August vs. January Trips

[2peanutz]

Hi, I am new here (posting at least), I have lurked for awhile. Well, I finally convinced dh to take a WDW vacation. He has never been and the last time I was there was in 1989 (high school DECA convention).
We have a ds (4yo) and dd (7 yo), both have June birthdays, so they will be 5 and 8 when they go----which we both agreed to wait until they were a little older to go.
Due to work schedules (I am a teacher) and school for dd and myself (will be taking classes all of June). We are debating about a summer trip (early August--approx. Aug. 5-10) or a January trip (approx. 2-7th or so).
What are the pros and cons (besides weather) of each month? (looking at crowds, prices etc...)
Also, I have noticed that I can't look at flights/hotels on the disney site or expedia at this time (only through December). Does anyone know when they post Jan. 2008 flight/hotel information?
Thanks!
Michelle

 

[luvpiglet]

Hi I'm also new to the DIS and I had a similar question this week. I was told that most of the traditional air carriers will release their schedules 331 days out, so January 1 2008 fares should come out on February 1 2007. Some of the low cost fare providers, such as Southwest, won't have their schedules posted until 6 months prior to the flight. (thanks to QT Pooh for this info)

 

[torinsmom]

Well, August is HOT! I am from NC and it gets hot and humid here, but Disney was brutal when we went Labor Day Weekend. I would think it would be about the same crowdwise though, both are value season. Maybe if you went early in January, they would still have the Christmas decorations up and that would be neat. Prices should be the same for tickets and since both are value season, room rates will also be the same.

I would vote for January!

BTW, I'm a teacher too! We are going on our week long fall break in October.

Marsha

 

[theblondebee]

I know you said "besides weather" but that is the most deciding factor for us. We live in S. Texas where it is hot most of the year and we (kids included) work outside so no way do we want to be hot on vacation.
That said, I would still choose Jan due to the Christmas decorations and general holiday feeling at that time. Also, if swimming is important to you, it can be done at that time of year unless there is a freak cold snap, but even so, it would not last the entire trip.
I have never been in the summer but I believe it would be more crowded right before school starts than just after the holidays and for the last 2 years, I think they have offered free dining in Aug and Sept which greatly increased attendence.
Go back and read posts from both times and see what people who were there thought about it.

 

[daisyduck123]

Hi!

I'm a teacher too, with a DD12 & DS8.

We go to WDW every May (the kids & I all miss 6 days of school) but last year we also decided to throw in a 9 day trip at the end of January (kids & I missed more school, but oh well).

January was great "crowd wise"...the only ride we ever waited during our 9 days there was "Winnie the Pooh" in MK. The one down side to the whole trip was that it was colder than we were used to & we love the WATERPARKS.

We went to TL & BB each one time...it was fun, but not like what we are used to.

This year, we are also going in early August, which will be a first for us.
We know it will be hot, but we go often enough that if we don't get a lot done at the parks, that will be ok...we plan on spending a lot of time at our resort pool, Stormalong Bay, & the waterparks.

 

[scammermom]

August is suicide, in my humble opinion. It's flipping hot and extremely crowded.
I would vote for January.

I don't know where you're from but hang on to booking fares. You really shouldn't have too bad of a time booking for that time period.