Only have 5 or 6 days what parks/# of days? Do you always plan a pool day?

[Kevlar10]

We are planning a trip in November and due to a few situations, we will only have 5, at most 6 days. We’ve always done at least 7 days and spent 3 days at the MK, 2 at EPCOT, and one each at AK and HS. With Galaxy’s Edge now open, I’m thinking 2 days there. The wife always wants a pool day which is okay but for the cost of the room, I’d rather shorten a day and relax after a park. I really feel like I need a new plan of attack. We don’t do park hoppers, as we still have one small child. We are planning to stay at the Contemporary this time, which makes transit times easier. Is 5 days enough? If I can convince the wife to fly, we’d have 8 or 9 days but she hates flying. Anybody here who has been able to enjoy shorter stays?

 

[skysmom99]

All of our trips have been 4-6 days, usually because of crazy conflicting schedules. We usually don't do hoppers, either. As such, even when my kids were small, we didn't do a rest day. We always hit the park first thing in the morning and take an afternoon break to rest, swim, etc... Then we head back to the same park for the evening. Know your must do attractions, get those, and consider everything else a little more magic. We can get a lot done in five days because we arrive early and have a plan of attack. A loose plan in my opinion, though my husband would disagree. Our general idea is that we can rest at home. Hope you have a great trip. We love WDW in November.

 

[maryj11]

We have done 5 days several times. We usually go to MK twice. Not all day, but we either rope drop leave after lunch, rest at the resort and go back in the evening. On other MK days we rest at the resort swim etc and go to the park in the evening.
When we go to AK, Epcot, and HS we go half days either morning or evening. We have been to Disney many times so we don’t need a whole day. We just go to do our favorites. So no whole rest day we just try not to wear ourselves out spending the whole day in the park.

 

[Disneypro1]

We focus on the parks. There are pools anywhere. If we swim. Good....,,if not. Not a big deal. The parks rule our trips.

 

[Kevlar10]

We are probably content to skip over AK, but it’s my favorite park for a more “relaxing” park day. EPCOT/WS is a park we like to go to for the different foods and the F&W Festival will be going on. My main concern is that my sons and myself are Star Wars fans so I expect that we should plan 2 days there. My wife and our little princess will need to be in the MK as much as possible. I guess we can skip AK this time.

 

[cakebaker]

We don’t take full day breaks, but park hop with resort breaks nearly every afternoon. We pay a fortune for a deluxe resort and like to enjoy activities there as well. Our trips are normally 5-8 days although we’ve done both shorter and longer stays.

 

[Jacq7414]

We get the park hopper and will sometimes go to MK early and then go back to our hotel for the pool and then go out again at maybe 4 or 5. It works for us. I don’t think I’d spend a whole day at the pool with the parks right there.

 

[DrunkJam]

We usually do 10-14 days, so, this time, being a solo trip, I am only doing 5 nights.
So, I am doing 1 MK full day (including a tour), 1 MK after hours event, 1 full day Epcot. 1 full day AK, including harambe at night. 1 breakfast at Epcot followed by Fps at HS, and one half day to be decided based on what Fps I actually get and what I want to add at the end if anything is missing.
I have hoppers though, so I can move about a bit if I want to.

 

[rwdavis2]

With the advent of FP+ it is easier to sleep in one or 2 days. Our last trip we never took a day off but slept in or took a break at the pool.

 

[ppony]

Tell your wife, almost NO ONE likes flying anymore. It's simply a quicker means to an end. But when you're talking time spent on the road vs park time, I'll take park time EVERY time. And I'm saying that being someone that is pulled out and wanded and frisked Every. Danged. Time. And I'm in a wheelchair now too so bonus, more scrutiny and wanding.

The shorter the trip, the busier you are. If you had more days, you'd feel much less pressure.

So. That said, We plan 1 parks a day. Never do hoppers because the transportation time is just too much for a time-suck and physically exhausting and by the end of a park day, we're either ready to chill at the resort, or go Downtown Disney (DS for the newbs). We never plan a down day for pools but always get pool time in at least a few times. We're not commandos tho. It's just that we've been going to WDW since 1994, so we know what we like and don't. That's the case for most people, the more time you've sent there, the more expedient you can make things. I will add too that with FP+, you'll ahveto buy your park tickets more than a few months in advance to best use it. We couldn't afford to, so we only bought ours with 25 days to go. Slim pickin's for FPs, but that's life.

Everyone's milage varies, but in order of most time at which parks. With the new stuff at HS now, that will be our #2 position of preference. If you have 5 days, I'd do 2 at MK and the rest 1 each. If you add another, add a day at HS.

I highly recommend subbing to TouringPlans online. Not only do you get a really accurate idea of park capacity expectations for each day to plan, but they'll make touring plans for you by plugging in what you want to see, how fast or slow you want to go, your fast passes, breaks and meal times. This is the first time I'm going to try that, so I'm looking forward to less "Where do we go next" questions from my family.

Have fun!

 

[cgattis]

We drive a long way too, so sometimes we’ll split the drive, spend one night along the way, then arrive mid-day and spend that afternoon at the pool. We’ve never done a full rest day on a 5/6 day trip. But maybe a pool morning before your F&W day if you can get afternoon/evening FP that you want?

 

[Darcy03231]

We don't take a pool day unless it's a 10+ day trip. if it's a short trip, we'll either get up early one day, go for rope drop, then back to the resort for lunch and spend the afternoon at the pool and go back to the parks after dinner, or sleep in, go to the pool for the afternoon and then the parks after dinner.

 

[havoc315]

We are planning a trip in November and due to a few situations, we will only have 5, at most 6 days. We’ve always done at least 7 days and spent 3 days at the MK, 2 at EPCOT, and one each at AK and HS. With Galaxy’s Edge now open, I’m thinking 2 days there. The wife always wants a pool day which is okay but for the cost of the room, I’d rather shorten a day and relax after a park. I really feel like I need a new plan of attack. We don’t do park hoppers, as we still have one small child. We are planning to stay at the Contemporary this time, which makes transit times easier. Is 5 days enough? If I can convince the wife to fly, we’d have 8 or 9 days but she hates flying. Anybody here who has been able to enjoy shorter stays?

5 days is fine. Just don’t expect to do every headliner.... and I’d recommend considering parkhoppers. With a stay at the Contemporary, it’s an easy spontaneous jump to MK in the evening as you secure a 4th FP.

5 day sample itinerary for your situation, with park hoppers..(and skipping the mayhem of Rise of Resistance with young child)

Day 1:
DHS rope drop 8am to 11am:
Star Tours at Ropedrop
fast passes for Saucers, Toy Story Mania, and Slinky Dog.
Mix in Muppet movie, another show.
Grab 4th FP for something at MK in evening.
11am-6pm... meals, pools, rest
6-9/10 — Magic Kindom, with your 1 FP and loser wait rides.

Day 2: if you get a FOP FastPass...
rope drop Navi River.
FastPass FOP, Safari and 3rd attraction of choice.
mix in a show or 2.

Can get through that by noon. If you really want to experience Pandora at night or Rivers of Light, return to AK after dinner. Otherwise, another Magic Kingdom evening, just like day 1.

day 3– EPCOT with EMH morning, ropedrop.
Test Track and Frozen during EMH.
FP 3 additional attractions.
late morning, early afternoon, touring World Showcase.
Wrap up EPCOT by about 2-3pm.
3pm to end of day — resort or MK at night again!

Day 4– MK morning rope drop + maybe EMH + 3 fps. You can get a lot done if you combine all that. Should get all your headliners.
finish by noon. Noon to night, resort and pool time. Watch fireworks from the hotel.

day 5 morning: DHS, fast pass for Runaway Train or Millennium Falcon. Toy StoryMania and/or Saucers at ropedrop. (If you can get to rope drop super early, then you can do Runaway Train, Millennium Falcon or Slinky)

with park hopper... spend day 5 night at which ever you find you need extra time in. You can do a headliner with low wait as park closes.

this plan gives lots of pool time. 2+ total days at MK. 1 day at DHS. 2/3rds of a day at Epcot. 1/2-2/3 day at AK.

 

[Kevlar10]

5 days is fine. Just don’t expect to do every headliner.... and I’d recommend considering parkhoppers. With a stay at the Contemporary, it’s an easy spontaneous jump to MK in the evening as you secure a 4th FP.

5 day sample itinerary for your situation, with park hoppers..(and skipping the mayhem of Rise of Resistance with young child)

Day 1:
DHS rope drop 8am to 11am:
Star Tours at Ropedrop
fast passes for Saucers, Toy Story Mania, and Slinky Dog.
Mix in Muppet movie, another show.
Grab 4th FP for something at MK in evening.
11am-6pm... meals, pools, rest
6-9/10 — Magic Kindom, with your 1 FP and loser wait rides.

Day 2: if you get a FOP FastPass...
rope drop Navi River.
FastPass FOP, Safari and 3rd attraction of choice.
mix in a show or 2.

Can get through that by noon. If you really want to experience Pandora at night or Rivers of Light, return to AK after dinner. Otherwise, another Magic Kingdom evening, just like day 1.

day 3– EPCOT with EMH morning, ropedrop.
Test Track and Frozen during EMH.
FP 3 additional attractions.
late morning, early afternoon, touring World Showcase.
Wrap up EPCOT by about 2-3pm.
3pm to end of day — resort or MK at night again!

Day 4– MK morning rope drop + maybe EMH + 3 fps. You can get a lot done if you combine all that. Should get all your headliners.
finish by noon. Noon to night, resort and pool time. Watch fireworks from the hotel.

day 5 morning: DHS, fast pass for Runaway Train or Millennium Falcon. Toy StoryMania and/or Saucers at ropedrop. (If you can get to rope drop super early, then you can do Runaway Train, Millennium Falcon or Slinky)

with park hopper... spend day 5 night at which ever you find you need extra time in. You can do a headliner with low wait as park closes.

this plan gives lots of pool time. 2+ total days at MK. 1 day at DHS. 2/3rds of a day at Epcot. 1/2-2/3 day at AK.

This doesn’t seem to figure in RoTR. That is probably my biggest concern. Also, we already have tickets, which were gifted to us from Disney but the aren’t PHs.

 

[Hutt]

I think it’s important to plan a pool day, especially with a little kid. Being in parks day after day is exhausting, and you’ll have an overall better trip if you take a day of downtime. Our last trip was 5 days on the ground and we needed that pool day.

 

[dhardawa]

We typically do 7 nights and 6 park days because the day we arrive and the day we leave we don’t do parks. With 6 days, we have never done a pool day. We can have a pool day at home. If I’m at Disney, I want to be at Disney. Typically, I plan my days based on the Fast Passes. If we need two tier 1, we will visit twice, but we may leave after riding. Otherwise, we do one day in each of the four parks and then go back to where we feel like on days 5 and 6.

 

[Calee]

On a trip of that length we dont do a full pool day..do.a slower.day of leaving a park early or going later, but I wouldnt take an entire day off personally.

 

[jen7233]

We used to, but my kids are older and also not as interested in the pool. This trip upcoming we have no pool days planned, parks each day but adjusting our go to park times booking afternoon fastpasses on a few days instead so we aren't dead tired each morning, and planning some evening time. I can get up and on time and go no problem even if tired and DH can as well, but don't feel it'll work out well trying to get the younger ones to do the same. We have 7 ticketed days.

 

[sethschroeder]

We don’t do park hoppers, as we still have one small child. We are planning to stay at the Contemporary this time,

It seems foolish not to do park hoppers with a small child. Honestly I would drop the pool day and instead do a mid-day break at the hotel/pool instead everyday allowing as well for a nap for the kid if wanted.

Also with only 3 of you there is a good chance at grabbing FP+ to most things in MK with the refresh method. I would drop MK from the morning plans all together unless there is a "we have to 100% do this ride" and its something like SDMT or Peter Pan. You could in theory also plan MK FP+ in the afternoon for your Epcot days since most of that can be done without FP+ at rope drop.

I would then simply do MK pretty much every afternoon after you decide what time to go back in the park.

Are you really going to spend 10 hours at the pool in a single day? Or would you rather have 2-3 hours for 7 days? In reality you could be back to the pool by 12pm-1pm having done rope drop and then not head to MK until like 3pm-4pm timeframe.

 

[Hutt]

Adding: you could also do a split day, where you go to a park for half a day, your wife stays with the kid, then you take the kid for the other half and she does whatever she wants. It’s a nice compromise.