Help me pick a fall date!

[GiGi30]

Hi, all!

I am out of practice when planning a Disney trip. We went twice a year for several years, our last time being Nov. 2010. We stopped because my husband nearly died from spinal meningitis in March of 2011 and I was also 6mo. pregnant at the time.

He's all healed up now for the most part (still some lingering issues that are cognitive), but physically in tip top shape. The baby is now 2 & our other kids will be 8 and 6 when we go.

Here's my deal. We can essentially go anytime we want to. The kids go to an amazing private school. We don't take uniformed fall breaks so we essentially get travel days to use instead of being out with the public school system. They are sent their work they would miss and they get credit for doing an oral report on anything they learn. Disney is great for this! The way they do their "breaks" allows us to go to Disney when the crowds are at their lowest and it's not blazing hot.

We used to prefer fall - after Thanksgiving and into the first couple weeks in December. Is this still a relatively low crowd time? We enjoyed the Christmas party. OR we would also consider going into October to do the Halloween party. Which time frame would you recommend for lowest crowds? I am super excited since I now have Google Glass and plan to do hangouts from live in the parks & on rides!

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[Pixiedust74]

I would take a family vote to see if you are more "Halloween" or "Christmas".
I've gone in Sept, Oct and Dec-Sept is hotter and you risk getting a soggy bottom if you aren't careful. Upside is lower prices and it's a little quieter. Oct. normally is a great time, but this year Peter Pan AND the Railroad are shut down at the same time. BOO! November/December are great if you are a Christmas person. But I would also watch for rehabs. For example, Space Mt. will be down a good chunk of Sept. and Jungle Cruise too.

One thing I would say if you do Christmas, go before Dec 15th, because it can get ugly crowded after that. It was so quiet one day, I actually have a picture of the area by Dumbo and there are NO people in it! I would also skip the Christmas party, it just didn't seem as good a value as the Halloween one.

 

[kappyfamily]

We have been both times October 30th-November 6th and December 7-15th. Loved them both! But I will tell you I would do trick or treating at wdw on Halloween again in a heartbeat! It was so fun! It was still warm enough that we could swim, although that does vary from year to year. December was just too cold for us in the pool. The Xmas lights and decorations are fun though, but again I would go for Halloween!

 

[GiGi30]

Thanks for the replies! Looks like I may have already hit a snag if we want to stay at our usual hotel, The Polynesian. Seems to be booked solid for the rooms we like. We may have to wait until after the new year to go. I agree - Halloween is the best! I always find that I stress about Christmas coming up and all I need to be doing anytime we have went in December. The crowds were worth it, though! March was always nice too. In fact, one March trip, we had to wear pants & jackets the entire time except for one day. They had a cold snap!