Best "school break" time to visit for 1st timers?

[Louie7080]

Next summer is probably going to be as busy as a holida

I would go in late August, stay maybe a couple of days longer (which may be possible as prices are lower than Christmas/Easter and you have more vacation days to work with), and avoid the heat of the day. Go to the parks right at opening, do rides etc. until 11 or so, maybe visit a restaurant or some longer indoor stuff as it gets hotter. Return to hotel/pool/waterpark and then go back to the parks in the early evening. Even with less hours you will get more done than during the really busy times.

We have been to both DLR and WDW in August before and for me, WDW is fine but I won't do DLR again in the summer heat. I think mostly because we only have three days in DLR and so it seems a waste to spend only half the day at the parks. So we try to power through and it is miserable (I also do better with humidity than dry heat but that is rather unusual, I think).

I went to DLR in mid August last year and the weather was perfect - I think i wore capri pants and didn't feel hot at all so it can be hit or miss. From what i've read, on average the summertime weather of DLR is more comfortable than WDW.

 

[sam1998]

If late August is an option, go with that. Most schools in the US are back in session by then (our district goes by mid August). Crowds will be low and there is a possibility of discounts. I don't really have any advice on the heat. It's Florida. Its hot and humid. There really isn't that much of the year that is cool. And Christmas and Spring break are both very, very crowded.

 

[ArielSRL]

Next summer is probably going to be as busy as a holida

Why do you say this?

 

[HiddenDewey]

Thanksgiving with a good plan is a lot of fun and I never noticed the crowds being a big issue.

This year we're taking the kids out of school for 3 days in October. Columbus Day weekend is a 4 day weekend for them this year with a Teacher Day the Friday before.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

Easter in 2019 is late (Apr 21st), so the first week in April may not be horrible. .

This! Since your spring break doesn't fall over Easter it should be a good time to go.

 

[Louie7080]

Why do you say this?

That's when star wars land may open? Actually I started that post but meant not to finish it or post it because I wasn't sure about when SWL is supposed to open but when I made another post the draft got added on.

 

[rg35]

Go in the summer. The human body is adaptable. Not being able to handle the heat is more mental than anything.

 

[ArielSRL]

That's when star wars land may open? Actually I started that post but meant not to finish it or post it because I wasn't sure about when SWL is supposed to open but when I made another post the draft got added on.

Ah ok. Yeh, Star Wars land will be late 2019 for WDW. Probably summer for Disneyland.

 

[scrapquitler]

Do you have any other school breaks? Is there maybe a long weekend for Columbus Day, Veterans Day, MLK Day, some local holiday, Election Day, President's Day, teacher conference week, or etc. that has a day or two off of school so that you could take a 5 or 6 day trip with only one or two missed days of school? Manipulating your trip around a 3 or 4 day weekend and avoiding Spring Break, and Christmas would probably be your best bet. What about Thanksgiving? That's still a very busy time, but not as busy as Christmas/Spring Break. We took our kids for Thanksgiving once....we traveled the Saturday before Thanksgiving and stayed until Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend, so the kid only missed 2 1/2 days of school.

 

[SmallWorld71]

All times of year have their pros and cons. If you decide to go at Christmas, you need to be willing to do a lot of planning and temper your expectations. You really need to burn the candle at both ends. For example, on one of our MK days, we got there at 6:30 am and toured until noon. They we came back for dinner and stayed until 1:30 am. If anyone in your group has mobility issues (or uses a wheelchair or stroller), sensory issues, needs to eat/ sleep at set times or any other similar issues, then avoid Christmas week like the plague.

If you want better weather and to see Epcot at its prettiest, go in April.

If you want more time, go in the summer.

 

[kathy884]

Usually it's just colleges that have the long Christmas breaks. I'm guessing you don't have a really long one. Dec. 17-21 will typically not be the crazy busy time Christmas is. Then there is Dec. 22 - Jan. 6 (peak crazy Christmas vacation time). And then there is Jan. 7-11, where crowds won't be that bad. If you have an unusual long Christmas break, that Dec. 17-21 timeframe or Jan. 7-11 timeframe could be good, and that's what I would do. If not, I agree with the advice to avoid the crazy/busy Christmas time (insane crowd level 10s)

Your spring break week in April will be very busy too (crowd level 8s and 9s most likely), but not as crazy busy as Christmas. That would be the best week weather wise.

The end of summer would be the least busy (crowd levels probably just 4/5 level), so significantly less crowded than the other times by a long shot. But IMHO August is hot, humid, and miserable. Please note that I am not a fan of humidity and dislike hot and humid weather more than most people. If I find myself in Orlando in the summer, there is no way I would do more than one theme park day. Most of my time would be in the water or the air conditioning. The last summer week long trip I did, I only did one theme park day and hit the beach and water parks instead of theme parks for my next five days, as I thought the weather is that miserable. This was before all the fastpass plus stuff, so I didn't buy tickets in advance for Disney. I was originally thinking three theme park days (SeaWorld, the Magic Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios), but after doing one day at SeaWorld switched to water parks and a beach day trip to Clearwater for the rest of my stay. All I did at Disney was visit the Magic Kingdom monorail hotels one afternoon/evening.

If it were me I would do your spring break. I'd expect very busy crowds, so would do rope drop for theme park days and take advantage of Fast Passes as much as possible. I would even do touring plans on a site like touringplans.com to help minimize lines.

With WDW more popular than ever I understand why so many parents take their kids out of school. I never did that, though, and would go before or after Christmas holidays if we had an unusually long break that wasn't just the popular Christmas break days. If that wasn't the case, I did spring break (more crowded than I like, but the glorious weather is pretty nice). For spring break too plan for some resort pool time and/or waterpark time as well as theme parks if you like that kind of thing, as it's usually a great week for that. too.

 

[momimouse27]

I'm a vote for Spring Break also. The thing about Spring Break is, even though it's busy, it's not such a short holiday "window". What I mean is, everybody has a different spring break time. So, unlike Thanksgiving or Christmas, where everyone converges at once, Spring break is more of a steady above average crowd. It is doable. And it will be warm(hot) no matter when, but comparatively, April is not so bad.

 

[clm10308]

If you can really take two weeks- Christmas time is manageable, especially since you said PD you are night owls. My absolute favorite time it never in MK during Christmas time is late nights 1:00pm to 2-3 am. Rides are virtually walk on and it is easy to get a lot done. That leaves the day time for shows, restaurants, and shoppings. Last year we went to AK on Christmas Day and the crowds were very manageable. If you if you have enough days of vacation, it is great to plan 2 days for each park.

 

[eeyorepixie]

August will be hot but, if you go at rope drop until 11ish go back to the pool and then return to park at night it may work. However, reading that you think 75 is hot, then you just might be miserable...Christmas is insane...April seems like the only option you could get 9 days with missing no school. Depending how Easter falls will depend how busy the parks will be. Generally the South's spring break is centered around Easter, while the North's spring break it is not...so some spring break years are better than others.
I hope I was clearer than mud

 

[WillowHaven]

I much prefer the idea of crowd levels being at 4/5. But, the weather....
I think after reading all the responses and looking at our calendar, it's gonna end up being Spring break for us.

 

[WillowHaven]

I hope I was clearer than mud

Definitely!
And pretty much summed up my thoughts!

 

[Bostonbeans99]

October has always been our favorite time, followed by February. We went June 2016, it was so flippin HOT!
My daughter and I endured it but the 3 males in our family not so much.
I thought June...UGGGH , never again.... but here we are less than 3 weeks to go and because of baseball and all 3 will be in college come late August, we have to do June again.

I think it will just take some planning. Most rides have a/c and we will plan on doing ride, ride, then a show like Presidents to relax and cool off. Last June vacation we would go mid day back to our resort and change our clothes to freshen up.
I think if you need 10-14 days I would plan a trip the week after your children's school is out.
It is doable to do Disney when it's hot.

 

[4kids4karen]

I still vote for Summer! Spring break the pool water can still be too cool for those that don't like cool/cold water for swimming.

Summer, you can take a break on various days for the pool and waterpark!