Four parks, four days, four tickets. That’s creed most Disney guests live by when planning their vacation. While anytime at Disney can be enjoyable with proper planning, there is so much more that should be considered when deciding how long your family should stay at Disney.
Whether you’re 4, 44 or 84 years old, there’s so much that Disney has to offer for you. Depending on how hard you want to push yourself on your vacation, one day in each park may not be enough to explore all you want to.
However, no matter how long you stay at Disney, you can’t expect to see everything.
Anna Swenson, Disney Travel Consultant at Journey’s says the short answer is no. “Whether you are a first time or returning guest, I think even if you were there for 2 weeks, you will still not see everything Disney has to offer” said Anna.
I agree, I was in Disney for a full year and I didn’t even experience everything that I wanted to. Even if you stayed in Disney World for weeks, you wouldn’t see everything.
I recommend spending a full week at Disney. If you can do it, it gives you enough time to explore the parks at your own pace and revisit favorite attractions. Four Days often leaves guests feeling rushed. The vacation turns into a checklist trip focused on getting things done and not a relaxing vacation full of family time. One week allows guests to move their plans around more.
Kim Goldstein, earmarked travel agent at Journey’s Travel, recommends getting tickets for the entire stay “that way you can take a leisurely pace at the parks and not feel so scheduled all of the time.” After you’ve bought tickets for four days, additional days are only about $12 per day.
Anna agrees, recommends purchasing as many day tickets as a guest thinks they will be able to attend, even for the days the arrive and leave.
“Maybe they can eat in a park or see fireworks the evening they arrive or hit a ride they missed or want to ride again before they leave,” says Anna.
Because of the negligible ticket price after four days, it’s not too big of a loss in the grand scheme of things if a guest can’t use a day.
If you’ve already begun to look into tickets, you might have noticed an option called the “Park Hopper*.” This option is more expensive, but it allows you to hop from park to park without having to pay for another ticket.
In my opinion, having a one-park only ticket can leave you feeling stuck in the park you started in. Being able to change parks creates a much needed break in the day. While I lived there, I only had a few days where I spent a full day at a park because I would start to yearn for a more drastic change of scenery or theming. Kim says, “Park hopping allows you to be more flexible with your dining and park itinerary. Towards the end of the trip, you usually only need a half day in each park, so the Park Hopper allows you to do that easily.”
Whether you stay for 1 day, 1 week, or 1 year, you can be sure that you can still have a good time at Disney.
Annie Proctor 