WDW in 2020

[Tairuhbhuki]

I'm planning on going to WDW for my first time in 2020 and I hear it's huge.

Any idea how much time I should spend there to see it all (not rushing)? 1 Week? 2 Weeks?

Thanks

[Amy]

I'm planning on going to WDW for my first time in 2020 and I hear it's huge.

Any idea how much time I should spend there to see it all (not rushing)? 1 Week? 2 Weeks?

Thanks

A lot depends on your style of travel, and also what time of year you are visiting. If you are visiting during a busier time of year, for instance ~ around any holiday, or through the summer, the lines are obviously going to be longer and you will be able to see less in a day. If you are the kind of traveler who willingly bounces out of bed first thing in the morning so you can get to the parks right before they open, and then stay at the parks all day long until they close, you will obviously be able to see more in a shorter period of time than someone who wants to sleep in, come back to the hotel in the afternoon for a nap/pool time, or doesn't want to stay out too late.
If you stay on property, then you can take advantage of the EMH (extra magic hours) which allow you to enter a certain park each day of the week about an hour earlier than the general public, or stay up to several hours later than when the park closes to guests staying off-property. Although certain times of the year, like around Halloween and Christmas, the Magic Kingdom will close early to all guests that don't have a ticket to the after hours party.
As a general rule, I would say you should allow at least a week, with the knowledge that you probably might not still see or experience everything there is to see in the parks. If you want to include one of the water parks, or shopping at Disney Springs, add another couple of days. Two weeks would almost certainly allow a leisurely pace and almost guarantee you would see everything you wanted to see.
Hope that helps

[Wizzard419]

Two weeks is overkill, especially when you factor in vacation time, the cost of going, etc. The parks can be done in 5 days with a reasonable pace, unless you literally want to do every single thing and use every toilet in every park and hotel. Also, if you are banking on things opening that year, you may want to push it out to 21, they have been slipping as of late. That and it also keeps the crazy crowds down.

[cy1229]

I would not recommend that anyone try to do everything on their first trip. It's just too overwhelming. So what would I recommend?

That depends on the type of traveler, as Amy mentioned. People like me and my girls need some down time that's quiet, so I would say park-hopping for those kinds of people is a good idea. Do one park earlier in the morning, go back to the hotel/condo for a rest or swim, and then to a park in the evening until close. This is especially useful if traveling when it's hot, which is anywhere from late April through late October.

A person who loves good food should go during Food/wine, and then decide that Hollywood Studios and/or Animal Kingdom are off the table in exchange for being in and around Epcot or the resorts for good dining experiences. There is one good restaurant in Hollywood Studios, though - The Brown Derby. And by 2020 the Star Wars part of the park will be done, so maybe I wouldn't take my own advice that far into the future.

A person / group who enjoys outdoor recreation would want to maybe stay in Ft. Wilderness, go golfing, and spend time in the water parks, and then maybe forego some of the other things in the parks.

So you see, it just kind of depends. A GREAT place to start is with the planning DVD. They will certainly change between now and 2020 but it will give you an idea of all the things there are to do and help you narrow your focus a bit.

For a generic, run-of-the-mill trip to WDW, I recommend a week, with park-hopper tickets. Stay 6 nights, get a 6-day pass. That way you're not going to the parks before you try to leave, you're just getting up, gathering your things, and if you have time spending time at Disney Springs or a water park. Something we've done two of the last three trips down to WDW is add a day or two over in Cocoa Beach unwinding. We've taken Magical Express from the airport to the Disney resort, then rented a car there at WDW (second time it was at the Hilton right across from Disney Springs, but it was an easy walk to get there) and returned the car at the airport. Easy peasy and so worth the down time to unwind. So for example, leave home eeeaaarrrlllyyy ("darkthirty in the morning") on a Saturday, go to WDW on Magical Express and hit a park the same day, stay through Friday, get the rental car, spend Friday and Saturday nights in Cocoa Beach (or thereabout, or if you want to, the Gulf side), then go home on that Sunday.

For me, personally, more than 6 days in the parks is hyperstimulating and I wind up grouchy. Nobody needs that. But not everyone is like me, which is a good thing. You have to know what you can handle, and then work within that. If you're taking young children, you have to realize they're not going to be able to be in the parks from open to close without meltdowns. They're going to need some down time to recharge a bit. If you're taking any introverted people, they're going to need some time to do quiet things away from crowds and noise. Even the slowest days at WDW are busy for an introvert. If you're traveling in a large group, you're going to need to plan some days where you break off into groups (by family, or by age, or something) or else you'll do a lot of walking and not a lot of anything else as you try to corral everyone into an activity.

So tell us more specifics, like what you like to do, what kind of traveler you are, if you're taking someone, a family, etc. and what they like to do. Any young children? Etc. Then we can give you more recommendations about things we know work and don't work for those situations.