first hand experience on crowds during the year?

[jann1033]

i wonder if those who go multiple times a yr or anyone who has gone anumber of different times of the yr, could post and compare what the waits are like early mid and late sept, oct& nov. i can't decide when togo..the kids want to swim but i really can't wait in the lines so i am trying to find the shortest line time with the weather still swimable but not exhaustingly hot.
the wiats are good for me in Jan but the weather is not reliable to count on swimming
i was hoping for a "perfect" time of about 78-80 degrees with walk on rides not asking for that much is it????
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Thanks

 

[Bob P]

September is the warmest and least crowded of those time frames.

Bob

 

[jann1033]

September is the warmest and least crowded of those time frames.

Bob

thanks but from i have seen sept might be too warm for me( health problems for me and bad asthma for daughter so she has to stay in ac during really hot humid weather( anything above 80 or so) i edited the original to be more specific

 

[Bob P]

The temperature you are looking for sounds more like mid November, but it will be more crowded then (especially starting the weekend before Thanksgiving).

Average highs for early November are around 80 with morning lows about 60.

Hope this helps...

Bob

 

[AladdinsPrincess]

Hmmm... I think I would suggest going between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The crowds are light then, and the weather is generally mild. You also get the added benefit of the parks and hotels being decorated for the holidays, which is always amazing. The first two weeks of January are not very busy either, but the parks tend to close earlier and sometimes it can be chilly!

 

[WedwayRocks]

I think if you want to be for sure that you are going to have cooler weather then go as late in the year as possible. I am a native in Orlando and have seen many 85-90 degree thanksgivings and even the same for christmas. So if you want to have a greater chances that it is going to be cool, I would go as late in the year as possible. Also, from personal experience the later on in the year, the smaller the crowds are.

 

[jann1033]

thanks we've been in early Dec, july( big mistake) and Jan. i wondered when the weather actually changes from brutally hot to just warmish hot. we have been able to swim in Dec sometimes but sometimes not and i think they want to do a water park. i was concerned about the upswing in crowds in Dec some have posted about( used to be like Jan crowd wise, some say it's much busier now)

any ideas how crowded it is in early Nov?..does food and wine impact all the parks and is epcot impassable or just a little busier ( we'd love to do that)

 

[pennylynn]

I've been in Nov. a couple of times and the weather was generally nice. The crowds were very low as long as you hit between Veterans Day and Thanksgiving. I would say however that you should leave your schedule very flexible and plan on going to a water park on the first nice day that you have. We waited one time and by the day we had planned for the water park it was cold enough that they didn't open. The kids were disappointed but we went back to the resort and swan for a while and then toured some of the resorts.

 

[jann1033]

what is oct like is it busy due to the party? i notice it is no longer off season after week one so am guessing that is due to the party?( we never really noticed an impact with mvmcp)

 

[Bob P]

The busiest times at WDW are when schools are out. October is not busy compared to school vacations. It is a little busier than September, but still is empty compared to school break times.

I have to warn you though...October temperatures are usually well into the 80s most of the month.

Bob

 

[nowellsl]

January - low crowds, possibly cold
April - spring break big crowds
May (early)- moderate crowds, possibly HOT
Sept. - low crowds, hurricane season
Oct. - great weather, moderate crowds
Nov. - usually great weather, moderate crowds (early to mid month)
Dec. (early) - nice weather higher to moderate crowds.

These are the times we've been - usually every year. My personal favorite - September.

 

[Montana Disney Fan]

We prefer late October. Hurricane season is subsiding and the weather is perfect (from the low 70's to the low 90's depending).

September is too hot for me and too risky for Hurricanes still. The first half of November is also very, very nice.

 

[crazymomof4]

September is a good time to go. We did notice in 2003 that the crowds increased noticably toward the end of Sept. as the first of the MNSSHP's approached. But even then, the crowds we manageable. The difference was that a ride that was a walk-on the previous week was about a 15 min wait and a ride that was a 15 min wait the first week became a 30+ min wait. So, we used FP more during our 2nd week and all was fine.