Best time to go in fall

[donkthemagicllama]

My wife and I have APs that expire Christmas day, and would like to make a trip to WDW. We're coming from western Canada, so we don't make the trip too often, and the last few times we've been have been pretty busy. We're hoping to run into smaller crowds this time around. For reference, our last 2 trips were this past Christmas, and the last 2 weeks in August 2004.

So... can you help us out? We're looking to go for around 10-14 days, and want warm enough weather to go swimming (it seemed too cold for that early January this year), and the smallest crowds possible. We're not concerned about any special events and don't have kids to worry about missing school.

What time would you suggest? We'd like to avoid major holidays like Thanksgiving...

Donk, the Magic Llama

 

[dixiedizfan]

For this year I'd recommend going November 6 thru 17th. The weather will still be plenty warm for swimming, and you should find minimal crowds. You're lucky ... wish we could go then!

 

[cattrix]

I would say go in late September, not only is there Free Dining but usually the parks are pretty empty as it's still hurricane season and the children are back in school. We went last year last week of Sept - 1st week of Oct and it was very manageable until Oct 1st.......then all bets were off as MNSSHP and the Food and Wine festival started, it was like overnight crowds!

Hope that helps

 

[kaysmommie]

I have found early November is a great time. The crowds are low and the weather is nice too. September is low crowds but very hot & Humid. October is a little more crowded than the other 2 because of F&W and MNSSHP, as well as Fall break at alot of schools. We are going for free dining in September but our next trip will be November again in 2007.

 

[lovinwdw]

DH & I went the second week in September back in 2003 for our honeymoon. That was the best week for us...it was not crowded at all and it was very hot, so definitely good for swimming...

 

[donkthemagicllama]

Thanks for the feedback thus far... When you say it's hot in September, is it as hot as late August? (we went from 16-30 for our honeymoon in 2004). Is it cooler by late September?
We're not big eaters, so the dining option doesn't really interest us...
It sounds like it's between late September and early November then.
So, given the choices of

Wed Sept 20 - Wed Oct 4
or
Wed Nov 1 - Wed Nov 15

Which would you pick (and why)?

Thanks for any feedback, it's really helpful!

Donk, the Magic Llama

 

[kaytieeldr]

If you mean any time in the fall (about September 21 to about December 21):
The Sunday after Thanksgiving through the week before Christmas generally has the lowest attendance, but the parks and hotels are all decorated for Christmas by then.
That week in November suggested above may not be as sparsely-attended as you'd think: It's Jersey Week, the Food & Wine Festival ends that week, the Festival of the Masters at Downtown Disney is that weekend, it's Super Soap Weekend at MGM... From the 12th or 13th to the day before Thanksgiving shouldn't be TOO busy...
If you're willing to start your vacation in late summer (or if you consider fall to be September, October and November), yeah, from about the middle of September to the 29th or 30th might be your best option. October will be busy due to the Food & Wine Festival and a golf tournament or two...
As for the weather, yes, your best option is to go as early in the season as possible. You'd expectt it to be warm year-round in Florida, but ever since Mount St. Helens blew...

 

[Disney's Fab 4]

We went in Sept of `03 3rd week... pretty much low low crowds... very warm and muggy (but I love that anyway) Adn we just went this past October 10 thru the 17th.... HUGE crowds!!! We come from Massachusetts and up here we have X-mas vaca February and April vacations... (for schools)... From what I found out the alot of Southern states have Fall vacation!! The weather was incredible.... But the crowds were terrible!! For instance.... Soaring Fast pass was sold out by noon 2 days...

I would go in Sept again.... Or maybe I would wait until November!!!

 

[JennyMominRI]

We went in Sept of `03 3rd week... pretty much low low crowds... very warm and muggy (but I love that anyway) Adn we just went this past October 10 thru the 17th.... HUGE crowds!!! We come from Massachusetts and up here we have X-mas vaca February and April vacations... (for schools)... From what I found out the alot of Southern states have Fall vacation!! The weather was incredible.... But the crowds were terrible!! For instance.... Souring Fast pass was sold out by noon 2 days...

I would go in Sept again.... Or maybe I would wait until November!!!

Is late Sept as hot as early August?

 

[Disney's Fab 4]

Is late Sept as hot as early August?

I would say yes... For years, my mom and myself always went around the 3rd week in August... and yup, exact same weather as Spet of `03 with my family......

October 16th at night was chilly... we went to MNSSHP and after going on Splash Mountain, I was real chilly!!!

 

[dixiedizfan]

Setember is still summer in Florida ... it will be VERY hot and humid all month long ... plus it's hurricane season.

 

[donkthemagicllama]

I like the sounds of early November... 6-17 as suggested would probably work for us. Mouseplanet is saying that Typhoon Lagoon will be open, and we really would like to check out the new water coasters...

Can anyone share more about their crowd and weather experiences during this time?

Will the golf events and the soap weekends at the Studios be big problems? (we're not really interested in attending either).

 

[donkthemagicllama]

Well, thanks to everyone who posted here. I was able to get an Airmiles flight on WestJet for us for Sept 20 - Oct 4 (only 1400 miles each, what a deal)! Sounds like it will still be nice and hot and the crowds won't be too bad. It's also value season, here's hoping for some AP codes!

 

[pennylynn]

I've been in November twice and it was great. I like to hit the end of the Food and Wine Festival. The weather was just what I like. Nice days and cooling off at night. In fact one night I decided to skip Fantasmic because it was windy and cool. But I did go swiming and it was warm enough. Remember, the pools at Disney are all heated. The crowds were very light. In fact my niece thought that I must have gotten in the parks early because there were so few people in my pictures. Hope this helps. We'll be there this year from Nov. 11 - Nov. 18. Oh, one more thing. If you stay until the week before Thanksgiving there will be lots of the Christmas decorations up. The last time we were there we left at least a week before Thanksgiving and everything was decorated except the Osborn lights.

 

[ZoZo]

I have been twice in October - once the first week in October, and once the last week in October.

My vote (by far) is for the last week of October. You get to enjoy the Food and Wine Festival and the MNSSHP, but I didn't find the crowds bad at all. Plus, it's not as hot as September (the first week of October was still very hot and humid - I hate that!). Or try early November - you don't get the Halloween party, but you get the nice weather and the food and wine festival (which was great!).

(One thing, though - it's still hurricane season! I was at WDW last October for Hurricane Wilma. Luckily, we just got the fringes of it and it actually cooled the weather off quite a bit (quite a blessing - the first day we were there it was very hot and humid). You take your chances that time of year, but it's worth it!