Time in resort vs. Park

[mdcpr]

When I look at how much a Disney trip is costing me. I want to get the most for my money. Living in NH I can go to the beach when ever I want. I feel the more time I spend in the parks the lower the cost per hour of my Disney trip goes down. I try to minimize the time I am not in a park by staying at resorts that only have 1 bus stop. I only carry my cell phone into park so my trip threw sercurity is almost non stop. I had a problem with my belt buckle setting off metal detector in 2017 when I was at Disneyland. So I now have a carbon fiber belt buckle. Stopped wearing "im celibrating" metal pins. Stopped wearing trading pins on my cap. Use the WDW LINES app to see what rides have less wait times. We go in September when it is a little less crowded. So the only time I spend at resorts is just sleep time. That is when it is just wife and I. When we have the grand kids we have to plan some pool time. Just 30 days till my next trip.

Hey! I love the cost per hour idea. I can tell my husband this trip is only costing $67 an hour.

 

[Mainahman]

TO us our room is our last concern. This will actually be the first trip, where we will be room only on arrival day.

The normal routine for us is:

Arrive- dump luggage, hit a park or 2, and then when the kick us out, we go back to sleep. We pick who has the earliest hours for the next day, get a few hours of sleep, then get up, and hit that the next day. Rinse repeat. This is why we stay at Values. We dont see the need to pay for more, as were never actually there.

 

[JIMINYCR]

I go to enjoy the parks and what they offer for entertainment. I sleep at the resort, eat breakfast at the resort and go back after the parks close. At the end of the day I may go to the pool or hot tub or take in some evening entertainment at or around the resort. DW because of her medical condition has become weaker and this year will be going back to the resort to rest in between time while DS and I continue to play hard. Maybe when I get older and tire easier I'll see the resort time as more valuable to me but until that day comes , Its just a resting place after the parks close.

 

[Tinker218]

My husband and I are lucky enough to go 3-4 times a year. I am a retired cast member, so free park entry for us, great resort discount make this possible. When we go with our grandchildren we spend more time in the parks, but when we are on our own we tend to enjoy the resort more. We usually stay club level at the Boardwalk and will enjoy the amenities offered there. We also tend to stroll through World Showcase, find a bench and people watch. We enjoy trying new restaurants and visit some favorites at times also.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

I think it depends on the circumstances. Being an AP - I usually spend about 6/7 hours max in a park.

If I hit the park in the morning I'm out by 4/5pm and the rest of the night at the resort, DS, or off property dining option etc.
If I hit the park at night, then it's the pool, DS, resort hopping and then a park from about 3/4pm onward.

 

[OneofThree]

WDW is all abou the parks. There's simply no other justification for the "Disney Premium" in respect to lodging prices when there are so many world-class resorts offering superior service and amenities for less money. If we take a resort day, it's rare, and only to recover during longer stays.

 

[Jeff456]

I would be leaving my resort prior to 8am or earlier if there are EMH I want to go to, might come back to change for dinner and then i'll be back to sleep... if I wanted to go in the pool I'd go to a waterpark, but this is just me I want to spend my time at the parks.

 

[Smiley/OCD]

We are usually early morning (not rope drop) to fireworks and multiple parks per day (when needed). We usually go for 7 days, and every time we're on our way home, we say, you know what we didn't do? Pool!! We also never go in the summer, so that is not a problem. Our next trip in May, 2020, we will be going for 10 days, so we actually have time scheduled for the pool. Again, as others have said, for the amount of money it costs for a Disney vacation, to spend time at the resort is (for us) a total waste of money. I understand there are guests with needs that force a daily break and I mean no disrespect. We LOVE AoA, to sleep, shower, and watch Stacey on TV. We live at the Jersey shore, 5 miles from one of the world's largest swimming pools. LOL

 

[eliza61nyc]

We are usually early morning (not rope drop) to fireworks and multiple parks per day (when needed). We usually go for 7 days, and every time we're on our way home, we say, you know what we didn't do? Pool!! We also never go in the summer, so that is not a problem. Our next trip in May, 2020, we will be going for 10 days, so we actually have time scheduled for the pool. Again, as others have said, for the amount of money it costs for a Disney vacation, to spend time at the resort is (for us) a total waste of money. I understand there are guests with needs that force a daily break and I mean no disrespect. We LOVE AoA, to sleep, shower, and watch Stacey on TV. We live at the Jersey shore, 5 miles from one of the world's largest swimming pools. LOL

I really think it's how you look at your vacation, I've never qualified the success of a vacation by the number of things I do or don't do.
I have gone to wdw many times and never set foot in a park or we've gone down and only did the night time shows. not long vacations but I have flown down for long weekends and simply stayed at my resort or DTD. Actually some of our nicest trips have been resort only stays, again they aren't long but I can tell you it's great not having to deal with the parks (security, crowds of people and standing in lines) . I find it puts more emphasis on the people I'm with the atmosphere and relaxing. It's different for sure but just as rewarding.

So my cautionary tale.
One day I was at a magic kingdom and saw a family fighting. and I mean screaming at one another as guest gave them a wide berth. Well they were outside the Haunted mansion and one of the little boys was scared to death, it actually looked like both kids really were scared. Dad was yelling at them to get on the GD ride and of course mom was give him heck, basically he was yelling that for the cost of the vacation they were damn well going to do every ride and he didn't care if they were scared or not. Now I recognize this was extreme and most non neanderthal humans would not treat their family like this (well and live to tell about it) but it did make me pause and feel bad. I felt bad that just the joy of watching their kids run around laughing was not enough and that he felt so stressed out because of cost that he did measure success by the attraction.

There have been times when the kids were so happy by the pool swimming and having fun that we decided to bag going back to the parks. Just another way to look at it. no right or wrong.

 

[durangojim]

We’re pretty fortunate in that even though we’re from Michigan we get to go between 2-4 times per year. That allows us to enjoy the resort much more than if we went once a year or less. On our last trip we stayed at the GF for a week and probably only spent 3-4 hours per day at the parks. The rest was at the GF aside from some trips to Disney Springs and checking out Gran Destino opening day. We love being at the pools and enjoying the resort. We’re going back in 2 weeks for the opening of SW land and with the reservations for Savi’s and Oga’s that I have we’re looking forward to being able to spend a lot of time at the pool on this trip too. Also, I may be in the minority on this one but with FP+ we rarely get up super early to hit a park anymore. Maybe once per trip but usually not even that.

 

[Smiley/OCD]

I agree...different strokes for different folks, but for ME, going to WDW and not stepping one foot into the parks is like going to your favorite restaurant, and not being allowed to eat there, just smell the food. Last year, my oldest DD was in the DCP. She decided to keep her car there, so she and I drove down. The night before her registration, we stayed at POP overnight (it was only 10.00 more than the closest Holiday Inn). Trust me, being on property and not going to a park was PURE TORTURE for me! But that's ME. If you can do it, more power to 'ya!

 

[Much-Pixie-Dust]

Our time is probably split 50-50 between parks and resorts. The pool is a big draw for my kiddo and I find it relaxing. We love to ride bikes, explore, hidden Mickey Hunt at the resorts. AKL and FW in particular have so many activities to do at them. They are just as fun as the parks for us.

 

[Nottamus]

first few trips, we were on a bus at 9am.....and back to resort by 9-10pm. Hopped between parks, but we were just out all day.

Then we learned.

Now we go back to resort mid day to re energize...refill water bottles...grab a snack...then decide which park to go to for fireworks..or dinner.

soooo much more relaxing that way...

 

[eliza61nyc]

I agree...different strokes for different folks, but for ME, going to WDW and not stepping one foot into the parks is like going to your favorite restaurant, and not being allowed to eat there, just smell the food. Last year, my oldest DD was in the DCP. She decided to keep her car there, so she and I drove down. The night before her registration, we stayed at POP overnight (it was only 10.00 more than the closest Holiday Inn). Trust me, being on property and not going to a park was PURE TORTURE for me! But that's ME. If you can do it, more power to 'ya!

lol Smiley, this is totally off topic but your food analogy has me giggling.
l finally went on a date a few weekends ago and while he's a very nice gentlemen he's a vegan. ME!! the girl who lives in the cheese steak capital of the world and never met a filet I didn't like. We went to a place named "Green soul" which is vegan/vegetarian, unfortunately it's next to a restaurant named "south" that is more of a southern soul food joint. I almost died from smelling the bbq while trying to gather enthusiasm for some thing called a "plant based" hamburger.

that was the perfect analogy. I totally, totally understand ya!

 

[Janir]

Not an option for me. I have a special needs child that while he does really well in crowds and waiting in line, he can't handle fireworks. Hopefully we will see the Frozen Holiday show and River of Light since they are early and short, as well as mostly lights and effects.

Well then a show and Light show sound appropriate for him. Hope he has fun!

 

[mdcpr]

Well then a show and Light show sound appropriate for him. Hope he has fun!

Thank you!

 

[KCheatle]

I want to spend more time at the resort, but I feel like we have a hard time leaving the parks. Even when my kids were little, and my DH and I KNEW they needed to nap (or we would face serious consequences later), we had a hard time forcing ourselves to leave the parks. Now that the kids are older, we have an even harder time leaving the parks. But, as soon as we get walk through the lobby doors it's like an instant energy refresher. It's just so nice to be home. Then we find it hard to leave the hotel to go back to the parks.

 

[OneofThree]

I really think it's how you look at your vacation, I've never qualified the success of a vacation by the number of things I do or don't do.

Sure. Different people vacation in different ways, and individuals themselves take different sorts of vacations. This goes for us as well. My point was that if I want a Disney vacation, it's because I want Disney -the parks (now more than ever with Disney drawing back on theme in many resorts). If I want a resort vacation, I'm going to places which offer much more in that regard, often for less money. The caveat here is that I don't own DVC. If I did, I could see where that my change the equation some.

 

[JillC LI]

Zero interest in pool time no matter what the time of year. That's not why we go to Disney. Resort is just for breakfast and sleeping. (And Yeehaa Bob if we're at POR!)

 

[Disneyfreak Jen]

For me it depends on the length of my stay. If I’m going for a week I incorporate resort time almost every afternoon. I’ll rope drop whatever park, stay till about 1, then head back to the resort until 5 or so, and then head out again. I enjoy the resort too and consider that part of my vacation, not just a place to sleep and shower.

If my park plans are MK and EP I’ll hop on the monorail and usually skip the resort that afternoon.

If I’m going for a shorter 4 day trip I try to maximize park time and usually don’t go back home in the afternoons.