What dates should we pick if it has to be outside of school?

[MousetersInc]

The "best time to visit" in terms of crowd levels is always easy: avoid any time that schools have break. But what if you don't want to skip school; what's best out of the school breaks? I had been thinking about just aiming for late Jan and pulling my 6th and 7th graders out of school for a week, but I'm starting to have misgivings. Their absences might affect their class grades, and I worry about them actually missing important instruction, or that it would be impossible to "make up" work they miss. So if we decide to aim for a break, which of these would you pick and why? (Considering primarily crowd levels, but also things like summer heat and hurricane season):

 

[sponica]

I'm torn between MLK and a couple days added and week of June 10. MLK weekend will be busier than the days before or after (generally) and the weather can be anything from cool to comfortable. June 10, about half the country will still be IN school but the heat will have started to set in (and more importantly, the humidity). If I'm picking between those two, I'd pick the time with the prices I like the most and the weather extreme I can tolerate (cold and damp is miserable).

 

[DoryGirl1963]

For best chance of great weather, spring break wins but will be super crowded.

 

[disney-inspired]

I would say early summer because those holidays really draw a ton of people to the parks.

 

[CarolynFH]

I'd choose Spring Break. It's far enough away from Easter to not have those crowds added in, and the weather will be nicer than early June (which would be my second choice, but not close). When our kids were still in school, Spring Break was our most common time to go, and although crowded, it's manageable. The heat and humidity of early June made it miserable for us. We didn't like the idea of pulling our kids out of school once they finished elementary school.

 

[disney-inspired]

I'd choose Spring Break. It's far enough away from Easter to not have those crowds added in, and the weather will be nicer than early June (which would be my second choice, but not close). When our kids were still in school, Spring Break was our most common time to go, and although crowded, it's manageable. The heat and humidity of early June made it miserable for us. We didn't like the idea of pulling our kids out of school once they finished elementary school.

Spring break schedules vary so much that spring breaks run for the 2 weeks prior to Easter and 2 weeks after Easter. That's why I would not recommend spring break. Early June heat/humidity isn't as bad as late summer.

 

[sponica]

Considering primarily crowd levels, but also things like summer heat and hurricane season):

You can use room rates as a proxy for anticipated crowd levels. Pull up the rates on mousesavers for the year at the hotel you're thinking of staying at and compare the rates.

 

[CarolynFH]

Spring break schedules vary so much that spring breaks run for the 2 weeks prior to Easter and 2 weeks after Easter. That's why I would not recommend spring break. Early June heat/humidity isn't as bad as late summer.

Yes, but OP’s Spring Break dates in 2023 are several weeks before Easter in 2023. They wouldn’t be there during the week before or the week after Easter, which are the significant weeks in that regard. I had to check the calendar before replying!

 

[MousetersInc]

This will be our second trip; our first was spring break in 2019, so we experienced the spring break crowds (and it's our only point of reference!).

 

[Tom_E_D]

I voted for MLK weekend. However, for the cost of just one more school day, you could choose a later January or February week that does not include the holiday weekend.

 

[KristaZ]

I'd probably go with MLK in terms of crowds, with June being my second vote, but June can easily end up being hot and humid.

 

[auralia]

Also consider when in the quarter it is… it is easier for my kids to make up work from the beginning of the quarter but almost impossible to make up toward the end

 

[Nabas]

Late August has become one of the least busy periods at WDW.

If your children start school after Labor Day, that will be the least crowded time to go.

 

[Eastern]

June has your best chance of not being horribly crowded. In any case, I would try to do a Mon-Fri vs weekend stay in order to avoid the most crowded times.

 

[MousetersInc]

I voted for MLK weekend. However, for the cost of just one more school day, you could choose a later January or February week that does not include the holiday weekend.

The initial plan was the week of either Jan 23 or 30, but our school system tacks on a teacher workday after MLK, yielding a 4-day weekend, so a 7-day trip would miss 3 days of school vs the full 5. Still might be worth the later week, though... I'm hesitant to directly ask their teachers, "Heyyy, we wanna blow you off to go to Disney World, whaddaya think?," but maybe I should just talk to them about it.

 

[RoseGold]

Summer. Either the beginning or the end, depending on how your school schedule matches up to most.

If you get out June 10, that probably means August for you. I'd pick brutal heat over holiday crowds.

Or Fall Break, if you have one.

 

[clm10308]

Christmas week is the busiest of all those, but it can be a lot of fun if your party can stay up for late nights.
I went Spring Break last March but a week earlier than yours. We had a great time and did everything that we wanted. Without the summer heat, we didn’t need to take park breaks during mid-day.
June will require early mornings and late nights with breaks in between.

 

[jbh275]

The first 2 weeks of June are manageable. The temperatures usually are still right around 90, which is tolerable. The crowds are there, but you'll see that really increase on the last part of the second week. But the first week in June is still pretty good, the week after Memorial Day is great, but the week of Memorial Day, forget about it!