Best time to go on a budget?

[Dingdingding]

At the moment I am examining the possibility of going to Disney World in 2018. I'm fine with all weather, prefer a time with lower attendance (but I've heard that there aren't any quiet days in Disney World anymore) and planning to visit the parks for a week or ten days (with also three days at Universal). What would be the best time, if purely in terms of price? I am considering the first week of September, just after labor day.

I want to stay on property at a moderate. Would it be wisest to go for a DVC-rental?

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

At the moment I am examining the possibility of going to Disney World in 2018. I'm fine with all weather, prefer a time with lower attendance (but I've heard that there aren't any quiet days in Disney World anymore) and planning to visit the parks for a week or ten days (with also three days at Universal). What would be the best time, if purely in terms of price? I am considering the first week of September, just after labor day.

I want to stay on property at a moderate. Would it be wisest to go for a DVC-rental?

As far as DVC, Sept. 1-30 is Adventure Season, which is the cheapest time to book a DVC. You will want to make arrangements for a rental around the 11-month mark to ensure availability, since that is when owners can first book. Here is the points chart for 2018:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-vacation-club/DVCpoints.shtml

The cheapest points-wise for DVC is a value room at Animal Kingdom, which is 69 points per week.

 

[HeatherC]

I would suggest the first week in December....weather is great....not too hot, can still swim. The Thanksgiving crowds have dissipated and the Christmas crowds haven't really arrived yet.

September would not be fun for me....way too sticky, hot and humid which sucks the energy out of me. Plus the daily thunderstorms are just a pain...I hate walking around soggy.

We also like late April...after the Easter and Spring Break crowds leave. Can be hot, but nothing like September.

Depending upon rates, these would be my first choices on when to go.

Good luck and have fun planning!

 

[a742246]

At the moment I am examining the possibility of going to Disney World in 2018. I'm fine with all weather, prefer a time with lower attendance (but I've heard that there aren't any quiet days in Disney World anymore) and planning to visit the parks for a week or ten days (with also three days at Universal). What would be the best time, if purely in terms of price? I am considering the first week of September, just after labor day.

I want to stay on property at a moderate. Would it be wisest to go for a DVC-rental?

September would be a good time to visit WDW for lower crowds. Also renting a DVC would probably save you money, September is a low point rental time for DVC owners. EX a studio week at OKW requires 76 points. You can rent points from a member for $13.00 a point. So 76 X 13 = $988 for the week, and you do not pay tax on that.

 

[fifthdimensiondweller]

We did a budget trip in September and it was awesome. Definitely one of my favorite times of year to visit Disney and it will for sure save you money.

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

September crowds are great and with Food & Wine starting earlier each year you could hit that up, starts on Aug 31st this year.

Sept is a toss up for us. As Heather said, it is very very hot. Depending on where you live now the humidity and high temps could make for a miserable time.

The pro to us for Sept is the lower crowds. But after the last few years us being just miserable sweaty and hot from the days and the storms that roll in we may reconsider. We usually go a Sat - Sat with parks each day except departure day. We figure if we have a day that is a washout we could still have time to get back to that park. You're going 7-10 days so you could be fine with that strategy as well. If it was just a 4 day trip I don't know that I would go in September, unless you visit WDW a lot so you don't feel gipped out of a vacation if the weather is bad.

To give you a comparison in cost to what some are showing for DVC points, when we went last Sept (Sat - Sat) we stayed at AK on our DVC points. I do a comparison just for us as to what our actual stay would have been (lol sort of seeing how long until DVC pays for itself). We would have stayed at Port Orleans (moderate resort) and that would have cost $1699.88 for room only.

 

[Dingdingding]

Thanks everyone! Your tips help enormously!

We live in a somewhat colder country (the Netherlands), but my girlfriend and me have both adjusted to different weathers in past vacations. (we're doing city trips most of the time on our vacation; then you have no place to hide from the heat). I've been to Orlando once before (Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Universal Islands of Adventure) about 3-4 years ago for a few days just after labor day (after two weeks touring the deep south) and didn't think it was that bad then but that could be just that year.

The weather is also a reason we want to go for at least a week so we can do everything a bit more relaxed and take a day or half-day off to get in the swimming pool. I very much intend to follow your strategy OrgangeBirdGirl. Are the rooms in the hotels and DVC properly air conditioned? I don't mind the storms that much if it only means you got to stay in the room for one or two days, but I have no idea, (luckily) never experienced anything like that.

I will consider april too! Early december (at least before the sixt) isn't really an option for us due to local holidays.

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

Are the rooms in the hotels and DVC properly air conditioned? I don't mind the storms that much if it only means you got to stay in the room for one or two days, but I have no idea, (luckily) never experienced anything like that.

I will consider april too! Early december (at least before the sixt) isn't really an option for us due to local holidays.

Yep all hotel and DVC have AC. Good idea for a planned swim break. We usually just go back to the resort for a couple hours a day, sometimes swim and sometimes just relax in the room. Helps us with the heat mid afternoon .

We've never experienced a complete wash out. Might just be a pop up storm and you do an inside ride and it's over by the time you are done. A couple times we wore disposable ponchos as rained for a few hours. That was in September.

 

[HeatherC]

The thunder storms are usually daily and only last for about a half hour. Sometimes the lightning can be severe and then rides shut down for a while. Unfortunately, it doesn't really help with the humidity. It is still hot and sticky and then your clothes or shoes are soggy.

November is also a great. Weather is usually in the 70 and 80s and much less humid. Just don't go close to Thanksgiving week...extremely crowded.

 

[Dingdingding]

Thanks everyone! I have already found a way to do it about 3000 dollars (planetickets + Cabana Bay Universal for 4 days + DVC for 10 days + tickets for both Disney and Universal + car rental, all for two persons for close to two weeks in that period! (including transcontinental flight!) Now I only need the money itself haha. You will hear from me again when I'm closer to booking!