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[leo93]

How many days would you say is a good amount to go for? Enough to see a decent amount but obviously factoring in that more days = more money for food etc.

Also which time of the year do you find the best? I want to go when it's relatively quiet. School time isn't really an issue so was thinking through the week either early/mid october or mid november 2016 to give plenty of time to save.

How do-able is it on a budget?

[polar vixen]

Personally I think early sept is best time to go, schools have just gone back, so it's relatively quiet, but you still catch all the extra summer add-ons.  If you can drive, davy crockett is great.  our hols this year for 3 adults, 3 kids and a baby for 8 days (6 full in the park, I never count arrival or departure) with half board standard cost us 1100!  Not bad at all considering we only need money for souveniers and a couple of meal upgrades.  I generally allow about 300 for fuel and ferry costs.  Also the weather early sept is typically excellent, you don't have to stay too late for dreams but can still get a good long day.

[michaelj1973]

I try to go for 3+ days my next trip is 4 nigts/5 days. And depending on the budget I stay in sequioa or santana fe. I try to save a whole year also look at some offers disney give...

[daddyof2]

Leo, I think 3 days is the minimum time to be able to see and do everything without feeling rushed, but 4 nights/5 days works well for us. The quietest and cheapest times are late January/early February but bear in mind that more attractions are likely to be closed. Outside school holidays is generally quieter. The budget question is tricky for me, as I try NOT to budget too hard. Some ways to save money - book when there's a free night or high % off deal. Stay in the Cheyenne or Santa Fe (or even at a non Disney hotel). Consider your travel options, as you may find one is considerably cheaper for you. Fill up at breakfast, and take a few snacks with you to save buying snacks in the parks. Work out where you want to eat before you go and budget for that.

[DisneyRon]

Generally I'd count 3 days as the minimum for a trip, then you don't need to rush as much to see everything.

My personal preference goes to 4 nights / 5 days, as I usually arrive a little past noon by train, and generally get a mid-afternoon train back so I don't arrive home too late in the day.

As for the budgeting question, I usually don't look too closely, but I try not to go overboard on souvenirs and such, food I usually cover with a meal plan as I find those very convenient, even if they're effectively a little more expensive.

[NCC1701Q]

We (wife, son of 3, daughter of 9 and myself) stay at least four days, not counting the day we leave.
We arrive at around 2-3PM the first day and then at least have another three full days, but that is the minimum. In summer or around Christmas we stay eight days/seven nights including the day of arrival.
We have Dream-annual-passports and stay offsite so budgetwise adding another day is not too expensive.

The main reason for wanting to stay is the flexibility. With the kids it's impossible to plan what they want when and how tired they are gonna be. And if it rains the first night we don't want to feel "forced" to do Dreams! the next night because we only have two or three nights. And the kids want to do a lot of rides more than once. That takes time too

Budgetwise we try to do one meal in the parcs (be it lunch or dinner) and the other one in our appartment everyday. As for merchandise - our daughter wants to see all shops before she decides and our son wants to buy everything - so no budgetcuts there I'm afraid.

[HildeKitten]

If it's a first stay, I would recommend 3 days, that should give you ample time to see everything you want to in both parks

[MattR]

We usually stay two or three nights.

We always come with the first flight in the morning (leaving around 6:15am) and are usually in the park around 09:00am.

First thing we do then is book restaurants for all meals. Then we start working us through Disneyland Park until our first meal. We then switch to the Studios and try to return to the Disneyland Park for the big parades and then spend the rest of the day getting other things in the main park done. Same on the 2nd and 3rd day.

On the last day we are usually in the park till 7pm then head to the airport and are home around 12pm.

[DLPWonders (Banned)]

As a newbie you definitely need at least 3 days, but I always recommend 4 or 5.

Personally I've visited DLP a lot, I'm on 62 times now with 5 more visits coming this year.
And with me it varies. I've gone from driving up there to only spend 3 hours at the park, to 10 days in a row.

[Komble]

From reading all your comments, I think we should be okay with our trip... It's 4 nights/5 days but we might not go into the park on the first and last day - it's also the first week of February and we are just two adults who can walk fairly fast and don't plan on stopping for long meals so we should be OK with a minimum 3 park days, right?

[Puffin]

From reading all your comments, I think we should be okay with our trip... It's 4 nights/5 days but we might not go into the park on the first and last day - it's also the first week of February and we are just two adults who can walk fairly fast and don't plan on stopping for long meals so we should be OK with a minimum 3 park days, right?

you'll be ok. in off peak season and without kids it's quite easy to do all the rides in 2 days without having to rush. at least in my experience.

[leo93]

I don't drive so had been looking at coach trips but for the time you actually get there and the fact of how long it takes (we live in the north east so long dive with two kids) it doesn't seem that worth it, when pricing up for this november (just to get ideas) it came out at the same price for more days PLUS flying!
How likely are they to have a similar deal with free nights for next winter?

Thanks everyone for the advice, will definitely do at least 3 days. The kids will most likely have their own money saved for souvenirs and we would do maybe one or two good meals and the rest cheapest we can find.

[HildeKitten]

Oh yes Komble, 3 days will be fine in off-peak season!
I would advise, however, to look at the program online the week you leave and make a general planning of your days. I always do them and I find it helps getting everything done we really want to do
Of course the order often gets jumbled and such, but that's all ok

[polar vixen]

Although the meal [plan isn't necessary, for our family I always find that the 30% off plus free food is the best offer, the price alone is less than we'd pay on the 2 days/nights free, not even counting the food!  which then you could count as saving us another 100 a day!

[leo93]

Thanks i will keep an eye out for offers and see which ones come out best value for us.
Were not really fussy about eating in the best of the best places in fact my two would be happy eating at mcdonalds every night given the option haha! but i would like a couple of nice meals out.