Help me plan a 2019 Bar Mitzvah trip

[DoraBA]

Hi ya'll,

Long-time lurker from Israel here, posting for the first time.

On 2019 my oldest will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah and has been promised a WDW/USO trip along with his (then) 10y/o brother and maybe our youngest (then) 2y/o. While not a once-in-a-lifetime thing, it is unlikely we will make this trip again for a while -- we do travel a lot with the kids but the US is far (=difficult and expensive travel) and we have many other dream trips.

So we want to make this the best possible trip for them and avoid crowded parks as much as possible.

I will probably have tons of questions but the most burning two are:
1. Is it recommended and possible to use a TA, considering we are not US citizens (my SIL lives in the US though)?

2. We have the following options for travel, which would you recommend?
- two last weeks of april 19
- anytime July or August 19
- first three weeks of october 19

Any advice woukd be greatly appreciated!

 

[wdwjeffc37]

Sounds like a great trip!

April or October will be better weather-wise. Cooler temperatures.

If you do decide to use a travel agent make sure to use one that really specializes in WDW trips. There a quite a few that know all of the ins and outs of WDW and can be lifesavers. A trip of that magnitude will be a lot to plan and a TA may be really helpful.

Good luck. Cheers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[DWillowBay]

Just some "off the top of my head" thoughts.... Since Easter / and the breaks from school that may come with that, falls on Sunday, April 21st, I might avoid that time period. July and August tend to be higher crowd times and very hot. That may not be a negative for you, but something to consider. Of your 3 options, if it was me, I would choose the October time period. Temperatures/ humidity tend to be more bearable than the summer, the parks are decorated for Autumn and Halloween which I always think look beautiful, and you have the option of attending the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. Of course, all of this is personal preference. No matter when you attend, I'm sure you and your family will have a wonderful time.

As far as using a TA, I have never done that so I don't have any advice except to say, if I was traveling so far and with such great expense, I would want to know that someone could coordinate all the particulars of international travel. Again, that's just me. Have a great time!!

 

[sponica]

For your first question, I'd definitely find a Disney Travel Agent for a trip that long and coming from halfway around the world.

The weather will be more tolerable in April/October. There is no slow season anymore, and with Star Wars theoretically opening in late 2019, October might be more crowded so I'd be more inclined to do late April.

 

[CynBeth]

Not sure how observant you are but Passover begins on 4/19 and ends on 4/27. Rosh Hashanah is 9/29-10/1. Yom Kippur is 10/8-10/9. Sukkot begins Sunday, 10/13 through 10/20 and then it is Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah on 10/21 and 10/22.

 

[rentayenta]

Hi. We celebrated our daughter’s bat Mitzvah about 6 years ago at WDW; best idea ever! We let her bring her BFF along with our other two children. It was a blast. We stayed in the Treehouse Villas at SSR. One day we rented a cabana at Typhoon Lagoon. There are so many dun things to do.

We took our trip in October and it was a great time to be there. I vote for October.

 

[Hopefully]

October has many Holy Days as outlined above. October has much better weather ( cooler, drier) than July/August. October has become one - if not the most - busy months of the year. April is in Spring Break/ Easter time and is busy.
All that said I would choose April.
I would use a Disney certified Travel Agent like this sites Dreams Unlimited Travel. I have used them and they were great

 

[ScubaCat]

with Star Wars theoretically opening in late 2019, October might be more crowded so I'd be more inclined to do late April

The opposite is probably true, though, especially if you're not into the whole star wars mania. Galaxy's Edge will absorb a lot of people away from other parks and attractions.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Since Easter / and the breaks from school that may come with that, falls on Sunday, April 21st, I might avoid that time period.

i don't know if Spring Break will be that late. New York City is 4/2-4/6, Boston is 4/16-4/19 (technically starting 4/15, but that's Patriots Day.) Probably arriving on or close to Easter will be best of the three options. It's not yet hurricane season.

 

[DoraBA]

Not sure how observant you are but Passover begins on 4/19 and ends on 4/27. Rosh Hashanah is 9/29-10/1. Yom Kippur is 10/8-10/9. Sukkot begins Sunday, 10/13 through 10/20 and then it is Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah on 10/21 and 10/22.

LOL thanks for thiinking of this but this is percisely why we can travel on these weeks - Passover is a 2+ weeks vacation and there are almoat no school days between Rosh HaShanna and Sukkot. So we usually travel then - just came back from France for example.

 

[DoraBA]

Thank you so much everyone - question re Easter, though-- how long is the vacation time after Good Monday? Since we can travel before the date but plan park days afterwards.

 

[Sue M]

Thank you so much everyone - question re Easter, though-- how long is the vacation time after Good Monday? Since we can travel before the date but plan park days afterwards.

Every where is different. In Canada we get 4 days Good Friday - Easter Monday. As Spring Break in our Province is 2 weeks in March, sometimes it can run into Easter depending on when it falls.

I think prices are up during April for flights etc because it’s Spring Break time. You’d know how flight pricing is from your airport better. If you go on dates that fall on Easter expect high room rates, and in October the US has Columbus Day, Oct 14 so room rates for that weekend will be higher..
As mentioned Oct is a fun time to go as Halloween decorations are up. Temps are pleasant.

We go at the end of August, if you can go after Aug 26ish room rates are the lowest, and so are crowds.

Yes to TA! I think they’re very helpful, and can give you lots of trip planning ideas and guidance. Also avoids long phone waits calling Disney. As mentioned make sure the agency is an official Disney Planner. Their web site will have a Mickey Ears logo. Lots of online agencies. The one who sponsors this board Dreams Unlimited is one of them.

I’d also recommend getting a WDW Guide book, WDW The Unifficial Guide is a good one.

 

[DWillowBay]

Every where is different. In Canada we get 4 days Good Friday - Easter Monday. As Spring Break in our Province is 2 weeks in March, sometimes it can run into Easter depending on when it falls.

That was sort of my point...it's so hard to predict as every school district in the country is able to set their own dates for Spring Break and/ or Easter break. I would "think" that Spring Breaks in 2019 would not be connected to Easter breaks as they were this year because Easter falls later in the calendar (which I will never understand!) Anyway, Spring crowds are hard to predict, was my only point.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

With Easter being April 21 2019 I would definitely do October. I know in my area all of the schools either close the week before or the week after Easter. Easter week is a nightmare at WDW. The summer heat is also brutal so again, October all the way.