How long between visits?

[lizzyb]

We used to go every year but we took 2 years off as we went on a Disney Cruise instead.

 

[Spork24]

My wife and I went on 5 trips in a year a couple years back and had a blast. Unfortunately it's been almost 20 months now since we've been. (We've had 2 kids since our last trip) We are going again in April and can't wait. We will likely go back to two trips per year or so once both kids are potty trained

 

[Scotgirl]

We are DVC members and bought our points so that we could do a two bedroom villa every two years for three weeks. However, myself and my husband went by ourselves in between years in 2014 and are doing the same this year. We're looking forward to when the kids decide not to come and we can use our points for a one bedroom villa every year. I have been looking on a few travel websites for a cheeky week in April or May as well as our October trip. We have our annual passes so it would be daft not to make use of them

 

[toad611]

We have been going once a year for about 20 years. Two years ago I thought it was loosing some of the magic so we decided to wait two years. I was able to hold off but my wife couldn't and went last year with her sister. This year we will be there first week of February, and again the week after Thanksgiving. My wife is also going in the spring with her sister. I was really having a hard time when she was there last year without me, and now that I have retired am sure I will never miss a year and if possible will go more than once.

We also bought a DVC about 16 years ago so that helps.

 

[toad611]

My wife and I went together the first year we were married 35 years ago. Said we would go ever 5 years. Never held out more than 3 and have gone every year for the last 20.

 

[LindsayGorg]

If I could afford it, I'd be there every week! We'd love to go every year, and we're trying to hit that goal but as always, it's tough on our budget. I know it's blasphemous for me to suggest this, but you can save a huge chunk of money staying off-site. We spend most of our vacation off-site and then "upgrade" to Disney property for the last 2 nights. We usually stay at the Sheraton Vistana, only a mile from the entrance to Disney property, about a 5 min drive to MK, EP, and HS, 10 min to AK. They have 2 bedroom villas that would fit a family of 5 easily. There are also a bunch of Homewood Suites/Residence Inn type hotels in the area with enough beds and kitchens.

 

[mindeola]

We generally go as a family every 3-4 years. My husband and daughter don't love Disney ( shocking, I know!) and I have to beg them to go. We also do a lot of other family trips- including overseas, so we can't spend all of our travel budget on Disney. I want to see the world! We last went as a family in June of 2011 and will be returning as a family this May. I am so excited! I try to go in between times with other family or girlfriends.

I just went with my sister and nieces this past June, so I am technically getting two visits in within a year.

OP- We are staying at Art of Animation Family suites this go round. All Star Music does have a Family suite the sleeps 6 and is slightly cheaper.

 

[tlmadden73]

Whatever is in your vacation budget.
Some people like to have Disney as their "yearly" vacation. Some find it too costly to do it every year.

I went Oct. 2014 - then again in Aug. 2015. I'd be happy to go again before summer. But those were short, inexpensive trips. I want to continue to do frequent, but short trips as I live relatively close (driving distance - 8-9 hours)).

You can't do it all unless you do week or more stay anyway .. and things change within months (rides being refurbed, new attractions, new shows, new restaurants).

If I went back this winter or spring (after having just gone in August) . . I would be able to experience several new things.
I would go back this time simply for Star Wars Launch Bay and fireworks at DHS, though at this point, I am waiting for Rivers of Light or the Frozen ride (or both) and the Soaring refurb to be done before I go back again .. feels like it would be a waste to go right before two new attractions open.

 

[Moonwolf]

My family used to go once every 7 or so years. Now that I've grown and can contribute financially in the past 3 years I've gone to WDW 3 times (a long trip with my brother and a friend, a medium trip with a friend and a weekend solo trip) and DL once with my parents and brother. I'd love to go back to either of the parks but currently have no solid plans. I'm tentatively planning something for 2018 for my birthday but I want to see what gets done in the parks in between. I am hoping that before then I'll get a chance to visit some of the international parks. I have a cousin living in Japan currently and if we manage to plan a trip to visit I'm definitely hitting up Tokyo Disney.

 

[scrapquitler]

We just returned from a magical first trip to Disney World. We stayed January 3rd-9th at Caribbean Beach. Now that we are home, I am anxious to start planning another trip! I have been thinking about the week after Thanksgiving. Does anyone else return within the same year? Do you all think it is excessive? We are a family of 5 and I would love to save by booking a Value Resort but apparently none offer a room for 5. We kind of went "all out" for this first trip and I know if we return it will need to be a cheaper visit. I would love to hear of how often other families go. We live in Tennessee so it is about an 8-9 hour drive for us.

We like going once every 18 months to 2 years, and that's mostly what we've done in the past.

This year, however, we had so much fun on our April trip that we decided to get annual passes and visit a bunch of times this year. We went in April, September, November, and later this week. We are also planning one more trip in March/April before our passes expire.

After this, we'll probably wait about 3 years and get Annual Passes again and visit several times that year. We'd get the AP every year if we were in a resonable driving distance, but it's a 24 hour non-stop drive from here, so it's kind of unreasonable. All our friends and family think that 4-5 trips in one year is excessive, and they might be right, but we are having fun and we aren't asking them to pay for it, so it doesn't matter what they think.

 

[Frozen2014]

We went to Disney World first time Oct 2014 and had an amazing vacation. We are a family of 4 and must fly (from Canada) and so realistically we cannot come often. We do plan on returning "someday", but our next big trip is in the spring on a Royal Caribbean cruise. So maybe in a few years....so that would be 4 - 5 years later? I do understand the Disney bug though...

 

[mshanson3121]

This thread is really making me hope I win that Disney contest (for Canadians only, sorry), so that we can go back this year! lol. The Disney bug is strong. I wish I had pockets deep enough to visit yearly like so many do here!

 

[ThumpersMommy]

We try to go at least once a year and sometimes twice if I can get a good discount.

 

[mickeyfino]

We're yearly visitors, usually in the fall. We were there in October and had such a good time that I planned a December trip too. We wanted to visit Disney Quest and the Osborne Lights one more time.

It was Xmas week but turned out really well. Yes, high crowds, but the weather was perfect. I wish we could go more often than once a year.

 

[AngiTN]

We just returned from a magical first trip to Disney World. We stayed January 3rd-9th at Caribbean Beach. Now that we are home, I am anxious to start planning another trip! I have been thinking about the week after Thanksgiving. Does anyone else return within the same year? Do you all think it is excessive? We are a family of 5 and I would love to save by booking a Value Resort but apparently none offer a room for 5. We kind of went "all out" for this first trip and I know if we return it will need to be a cheaper visit. I would love to hear of how often other families go. We live in Tennessee so it is about an 8-9 hour drive for us.

I sure hope not. We went twice in the same month!
Dec 18-22 and again Dec 31, 1/2-1/3
The 2nd Dec trip was our 5th to WDW in 2015 (not counting a trip to DL too)
We are back again in Feb and again in April.

 

[j2thomason]

My 21yo daughter and I bought APs in 2013 and have taken 4-5 trips each year since then. We live 9 hours away and drive each time. I usually book a bounceback offer when we are there and pay it off little. I usually always have 2 trips in MDE at the same time. We usually go during the holidays (this year we went twice!), spring break, we go after school gets out, a long weekend for the Halloween party and Food & Wine. I buy Disney gift cards every time I go to the grocery store to pay off my trips. I use Winn Dixie fuel perks and the gift cards help with buying gas also. We always stay in value resorts, because we can get more trips in during the year that way. We occasionally add the quick service dining plan, too. I always have a working spreadsheet planning my next trip. We are Disney addicts!!

 

[maloned]

I'm a Florida native, so we average 2 times a year (Winter/Spring & Fall). I love Disney and the planning process, but I do get a bit burnt out right after, so it takes me a few months to start getting the itch again. That wait causes me problems. I usually lose out on the popular resort booking opportunities.

 

[myrheille]

We went a lot recently (twice in 2014, once in 2015, once in 2016 - four times in 25 months) because we wanted to enjoy the period where our daughter was really little and didn't need to miss school to go during low-crowd times. I must admit that after going for two weeks in November, we are slightly less excited for our January trip. (I am glad to escape the Canadian winter, and work, don't get me wrong, but, yeah.) We're probably going to go every other year going forward. I like seeing new stuff every time, and there are a lot of things in the works right now! We'll do a less-costly vacation on the other year. We could afford to go every year if we really watched our spending at home, but I don't think it'd be worth it.

 

[arcticdisneylovers]

We go every year, usually 7-10 nights. We would go more often if we didn't live so far away. Someone DH & I plan to be snowbirds and live in Florida six months a year. I can't wait to have annual passes

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Everybody is different. There are people here that go multiple times per year.

My family has gone 6 times since 2002. 3 of those were back-to-back-to-back ('09, '10, and '11). We got kind of sick of the place by the 3rd one in a row.