Alas the magic was gone on our last trip - please help me get it back!

[oceanmarina]

Hi all,


For the past 7 years we have taken our family vacation to WDW in August. I love it all – staying at a different Disney hotel each time, obsessing over what ADR’s to make, getting up at 6am on my day off to make them, making a pretty chart with all my ressies, etc. And of course making the great memories.

I travel in August because I teach in the North East and am off that month. I am limited to the times that I’m off from school. I have never traveled to Disney in the presidents day week in February. I hear it’s insanely busy – and I know the airfare prices are sky high.

This summer we just didn’t have a magical trip. I think part of it is that my DS 11 and my DH are very heat sensitive – which makes them cranky. We travel every August – but this summer walking around the parks in the day was hotter than the blazing sun. It put DH and DS in a bad mood in the parks – which put a damper on the fun. My son had a few meltdowns because he was hot. Typically when we go we are only at the parks for a few hours in the day, we go back to the pool and swim for hours and then have dinner and are back to the parks – which has always worked wonderfully for us in the past.

Also, there were issues with rides being down when we were there. We had 3 fastpasses for Frozen Ever After – down each time. My DD 8 was so disappointed. All she talked about was going on this ride. We also had fastpasses for 7Dwarfs, which was down both times of our fastpass. Pooh was even down for one of our fastpasses. We just felt like rides being down was happening a lot this trip which took away from the magic.

The parks also seemed a lot more crowded for August (we went August 9 – 16 this year). We have gone to WDW every August since 2010, even though it’s HOT, one perk was the parks not being as crowded. Well it was so crowded this summer. (I do noticed say from the last three trips or so, it has been more crowded in the parks in August, I feel like it’s a trend.) We usually travel to WDW mid-August.

We had some issues at our hotel, Board Walk Villas. The “light refreshments” included a lot of noisy construction and power washing / drilling which always seemed to be going near us whenever we tried to enjoy the pool. I had only gotten the letter about the construction 10 days or so before we got there which annoyed me to no end. (When I booked the trip in November I was told that renovations would be done by May 2016, well they ran way over schedule). Not being able to relax by the pool took away the magic for me too.

So my DH does not want to go back this summer. (We are going to do a Caribbean beach vacation which is more on the relaxing side). I’m so sad as I miss Disney already! I was wondering if everyone could give me some feedback with some other possible times I can go:

Here’s what I would like on my “wish list”

-For it to be warm enough to swim in the pools.

-To avoid really crowded times.

-To avoid large teen tour groups, I think they are there primarily in June/July/January if I am correct.

I have two other times that I could travel:

1. I’m off for two days for Rosh Hashannah – September 22/23, so we could go for 4 nights. How crowded is it with the MNSSHP Halloween going on?


2. I’m usually off a week for Easter / Spring break in March or April. Is it insanely crowded that week?

Thanks so much guys for any feedback, please help me plan my next trip so we can get the magic back!

~ Marina

 

[jon18uk]

I would go somewhere else, come back to WDW in a few years, wait for Toy Story Land to open and have some new places to explore.

Go to Disneyland in California and sight-see in LA.
or stay at Universal in Florida and also try Discovery Cove and SeaWorld.

Sometimes going back after a few years of not doing something makes it much more magical again.


We went Sept 23 to Oct 7 this year and other than a lot of rain due to Hurricane Matthew we had a good trip, it was busy but not too bad. MNSSHP was busy though and we really struggled to see all the characters.

 

[SpaceMtnGirl]

I agree with PP, try out Disneyland. We went in mid-July 2015 and it was a glorious high of 70 most days. We even needed light sweaters in the mornings and evenings. Carsland cannot be rivaled by anything at WDW. We stayed "off site" yet simply had to walk across the street be in the parks. We don't live close to Disneyland so it was a longer flight than our flight to WDW but it was a magical trip and so fun to do something new, yet still Disney.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We didn't have such magical trip in August 2015 either. It was magical but not as magical as years past and we hadn't been in 4 years! For us I think it's my kids ages. My DD10 still loves Disney and she's that kid that will always love it. She's a very much go with the flow person. My son was 15 and while he says he loves WDW he complained a lot about everything. It did rain a few days and he was bothered by it and couldn't move past it. When they were younger they didn't care. They were just happy to be at WDW and they actually would have loved to be out in the rain.

We're taking a break, doing other things this year and next year and my son is going to WDW his senior class in 2018. That same year I've decided to just do a mother daughter trip with DD. We will still go in August. We are in NJ and don't go back to school until after Labor Day. I like the low crowds in August and cheaper prices on rooms.

 

[loves to dive]

I always go some time in March or early April and haven't noticed the crowds being too bad. F&G is happening at Epcot which is a bonus for me. My son was on Spring break from UGA last year around the 2nd week in March, the weather was warm during the day and a few nights we had to wear light sweaters. We went to the pool every day and there was no rain.

 

[smiths02]

I work in the schools as well, only I'm on an extended contract, so I "only" get around 4-5 weeks summer break (mid-June to mid-July). Anyhow, we have always gone in June or July.
We took a couples only 3 night trip Feb 3-6 this year (after the running things and before mardi gras and president's day). It wasn't really warm enough for swimming, but it was so nice!

For me, I can take 3 personal days, so if I combine that with a weekend, we can get a 4 night vacation (Possibly even 5 night if we leave Tuesday afternoon and get back on a Sunday). DH and I decided that a 4 nighter would be enough for us on our next trip when the kids are older.

Anyhow, if you are allowed to take any vacation time, I would look at one of those in-between times in February (before President's), March (before Easter), April/May (after Easter), and do a shorter trip.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

Take a year or two off from Disney. Head to California or the national parks of Southern Utah/Colorado & Northern Arizona/New Mexico or London or Paris (locals leave in August so lots of bargains). There is a whole world beyond Epcot to explore so why limit yourself?

 

[dizzneebabe]

I know it's hard not to get down when rides have glitches--especially when there is so much anticipation. Frozen was down quite a bit over the summer. In fact, we decided to go at R/D the day after we couldn't use our FP's due to closure. Just curious...was the ride down the entire day? You should have received an email allowing for your FP to be used at other attractions in that park and/or the original ride if it reopened that day.

As far as another trip, I agree with the PP's in taking a shorter trip next time. It will most likely leave you with wanting more. Sept is definitely warm enough to swim and crowds are lower. March/April is one of my favorite times to visit with Flower & Garden in full swing. The closer you get to Easter, however, WILL be nuts. So if your break doesn't fall over Easter week, you should be OK. The pools are heated, so many people swim all year long (not me, though--LOL)!

 

[Duffywannabe]

September is a great time to go. It can be really hot though. Why not compromise and go on a disney cruise. Lots of time to relax for your husband and you get a Disney fix.

 

[lampshadehead]

Sorry that she was not able to ride Frozen. I would say, next time take her alone to ride even its standby? My daughter and I waited for 80 minutes in the standby line, and it wasn't that bad. Standing in that line with her was fine, with some people, maybe not so much, but her and I were just fine.
I hate to say this, but can you leave the cranky people at home for the Disney trips? You will probably have a great time with just you and your daughter. Its hard to leave loved ones at home, when you so desire for them to be a part of the magic we feel. But, there is nothing you can do to convince them to enjoy themselves again until they want to. Not sure if the time of year or weather will actually change much, sometimes people will find other reasons to be cranky, especially with a shorter/rushed trip. Trust me, I have been through it and know. We go in August as well and also live in the NE. DD and I work out JUST fine, heat and all. After dealing with cranks and my daughter being disappointed, I vowed to never again let someones bad mood ruin it for us. We do travel with friends when they want to join, they are similar to our traveling style and are happy to be there. All four of you can have other types of vacations together. You and DD enjoy yourselves in the World until the rest of the family decides they can appreciate it again.

 

[dsdeleon]

Wow, could have written your post except we had leaks at AKL. We ended up leaving park days on our tickets this August and just not going. I really think the bands are now allowing the crowds to always be dense and the late night early morning magic money grabs were just too much. The hours were shorter and the magic was not there so I can totally relate. I tried to invest everything into a DCL trip we have coming up in May but I still had the Disney blues until I could plan a Disney trip to get a quick fix in (serious addiction hahaha) but now, we are mostly doing universal and only a night at MVMCP. It's enough for me to start to get over the fact that we as a family just are not going to get our ROI from the Disney parks, but still fuel my need to plan a trip. In your case, I would do the Sept trip with just MnSSHP tickets and try other things like Universal, the science Center, space center or even a short DCL cruise if the budget fits. The cruises really do have the Disney magic all in one place without the relatively new theme park stress.