How Many Days Should Your Disney World Trip Be?
Instead of asking "how many days should I visit Disney World?", ask "what kind of vacation do I want to have?"
Planning a Walt Disney World vacation comes with a seemingly endless number of decisions. Where should you stay? Which parks should you visit? Where should you eat? Which attractions matter most? What souvenirs would be most special?
There is one even more fundamental question, however, that affects all the others:
How many days should you spend at Disney World?
Plan Upon A Star's philosophy is that there is no "perfect" Disney trip, just the right one for you and your loved ones. To help decide how many days your Disney World trip should be, start instead with this question:
What kind of vacation do you want to have?
That answer can tell you much more.
Start With You and Your Family
It is very easy to look up or borrow someone else's “perfect” Disney World itinerary. Maybe it is four parks in four days, park hopping from Magic Kingdom to EPCOT, or a weeklong trip with two rest days at the Disney World resort you are staying at. What works for someone else may not necessarily work for you. That's okay. Everyone is different.
Think about how you and your family normally like to travel. After all, Disney World may be the "Most Magical Place On Earth," but it is still a vacation. If you have routines you like to follow on your other vacations, it is good to continue those.
Think about the big picture vacation questions. Are you a morning or evening person? Does your travel party like to do every activity together or do you split off into groups for some of the experiences? Do you enjoy a lot of walking and being outside? Or, do you like to sleep in and would prefer to spend the day in a relaxing resort?
After starting with how you like to vacation in general, then think about Walt Disney World. Do one or two of the parks really stand out to you in terms of your interests? Each park is a wonder of its own, but that doesn't mean that you want to visit all of them.
Groups made up of adults often prioritize EPCOT while those with young children may want to spend the most time at Magic Kingdom. Nature lovers put Animal Kingdom at the top of the list. If you prefer watching live performances, Hollywood Studios might be up your alley. Again, it all comes back to you and your family. What makes you most excited?
Think also about:
Energy levels. How many consecutive long days will everyone realistically enjoy?
First-time visitors. Will anyone feel disappointed if they don't experience all four parks?
Young children. Will naps, early bedtimes, or pool breaks be important?
Returning visitors. Are you comfortable skipping things you've done before?
Different interests. Does one person love attractions while someone else would rather explore resorts and restaurants?
As you plan, keep in mind that there is an important difference between having enough time to do things and having enough time to enjoy them.
Your trip should leave room for both. With that in mind, below you will find a few suggestions when thinking about Disney World trips of different lengths.
The Weekend Getaway: 2 Days
For those whose schedule or budget only allows a weekend getaway or those who are just looking for a quick escape, a two-day Disney World trip can be just as magical as a weeklong trip.
A good idea for a weekend getaway is to have one specific goal or theme to the trip since time is most limited. The goal could be:
"Let's go to EPCOT's Food and Wine Festival" or " I want to see the Christmas lights at Magic Kingdom."
Or, the theme might be:
"Let's have a romantic getaway at the Boardwalk" or "Let's have a nature-focused trip by staying at Fort Wilderness and visiting Animal Kingdom."
One of the most relaxing kinds of Disney World vacations can be the weekend getaway when you have one goal or theme in mind. It keeps the vacation focused and it is easy to accomplish.
A Short Disney World Trip: 3–4 Days
A three- or four-day Walt Disney World trip can work beautifully, especially for a quick getaway or for returning visitors who already know what matters most to them.
A shorter trip, however, requires choices. You might choose two parks, one each day, plus a resort day in order to fully experience what the parks have to offer while also having a day to rest and recharge.
On the other hand, you can certainly accomplish all four parks in a shorter Disney World trip. When you purchase your tickets, you can choose the Park Hopper option at additional cost which allows you to do multiple parks in a single day.
In fact, Disney World is designed to help you experience multiple parks in a single day. For example, Magic Kingdom and EPCOT are connected by the Monorail. Hollywood Studios and EPCOT are connected by the Friendship boats and the Disney Skyliner. There are also plenty of busses to take you from park to park if you prefer not to drive.
No matter how many parks you choose, it will be important to prioritize before you arrive on a shorter trip. Instead of building a giant list of everything you'd like to do, have each person identify a couple attractions or experiences that would make the trip feel special. If those happen, everything else can become a bonus.
Short trips can be energetic and exciting. They can also be surprisingly freeing when you accept from the beginning that you aren't trying to see everything.
A Medium-Length Trip: 5–6 Days
For many families, five or six days provides noticeably more breathing room.
You can easily visit all four theme parks without making every day feel like a sprint. You may have time to return to a favorite park or attraction, enjoy a slower morning, spend an evening somewhere other than a theme park, or simply sit for awhile and have an ice cream when everyone needs a break.
That flexibility can be especially valuable for a first visit. If it is your first time visiting Disney World, you might find that the attraction or show you were not interested in turned out to be one of your favorites. One of the best perks of a longer trip is that you have the time to re-experience your favorite things.
Your vacation pace can also slow down. Walt Disney World is enormous and much of its magic exists outside the attraction lines. There are restaurants to enjoy, resorts to explore, shows to watch, animals to see, shops to browse, and countless little details you may only notice when you aren't rushing past them.
An extra day doesn't necessarily mean doing more. Sometimes it means having permission to do the same amount more slowly.
A Longer Disney World Vacation: 7 Days or More
A week or longer can change the rhythm of the vacation considerably. When you know you have another park day ahead, skipping something because everyone is tired doesn't feel as consequential. A morning at the pool doesn't have to feel like time taken away from the parks. You can return to a favorite attraction or restaurant simply because you loved it.
Longer trips can also create room for experiences that sometimes get pushed aside on shorter vacations:
A full or partial resort day
Disney Springs
Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon
Resort dining
Pool time
Miniature golf or other recreation
Returning to a favorite park
Slower mornings or earlier evenings
Simply wandering without a checklist
There is, however, another side to a longer trip. A longer vacation means more days of lots of walking and more nights away from your own bed. Even for the most active and adventurous, it is easy to underestimate.
A good rule of thumb on a long Disney World vacation is to have a minimum of one hotel day for every three days in the park. It could be just a partial hotel day. But, that one day of extra time in bed or floating in the pool can be almost as magical as Disney World itself. The legs are rested, the mind is refreshed, and you are ready to explore more.
If you are staying at a Disney World resort, a hotel day can feel just as magical as a day in Magic Kingdom. Each Disney resort is uniquely themed and has plenty to do. For example, your children can meet with their favorite characters or watch a Disney movie under the stars at Art of Animation Resort. Or, you might do a mosaic class or Sangria tasting course (adults only!) at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort.
On a longer trip, it is important to keep in mind the balance of seeing as much as you hope while also staying refreshed. After all, it is a vacation. It is good to feel some exhaustion from accomplishing a lot after a trip, but not so much that you need a vacation after your vacation.
Your Budget Gets an Important Vote Too
It isn't particularly helpful to recommend a seven-day vacation if paying for seven days makes the trip financially uncomfortable.
The goal isn't to build the biggest Disney vacation. It's to build your Disney vacation.
Before You Start Planning...
Before choosing the length of your trip, ask everyone traveling with you:
What are three things you most want from this vacation?
Don't give them a list of attractions to choose from. Let them answer however they'd like. Someone might name three rides. Someone might say they want to meet Mickey Mouse. Someone might want to swim at the resort.
And someone might simply say:
“I want us to have fun together.”
Look at those answers before deciding how many days you need. Because you're not trying to fit the greatest possible amount of Walt Disney World into your vacation.
You're trying to give yourselves enough time for the things that will make the vacation feel like yours.
Plan Your Trip. Make Lifelong Memories.