Family's first trip - what would you do?

ennjay

Earning My Ears
Joined
Oct 2, 2013
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10
We have twin almost-5-year-olds and are thinking about planning their first Disney trip. It probably won't be our only trip, as we have family in Florida.

So we are trying to decide when to go. Due to vacation time (we are both educators), we are a bit restricted with our time. As we see it, our best options are:

1) Going late August 2015, when we could stay for a week or more.
Pros: longer stay Cons: WEATHER (is it atrociously hot??), slightly higher crowds (though I don't think terrible in the last couple of weeks of Aug?)

or

2) Going early December 2015, when we could only stay for about 3 days (a long weekend).
Pros: cooler weather, low crowds, Christmas program Cons: shorter stay

Our only other options would be probably New Year's week and Easter week, but I'm thinking NO to these as the crowds are said to be horrible and the prices of both flights and lodging will be sky-high.

What would you do, especially with kids this age? Shorter stay with more temperate weather, or more time in August? I'm assuming we will probably go back within a couple of years, so I don't know that we need to try to do *everything* all in one visit. I'm afraid a long weekend might feel rushed, but that the August weather might be miserable. Ahhhh... can't decide! Looking forward to hearing opinions from those who may have had similar trips in the past.

Thanks in advance!
 
Tough call. TRAVEL expenses help dictate my travel plans. If travel to and from the location is part of the expense - I'd go with the longer trip. If its just a short car ride and hence, no real travel expenses - think bunches of short trips.

Three days at Disney - you can only hit two of four parks......

I'd go in August and just be prepared for the heat.

BUT - that's my perspective since it's a $200-300 plane flight for me to get there in the first place.
 
August. yes its hot, but who cares! by going for a week you can spend some time at the pool and not feel rushed
 
Three days is simply not long enough for a first trip. Are the date limits due to jobs or school? If it is just school, I would never hesitate to take kindergarten age kids out of school. Then you could consider much less crowded and better weather times.
 

I agree with Gracie, I'd go with the longer trip and just take mid-day breaks and relax in the pool!
 
Agree with pps. I would look at August and plan for the heat. Try to hit the parks early in the day, retreat to the hotel for the afternoon, and if you are up for it, back to the park for a bit in the evening/late afternoon. We found that worked well with our then 4.5YO DS even in cooler weather.
 
I too would do August. We just went for a first time during Spring Break - and it was unbelievably crowded - the most I ever saw. I would never do it again - plus the drive home on I-95 was crazy. We go the end of August and the crowds are not that bad. I would schedule a sit down lunch - you get to sit in air conditioning and relax out of the heat. We also go early and then go back late.
 
August. We did the last week in August one trip and it worked out great! Perfect trip for waterparks
 
Our family would choose the crowds of Easter over August, but my kids do not do well in the heat. We took one trip in August, and could just not handle the very hot weather.
 
My husband is a teacher so we were restricted too as to when we could go. We decided towards the end of August. He is "irritated" because we will be coming back on the 23rd and teachers report back on the 24th. We chose the week that Florida schools are back in session to hopefully have a little relief in the crowd level. Yes it will be hot but complaining about it isn't going to change anything and I have no interest in dealing with the crowds that go at Christmas time.
 
I would do august. I have been in both late July and December, and I much preferred out hot summer trip over our mild December trip. Yes, the Christmas stuff was nice, but if you are only going to have 3 days there you won't really have time to do the Christmas stuff and tour the parks.

To beat the august heat, bring tons of water, pack a cool mist fan, and plan an indoor attraction every hour and half or so. There are lots of indoor places to take a break from the heat.

A 3 day Disney vacation would feel too rushed and not like a vacation at all. There's too much to do and see and you'll spend the whole time trying to fit it all in. With a week or more you can relax, jump in the pool, explore the resort and DTD, take it at a leisurely pace in the parks.
 
We always go in August. It's hot when we leave our state so the transition to FL weather isnt as difficult.

As long as you plan; buy water fan bottles at Walmart, have cooling towels and lots of water the heat won't be so bad when you consider you're in and out of air conditioning.

Plus august isn't half as busy as December will be!!
 


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