation, we're at WDW and relaxing, sometimes in a park, sometimes not.

 

[Susan Savia]

We drive and arrive about 2:00 pm and check in our room and unpack and head right on out the door to Epcot to begin our two weeks with WDW! We catch Off Kilter if their on that day, take a few rides, do a walk thru of Mouse Gear and head back to our room to eat and veg. Every day after is rope drop til whenever. Sometimes we've left the park for the day, did some shopping on 192 and said, What the heck and gone back to one of the parks for a while...

 

[disneygirl76]

Ok Folks..I'am interested in how you go about making your vacation last longer..Now we go for a 14 day/night package,but to be honest,it feels like 21.. Here's my plan of action..Alarm set for 06.30 most mornings ( except 2 ) So after a full morning at one of the parks,approx 2.00pm,its back to our resort for lunch,swim,& chill out..A quick change of outfit,and it's back out to the parks around 5.00pm until midnight ( yet to go pass the midnight hour ).That 3 hour break in the afternoon to us is essential,it's like a battery recharge..My next trip ( when ever that will be ) I do intend to spend 1 night late in MK and see the " Midnight Kiss "...So do you have any other tips on how to make your magic vacation seem much longer than it is.?

We have the same plan. Up when the parks open and then back to resort for rest, nap, change of outfit, and then back at it until it closes. If you have a chance, go to Epcot for evening EMH, and then stroll around the countries at night, we walk the long way back to the exit - we usually end at UK so instead of the obvious route to the exit, we go the long way through the countries. The countries are nearly empty. Just the lights. No one around. Its the most amazing thing.