How many ticket days for a 9 day trip?

[Jperiod]

I'm a DLR vet but I've been to WDW twice and I STILL feel like an amateur. The FP+ makes me nuts because who on earth knows where they are gonna be in 60 days?!

Our first trip was a week and we ended up EXHAUSTED because we did 6 park days in a row. It was NOT a good trip. We stayed at boardwalk, but I don't think we park-hopped much because we realized it took SO long!

Our second trip was 2 weeks and we ended up EXHAUSTED. We did 9 park days and 2 parties (so I think it was really 10 park days and we didn't even use our last day on our hopper). We stayed at Saratoga and I think we hopped ONCE, if at all.

Mind you, when we go to Disneyland, we almost always stay a week, but the parks are teeny tiny. We're out of shape and that Florida humidity killed us (we're from Phoenix!).

Ok, so with that history, help me figure out how long of a ticket to buy for our next trip. I'm stressing because if I don't get enough days now and make FP+ selections now and we upgrade our ticket while we're there, it might end up being kinda crappy (we won't do anything over 20-30 minutes).

We'll be there 9 nights and 8.5 days. We're stayed 3 days at wilderness, 3 days at boardwalk, and 3 days at animal kingdom. Our first park day is after our first night there. I'm thinking we'll be ready for a break after every 2 park days, but that puts our "free day" on the same day we're changing resorts, so no where to lounge around. I've heard it's better to actually go to a park on resort switching days. I'm thinking 6 days with no park hopper (2 AK, 2 HS, 1 MK, and 1 EP). We can't do rope drop and the parks close at 8 pm. I'm worried we'll decide we want another day somewhere, even for a few hours. But I'd rather not waste money on days I won't use!

 

[Robo]

5

 

[ilanakan]

I would do at least 6 days. At least 2 days MK.

 

[glocon]

Now that you know wdw is a different beast than dl, you need to go in with a different mindset and plan for the hugeness of wdw. Personally I don’t think it matters if you go to a park on resort switching day. Even if you can’t go in your room right away, you can explore the resort, eat at the restaurants, partake of their lounges, sit by or swim in the pools.
If you are miserable you won’t have fun, so don’t push yourself. You now know what wdw is like. Go to a park every other day and enjoy your resorts. Maybe a an after hours event or party thrown in. You know it’s not like dL, so don’t go in with a dl mindset. You’re setting your trip up for failure that way.

 

[lorenae]

I’m a park everyday kind of girl. BUT........I’m fine with going where/when I want to, and one time we were in the pool and my GS decided he didn’t want to go to MK that afternoon and ride SDMT. (That’s when FP+ was almost impossible to get for it, and we had one). That was fine.
After you get about 4 days on your ticket, each day ends up being about $10 by day 5 or 6 I think, so we didn’t feel the need to “get our money’s worth”. If we missed a FP+ or a planned day and decided to do go to a different park or leave a park early (and sometimes arrive late!) and go to Disney Springs, it was no big deal. One morning, we slept in a little and did an airboat tour in Kissimee and saw gators and birds and had a blast, and went to the park later for a couple of rides and the fireworks.

You know your family and their style. Our first two days or so aren’t commando-style, but we do have an excitement to see everything. After that, we get very relaxed and if a GS wants to play in the splash area by Barnstormer, we sit and enjoy. If your family just doesn’t want that many park days, you could compare the cost of a 6 day ticket vs a 5 or 7 day, and that may help you make your decision.

 

[Klayfish]

It's such a personal decision. My answer is 9, even though you mentioned before that you were exhausted. Did you try to do too much and stay too long (i.e. open to close) on the prior trips? Maybe slow the pace a bit, especially since you've already been there twice. Go from 9am (or whenever) to 4pm....or have a day where you sleep in and don't get to the parks until 3pm. Park ticket price increase from 7 days to 9 is minimal anyway. Just IMO, we go to DW for the parks and what they have to offer, not sit in a hotel (no matter how nice it is).

 

[jamescanuck2001]

6 or 7, and max 5 hrs any day in the park. no park hopper unless staying near Epcot and plan to have some meals there

With that many park days you should be able to do all you want to do with FP (FOP and other most popular rides near the end of the trip)

 

[quandrea]

I’d buy 8 or 9–adding days at that point is cheap. Gives me options. And...I don’t have to spend all day in the parks.

 

[quandrea]

It's such a personal decision. My answer is 9, even though you mentioned before that you were exhausted. Did you try to do too much and stay too long (i.e. open to close) on the prior trips? Maybe slow the pace a bit, especially since you've already been there twice. Go from 9am (or whenever) to 4pm....or have a day where you sleep in and don't get to the parks until 3pm. Park ticket price increase from 7 days to 9 is minimal anyway. Just IMO, we go to DW for the parks and what they have to offer, not sit in a hotel (no matter how nice it is).

Agreeing with you again @Klayfish!

 

[Alesia]

I would say 9. I don't think that the problem is the number of days, but the way you're structuring them. Having a ticket for every day allows you to be more flexible.

The biggest problem I see is that you're switching resorts every 3 days. That's really draining because you can never settle in anywhere. If I were you, I would pick one resort and be done with it.

 

[ezma]

8/9 days ... Do your homework... are you really saving that much money skipping out on 2 to 3 days? Iam not saying you will....but even if you dont do the parks in the day time you might want to go into the parks at night and have a nice supper and just enjoy the ambience! We love going to Les Halles Boulangerie Patissererie for a night time pastry fix. But what the heck.. any time and any desert is good .

 

[kangaand2roos]

It's such a personal decision. My answer is 9, even though you mentioned before that you were exhausted. Did you try to do too much and stay too long (i.e. open to close) on the prior trips? Maybe slow the pace a bit, especially since you've already been there twice. Go from 9am (or whenever) to 4pm....or have a day where you sleep in and don't get to the parks until 3pm. Park ticket price increase from 7 days to 9 is minimal anyway. Just IMO, we go to DW for the parks and what they have to offer, not sit in a hotel (no matter how nice it is).

What I was going to say! The price difference gets so small as you increase. It’s worth having the option to pop into a park for a couple of hours on a relaxing day.

 

[rwdavis2]

At least 7 days park hoppers. After 5 days I believe the per day cost is negligible. We did an 8 day trip in 2016 staying at the Boardwalk. Half the time we slept in while making use of FP+ to do the attractions we wanted. If we rope dropped a park then we went back to the hotel for the afternoon and went to a different park at night. We use to just skip a day for rest but, IMHO, just sleeping in is enough. No need to rope drop every day. Some days we only spend 4 or so hours in a park.

Also, there is not really much of anything to spend an entire do doing when not in the parks. Why else would you go to WDW if not for the parks?

Edit: Just noticed you plan on staying on 3 different resorts. Don't. 2 at most. But if you still do it just sleep in, have bell services move your luggage, and then go to one of the parks returning to the new hotel.

 

[starry_solo]

9 days = 8 nights?

It all depends on what time you arrive at the resort (you're flying from the West Coast and I think you're maybe an hour closer to FL than me in CA). I know when we leave at 7 am with a non-stop flight, we arrive in FL around 3 pm local time and by the time we get to the resort, it's about 5 pm-ish. We are pooped from traveling and don't want to go anywhere except to grab a quick bite to eat and then rest. So, I wouldn't even get a park pass for the arrival day.

I wouldn't even do a park hopper. We go on long trips (2 weeks), had a park hopper the first trip (well, it was a premiere AP, back when those were only $750+ tax each) and park hopped only once (even though we were at Beach Club for 7 nights)....so skip out on the park hopper.

The cost is negligible once you hit a certain point (to add days). You can start with a 7-day park pass and then, if you want, add a day....unless of course, it's getting close to the time for a price increase, start with the higher park days and if it goes to waste, eh...

 

[sponica]

I'm going for 9 nights and have 8 day park hoppers (our flights almost never allow for park days on arrival/departure). The way I view it, you're paying the premium on the first 4 to 5 days, so as long as I get 4 to 5 "full" days the rest is gravy.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I would say 9. I don't think that the problem is the number of days, but the way you're structuring them. Having a ticket for every day allows you to be more flexible.

The biggest problem I see is that you're switching resorts every 3 days. That's really draining because you can never settle in anywhere. If I were you, I would pick one resort and be done with it.

This times 100.

It's the resort switching that will do you in.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

We like the 7 day ticket package no hoppers, gives you one park one day and three with two days, I would take it easy this time go to the parks sit and eat lunch just really enjoy your time. go back to the hotel sit a the pool

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

I would say 9. I don't think that the problem is the number of days, but the way you're structuring them. Having a ticket for every day allows you to be more flexible.

The biggest problem I see is that you're switching resorts every 3 days. That's really draining because you can never settle in anywhere. If I were you, I would pick one resort and be done with it.

This times 100.

It's the resort switching that will do you in.

Agree 100%.
I’m unpacking once and done.

I would buy tickets for all days because after about the fifth day the price is minimal.

But

My days would be short. We’re back to the resort mid afternoon and chill Disney visitors.

We also make minimal plans. And the fastpasses I make ahead of time we usually end up missing or canceling. I think sometimes overplanning and the great “need” to follow a plan is what does people in as well. Make it ok to change your mind and decide in the moment. You absolutely do not need to follow through on a plan you made 2 months ago. That’s crazy talk.

 

[sethschroeder]

10

Its $552 for 5 days and $613 for 10 days for a 1 park a day.

It's $618 for 5 days and $672 for 10 days for park hoppers.

Why would you choose to avoid the parks over $10/day per person? For that price you can easily just do half days in parks and get your money's worth.

Get a ticket for arrival and departure day unless it's impossible to get to the park.

If you don't go to a park one day your not out that much. We never do open to close though.

 

[evlaina]

I see from your signature you're going January 2020, so at least you won't have to contend with the heat/humidity so you may be able to last longer than in previous trips. I imagine you'll have to book your FP+ pretty soon then, too? We buy tickets with hoppers for every day (not night) of our trip, so I personally would buy 9. As others said, the price difference is so small.

I also agree with others that 3 separate resorts for that length trip seems like a drain on time and energy.