HELP?? I can't decide when to go!

[Susan Holloran]

My extended family and I are attempting to plan a trip together. We will have 11 people with 6 kids ranging from 4-14, 3 younger and 3 older. We have all been to WDW many times. We were looking at the week after Easter since one crowd calendar (Undercover Tourist) has parks at a 4-5-6/10. Not bad IMO. But I just saw that TP has crowds higher than that. Who do I trust? Should I scrap the trip and try for a different week. We are trying to plan around school schedules since it's harder to take older kids out for an extended time. My kids get out the Friday before Memorial Day, so we could go in June. I've heard there's lower crowds then, but again, TP has crowds at a 7-8? HELP

 

[GADisneyDad14]

My opinion is to not let crowd calendars dictate when to go. Instead, just plan on dates that work best with the needs and scheduling limitations of your rather large group.

 

[Susan Holloran]

I know, but I don't want to be miserable with three kids 6 and under if we have to wait 2+ hours for every ride..........

 

[friedela]

I know, but I don't want to be miserable with three kids 6 and under if we have to wait 2+ hours for every ride..........

I am a newbie, but personally I think that if you are getting your fast passes in advance and using them wisely and booking more when your first 3 are up, you wont be waiting 2 hours for anything.. we went in Feb for our first time and the crowd calendars predicted 6/7 but were actually higher than that but the longest we waited for anything was 30 minutes. We used our fast passes and booked more immediately and kept doing so until we had seen mostly everything we wanted. I think too that it is important with Disney to be ok with not seeing absolutely everything in one trip. I missed the opening show (REALLY wanted to see that!) and splash mountain (my son chickened out) and a couple other things too because the day goes SO fast but it's just a good reason to go back

 

[Alesia]

I know, but I don't want to be miserable with three kids 6 and under if we have to wait 2+ hours for every ride..........

We've never waited more than 30 minutes for anything, even during busy times. You just need a good plan.

 

[Susan Holloran]

Well clearly I need all the help I can get. Teach me your ways oh wise ones LOL!! I never seem to get early FP's when I book. Is that the key? Can you all point me to some resources so I can figure out HOW to do that

 

[disneydreamer1980]

If you decide to go this April
You may wanna start figuring out your ADRs, if you wanna eat at any of the hard to get places.

 

[Susan Holloran]

If you decide to go this April
You may wanna start figuring out your ADRs, if you wanna eat at any of the hard to get places.

Yes! That's on my list to do this weekend! Luckily, we've been multiple times before so don't feel the need to do a lot dining wise My bigger concern is FP's but we have time for that!

 

[dakotix]

We used crowd calendars once to plan when we'd go and they were way off. The place was mobbed that weekdespite the calendars saying crowds were going to be very low. I now just use them as a guide for the week I decide to go and then plan which park to attend each day. Anything can happen at Disney and you never know how busy it will really be.

 

[Sunelis]

If you stay on-site be ready at 7:00am(Eastern) at 60 days out to get FP+. I always get the hard ones first on the days that I want them... After that I fill in the gaps.. And finally I tweak them with the "refresh" strategy. And if you can't get the FP you want then once you're at WDW rope drop is your friend, you can get almost everything done in those first couple hours when most vacationers are sleeping.

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

I love AUG late park hours, mid day breaks for the pool
I also love going in NOV nice temps in FL (crummy here at home), get to see some Christmas décor ( I'll also do some Xmas shopping)

 

[friedela]

And if you can't get the FP you want then once you're at WDW rope drop is your friend, you can get almost everything done in those first couple hours when most vacationers are sleeping.

Yes! This is huge IMO! We were always at the park at 7:30 AM before rope drop, it was crazy how big of a difference that makes! A lot of people want to sleep in while on vacation, they aren't setting their clocks for 6:30 AM but we did and we were able to hit up a ton of stuff early before the lines got busy. In fact on one of our MK days I was able to cancel the first 3 fast passes I had because the lines were so short that morning I got in right away. Bonus! So yes.. be prepared to get there early.

 

[mom2grace]

For this year (2019)? I think the week after should be fine since Easter is so late. Otherwise I would arrive the Wed after Memorial Day - that crowd should be gone and most schools are still in school.

 

[TinkerPan]

I think you'll be fine with the week after Easter. But, the first week in June can be a very good week to go too. We went one year the week after Easter when Easter was in April and found the parks crowded but doable. The weather in April was really nice when we went. That said, the first week in June is a very good time to go too. We've been then too. The earlier in June the better. The weather can be hotter than April, but we found accommodations were less expensive, and most kids are not out of school yet. You might want to check and see what the price difference might be between the two dates. We found June cheaper.

 

[kniquy]

Who do I trust?

Don't really worry about the crowds -- you honestly have to really plan around the kids and their school schedule -- keeping older kids out of school for more than 1-2 days can be ok but beyond that it really puts a lot of stress on the kids to get caught up on missed work and tests. Figure out the best week for the kids -- if it is a toss up between a school vacation week or beginning of June then look at the typical weather between the 2 time frames.

As for crowds -- any time is manageable IF you have a good solid plan, ADR's planned 6 months out, a plan for FP and utilizing RD for tackling those rides you couldn't get FP for. All that and a good attitude will help with dealing with any crowd level. The weather is what i would base my decision on - so if between April and June - I would probably vote April. We went this past April (probably the same week you are planning on going) and the weather was perfect - only one afternoon of rain, perfect temps, no humidity. I think once you start entering June you get more humidity and maybe those afternoon showers. Very early June should have still decent crowds - many schools are still in session well into June.

Plus Flower and Garden at Epcot is going on in April. Lots of great food booths to check out!

 

[anniemae]

It will be fine. It's always crowded. Go when you want and stop overthinking it. Crowd Calendars are a thing of the past, impossible to predict crowds. Just go and have fun.