May 02

Disney Planning – Length of Stay

Another question in everyone’s mind when doing their Disney planning is what is their length of stay going to be.  I am a frequent Disney flyer and I always book a week long stay on the Disney property, mainly because I live 10 hours away and always try to maximize my trip.  Really, if I had my way about it, and my child had longer breaks at school, I would stay in excess of 2 weeks.

imagesHow long you stay should depend upon the trip you are taking. If it is your first visit and you have the luxury of time, a minimum of 6 or 7 days should be considered to see most of what Disney has to offer.  You can never see it all in just a week but that will just mean a return trip for you.

The Disney World Resort has 4 theme parks each of which should have a dedicated day to each.  During peak visitor season, some of the parks can take 2 days to completely see everything.  I personally always set aside 2 days for Epcot because it is so large and you will want to take your time to explore Future World and each of the countries.  We usually allow 2 days for the Magic Kingdom as well but that’s really because we just want to ride Big Thunder, Splash Mountain and Space Mountain over and over….and over again.  Disney’s Hollywood Studios can be seen in one day as well as Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

As an experienced Disney girl, I always buy 5 or 6 day park hopper passes for a week long stay.  This not only gives us plenty of time to do all 4 parks plus one extra day to pick a park to do again.  Having Park Hopper passes allows you to hop from park to park but I don’t recommend hopping parks just to ride specific rides because you could lose up to 2 hours transporting between parks during the peak seasons.  I find the hoppers to be beneficial when you are in one park and it closes early and another park is open much later….like you are in Animal Kingdom and it closes at 6:00 and the Magic Kingdom doesn’t close until midnight.

So now that you know how long to stay, next you will want to figure out where you are going to stay.

Holly Wiencek
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Holly Wiencek

Holly Wiencek is the author of Capturing the Magic: A Photographic Journey Through the Walt Disney World Parks. A Florida native and lifelong Disney enthusiast, Holly has been visiting Disney Parks since she was a toddler. With countless visits to both Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort, she has spent a lifetime exploring and learning about the history and legacy Walt Disney left behind and the details created by Disney Imagineering. She spends her spare time making Disney magic in her everyday life and enjoys sharing that magic with her husband and her daughter, Abby.

Visit www.capturing-the-magic.com for a preview of the stunning coffee table book, Capturing the Magic and purchase your copy today.

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