2016 Disney Trip - trying to plan ahead

[Easto]

Family of 4
Kids are both girls
Ages 2 & 5 (currently)
Wife is a teacher

In the past we have been limited to March Break to go to Disney. We have done the March break Disney twice now we are looking for alternate times to go. Here's the catch: My wife would have to take a week off work without pay. IMO it's worth it if we can hit some sort of savings elsewhere.

What we're looking for:
- Traveling from Canada, if I am going to Florida I'd like for shorts and Tshirt weather. I know weather can't be guaranteed, but we would like to go when odds are the weather will be warm.

- Accommodations on site. We plan on spending lots of time at the parks, so a fancy resort isn't a must. Ease of transportation to/from the parks and the Disney experience are far more important this time, not gold plated showers (lol)

- I know it's not set in stone, but when do they typically offer free dining plans?

I am sure I will come up with some more things, but this is a decent start.

 

[ajwolfe]

What about September or May? Both would still be decent weather and would allow you to wear t-shirts and shorts and the crowds aren't crazy then.

We love POFQ and POR - which are both moderates. Just a few more dollars than a value but the extra space in the room is nice and the resorts have a different feel to them the values. Plus at POR there is a TS restaurant on site.

 

[sullyfam]

To avoid any "chilly" weather, I would go with the spring, summer or fall months and avoid the "winter" months. But be careful what you wish for! It has way higher chance of being HOT and STORMY those times of year as well.

There are plenty of values and moderate resorts to choose from that can be budget friendly. I would research them and see which ones you think would appeal most to your family. They are all kind of similar in terms of Disney transportation although the larger ones will have multiple bus stops.

A lot of times they offer spring and fall room discounts for certain resorts so be on the look out for those. Usually free dining is in the fall. We went last year in September for free dining but ended up taking the room discount instead as it worked out being cheaper for us.

Happy planning!

 

[Easto]

Ok... So my wife brought up the idea of September like ajwolfe suggested. She isn't due back to school for the 2015 /2016 year until September 8.

I checked out some crowd calendars and the first weeks of September look awesome. Anywhere from 3/10 - 5/10. Last time we were at WDW it was March Break so every day was probably an 8 or 9.

Looking a bit more the weather is HOT HOT HOT. Average high of 90 in Orlando in September. Honestly, it has the potential to be in the mid or high 80's here anyways so this isn't a big deal.

For myself, I can change holidays around and have this time off as well, so the first week of September has some serious potential.

Now , if we take this a step further and look into planning/booking for this week is there anything specific we should be aware of?

 

[sbarisch]

I would suggest looking at when Labor Day weekend is in comparison to your dates. The weekend tends to be busier, so I would suggest before or after. I can vouch for September, we've been at WDW the last 3 years in September. Crowds are low, it's value season and there are often discounts, and the weather is hot. Be prepared for rain, as we've found September to be more wet.

 

[Easto]

IF we go it has to be in the first week of September. September 8, she is due back at work.

 

[mandis77]

I would say April/May or early September. Crowds are low. It is hot, but you said you didn't mind that. As far as free dining, historically it is offered between Sept-Dec with blackout dates here and there. For resorts we like POP Century the bus system is the best of all the value resorts. Enjoy!

 

[DSNY4ever]

Maybe I am wrong but I thought free dining usually started at the end of September in the past. We are looking at early May or late sept for next year too, two of my favorite times to go! I think we are going to try may again for the flower and garden festival.

 

[dprincessmom]

Could you not do the last week of August? Yes it will be Hot but local schools and a lot of schools in the south start mid to late August so you may have lower crowds. If you couldn't do August, I would still do early September and just deal with any extra crowd because of the long weekend.

We went last May and were there for Memorial Day. I was prepared for it to be crazy, but it really wasn't all that bad. I think that early (or late in our case) in the school year people are reluctant to pull their kids out of school and have probably just had a family vacation earlier in the summer.

 

[Easto]

Ok, so I think we are narrowing it down.

We have to be home no later than September 7th.

Flights are cheapest leaving Tues-Wed-Thurs, so these are the best dates for us:

(1) Aug 25 - Sept 1
(2) Aug 26 - Sept 2
(3) Aug 27 - Sept 3

The holiday weekend is Sept 5th - 7th, so we can avoid that.

Resort wise my wife has narrowed it down to Polynesian and Yacht Club. The prices they have right now are really good.

Yacht Club is $2680 for the week plus 6+1 day tickets.
Poly is $2777 for the week plus 6+1 day tickets

Yes we understand the Poly is under some renovations right now.

With our kids (3 and 5) which resort would be the better pick? I'm not too concerned with reno's, we will be spending most our time at the parks anyways.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

I would do poly simply for the monorail access.

 

[Easto]

Ok..... So we are booked August 26 - September 2 at the Poly.

Next question:

We have a 6 + 1 ticket. The plus 1 is
DisneyQuest Indoor Interactive Theme Park, Disney's Typhoon Lagoon Water Park, Disney's Blizzard Beach Water Park

We have a swimming pool at home and the kids like the water.

Which of these three would you suggest?