Time in resort vs. Park

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

We hit the parks at about 9 or so, stay for a bit, and then go back to our hotel for a little rest. We do plan a day where we don't go to the parks, but do something else.

 

[imsosarah]

Now the kids are older - we do the rope drop/few hours at the park before it gets busy. Grab lunch and head back for pool or naps (more important for teens than toddlers) and just hanging out at the resort. We head back to the park some nights and others we head to other resorts for dinner.

If we were only going 1x and not annually then it would be different. If I had little kids I don't think i'd even attempt to go back to the park and split my days doing rope drop and coming late.

 

[imsosarah]

Also all of these all park people are appreciated because it means most of the pools are empty for my husband and i to hang out, lounge around and have a beverage poolside without kids or crowds everywhere!!

 

[JustAFan]

We tend to maximize our time in the parks. With that said, there is typically one day, generally later in the trip, where we'll build in a little nap time. Of course, the kids have to hit the pool.

 

[Orangeanna]

We're passholders and we do love to stay on property, although not as much since they added the parking fee. We feel like we're paying a lot for the resort and the atmosphere so We spend a lot of time in the resort. Our kids would pretty much rather swim and play all day then do the parks. A lot of kids prefer the pool and activities over the lines. We go back to the hotel for a break and can't get anyone to go back to the park sometimes. It's just so fun and relaxed and so much cooler. That's the danger of a break for us.

 

[SAV]

We typically spend 7 or 8 days. It used to be Park Commando from arrival to departure. Maybe spend an hour at the pool during the week, but not much more than that. We were there for the parks.

But that has now changed just a bit.

If we arrive early enough in the day, we do a park on arrival day. Then we are park commandos for the next 3 days. Then sleep in on day 5 and do a Resort/pool/Disney Springs day. Get ourselves rested and recharged. Then back to Commando for the rest of the time.

 

[cmb5002]

I've always been one to take a mid day break. My wife likes her naps and trips to the pool, and I don't mind an afternoon beer and some snacks while we wind down from a busy morning. Having a toddler now for our trip will make that mid-day break even more important before heading back to the parks for the evening.

 

[stratman50th]

When we first started going we were park commandos. Out first thing and all day to park close. This was in the 80's so you have to take into consideration what was open and the lack of crowds. As the years went on, probably around the 4th trip/year or so we started to freestyle and plan less. We had length of stay park hopper passes. We'd go to the early EMH park, come back around noonish, have some lunch and pool out. We would grab dinner at the hotel food court and then back to the EMH late close park. On occasion we'd do dinner in our target park. In the last few years of our regular trips, (2008-2012) we spent far less time in the parks and more sightseeing on property. We would go to a park for one or two rides then head back. At that time my daughter was 16+ and always had a friend with her. They would park commando, but without mom and dad. After not going at all after 2012 my wife wanted to see the Christmas decorations. We went in December 2018 and had a 4 day length of stay park hopper. We only used 3 days and hotel hopped most of the time.
So that's kind of the evolution of our being die-hard to casual park goers. I'm sure many others kind of mirror what we've done.

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

I like taking mid day breaks.

 

[poppin]

My next trip to Disney World I am going to try to split my time between resorts and parks. I've only stayed at two Disney hotels, the Contemporary and the Disneyland hotel and I wished I would have taken a bit more time to just appreciate more where I was and slow it down a bit.

 

[Dreaming of Disney World]

We only go in the pool once per trip on days when we are not in the parks (leaving day/ planned pool day) or on a MNSSHP day. If I was staying at a resort with a great pool I would try to use it more though.

 

[Plowboy]

When we were young and our son came with us we used to hit the parks every day for as long as we could (sometimes that meant all day). As we got older we found we could only do that for about 3 days straight and then we "hit the wall". Now (in our 60's) we: 1) alternate between a day in the parks and a day at the resort/resort hopping or 2) hit the parks first thing in the morning, go back to the resort for nap/pool time in the afternoon and return to the parks for the evening.

 

[Raineman]

I'm pretty sure we're in the minority here, but our WDW visits are always 8 nights, and all 7 full days are spent at the parks-start at or just after rope drop, and leave just before or at park close (with some park hopping in the evening, depending on what park we start at). We have never returned to the resort mid-day, as we feel that we want to maximize our park time, mostly due to the fact that we only visit every year and a half to 2 years. When we arrive at our resort on our first day, we never go to the parks-we arrive early afternoon, check in, get settled in our room, go hang out at DS and have dinner, then return to our room (and grab some beignets if we are staying at POR or POFQ). I think anyone that goes to the parks at the end of a long travel day is crazy. If we were staying for a week and a half or 2 weeks, we would most likely have at least 1 resort day in there, but, TBH, when we want to just relax at a resort, we spend a week at an all-inclusive beach resort in the Caribbean.

 

[JohnD]

As a Florida Resident, I'll stay anywhere from a weekend up to a week. Most of the time, I stay in a value (usually Pop). As I'm in the parks most of the time, I don't need the scenery. I will ask for "Landscape View", though, as those tend to be quieter than pool side.

 

[Stellajack]

We always try to plan a "resort only" day in the middle of our trip. Even on our park days, we take about a 2-3 hr break to return to the resort. It really makes a difference for us.

 

[Astrotrain]

Depends on the length of the stay. I'm from the west coast and generally won't attempt to adjust to the time zone difference (more painful to adjust with kids since they start school when going back).

The most recent trip was 12 days - originally 8, flight was canceled due to Dorian so made the best of it. Trip before that was 10 days. I like doing 2 days at the parks then 1 day at the resort. Shorter trips (7 days or less) I'll usually be at the park every day though even if it's only for a couple of hours.

I don't really go hard though and have never managed to stay from open to close at a park. I'm lucky if my family is out the door by 11am which feels like 8am for us.

 

[KikoKea]

When we began going to WDW years ago, only once a year or every other year, we'd drag the boys up for rope drop every day, and stayed until closing. Now, being empty nesters, holding APs, going 3-4 times a year, and 15 years older (and tired-er) we have come to appreciate the Shades of Green pool. If it warm, I always schedule time to swim or relax by the pool. A real treat is a night swim, listening to the distant fireworks. We leave Thurs for the World and I have the pool scheduled every day. If it is raining, we might resort hop, or visit DS...or just laze at the resort and read. Some days, we don't even arrive at the park until after 3pm. Relaxed is best for us.

 

[Dog Ate Mouse]

Well for the little lady and I we for most of our trips go for 10 days. We usually do a park then the next day resort activities and go to the parks for dinner and a show in the evening. for the resort activities here is what we do.

1) Swimming
2) Bike Ride
3) Rent a boat and explore
4) Fishing Trip
5) Cane pole Fishing
6) Piano Bob and drinks
7) Down Town Disney (Sorry, just an old habit)
8) Visit other resorts and see if we would like to stay there on another trip in the future
9) Don't know if this counts but go to the water parks and have fun and relax.
10) Bowling and Movies

Yes we do brake this habit LOL because we will look at each other and say want to ride this before dinner. But honestly this is a resort that has a lot to offer and do. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the parks but also enjoy all the resort activities as well. There is a lot to do and explore. It all comes down to what you really want to do and try. No right or wrong way of doing things for you and your family, just fun. It is only wrong if you and your family did not enjoy the day.