What's your length of stay "sweet spot"?

[eliza61nyc]

My family and I have been regular visitors to the world for over 15 years now. lol, I know not a long time compared to some folks here. When we first started going to the world we would go for 9 days but over time we've dropped down to 4 or 5 days. which is really 4 days because on our departure days we usually get a early afternoon flight home meaning we're up and at the airport early

Our last trip in August though I wish we had stayed longer than 5 days, mainly because we didn't get any "down" time, now it was a bit different since we were traveling with a large group, which eats up time but it did seem like we could have used a few extra days.

anyhoo, what's your trip length sweet spot? do you tend to hit the parks immediately and have jam packed days or are you a more slower tourer?

 

[larryz]

Six days/five nights. Arrival day, four park days, and departure day.

We usually drive, although we have flown -- ironically, the flying day runs just about as long as the driving day.

Our touring style is based on our extensive visit history, so we tour slowly now, hitting the new stuff where possible while enjoying our old favorites. We're usually there at or shortly after rope drop, then head back to the resort 4 to 5-ish, stopping along the way for adult beverages and/or dinner at resorts. Another option is to do a huge TS lunch and eat light for dinner.

 

[John park hopper]

We drive down from SC and usually stay 7 days. Check in day we get there about mid afternoon and just hang out at the resort. Day of check out we sleep in and leave at 11 for our 6 hour drive home. That gives us 5 full days in the parks.

 

[belledream]

We stay 9 days usually. We’ve done it where we hit the parks on the first day, or spend the day resort hopping and crossing off bucket list items, and both were great starts to the trips. I like to visit all four parks first before we revisit one. Ny the midway point, we’ll have a rest day where we hit the water parks and Disney Springs, and then repeat parks for the rest of the time. Departure day is still a park day as well. I pick the latest flight out and we pack as much fun into our last day as possible. And yet, even after such a long trip, I could do it all over again.

 

[Nottamus]

We drive from NJ, get into Jacksonville area Saturday evening. Get up early and get to AKL about 9.30- 10am...Sunday
We do the whole week leaving the following Sunday early am...so 7 days - 7 nights.

Twice we left on a Friday to get one extra day in..

We got into a routine of dropping off stuff at bell services, heading out to AK to get our tradition warm cinnamon bun for 2, hit a couple fastpasses, wait for the "room is ready" text, and head back to room to get all set up for the week.
Then we'll head out at evening for a dinner, and fireworks to cap the night off.

We go twice a year, so we never really rush anymore...we are lucky there. Its all kinda of relaxed pace...now. We used to try to get everything done in a day...and found we missed so much just by rushing.

 

[righttrack]

8 Days, 7 Nights. Hit every park hard in the morning once and again more slowly. Night time park depends on where dinner is. Late night park is usually MK when there is enough energy to keep going until 1am and it's open that late.

 

[Weather_Lady]

Whatever the destination, our "sweet spot" is about 6 nights. Anything more than that, and we start to feel a little homesick (not to mention the pet-sitting costs start to really add up)! We always get going (at WDW, we head straight to the MK) the moment we arrive, and are pretty hard-hitting every day except the "middle day" of the vacation, when we schedule a half-day of down-time. Daily afternoon breaks are also a must.

 

[Horizons '83]

5 nights is perfect, maybe 6 depending on when you arrive. If time permits, we will do 4 parks (base tickets), 1 each day and then we factor in a free day or 2 for resort hopping or to hang by the pool.

 

[networkpro]

5 to 7 days per trip. Two weeks is too long for us.

 

[DisDadWoz]

5 nights is ours. We tour pretty slow and only hit up what we want to. There is usually a day or two in there where we play it by ear and just do what we want to do. May not even go to a park but just relax at pool or just resort hop.

 

[DisneyJoe]

8 days, 7 nights if we can, ie Saturday-Saturday

 

[allgiggles]

Our first trip we stayed 6 days but only went to a park on 5 days and one down day that we just hung out at the resort and went to DTD/DS. We realized that wasn't quite enough time in the parks for us so the next trip we still only stayed 6 days but instead of a down day in the middle, we went to the parks 6 days and our previous "down day" just became a short day in the parks so we still had a little bit of down time in the middle of our stay. That was better, but.... The next trip was booked under the "Buy 4, Get 3 Free" deal so we had 7 days of park hoppers which allowed us to spend a few hours in the parks on our arrival day (something we'd never done before). We were hooked. All of our trips since then have been 7 park days with day 1 being just a few hours at Epcot and 2 other days during the week being short park days. However, 7 days is starting to feel just a tiny bit too short so our next trip will probably be 8 days. I think 10 days would probably be my limit...though I'm not opposed to trying a 14-day trip.

 

[JohnD]

About 5 days for me, including arrival and departure days.

On my next trip in December my schedule is:

• Sun: HS (arrive mid-afternoon)
• Mon: Ep
• Tue: Ep morning / afternoon; MK (MVMCP)
• Wed: AK
• Thur: MK (depart afternoon then head to Universal through the following Sunday)

 

[MickeyMan36]

Our sweet spot is 9 nights with 8 days. Arrive late on Friday and leave midday the following Sunday. That's what we love doing, but our family has gotten much busier, so we are now more likely to go for 5 or 6 nights.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

We started out with 6 days, and over the years have extended it to 9 days. It works out to 8 1/2 with flight days. That seems to be the best for us. We try to do a Universal day or 2 in there too. We take our time, do our must do's, and then wing it with what we want to do over. This pace works for us (I would love to make it longer, but not at this time)

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Have typically done 6-7 nights and felt it was a good length of time with family.

Trying a slightly shorter 5 night solo stay next year. Didn’t think I’d need as many days for just me.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Our sweet spot is 2 weeks. Long enough to get all we want done on our to do list. Long enough that we dont feel pressured to get everything done because of time restraints... although theres really never enough days. We hit the parks immediately because why be at WDW and not start immersing ourselves into all that atmosphere and joy right away? We still jam pack our days. Weve been on trips with less days and they always felt like we had cheated ourselves out of fun. But yes, as Weather_Lady said, by the 14th day, we really miss our pets left behind and are ready to get home to them.

 

[Roakor]

7 days, 6 nights. its about 16 hour drive for me so we spend saturday driving down, and the following sunday driving back.

 

[CTC]

15 days.

 

[CLEtoWDW]

With our kids being not big enough to enjoy all attentions I’d say 6 full days is perfect for us. However, as they grow I’d say that will go up to at least 8 days (maybe 10).