Best time to visit WDW

[El&Asmom]

So I'm sure this has been asked a dozen times in the past, but I'm too lazy to search old threads.
When is the best time to visit the world. I know all the guidebooks give info on low crowd times, weather..., but it seems that their info doesn't always match up with actual opinions of people here.
My criteria for a good time to go includes:
1. LOW CROWDS. We go with little ones, and I hate crowds. We just came back last week and loved being able to walk onto almost every ride.
2. Not so darn hot. (But at the same timel, not too cold as we like to swim on vacation). Even though we loved the low crowds last week, it was hotter than Hades.
3. A bonus would be low cost, but if we had to pay a little extra for a good time to go, it would be worth it.

We were considering late Oct for next year, but I've read that it's becoming a busier time. How is November, non Thanksgiving week? Is spring busy? It seems like a nice time to go weather wise.

Any opinions are appreciated.

 

[i<3Disney]

How about the first week in Dec? You get to see all the pretty christmas decorations and the crowds are pretty light

 

[sanibelover]

November is beautiful weather wise, but avoid Jersey Week if you can. We were there the week before Thanksgiving week and the place was empty. Stayed at PORFQ and the place was a ghost town. (We have also been during Jersey week, and it is definitely not low crowds)

Kids would swim during November, the adults probably not so much. We did do a water park, and during the day it was plenty warm, but by midafternoon, it got a little chilly for wet bathing suits - we are from CT, so we are used to cooler temps - and we were ready for some clothes. I'm not sure that I ever wore a jacket or anything like that though.


They were starting to put up the Christmas decorations, but it kind of felt weird since it wasn't even Thanksgiving yet. Didn't really get me in the Christmas mood. The Osborne lights are supposed to be up Nov. 13 this year. 2 years ago when we were there in Nov., they were working on them, but they were not operational.

If you do decide to go during November, check the schedule to see what else is going on - Election Day is busy (many kids in Florida have the day off - DO NOT go to a water park that day - experience talking) Of course there is Jersey Week, Festival of the Masters (I don't think this matters crowd-wise), Veteran's Day, Super Soap Weekend - stay away from MGM), EPCOT Food and Wine ends sometime in November too, so you do have to plan strategically, but it is so nice to not be wilted by the weather. The weekends were busy(especially the weekend before Thanksgiving week - the crowds started pouring in), but the weekdays were great - didn't even have fast pass machines working.

My husband, sister, and brother-in-law are there right now, and they said it is hot, but not unbearable. They also said it is empty - no waits for anything except restaurants (free dining).

Good luck.

 

[lovethattink]

Last week was just perfect. Last Sunday at Epcot there were no lines, no crowds. Tuesday at MK we just walked up on everything. The most we waited was 5 minutes for Dumbo. Last night, Epcot was a bit more full, but there still was very little wait.

 

[rlovew]

October is actually a really nice month to go if you avoid Columbus Day weekend. The weather is cool enough that being outside doesn't wilt you and it isn't that crowded. While I say this yes- many people come in for the Halloween party but just avoid MK at that time- if you get park hoppers the park is not crowded in the morning so just hop to another park after lunch. The food and wine festival can get crowded on weekends- more the last and first weekend of the festival butduring the week it is fairly uncrowded so visit EPCOT during the week or on Sunday if you have to visit on a weekend- go to AK on the Saturday (MGM tends to be crowded on Saturdays.)