Short or Longer Visits

[jo-jo]

We started going 6 nights 2-3 times a year…now that I’m retired (and widowed), I prefer longer stays 3-4 times a year. If I’m going to drive all that way by myself - I need time to recuperate…

We fly and need time to recuperate.

Until 4 or 5 years ago, we would go 8-10 days and go into parks most days , good part of the day. Last couple of years we have done a 2 week trip, only go into parks maybe 8 days with 8 hours visits broken up. This trip we are going 2 weeks, have a ten day ticket, still doing the park/rest/park for about 6 days, but on the rest days, we might still go into park just for a show or fireworks.

 

[The Mayor]

We prefer a seven night stay but have done shorter stays in the past. Seven days gives us a day off mid week to have a resort pool day and/or a visit to DS. We usually go hard for 5 days in the parks, rope dropping with a mid day break and then going back and staying for the fireworks or shows.

 

[fla4fun]

I love longer trips. My longest so far was 17 nights, and I was not ready to go home. I don’t mind the short trips, but they are more stressful to me than the longer trips because I am trying to pack more into them.

 

[goofyernmost]

I vacationed in Florida not WDW. The main focus of my trips was WDW, but not my only joy. The longest time I ever spent in Florida on any trip was 14 days and only 5 of those days were at WDW and one of those was at what is now Disney Springs. As I have stated in previous posts, I went all over central Florida and sometimes beyond but my base was just outside of WDW's gate. From the Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico I experienced a variety of theme parks, local establishments, my share of tourist traps and flea markets or just exploring the more rural areas.

After I moved from Vermont to North Carolina it was a 10 hour drive from my front door to Kissimmee. so sometimes three or four days was the max. Back then I could buy a 10 day, non-expiring park hopper ticket and since I had gone enough that I knew what my favorite things were I could get to all four parks in two days and still have a day or two for other places like Universal and the like. Even though it was never diagnosed, I think that I had ADHD with a moderately short attention span. Because I would get very bored with the same thing for long amounts of time and have to do or see something different. I, personally, wouldn't change that for anything. I can honestly say that in my modest travels I have loved everything I have seen from the technologically fascinating Kennedy Space center to the Tussaud's London Wax Museum at St. Pete Beach, to the Worlds Fair in Osaka, Japan to the top observation layer of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It makes me feel that even though I have never been wealthy, and usually just one notch above living week to week, financially, I've managed to make the most of my limited resources and experienced so many things. For that I am very grateful. However, in Florida for me the cake was WDW and all the rest was just frosting on that cake.

I always from 35 years old until I reached an age and condition that no longer allows me to experience it, daydreamed about the joy I always felt as I entered WDW and all the while I was there. For about 35 years I was involved with so much of Disney. I spent hours trying figure a way that I could be involved with it like wanting to have a business where I could be directly connected to WDW by holding special information gatherings for those that had never been there to actually working for the place. My family vetoed that last one, but I became a CDL bus driver in anticipation of retiring in Florida and driving the Disney buses. Up until I couldn't physically do it the only thing that stopped me was life's inevitable twists and turns that led me to NC instead.

In answer to the question... for me short visits were my thing it just usually takes me a long time and many thoughts to say the word "short".

 

[NH-to-FL]

If money was not an issue, would you rather go for a longer visit a couple of times a year or for shorter trips but multiple times a year?

A number of factors influenced our choice of trip length. Just the two of us, DW and I.

First, we are not big travelers so if we are going to travel we want to make the travel stress worth while. Second, after a 10 day stay, we found that we tire of hotel room living after about a week.

So we ended up enjoying two 1 week trips a year to the Boardwalk for many years.

One trip we splurged on a bounce back offer for a one bedroom at BWV. We could have stayed longer in the 1 bedroom.

Full disclosure: we ended up being snowbirds for a few years. 5 months a year 12 mies from WDW. That became our best trip length.

 

[RickNJane]

For us it is an all day flight to Orlando so we tend to take longer trips. Our usual trip is 14 days. This gives us great flexibility as to park days and resort days. One year in the early 2000's we went for the entire month of December. That is when we found that Christmas Day in the Magic Kingdom is not all that magical! It was a great trip, but it was great to get home. Don't think we will do that long of a trip ever again.

Now that we are retired we are looking at taking a couple of trips a year or taking 1 trip to DLR for 7 days and 10 to 14 days at WDW. This year we have 3 trips planned. 7 days in February at DLR, 10 days in May and 14 days in December with the Grandkids at WDW. 2025 will be a very busy year!

So I guess to answer your question I guess we like Several longer trips.

 

[linco711]

If money was not an issue, would you rather go for a longer visit a couple of times a year or for shorter trips but multiple times a year?

I think longer for us. One time we went for 12 days and it was great. We did some things that we normally wouldn't have time to do.

For me, the longer is better.

I agree.. We drive down, and although it isn’t that far we have to st a lot more and my back aches after a few hours in the car…I find myself wanting to stop along the way and stretch out for a nap.. just saying..

 

[kanerf]

I do 10 day split stays every time. At the moment, I am doing 3 a year, Jan, May and Oct. Probably change that when I finally get around to retiring.

 

[Skywalker3]

We always drive, about 10-12 hours, so longer is better for us. Usually it's about 2 trips/year, usually around 7-8 days depending on when we're going. (sometimes if it's early June, we stay an extra day or so. )
I don't like to fly. But.....would be so nice to scoot down there for all the various festivals here and there, and get to experience more variety in the times of year we visit. If I can get over my fear of flying, maybe can make more short trips more often.

 

[team bradfield]

we have a motorhome and stay at fort wilderness for the month of February and a week in April on our way back from the Keys, AP holders so we do the parks during the week and avoid the weekends.

 

[team bradfield]

we have a motorhome and stay at fort wilderness for the month of February and a week in April on our way back from the Keys, AP holders so we do the parks during the week and avoid the weekends.

I should add we are retired

 

[Counting Stars]

Long drives require longer stays, the great thing is after a looooong drive Disney buses are a wonderful way to let someone else drive! So we take our time getting there and usually do a split stay at two resorts- so our trips are 12-14 days long before driving back to the Midwest.

 

[NewDisneyEnthusiast]

If money is not a factor, I’d vote for multiple longer trips. But in our case we do tend towards doing two 7 -10 night trips. We have a 9 night booked for the beginning of May 25 and a 7 night towards the end of Sept 25. Unfortunately, that’s all we can afford. Would love to sneak in another sometime in 25 but don’t think it will happen.

 

[jtopp]

We used to do the longer (10-12 days) but now we do multiple short stays. It gives us something to look forward to multiple times a year instead of all at once.

 

[kathy884]

I'm all about the mini four night trip. I think a big part of that though is probably that DH doesn't care for Disney and doesn't come. I have other Disney loving relatives though that I love to meet up with and my favorite nephew lives in Orlando and I have a cousin who lives in Tampa who I see on mini trips too.

Love, Love, love the mini WDW splurge. I've also been coming down since the park first opened in 1971, so have been so many times that it's really easy for me to pick and choose and not try to do it all (just pick a few things for a fun, short, whirlwind trip).

Once a year though is perfect for me for the mini trip. As much as I love Disney (I really do), maybe because I have 40 or more trips under my belt, once a year is all I really want to do. It wouldn't be as special to me I think if I went more often. I recently have been doing a mini annual trip every February and always look forward to that, as do other Disney loving relatives of mine who meet up with me.

It helps that I can get a direct flight that is just 2 to 2 1/2 hours and that I have lots of Southwest points and can use points for those too.

 

[disneyseniors]

I guess I am the odd one out on this discussion. I have started shorter trips with my kids. We go to Universal and usually stay 5 or 6 nights. We used to go to WDW for at least 10 nights,but not anymore. We really enjoy our shorter visits to Universal, and we can go more times a year if we want.

 

[Goldelpack]

To maximize my happiness I aim for at least 2 11 night trips every few months- usually schedule them within weeks of ending one. If I know my potential not WDW trips with family (I "babysit" for my grandykids so their parents can work on their vacations) I'll schedule a trip at the end of those times and fly out to MCO. I've done very short visits after such vacations and was so miserable that I didn't take advantage. Last week I decided on an end of April 11 night trip. But then I realized it is sooooo far away and somehow I reserved a just in case I can room for end of Feb for 11 nights.
Having a trip planned makes me happy. The longer the better!