For teachers and others who only can go at peak times...

[rutgers1]

I was just wondering how others cope with only being able to go when crowds are high and wait times are enough to drive you crazy.

I think owning DVC has helped in that regard. We stayed for 2 weeks this summer, and I think a long trip (at least 9 days) is the best way to make you feel like you got your money's worth out of Disney when you have to be there at a peak time. I remember going in October when I was a kid, and we could see and do everything that we wanted within a few days. My last two trips were in April and August, and a week wouldn't have been enough.

When we go for 9+ days, we slow everything down and rearrange our priorities. Pool time is big every day. We often go to a park with a dining goal. In other words, we'll plan a meal at a particular park and then build in a couple rides before and a few after. That seems to be enough to keep everyone happy. Then we head back to the hotel for more swimming.

My big concern is our upcoming trip in February. It will most likely be cold, and I doubt we'll be able to rely on the pools as much.

 

[simba20]

My husband is a teacher, so "peak times" are pretty much the only time we can go. However, since we live close to Disney (in Georgia) we have also found long weekends (winter break/fall break/staff day/Spring Break) to go as well. For the long weekends, he'll usually take a Friday off and we return home late on Sunday...not too late, but we don't leave Disneu at the crack of dawn either.

We've only been DVC members a year, but last year managed to go three times:
Trip A was for a long weekend in March to see the Braves at Spring Training. We did one park (Animal Kingdom) that weekend as well. That was also when we purchased our Annual Passes.

Trip B was a long awaited, true vacation, for 6 days, the first week in April during Spring Break. The parks were crowded, and we just had to plan wisely. We'd hit parks at rope drop, use single rider/child swap/fast passes to get the most out of rides. We'd leave the park around lunch, head back to our resort or go and eat lunch somewhere else, and then come back to or hit another park at night. Yes, there were days my nerves were frazzled due to crowds (I'm 4'10" so I tend to not like it if I cannot see around me) and we did try DHS one day (not at rope drop) and decided to leave after only doing two things. We also heard on two days while we were there, while going back to MK, that they had to halt letting people in due to the park being at or near capacity. Even at the bus drop off, the busses were backed up, as there was a van near the turn into the bus area slowly letting the busses in.

Trip C was decided on a whim, a month ahead of time, for the middle of July. It was crowded, but we utilized what we had learned from our Spring Break trip to relieve our stress and dealing with the crowds. For both trips, I don;t remember any ride that had a seriously long wait. If we felt it was too long for one person to be in the standby line, we avaoided it. The exception was Splash Mountain, which me, my father-in-law, and mother-in-law decided to ride while the hubster watchedout 2 year old. The standby time was 60 minutes and we all agreed since it was hot, getting wet would be a relefi after waiting. We got in line, and it turned out that 60 minutes was UNDERestimated and it was more like 90. We complained coming off the ride, and were given Fastpasses -- anyway, in selected rounds our party got to ride it about 4 times after that.

I truly never complain about the crowds. I know that I am going at a peak time or a high crowd time so I set myself up for that. We have also figured out for us a good use of Fast Passes/Child Swap passes/Single rider things. It sucks that we cannot ride together as husband and wife, but we still find our time to enjoy the rides as well as making the trip easy for our little one.

 

[bookwormde]

We have school age children so we go in the summer, We go for 12-15 days each visit and just go early to the parks and leave when it starts to get crowded (and hot), we head back to the villa to relax, swim eat and explore, then we will head back in the late afternoon or evening at most peoples dinner time for a few hours. We staggers our summer visits so we get 25-30 days out of a DVC annual pass so we do not feel pushed to get the most out of the tickets every day.

Without the room and amenities of a villa this would not work so for use DVC makes it all work.

bookwormde

 

[Nikisha421]

I am a teacher and peak time is the only time I can go...this past february we were at WDW and this coming february we will be at DL...yes it was cold at WDW during your feb trip but no worries...and I do think that we only went to the pool once or twice because my DD insisted. Yes when you go for longer trips going to a park with a dining goal works...this is how we do it for our longer trips, but for a trip like february when it might be cold with long lines and fast pass rides running out of tickets before youeven decide to get up and go to the park you just have to be open to accepting of the fact that you will not be able to do everything...no i does feel like you are getting the most bang for your buck but I rationalize bc we had APs and we had gotten plenty of use out of them already...it really has to be a slow moving trip were you just appreciate what you do get done....YOU WILL enjoy it no matter what...HAVE FUN

 

[Berta]

DH and I are both HS teachers at a large school, and I'm a Dept. Chair on top of that. Our school year is really stressful, so we really look forward to our Disney trips!

Rutgers, don't worry about the February trip. The weather is usually GREAT. We've done that trip at least 5 times, and had heavy rain in the evenings only once. Pack a good umbrella, extra socks and shoes, and you'll be set. The days were generally clear and in the 70s-80s. I'm not a big pool person, but it certainly didn't stop DD! Crowds weren't too bad...just knowing that it would be busier helped us plan, because we each choose one or two "must dos", and made those our priority. Worked out well for us.

We've been going in June lately...temps are in the mid 80s-90s, and parks are open later, so that helps give us flexibility with our day! Crowds are about the same...doesn't seem like wait times are that much longer. The longest we waited on line last year was 50 minutes on BTMRR. Definitely glad I had a misting bottle with me that day...the queue area gets quite warm in the summer!

One nice thing about going in June is that it really helps us decompress from the school year, and when we get home, we still have time in the summer to relax a bit before we begin revising lessons and planning for the next year.

 

[Brian Noble]

We don't pull our kids out of school for something as "ordinary" as a Disney trip, so we are relegated to busy times (unless their spring break week doesn't line up with one of the "big ones"). I deal with it by using TourGuideMiKE and the Unofficial Guide, so that we can avoid the worst of the crowds.

One week isn't enough, but that's all we get, so we do what we can in that week, figuring that we'll be back.

 

[Anal Annie]

We always go in either July or August during the summer or over long holiday weekends (MLK or Memorial Day). We're trying our first spring break trip at the end of March (working our way toward attempting a Christmas break trip). From what I hear, the NEXT week beginning ON Easter will be the worst so I'm hoping we'll cope OK. We are used to the crowds & expect them and if they turn out to be lighter than we feared then it's a bonus!

If the weather gets crappy or the crowds too much to deal with we go hunting for hidden Mickey's!! It's a great past-time to do and a good excuse to go to different places than we'd normally go. We take photos of each one for their own photo album (if I would ever get caught up on that project). We check them off in our copy of the Hidden Mickey book. We really enjoyed looking for them at AKL & VWL. We're up to a couple hundred probably by now. I've sort of lost count but it's a fun hobby to start. Sort of takes the pressure off of always being in a line. Sometimes we go thru the Standby line on purpose rather than a FP line just to find the ones we may have missed by always doing the FP line.

 

[jpolak]

DW and I are both teachers so summer and President's week is when we go. The last two weeks of August is crazy hot, but the crowds weren't too bad. Despite what you might hear about President's week IMO it really wasn't bad. It might no be pool weather, but it's nice to walk around all day and not feel like you're going to melt.

 

[Coach81]

With our DVC crowds don't bother us.. we take our time, enjoying our time there. If we don't make it to a particular ride or show this trip, we know the next trip is right around the corner.. no worries!!!

 

[gracelrm]

DH and I are both teachers with three school-aged children - so we only go during typical school breaks. We start in late July or early Aug - so unless we have a lot of snow - we're out by Memorial Day or shortly thereafter. We generally go in early June and occasional trips during our week-long fall break in October. We do usually steer away from Spring Break because of the crowds - and sometimes go at Christmas - as long as we can get there by the 18th and be home by the 23rd. The crowds then get progressively worse - but since we're used to June - it doesn't seem too bad.

We usually hit the parks early and come back to the room by 1:00 p.m. for a swim or nap or both! We leave for dinner and then return to a park after we eat. It's a plan that works for us. DH and I are both about 5 years from retirement and are looking forward to many years of travels during the off-season.

 

[disneymom8589]

I'm also a teacher and sometimes it is frustrating that we can only go during peak season, but as was pointed out, being a DVC member helps. What I miss the most, is when they have special offers, deals, cruises, etc., we can never go because it's always when I'm in school (September, May...) We sometimes spend more time relaxing at the resort than running through the parks having to do and see everything. My spring break always falls in early April, so sometimes it does or doesn't tie in to Easter. I guess the bottom line is, we just suck it up and know it's going to be busy and waiting for retirement years when I can go anytime of the year! What I miss the most, is when they have special offers, deals, cruises, etc., we can never go because it's always when I'm in school (September, May...)

 

[dgaston]

DH finally retired after 38 years of HS teaching and we went for years during peak times -- Christmas week, President's week, and the New England April vacation (Patriot's Day). I swear by TourGuideMike, especially for Christmas week. I avoid WDW when April vacation is also one of the two weeks around Easter (more miserable for me than Christmas week).

Because the DVC points are so dear, we stay off-property over Christmas week. This year is an exception -- I was able to snag, via waitlist, a studio at BWV for NYE. We are in a townhouse at Windsor Hills for the rest of the week. It's the last trip I booked before DH abruptly decided to retire last May, so it's our last official peak time trip, unless we decide to go then.

We have never had trouble finding good pool days, or even water park days in Feb -- we just watch the weather forecast on WESH.

Best of luck in your teaching careers.

 

[Sandisw]

WE go in the summer because I teach. We have never gone at a different time because to fly from Syracuse to Orlando during any of our breaks is just too expensive (and with a family of 5, way out of the budget).

We go for 6 nights at a time and try to hit each park at opening one morning of our trip. We do what we can until about 1 or 2 pm and then head back to the hotel. Whatever we see, we see. We rely on the FP system and use it to the best of our ability.

We just found out this past summer that you can use FP's beyond there end time and found that worked out well in the height of the summer heat. We FP'd Soarin when we arrived, did some other rides, went and FP'd Test Track as soon as our two hour window was done, and then did the World Showcase. Got FP's for Mission Space on our way back to the resort, swam, at lunch, rested and then came back to Epcot after dinner. We were then able to hit those 3 rides, some of the other ones, all at once which made it a great experience.

Of course, now that we are DVC, and know we are going every year (and hopefully twice a year every other year), it just doesn't seem that big of a deal to "do it all"!

 

[imchatti]

sick days and personal days. for 2010 i am going during the NJ teacher's convention and planning to take either two sick or two personal days for our 9 night stay. yes we will be there with the rest of the state of NJ, but it still isn't peak season.

 

[dvcdisney]

We used to go lower seasons like Sept/Oct/May when our children were younger, but now we have no choice but to go during Spring Break and Summer break (last two weeks of August). DVC has definitely helped in this respect. Although the last two weeks of August is not peak season, it's still very busy, especially when free dining is offered. But we like the fact that we can stay for 2 weeks each trip so that we can take breaks and have enough time to do the rides without feeling like we don't have enough time.

Before we purchased into the DVC membership, we could only stay for a week and felt that that was never enough. We always seemed to be in a hurry to do everything.

With DVC, we are able to go for 2 weeks each trip and twice a year. So, we can relax and take our time even during busy times like Spring Break.

 

[Tink-n-Belle]

We've gone during peak times due to school issues. We went last April vacation and I didn't think it was that bad.

We get up around 7:30, eat in our rooms while some of us shower etc. And we are at the parks by opening and try to hit all the rides in the morning throught early afternoon using FP's.

For example. the MK-- we hop on the train at 9:00 go to Thunder Mt and splash mt- ride it 2-3 each (no waits) grab a fast pass for each 1 right when we get there and 1 right before we leave. Go to Pirates, Jungle cruise, HM, grab a fp for Peter Pan -have lunch - etc etc......

Same with AK, I have my husband (who has long legs get FP's for the Safari, me and the kids walk to EE-- ride 3 or 4 times together or in the single line, go over to Dinosaur, see Nemo-- go on the Safari etc etc .

We usually get to see everything if we go in the morning but if we go to a park in the afternoon, we don't get to see everything.

The weather is a total hit or miss in Feb. I've been when its 80 degrees and 30 degrees. We went in Nov and it snowed in Orlando that night- the day we left it was 80 degrees, but we stay at the BW and it has a community hall which the kids love and all the entertainment on the BW and the movies at night on the beach at the BC with the camp fire so there is enough to do even if we don't swim.