late Aug 2018, late Oct 2018, early Dec 2018, or Xmas 2018?

When should we go to Disney in 2018?

  • Late August 2018

    Votes: 2 25.0%
  • Late October 2018

    Votes: 3 37.5%
  • Early December 2018

    Votes: 2 25.0%
  • Christmas/New Years 2018

    Votes: 1 12.5%

  • Total voters
    8
  • Poll closed .
I went from August 26 to September 3 and attended two MNSSHP. Usually we go a week earlier and the parks still open late in mid-August. So, a little getting used to early closing time especially for MK. We had a labour day deal on hotel and got the Canadian discounted tickets. I planned to go in late August this time due to lower crowds and MNSSHP. Food and Wine opened early this year and that was a nice surprise.

The heat was bearable comparing to our HKDL trip last year in July. Epcot World Showcase is the hottest place to be from 11 to 4 if it's a sunny day. There is no shade from one country to the next. For other parks, there are shade and rides you can go to stay away from the heat. Eating around the world during Food and Wine was sweaty and hot. We had afternoon break of 3 hours most days except on the party days to rest from the heat.

Crowdwise, I don't feel a lower crowd comparing to mid-August. Early morning is a good time to tour with less crowd but once you hit 11 am/12 pm, you can see waves of people coming into the park. We usually hopped to Epcot for lunch at this time and we saw the long lines of people at the park entrance. We were staying at Beach Club.

As a high school math teacher, I have had students going away for a vacation during school time and falling really behind afterwards. I am not sure about middle school but high school is serious teaching and learning time. If late August is too hot for you, I would choose Christmas time and get immersed in the festivities. Right now, Christmas is too expensive for me but I would go in early December once I retire for sure. I went once during Christmas time in 1997. It was cold and I was not prepared for the cold, but I loved all the decorations and it was crowded.

Have fun planning!

Thanks!

We definitely feel that school is the most important for DS --- which is why we're leaning toward Christmas or late August.... In Elementary school we felt pretty confident that we could compensate for missing a week --- and we're able to do so... I think in Middle School we'll want to avoid this --- would rather be sweaty for a few days than find we've messed up our DS's year.

Going to PM you ... so feel free to ignore the PM if you're not comfortable...
 
Thanks!

If we go in the summer we'll likely do BC with Club level for 11 nights ---- figure if we do a few hours per day at parks with lots of pool time we'll still be okay. Love hot weather but hate the humidity of Orlando so we'll definitely take the advice about the clothing. I'm going to Pm you about the deal you had so if you get a random PM from me I'm just curious about the deal....

I replied :) and actually going to send you one more in a second lol. It's been over a week since we got back and my son is still crying to go back... we have two cruises coming up but they apparently aren't good enough any more! May need to plan another August trip myself :)
 
If you do give us an email and we'd love to meet you.... (I did a Dec 2016 solo trip at BC (DS was at school and DH was at work) and loved every minute of it and totally recommend it...) If you do go solo... feel free to let us know and we'd be happy to have you join us for any ADR's you're interested in ... plus we're thinking of doing an Illuminations cruise... so you're more than welcome... thanks again for all your help ... it is awesome....

We're also thinking of trying for a ressie at DHS for HBD for lunch with an imagineer and would love to have you join us...
 
G'day all. I have booked for August 2018 but with the current storm season being so unpredictable was wondering what people thought would be the best time of year to go. Please give me your thoughts, reasons, etc...

Our DS 11 is in Grade 6 this year (which is still Elementary School here) but will be in his first year of middle school next Fall/Winter 2018 when we visit again. He does well in school and we have done early Dec trips throughout his Elementary school phase --- in the past we've gathered the info about what is being studied in the curriculum during the time leading up to the trip and made sure to ensure he's a few weeks ahead of it. (Generally speaking he's done some sort of project/presentation when he missed school for our WDW trips.)

Our choices....

If we go in late Aug 2018 he will miss no days of school but it will be busy and we're in peak hurricane season and I've heard it be described as being like vacationing on the surface of the sun when it's hot and sunny... this will lead to much complaining from DH and DS. Likely this will be value/price time period.

If we go in late October 2018 he'll miss about 7 days of school (based on PD days). Weather should be nice and we'll get Epcot F&W and the Halloween parties.

If we go in early December he'll miss about 8 days of school. Weather can be beautiful or cold... We get the Christmas parties and decorations.

If we go at Christmas he'll miss no school... but crowds will be crazy and DS and DH will be grumpy because of it. (Confess this is my least favourite as it is the most crowded and expensive time.) Chance of discounts are slim.

Granted, things can go wrong any time of he year, my husband did say he would never travel late August, when storm season is really picking up. I would go early December as weather will be good (the average high is around 20-23 and the nights average 10. Compared to December in Canada, that is not cold!), hurricane season is over, and you'll get the decorations and parties. However, being a pre-teen, your son may find the Halloween stuff "cooler", so really, I would say just go with what interests him more.
 


We have been during all your listed time periods as we go once a year, sometimes more often. Perhaps we may have been lucky but our most common trip time is for 10 days during the last 2 weeks of August and have never been impacted by hurricanes. It's hot so we go to the park for rope drop, pool/sleep in the afternoon and return by 5pm. Crowds are light (likely more so next year due to the hurricane season this year) and great sunny weather. As long as your son isn't going to miss a major event (summer sport championship weekends are sometimes late august), I would overwhelmingly pick this time first.

Christmas is almost the opposite of August. Crazy crowds (we avoid most popular attractions unless at rope drop or with a fastpass) but many attractions really aren't that long a wait, weather was wonderful last time we went but we were lucky, it's not usually a tropical getaway temperature. One of our daughters finds it too cold to sit and enjoy the pool so she prefers if we go during warmer times. But it is definitely a magical holiday to be there at Christmas/New Years and I'm sure our last one would rank as being one of our favourite vacations that our kids will all remember.

Sounds like you've eliminated the other two, I would too based on your son's age. IMHO, in younger ages, school and activities matter much less. I won't mention anything about early December since you've been, if you choose October I would recommend Halloween if your son is ok with it. Fall crowds are heavier than they used to be but there is usually 3-4 days with very light crowds around Oct 30-Nov 2.
 
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Granted, things can go wrong any time of he year, my husband did say he would never travel late August, when storm season is really picking up. I would go early December as weather will be good (the average high is around 20-23 and the nights average 10. Compared to December in Canada, that is not cold!), hurricane season is over, and you'll get the decorations and parties. However, being a pre-teen, your son may find the Halloween stuff "cooler", so really, I would say just go with what interests him more.

So agree that early December and Halloween are the most awesome times to go...

At this point we've agreed we'll try mid-late August 2018 and go for 14 nights versus our normal 11 nights to account for heat/bad weather .... taking lots of time in midday for waterparks and pool time breaks. Hopefully we'll miss the major hurricane season but we'll buy insurance as well.... We're also thinking about going for a week in February 2018 (DS will only miss 4 days while still in Elementary school due to Family Day in ON) --- but that's still up in the air at this point.

Thanks so much though, in 6 years time DS will be in University and DH and I will be doing some trips when it works for us (F&W, Halloween in Oct and early Dec for Christmas events will definitely be on our plan.... )
 
We have been during all your listed time periods as we go once a year, sometimes more often. Perhaps we may have been lucky but our most common trip time is for 10 days during the last 2 weeks of August and have never been impacted by hurricanes. It's hot so we go to the park for rope drop, pool/sleep in the afternoon and return by 5pm. Crowds are light (likely more so next year due to the hurricane season this year) and great sunny weather. As long as your son isn't going to miss a major event (summer sport championship weekends are sometimes late august), I would overwhelmingly pick this time first.

Christmas is almost the opposite of August. Crazy crowds (we avoid most popular attractions unless at rope drop or with a fastpass) but many attractions really aren't that long a wait, weather was wonderful last time we went but we were lucky, it's not usually a tropical getaway temperature. One of our daughters finds it too cold to sit and enjoy the pool so she prefers if we go during warmer times. But it is definitely a magical holiday to be there at Christmas/New Years and I'm sure our last one would rank as being one of our favourite vacations that our kids will all remember.

Sounds like you've eliminated the other two, I would too based on your son's age. IMHO, in younger ages, school and activities matter much less. I won't mention anything about early December since you've been, if you choose October I would recommend Halloween if your son is ok with it. Fall crowds are heavier than they used to be but there is usually 3-4 days with very light crowds around Oct 30-Nov 2.

Thanks... after talking to DH (and him seeing some you tube videos of the wall-to-wall crowds at Christmas) I think we've decided to give mid/late August a try... We'll buy insurance in case of weather but I think we'll try it... jut to avoid being out of school. Definitely will follow your advice to go for mornings/rope drop then back to the hotel/water park for the heat of the day. Return to the park for the evening when things cool down.

Thanks again!
 


We usually go late Aug until Labour Day for 2 weeks. The crowds are low, esp the last week. It is hot and humid. We always take a mid day pool break. Prices are best too. We've been going this time of year for years. I always get trip interruption insurance just in case.
This year we've decided to go late Nov/early Dec to see the Christmas decorations.
I'd say it depends on your heat tolerance. If some family will be miserable in August, I'd pick Early Dec. wild horses couldn't make me go at Christmas and braves the crazy crowds.
 
We typically go the last 2 weeks of August. It is hot but there is so much air conditioning that we really don't find it to be an issue. Similar to a previous poster we usually do rope drop, leave the parks around 12-1 for an afternoon break (swim and/or nap) and then return around dinner time. I love the low crowds this time of year!
 
Thank you to all who responded! I really appreciate that you took the time to respond....

Our DS is in his last year of Elementary School this year (and does well so we're fairly confident that missing a few days in Elementary won't be too much for him) so we decided to do one last trip before he goes to Middle School in Sept 2018 and then do a Christmas trip the following year.

For 2018 he'll miss a total of 5 days of school in March but it will give us a 14 day vacation... and we've been careful to ensure that we follow the curriculum to make make sure he's always a bit ahead. March break crowds are high but we figure we'll stay a few extra days so we can FP+ everything we want without having to do Park Commandos. We're doing 4 nites at Universal HRH then 10 nights BC Club level so I think we be able to book the things we want to do and allow for some downtime when we need it. Book some golf for DH and DS and then some quiet time for me.

The hurricane season this year made us realize that we want to plan around Mother Nature ... where we can .... Since it costs so much for us to travel (~2500 in March) we want to make sure we get 1/ direct flights (so important for us) 2/ booking when most refurbishments aren't scheduled and 3/ when less likely to have extreme weather or crowds is important for us.

Normally we do the deluxe dining plan but aren't this time due to 1/ cost (since DS is now an adult according to WDW) and it doesn't make sense for us 2/ amount of food (way, way too much) plus we wind up planning our days based on ADRs rather than other things and 3/ we'll have breakfasts at the club lounge and the occasional night where the apps wills tide us over to a late ADR.

We will likely put DS in the Kids Club if we're able to book Highway in The Sky (which was fantastic when I did it in Dec 2016) and Savour the Savannah if there offered while we're there.
 

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