Trip Length

[Hannah1284]

DH and I are trying to plan a trip and are looking at a moderate resort in Sept. We are deciding on how long to spend at each park (generally) to get an idea of how long our trip should be all together.

My question is:
How long MUST you spend at each theme park? I know this is a personal decision/opinion, but I'm just curious generally how much time you think is necessary to comfortably spend in each park?

Thanks!

 

[DisneyJoe]

Who is traveling and what are their ages?

 

[Annielkd]

time at park

It actually depends on the schedule they post. Are you staying on property...look to see when they have early morning hours. I need 4 hours at a park 2 days to really feel that I've done what I want to do. I love Epcot at night, and generally go their nightly. I think the perfect length is 6 days. That allows you to go to your favorite parks twice... go to the water parks in the afternoons, and then Epcot at night. If you can stay at a park all day, then you really just need one day per park, and one for a water park.

 

[Hannah1284]

Just us -- two late twenties adults.

 

[Philhar-Fanatic]

We spend allow 2 days for each park except MK, we do 3. We also take mid day breaks.

 

[Disney_Belle]

DH (31) and myself (28) have found we spend most of our time in MK and Epcot. We usually go to DHS for one day, and it's never a full day. AK is usually one full day. The rest of the days we split up between MK and Epcot. We sometimes will head over to DHS for EMH evenings. We also do one evening at Downtown Disney and lunch at the Boardwalk, along with a round of mini golf. That is usually our "laid back" day mid trip. Normally we do 7 nights/8 days and that's good for us. We've been a lot so we know what we like to do, and those things we can skip, which saves us time. We never have a set schedule of how long we have to stay in the park. The only thing we ever keep on a schedule is with our dining. Other than that, it's pretty go with the flow. But usually we end up at MK at least once every day lol. I hope you have a wonderful time, we will be there in September, too!

 

[Floridagirl]

We plan on 2 days per park, I think 2 days are needed or you will miss parts of each park, both water parks can be done in 1 day ( we usually spend part of the day at a water park then head home for a freshen up then go to downtown Disney )

 

[tractorm3]

It depends on time of year and how many are with you. Common sense that larger parties and parties with little ones tend to move slower.

I once went at thanksgiving and had to leave the fam early since i had college classes but in the 3 1/2 days i was there I managed to do all the parks.

 

[GoochDSA]

Is this your first trip or have you been there before?

I think for a first time trip, if you have never been before and you have no time limits, I would plan for at least 2 days at each park and 2 days to relax at your resort/DTD. Just keep in mind that it is impossible to see and do everything in just 1 trip.

If you are going in mid to late September, be sure to plan a night for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.

 

[polymissy]

I usually suggest 2 days at Magic Kingdom, 2 for Epcot(1 for World Showcase and 1 for Future World), and 1 day each for Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. That is the LEAST amount of time I think is needed to at least see what is offered. Obviously you cannot actually do everything in that amount of time.

If you give yourselves a full week you should have time to do a lot and also re-do things you enjoy the most. You can spend the first part of your trip doing your first round of touring, and use the second half of the week to do what you may have missed, or ride your favorite rides again!

Also, Free Dining is available during most of September, and if you are planning on using the DDP, you may want to give yourself additional time so you can experience a variety of restaurants throughout WDW property. Many of the best restaurants are located at Disney's resort hotels, and dining at them is a great way to tour resorts, too!

 

[MarkandAmy]

DW and I ( + 3 kids: now 10,11,and 20) always allow for at 2 days for MK and Epcot (at least one day for World Showcase...it's our personal favorite), plus one full day at AK and DHS. We also schedule a day for a water park morning, afternoon at Boardwalk, and evening at Downtown. Obviously if we are going for more days, then we pick and choose how to spend the extra time, but these are the minimum "musts" for us.

 

[durangojim]

I'd plan for 7 or 8 nights -- long enough to enjoy just about everything without feeling too rushed and confined to a schedule, but short enough where you'll want to go back to see what you missed.

 

[JSkellington#31]

When it is just the two of us 2 days per park is normal. Usually we will do a park in the morning take a break in the afternoon then a different park at night. Then reverse the order so we visit each park once in the morning and once in the evening. Of course the evening time is to short to work AK into the mix so Downtown is always agood evening option.

 

[Hannah1284]

Thanks All! Very helpful and you've confirmed what I was originally thinking!

We will be there at the end of Sept for the ToT 10-miler. It will be my first trip to WDW in 18 years and DH's first in about 10 years so we want to see a lot! We did visit Disneyland Paris about 4 years ago, but that was just a giant tease!!

There is a party in DHS after the run so we will be hitting that up and it will give me a good fill of ToT, which was my fav ride 18 years ago and in Paris.

I'm thinking one day for AK will do us fine,two each for MK and Epcot and 1-2 for DHS in addition to the post-run party. What I'm struggling with now is do we need a 3rd at Epcot if we want to hit up the F&W on opening day or will 2 suffice with that being one? ..leaning towards 2.5 with half a day/an evening at Downtown Disney since my cousins will be in just for the weekend...

I'm super-duper excited!! :sohappy:

 

[Princess_Minnie]

I would recommend having at least one morning and one evening at each park. For us we need a lot of time at the Magic Kingdom because it is our favorite park, so we like to have 2 mornings and 2 nights there.

Our average trip is 5 days, 6 nights: That means 1 morning for each park + an extra at the Magic Kingdom, and 1 night for Epcot, Magic Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios (we never go to AK at night), plus an extra at the Magic Kingdom and one that we usually spend at Downtown Disney.

It takes us 2 days to drive there, and 2 to drive back. We leave on a Saturday (because we normally go at Spring Break), and get home on a Sunday. We go to the parks Sunday night through Friday night, sometimes pop in on Saturday morning before hitting the road, and are home by 3pm on Sunday.