How many days in Disneyworld?

[Anonymous]

Planning a vacation to Disneyworld w/4 & 6 yr old (girl & boy). How many days is enough without feeling rushed?

[Anonymous]

Op here, no one in our family has been to Disneyworld before. Hotel recommendations would be welcomed as well. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I assume you want to visit all of the parks? What time of year are you going? If you are going on the off season and get park-hopper passes (which means you can go between parks on the same day) 3-4 park days should be fine. I would also recommend staing on the resort on a monorail property, especially the Polynesian or the Contemporary so you can walk to the transit center where you switch monorail lines. There's also a boat to the Magic Kingdom from the Polynesian and the Grand Floridian, and you can walk to the MK from the Contemporary.

Disney is stupid-crazy expensive, but if you only plan to go once or twice, just make it as easy on yourself and fight for as few buses as possible.

[Anonymous]

We did 5 days and I wish we had done 6, so we'd have one day with no parks but have time to chill out, stay at the pool, visit the boardwalk, etc. There is A LOT to do there.

That said, you can really tailor your visit, so with kids that age you could easily do 3 days or more. If you wan tot visit each park then 4 days min.

[Anonymous]

4 day park hopper.

One-two extra days to enjoy the Disney properties.

[Anonymous]

Don't miss Hollywood Studios. Your boy will be in heaven.

Be sure to get to the park early to reserve his spot at the Jedi Training Academy. It sells out within minutes after the park opens.

[Anonymous]

When do you plan to go?
If you can stay at the Contemporary, I highly recommend that.

I agree with PP who recommended at least 4 days for parks plus a day or two to enjoy the other other stuff at Disney that isn't in the parks. I've heard great things about the pirate adventure

If you think you'll want a character meal, you need to reserve those far in advance. You can reserve up to 180 days in advance and some of the more popular ones (like Cinderella's Royal Table) sell out quick!

[Anonymous]

The marginal cost of extra days on a multi-day ticket becomes very low past 3 or 4 days - about $10/day. So, if you have the available vacation time, I think it makes more sense to get park tickets for every day you will be at Disney, even if you build in some days of only going to the parks for a short time and relaxing at the resort for the rest of the day. ie, if you're paying for 6 nights of hotel, I would get 6 or 7 day tickets even if you know that all you will do on arrival day is go see the evening parade and fireworks, and that on two of the days you will spend only the morning in the parks and then go swimming. To me, if I'm already paying for a hotel, I'm definitely willing to pay an extra $10/day for those extra park visits.
That being said, you will never be able to "do it all," so you need to decide what you do want to make sure to include.

I have seen the site "Your First Visit" (http://yourfirstvisit.net/) recommended if you're aiming for a "do Disney once and only once" kind of trip. I haven't tried their plans myself, though.

[Anonymous]

I'd vote 5. One for each park and two for MK.

Also, seriously consider the park hopper. Almost all of our trips (starting when kids were 2 and 5) have been without park hopper (including when they were 6 1/2 and 4). We have park hopped lately, but that'd only because we have DVC annual passes. I don't know if we would park hop w/o them. One park per day is plenty for my kids. They just get overloaded and want to go back and swim at the pool. Our park hopping mostly consists of hopping either to Epcot for dinner or hopping to DHS for Toy Story Mania and then leaving (my kids can't stand DHS and neither can we but we love that ride!)

Point being... You want relaxing.... park hopping might not be for you. It might be, just think about it first and assess your family's travel needs. IMHO, I'd rather enjoy a smaller amount of Disney with the kids and family not all fighting and crabby vs going all crazy to see it all. The truth is, the kids will never know what they miss. Even all the times we have been lately, we still have not watched any of the evening shows- kids are just too worn out and tired by then. One day we'll watch them, but for now, we prefer to have them in bed at a semi reasonable hour and get to the parks early the next day.

[Anonymous]

You need to accept that you can't do it all. I've done 9 days at WDW three times and we never managed to do it all in one trip. Plan the trip, hit your highlights, and let the kids do planning so they hit their highlights. Then sit back and have a good time. Don't try to see everything. It will make you crazy and unhappy.

That said, I would do this:
1. 1 day at Disney Hollywood Studios, go back to the room for a break and swim, dinner at Epcot or MK.
2. 1 day at Animal Kingdom. go back to the room for a break and a swim, dinner at Epcot or MK.
3. 1 day at Epcot, dinner at downtown Disney with shopping or a stop at DisneyQuest or the Cirque de Soleil show.
4. 1 day at MK, dinner at Epcot.
5. 1 day at MK dinner at Epcot
6. Morning at Blizzard Beach or DisneyQuest, lunch, fly home in the afternoon.

[Anonymous]

I did one 10 day park hopper and didnt see it all
We stayed at shades of green ( the military
Hotel-my friend was DOD) also got amazing
Goverment discount tickets with extra perks
Research reastursnts and make reservations in advance
Get the mousewait app it had loads of tips and a forum
You can ask questions in

[Anonymous]

I like the park hopper because it means you're not stuck eating at the park you're in. We used to make reservations for the restaurants at Epcot at night (generally better restaurants) but went somewhere else during the day. Not a whole lot for the little ones to do at Epcot.

[Anonymous]

I recommend staying onsite. Sign up at the WDW website for the email list. They periodically have sales/discounted rates that are advertised by email.

I recommend getting Park Hoppers, but they do add cost.

After Day 4, the days get really cheap. Maybe it's after Day 5.

The new Magic Pass system is a pain and you won't get the benefit of the Park Hoppers.... but you are not familiar with the "old" way, so it won't be anything to compare against.

Consult www.easywdw.com to help figure out what crowds will be like ("Crowd Calendars"). If you're going in the summer, prepare for heat & humidity, daily thunderstorms. You might want to take a break mid-day to go back to your hotel pool and cool off before dinner. Park Hoppers come in handy here if you want to go to a different park for dinner (or after dinner). I agree with a PP about eating dinner at Epcot.

If it's in your budget, the Contemporary is a good location.

We went in the summer for 5 days. I think 6 would have been a bit better. We did have Park Hoppers, so we could maximize our time at Magic Kingdom (we were staying nearby so easy to get there at night).

[Anonymous]

Six days. That is all the kids can handle but still the most cost effective (kinda hard to use that word when refering to Disney). You will still miss some things but get to every park when it opens, that is a must. Also, my kids always love water park, so do not skip that. Try to do the late night once in Epcot and once in Magic Kingdom, if the kids are up for it. Do not be tempted to skip Hollywood Studios, it is incredible. Have a great time, Disneyword really is magic!!!

[Anonymous]

I would disagree with those suggesting that you purchase a park hopper. With little kids, it's a big effort to schlep into the park and by the end of the day everyone is SO TIRED that the thought of going to another park was laughable for us. This was our experience each time we went to disney with our three little girls. Just another perspective. You should stay on the monorail if price isn't a huge issue. contemporary is great bc can walk to magic kingdom if u want. We stayed at grand Floridian which was ok. Polynesian is supposed to be fun for kids. Disney hotels are expensive but rooms themselves not awesome. U r paying a lot for the great location. Also you will want at least two days at magic kingdom. Hollywood studies. Eh. Animal kingdom fun but closed early around 5. Epcot not super fun for little kids but has a few things to do.