Help me decide when to go

[missnikki411]

It's been a long, empty 2 years without our annual trip to WDW. We used to go the week after Thanksgiving, first week of September, or last week of April, however now I am on a school vacation schedule and unsure of the "best" time to go now. My options are: Thanksgiving weekend, Easter week (Sunday forward), or sometime over the summer. I imagine crowds are busy during all those but love to hear your experiences!

 

[Schneewittchen37]

I feel you. Before the kids started school, we used to go the second week a January one of those "quiet" times. And occasionally around the second or third week of March, it's a busier spring break crowd, but not the Easter hordes either.

Anyway, we've settled on an Easter week pattern. Either the week before or week after Easter Sunday. Just depends on the school vacation calendar. We're also doing the occasional long Federal holiday weekend - Veteran's and President's usually. We also did a July trip once. And a Christmas trip once. All of those times are busy. Easter can be a bit overwhelming to the inexperienced. Waves of sweaty/lost/angry people. MK's Fantasyland pinch point by Peter Pan/iasw is like a whirling vortex of evil. (Though Easter 2021 was strangely quiet. There were disquieting moments of unexpected solitude and shortish wait times.)

We go to WDW a lot. We love it and it feels like we've done it all, so we don't commando anymore. The crowds don't bother us as much as they used to. We have a pattern to our days - go to the parks in the morning as close to rope drop as you can manage, rides rides rides, lunch, ride or 2, head back to the hotel for rest or pool, dinner at a resort or different park, more rides until park closing.

I've never been during Thanksgiving, I assume it's busy. I can say the weather is nice for Veteran's Day and Christmas. You would get Christmas decor. That's nice too. Maybe some things are closed for refurb.

I love Spring Break/Easter visits. Definitely hot and sunny. Lots of pool time. Most of the rides and up and running. Seasonal restaurants are usually open too. And I'm trying to get my winter's over base tan. But out the hot pink Lilly dress for dinner. Good times.

Summer is hot and so so so humid. The pool time/afternoon break is required or everyone dies of heatstroke. But the 3 pm thunderstorm is a very real risk. And your heatrash gets heatrash.... Don't forget the sunscreen and the gold bond. To me, this time of year seemed less crazy than spring break crowds. Better stay at a nice hotel though cuz a garbage pool is not going to cut it.

 

[js]

If you need to follow school schedules, I would go the latest in August that you can go.

 

[KristaZ]

I'm a teacher, so always have to follow the school schedule. We regularly go President's Week and have various times in the summer, between Christmas and New Year's, and Easter. Not sure how late you start the school year (I don't start until after Labor Day), but that last week of August/the week before Labor Day is great as far as crowds go - the weather is hot and typical summer Florida awful, but as long as you're prepared, the low crowds will make it well worth it. That's honestly when I recommend most people who have to follow a school schedule go if they can. July and up until mid-August are terrible weather and terrible crowds, so avoid that if at all possible. My spring break is pretty much always the week following Easter - the later in April that falls, the lower crowds get throughout the week (Easter weekend itself until probably around Tuesday is packed). When Easter is earlier it tends to be more crowded because it overlaps with more spring breaks. Weather around Easter can also be unpredictable - you can have beautiful, comfortable weather and no rain, or it could be hot and humid and rainy, so that makes it a bit of a gamble. President's Week is also jam packed with crowds (especially if it coincides with Mardi Gras) - but the trade off is mostly pleasant weather which can make it more manageable. Christmas will be absolutely packed wall to wall people, but nothing beats the magic of Christmastime at Disney and again, you're more likely to get pleasant weather, which makes a huge difference when it's crowded. I imagine the situation around Thanksgiving would be similar.

Ultimately it's pretty much going to be a trade off of crowds vs. weather. As long as you go in prepared for it and with a good strategy to manage either, you'll have a great trip. FWIW the end of August will also be the least expensive time to visit because it's considered off-peak. All other times discounts may be difficult to come by.

 

[RoseGold]

None of those times appeal to me. I planned for early December, skipping two days of school.

 

[DeeBee3]

I agree with above and also curious as to how old your kids are. We were there in August and it was just what you expect - hot, humid, afternoon storm. However, it was middle-ish of August and crowds were thinning. I don't love that weather, but I'm sorta "used to" humidity where we live. We definitely took breaks.

If our school had a week-long February break, I would love to go then, despite crowds. We only get Presidents' Day now.

I think it all depends on what your expectations are and what you want to do when there.

 

[missnikki411]

I agree with above and also curious as to how old your kids are. We were there in August and it was just what you expect - hot, humid, afternoon storm. However, it was middle-ish of August and crowds were thinning. I don't love that weather, but I'm sorta "used to" humidity where we live. We definitely took breaks.

If our school had a week-long February break, I would love to go then, despite crowds. We only get Presidents' Day now.

I think it all depends on what your expectations are and what you want to do when there.

No kids and we go every year so expectations of what we need to get done are pretty low....just really miss Disney! We've been early September and braved the heat for low crowds but it was definitely rough!

I feel you. Before the kids started school, we used to go the second week a January one of those "quiet" times. And occasionally around the second or third week of March, it's a busier spring break crowd, but not the Easter hordes either.

Anyway, we've settled on an Easter week pattern. Either the week before or week after Easter Sunday. Just depends on the school vacation calendar. We're also doing the occasional long Federal holiday weekend - Veteran's and President's usually. We also did a July trip once. And a Christmas trip once. All of those times are busy. Easter can be a bit overwhelming to the inexperienced. Waves of sweaty/lost/angry people. MK's Fantasyland pinch point by Peter Pan/iasw is like a whirling vortex of evil. (Though Easter 2021 was strangely quiet. There were disquieting moments of unexpected solitude and shortish wait times.)

A whirling vortex of evil sounds like the type of situations I'm trying to avoid . TBH, I was there for SWW/MK 24 hour party and I can't imagine anything worse than that.

 

[DeeBee3]

No kids and we go every year so expectations of what we need to get done are pretty low....just really miss Disney! We've been early September and braved the heat for low crowds but it was definitely rough!

Oh well, no kids makes things a little simpler. The August heat was rough on all of us, but I was more concerned about my kids. I don't think I need to go again when it's that hot and humid.

I would love to go over Christmas so we are going to attempt that reservation next year. Once you have full knowledge of how crowded things get (as you do) you can plan accordingly and enjoy plenty of things without going on all the rides or even going into parks. We would go into it with that mindset.

Good luck!

 

[Lalalyn]

We have never been any of those times for the same reasons as you. We always took our elementary school aged kids out of school for a trip during less crowded times. I was willing to do that again in 2022 but our oldest has said she doesn't want to miss school. We settled on Spring Break. DH refuses to go in the summer and I totally get that. This year, I was a little nervous because we don't know if our kids will be vaccinated by December.

I'm sure crowds will be intense over Spring Break. We won't get on as many rides. But, we will emphasize more pool time and just finally being able to go again.