Figuring out how many days to stay at Disney is a tricky business. Make your vacation too short and you’ll miss out on some of your top to-dos, but stay too long and you’ll experience a major drain on your budget and energy. Ask yourself these questions as you’re planning your vacation to hone in on the right time frame.
How many parks are on your agenda?
This is one of the most telling questions when it comes to determining the length of your stay. Are you determined to see all four theme parks for a once-in-a-lifetime visit to Walt Disney World, or are you dropping in for a particular park? If you’re visiting in late September, perhaps you’re planning to visit Epcot for the Food and Wine Festival and Magic Kingdom for Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. If your party is more interested in Star Wars and wild animal experiences than princesses and pirates, perhaps you’ll stick to Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios during your stay.
If you want to fully experience a theme park, give it at least one entire day. Park hopping is a tricky business. While you can plan a two-park day, you’ll undoubtedly have to cut some big experiences out and proceed with a bit more hustle to get to it all.
Make sure you include any desired water parks on your list. If you’re planning a visit to Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach, you shouldn’t expect a full theme park visit in the same day. You might be able to drop in for a fireworks show or parade, but don’t plan much else. A better strategy is to pair your water park visit with a stroll around Disney Springs or a round of mini golf in the evening.
Which scheduled experiences are must-sees?
Most Disney attractions run continuously, so you don’t have to worry about timing your visit right to experience Expedition Everest or Soarin’ Around the World. However, there are some that happen only once a day, necessitating far more planning. If you can’t leave Disney World without seeing the nightly fireworks show, you’ll need at least one evening in the Magic Kingdom. If Illuminations and Rivers of Light are also on your must-see list, your visit needs to last at least 3 days to accommodate everything.
Write down all your must-see experiences and note whether they take place at scheduled times. Pencil all your scheduled events into your agenda to make sure you have enough days to see it all. Keep in mind that one- or twice-a-day events like the Festival of Fantasy parade draw big crowds, so you’ll need time to stake out your spot, enjoy the experience, and push through massive crowds to get to your next destination. Don’t expect to catch an evening parade at Magic Kingdom and jet over to Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic if the two are just hours apart. Give these activities at least half a day worth of room on your schedule before you plan to be somewhere else.
Are You Staying at a Walt Disney World Resort?
If you’re staying at a Walt Disney World Resort, you can take advantage of free convenient transportation and exclusive Extra Magic Hours to make your days easier and longer. Those additional hours in the morning or at night could help you plan a two-park day with more success. Eliminating the hassle of parking, particularly at a park like Magic Kingdom where you need to take a tram to the TTC and a boat or monorail to reach the park, will add to your day as well.
If you’re staying on property, you can generally park hop much more successfully, which means that you might be able to cut a day off your visit and slash your vacation expenses with careful planning.
How Old Are the Members of Your Party?
If you have small children in your party, plan for everything to take much longer than you think it will. Evenings will end sooner, and morning prep will take longer. You may need to return to the hotel mid-day for a nap and some time out of the sun. If possible, avoid park-hopping with small children so you can enjoy a more leisurely pace with less stress to get to a particular destination on time.
If you have children of varying ages, you may also need to add time to your vacation for lengthy child swaps. If you have children who are too short to ride an attraction, you can use a child swap pass to split your party. Using a child swap, Dad might wait with Junior while Mom and Sister ride. When they’re done, Mom can wait with Junior while Dad takes his turn and Sister gets to ride again, using a child swap ticket to go through the FastPass line. While this process allows older kids to ride twice, it’s time-consuming and will take a chunk out of the day.
If you have small children, stretch out your timetables and build in extra days where you can so you don’t have to rush.
How Often Do You Visit Disney World?
If you’re a frequent Disney Guest who makes annual trips or returns every few years, you can typically enjoy a satisfying experience with a shorter stay. Consider visiting for Epcot’s Flower and Garden Festival in Spring while foregoing the other parks. Plan your next visit for the winter months and include Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom on your schedule. Focusing on a smaller area during your visit will give you the chance to experience each park more thoroughly. You can get more out of Epcot’s festivals when you hang around for demonstrations and live music performances. The more you visit, the shorter you can make each stay.
Though you can’t anticipate every part of your Disney vacation, do make a list of the attractions, shows, meals, and experiences you hope to include. Work backwards from this list to figure out the ideal length for your visit, rather than choosing your days first and trying to cram your preferences into them. Smart planning will always make your visit easier.
