August Crowds

[samandryanmom]

School calendars just came out for 2008-2009 and my kids don't go back to school until August 18th. I'm looking at booking August 3-10 becuase the 3rd is the first day of value season. Does anyone know if there is a signifigant difference in crowd levels between the 3rd-10th versus if we held off a week and traveled August 10th-17th.

In a way I would rather go earlier so that we would have a week to rest before school started back but if it's a big difference in crowds, we could suffer through it.

Thanks for your help.

 

[jmcross]

I think that the later you go in August the better. It might be slightly less crowded during the second week but I don't think that it will be significantly different.

Joanne

 

[VickiVM]

We're shooting for Aug 10 also in consideration of budget and school year (our district begins Aug. 25 - we need at least one week in between vacation and school to normalize).

Our previous visits have been spring (non-Easter or Spring break) or early fall - back when the kids were much smaller, early June, late May, week prior to Christmas week (my favorite visit by far) so I'm also curious if the change in resort prices have a deep effect on crowd levels in August. We're already sacrificing personal comfort (Aug. heat, blahhh).

 

['OhanaMama]

We went the first week in August of 2007. The crowds do not empty out until the end of August and definately after Labor Day. We followed the advice of Tour Guide Mike (which parks on what days) and it worked like a charm. And it was soooo hot, which we expected, but what can you do.

Stephanie

 

[leahjade]

It can be hit or miss - our last visit was in mid August and the crowds were the lowest in all my trips to WDW. We usually go in May and were shocked that the May crowds were much greater. We'll definitely go in August again - and really it wasn't any hotter than our May vacations.

 

[VickiVM]

It can be hit or miss - our last visit was in mid August and the crowds were the lowest in all my trips to WDW. We usually go in May and were shocked that the May crowds were much greater. We'll definitely go in August again - and really it wasn't any hotter than our May vacations.

What week in Aug. did you go last year and what part of the country are you from. I started a similar post on the Theme Park/Attractions forum and heard that one particular week last Aug. had heat indexes well over 100 degrees. I'm hoping that that was pretty much isolated to only a couple of days.

Also, I think temperature comfort levels is different for people depending on what kind of weather they're used to.

 

[phillyatdisney]

We are booked for the first two weeks of August... We have been there a few times in August and yes it's hot but all you need to do is pace yourself, drink fluids, and most importantly enjoy yourself....

Crowds are not bad, it all depends on what and where you are at that day.... definitely plan and see which parks are least crowded for the day....

 

[leahjade]

We went the 2nd week of August and it was actually more comfortable than at home here in the humid northeast. We may have just had a lucky week, but we've been to WDW in May many times and it's always been extremely hot and humid with lots of thunderstorms. And there was a definite decrease in the crowds since a lot of the kids were getting ready to go back to school. I would do August again in a heartbeat.

 

[bartleby1]

We were there I believe the second and third weeks of August last summer, as well as many August trips in previous years. We definitely noticed that the farther into our trip we got, the lighter the crowds got. Last year the weather was very strange for August. We hit ZERO rain until our last day. This is highly unusual. Typically Florida will have an afternoon rainstorm every day, which helps cool it off a little, at least for a minute or two, lol!

A few years back we where there when they got hit with Hurricane Charlie and then another hurricane shortly after we left. I think that scared people off for the following year in August, but since then, crowds are making a comeback in August. Also, prices are significantly higher in July with the addition of "summer" season so I do think quite a few people hold of to August now.

Overall, we find August manageable, but not without some planning. We hit the parks early and use fastpasses to manage the lines.

 

[Marmstrong]

We're planning for first week of August (3-10). Hoping Tour Guide Mike leads us well.

Last year, during the first week of August we were in Williamsburg and Jamestown VA and the temp (not heat index) was about 105...HI was 110-115 degrees. We managed that with lots of water, frequent breaks, early starts. I figure if we survived that we should be ok;-)

All of our other disney trips have been in Jan/Feb/early Mar so we may be suckers to go in August...but kids want to do water parks and when we were there in the winter it was COLD!

 

[SqueakyMouse]

The end of July and beginning of August is very hot and crowded. The crowds do get better towards the end of the month, but the heat doesn't.