Short or Longer Visits

[LuvMyEAR]

Longer! Although there is no doubt we would and would have loved more frequent visits, travelling from Atlantic Canada makes us want to maximize our time there. It’s seldom inexpensive to fly, and driving to FL just means less time there, plus road trips are not necessarily more economical.

We have always loved to visit parks on alternate days, leaving us to relax, do some shopping, enjoy our resort, hop around the WDW resorts, and indulge our grandsons’ every increasing addiction to TL. They have become insatiable body surfers who hit that wave pool at opening and ride the last wave in at closing. They emerge only during the the bobbing wave periods, to refuel and maybe get in a slide or two before Miss Tilly signals the start of the next set of waves.

We enjoy spending time in Disney Springs. We will pop in before most places open and enjoy our Joffre’s coffee by the water, maybe join the Gideons line, or window shop a bit. We also love to go in around 4 pm, have an early dinner hit a few stores, and take in some evening entertainment.

10 - 14 days is our preferred length of stay, but it could easily be longer. I would love to have a month in town, but only DH and I have that kind of time, and unfortunately not that kind of budget.

 

[RickNJane]

We are planning a Nov. trip with DD and her family. 14 days is a must for us. The GK are 5 and 9. We do the parks in the morning and resorts in the afternoon, sometimes heading back to the parks in the evening. We do not feel the need to rush and have almost zero FOMO. Vacation for us is relaxing and not some military type campaign. We are DVC with enough points to have longer stays. if we had to pay for lodging, I'm sure that would impact our length of stay.

Anyone else remember the old days when you could get a length of stay pass when checking into a resort hotel? I kinda miss that. Now we just get the DVC Sorcerer's AP instead.

 

[bakerworld]

We've tried all kinds of lengths (3 to 14 days), ways of travel (car, plane, train), and stays that are split or multiple destinations in one stay. What we've settled into is 5 night stays in one venue three times a year. We're evolving into park-less stays because even when we do have a park ticket we tend to ramble around for a few hours stopping for refreshments, which kinda places the cost of a park ticket into a luxury item.

 

[Pinnochio]

A couple longer trips seems much better for us than more short trips - less hassles with travel to get to and from, and less time in airports is just fine with me! My least favorite parts of the Disney trips!

ditto.... especially the less hassles traveling/airports part.....two 10 or 11 day trips per year works for us

 

[kathy884]

We've tried all kinds of lengths (3 to 14 days), ways of travel (car, plane, train), and stays that are split or multiple destinations in one stay. What we've settled into is 5 night stays in one venue three times a year. We're evolving into park-less stays because even when we do have a park ticket we tend to ramble around for a few hours stopping for refreshments, which kinda places the cost of a park ticket into a luxury item.

That sounds awesome. Do you like SeaWorld? I know that our family and extended family just love that park -- so beautiful and relaxing compared to Disney. Just saying when my parents were doing long trips to Orlando and multiple trips a year, one of them would get an annual pass there and that provided free parking and two guest tickets for multiple intervals during the year. They found that to be a park they really enjoyed on their trips that they could go to quite economically and not feel like they were wasting money rambling around. And with the annual pass they could purchase discounted tickets too.

 

[goofyernmost]

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.

I drove from Vermont to Kissimmee probably about 30 of my 45 trips. That's 1600 miles one way (give or take). Others I flew and rented a car in Orlando and about 14 years ago I moved to North Carolina. At that point it was 600 miles or 10 hours from my door to Kissimmee. That is a short trip to me, but that matters not. I still usually only spent 3 or 4 days at the parks and always stayed offsite making it easier to explore. I used to decide which park or attraction to go to while I was having breakfast. Once I didn't make up my mind until I was about 500 yards from the World Drive entrance off 192 and the thought of Silver Springs came into my head and I let the rest of me decide, drove on by WDW and headed north to the Springs.

There is no way to do that anymore which seriously obstructed my ability to chill. It took a lot of fun out of it and I really haven't been back since 2019 and don't imagine I ever will again. Not sad, just took away my travel flexibility that was not focused on just one sole location. WDW was my incentive to go to Florida and the core of my visits, but I need more than a six foot mouse to fulfill my travel desires.