Why do people stay seven - ten days at Disney?

[Nate_offroad]

Just wondering what everyone does if their vacation is more than 4 or 5 days.


It would be really nice to be able to stay about 7 or 10 days, I just would think it might be too much of a good thing.

I was there this past August, we had a two pay park hopper.

Aug 13th - Arrived late afternoon, took showers and went to Downtown Disney to eat at T-Rex

Aug 14th - Used Extra Magic hours at DHS. Did everything we wanted to there. Then went over to DAK. Did everything we wanted to there, and the went to MK for Extra Magic Hours at night.

Aug 15th - We started at Epcot, and after finishing there we went back to MK again.


That was amaing to do 3 parks in one entire day. Now I'm going back and we have a 4 day park hoppers, so maybe we can take it a little slower and meet more characters.


Thoughts? Suggestions?


- Thanks

 

[jonnyc]

We go for 14 Days, we do our favourites (DHS and MK) twice, then a day each at Epcot, AK, BB, TL, SW, USF and IOA. We will also usually have a shopping day and then the day we go home we usually spend in DTD and DQ.

 

[DisneyPrincess5]

Well, for us we love the feeling of being away and on vacation. To us, a 4-5 day trip ends as soon as it starts...it flies by too quickly.
Plus, we like having 8-9 days to do everything we want and do them over again.

 

[luvlifeinfl]

The longest we have been at Disney is 10 days & the least is 6days. We enjoy the more days becasue we do not go to the parks everyday, we try to spend time at the resort, if it be by the pool, the game room ect. It is the mindset of being away from home and routine that wants us to stay longer. It is like living a different life that we do not have in our everyday stressful lives.

 

[bhealthy]

I have to agree with the others here, the longer the better. Every trip I try to do something I haven't done before. A tour, mini-golf, water park,etc. After you do things you know you like, try something you're not sure of. For example, at DHS I tried LMA and BatB last time for my parents. Not that I didn't want to do them, but to me it just wasn't on my top to do list. Well, I loved LMA and I really enjoyed BatB. Both were a surprise to me. You never know what you are going to find until you try them. I'm also planning a solo trip so I can take more time to really enjoy all the little aspects Disney puts into their parks. To me Disney is more than rides and shows - it's an experience. If I want to sit in Adventureland for an hour and listen to the background music, I can. If I want to spend hours shopping in a store, I can. No rushing around. Ride a bike, check out resorts you would love to stay at if you hit the lottery. If there's even more time there are plenty of things to do not Disney too. Sorry I'll get off my soapbox now.

 

[Master Yoda]

Because they cant stay 11 or more? :shrug:

 

[foreverbelle]

When we go down for 7-10 days, it allows us to relax and take our time. With a day or two of non parks. We find if we go for less, we are trying to cram everything that we want to do in that short amount of time. Plus, if I am on vacation I am going to make sure to enjoy and use every minute that we can. And I want to make it worth my while. Especially if we drive down...

 

[Atomicmickey]

Well, I'll let you know! We leave Saturday for 10 days!

I have never been there for longer than 6. Actually, have not taken
a vacation of more than a week for maybe 15 years!

The plan is, to take it easier, spend more time relaxing by the pool, less pressure to run around. I tend to go "commando style" so this will be
interesting.

I, too, have wondered if we're going for "too long" (not to mention the friends
and relatives who wonder aloud to us the same thing).

We'll see . . . but right now it's rainy and 38, and this time next week it'll be mid-80's and palm trees. In my book, you can never have enough of that!

I'll report back with what I think of the longer stay, though, when we
return!

 

[WDW 3]

Our first trip was 7 days then 12, 11 and now 9 (including travel days) the longer the better. A lot more relaxing. This trip we are taking advantage of the 5 day military pass and so we have mixed feelings. Happy to be going:sohappy: Sad because it is short

 

[themoose]

I am a college student and the longest trip that I have done was 6 days. I am going with 3 friends in January for 10 days, so we're pretty excited. Knowing that we are going to have a lot of time, I have already looked into different activities like the Segway tours and mini golf. We had originally planned to go for 5 days during spring break, but found out that we could stay for double the time during winter break for the same price.

 

[jcs4evas1298]

I personally think anything less than 7 days (unless you live close and can go more than once or twice a year) is too little. Of course, we don't plan anything ahead (unless it's free dining plan season and we have to) so having enough time to do everything you want to do, and to enjoy the things outside of the parks (resort hopping, recreation, etc) all at a nice relaxing pace is done best with a week or two at least.

It's really not about how much you can see in disney and how long it takes, it's about relaxing and enjoying the disney experience for as long as possible!

 

[durangojim]

Biggest reason for us us that it lets us go at a much slower pace and enjoy more of the resort ammenities. Our kids can go for a swim and nap each day and we can go hang out at downtown Disney or enjoy some restaurants without feeling rushed.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Because they cant stay 11 or more? :shrug:

Exactly!

Just about every one of our trips has been 9 nights/10 days only because the hubby can't take more time off work than that. He works contract. Days missed are not paid so the money to cover that is part of our trip expense budget. Believe me, I'd eek out more days/nights if I could.

 

[RobnRachal]

We've never taken less than a seven day trip to Disney. Our preference is 11 days (depending on who we go with)!
This is usually our one big vaca for the year so we like time to relax, not just go go go. We swim. . .enjoy a signature meal. . .go to the boardwalk. . .waterpark. . .DTD. . .mini-putt. . .walking around all the beautiful resorts we can't afford to stay at :ROFLOL:
Besides, we have to do a couple days at EPCOT cause I can only drink so much in one day :lol:

 

[DisneyGigi]

We stay 10 days every trip and to be quite hinest I am still not ready to come home other than missing my cat. We are park people and are up and the park by opening stay til closing. So far I have not gotten tired of it, just spoiled because the thought of going on a shorter trip freaks me out. :lol:

 

[dizzney]

We usually stay between 7 and 9 days, the kids complain if its 7, somethimes it need to be. I work days, DH works nights and one weekend day. We run in opposite directions with three kids, so we look forward to vacation time together

We like to go in early to a park, come back, swim, relax, go mini golfing.... and then head somewhere for the eveing. Always have a dining ressie at a nice restaurant.

This year its 10 days nine nights beginning new years eve, we will definitely enjoy the relaxing together :sohappy::sohappy::sohappy:

 

[DisneySam]

Last October we were there for a solid 8-9 days. It does give you a more relaxed feel when you're in the parks you don't feel like you have to do and see everything that day.

One thing we did that helped is we planned a day trip mid-week to St. Pete Beach (about an hour West of WDW) which was a great idea. I used to live there so we basically visited friends and of course went to the beach but it was a nice break in the vacation.

 

[marcriss]

We've been going for 10 days the last few years and it's really a perfect amount. We don't feel pressure to see or do anything. We can sleep late, go to the pool, DTD, anything really. We spend the majority of our nights in Epcot and we spread everything out so we're never stuck standing in lines all day.

Disney is the one place where we can go and get away from all of the stress in our lives and have real quality time together as a family. It sounds sad but at home there are always a zillion things pulling you in different directions. This is "our" time and the longer the better.

 

[adambrady]

For me it's a little like running.

I hit "the wall" around the morning of day 5

Thats when I get the feelings of "maybe this is too long of a vacation"

By the morning of day 6 I have broken through the wall and am in "vacation cruse mode". Just moving along, doing whatever comes to mind, and not worrying much at all about a schedule (Except for the damn ADRs)

Whenever the trip then ends (7,8,9,10 days) I wish it could have been longer.


-dave

great analogy. I am very much the same.

 

[gettingsmaller]

Getting back to the OP, I think the key is the phrase "did everything we wanted to there."
Of course, if you can go to the park multiple times in a year and you don't want to do that much in each park, you can get it done in fewer days.
HOWEVER, if you only get to go once a year or every few years, you want to do more rides, repeat rides, see shows, etc.. That takes time.
Also, we like to go with dining, which also takes time.
Also, water parks are fun, along with a little Downtown Disney (but a little goes a long way for me, personally--love the Christmas shop, tho).
So, it's really pretty easy to stretch a WDW vacation out to 10 days. We went for 12 days a couple of years ago, and STILL didn't do everything that we intended to do.

 

[disney1077]

I go for two weeks but I go every two years to Disney World. I like to take my time and try to experience everything. I always try to do at least one new thing I have not done before. I also go to Sea World and sometimes Universal Studios so that right there is two days filled. I dont think I could go for less than two weeks. I would not want to feel rushed or that I forgotten to do something.