HELP, New DVC member, best time to travel

[Kris10rooks]

We are new DVC members looking to travel to home resort SSR. My husband is a teacher so we have a few dates selected. Can anyone help me decide the least crowded, most fun time to go? We are also going for 4-5 days in April for spring break. We have a 4 yr old and 1 yr old.

Here are the dates we are deciding between:
Oct 7-10
Nov 19-23 (week of Thanksgiving)
Dec 17-21

Least amount of days is Oct but I've heard the weather is great and the crowds are small.....but just read another thread and people can't get rooms the very next week.....now I'm worried it may be crowded??

I've also heard from other people that Thanksgiving week is very crowded. Is that just Thanksgiving and after??

Christmas would be wonderful! I know its probably beautiful but I'm worried about crowds again. Standing in line with small children is not fun
We really didn't run into any big crowds during our last trip in april bc we would go when the parks opened then our girls ate lunch and napped until the evening and we headed back to the parks then. Do you think that same strategy would work at any time during the year?

Thanks for any help!!

 

[Rest&Relax]

Oct is very busy with DVC members due to the F&W. Therefore hard to get rooms. Park can be very crowded on weekends but not as bad during the week.

We have never done Thanksgiving so not much help.

Dec. again is very busy with DVC members due to cheap points and Holiday events. Again almost have to book 12 months out for December. Park is busy but usually crowds don't get terrible until starting on Dec. 23. - Jan 2.

You may just have to call and see what member services has available. These times are just busy for a lot of DVC members.

 

[twinboysmom]

Thanksgiving week is very, very busy, not just for DVC. Ten years ago I thought October was a great time to go, not now. Especially over Colombus day weekend. WDW is a marketing machine and October has definately gotten busy. As for your dates in December, yes it will be busy. Not quite as busy as Christmas day to New years, but definately busy. Of the dates you mentioned, October is your best shot for the least crowds.

As a PP mentioned, I would call MS and see what is available. Welcome to DVC. I hope you enjoy many years of great vacations. Oh, btw, for the dates in Oxtober you have selected, it will still be hot, not as hot as August, but very warm. And your strategy you used before

 

[Starr W.]

We've done Thanksgiving since 2006, but my youngest was 5 on his first trip, tall enough to ride everything and didn't require a stroller.

It will be busy, but we find it doable by going early to a park, leaving after lunch then heading back for dinner. Now we do fly home on Black Friday, to get decent airfare(we stay Fri-Fri).

I went for a solo trip in mid-October 2yrs ago, I didn't find it busy as at all, even over at Epcot for F&W. But after multiple T-giving trips, I think Xmas and Easter would only phase me. We also do MLK weekend, which is not busy imho.

We usually go skiing over Xmas, so haven't tried WDW, but when we do(I'm working on it for one of these years), we'll leave as soon as the kids get out and fly home on Xmas day.


My solo trip I called 3 months out and had every resort except for AKV to pick from, including BCV! But I was pretty flexible on my dates(went with a 2 week window, which did include Columbus Day holiday).

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you are looking for 2011, good luck. You may have a hard time getting any of those times this late. You are already passed the 7 month non-home resort booking period whem most members try to switch or book something other than their home.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Oct 7-10
Nov 19-23 (week of Thanksgiving)
Dec 17-21


All of those are popular times. Oct. 7-10 particularly so, because isn't that Columbus weekend and F&W. Since it's a weekend, locals come as well and F&W is extremely crowded on weekends.

December 17-21 may be the least crowded. As you get closer to Christmas the crowds build. We've been there during that time only once, in '04. We left on the 23rd and it was definitely more crowded than December 18, the day we got there.

I just got back from a June 12 - 19 stay, and if you can get to the parks early, you can do a lot before the crowds com. DGC rode BTMRR 3 times and Splash Mountain once before we got there at 10 AM on Saturday!

Call right away to find out if anything is available for any of those times. What size villa are you looking for?

Bobbi

 

[Kris10rooks]

Thanks everyone!

I didn't think about Oct being columbus day. I would really prefer the Nov dates bc Christmas is so big with our girls being young. We could use a studio or 1 bedroom, either would be fine. If theres nothing available its ok bc april is our big trip (right between my girls birthdays). We got all points for 2010 so we have some extra to play with. I will call tomorrow as our resale just closed last week. Love the Timeshare Store, so easy to work with, and we closed almost a month early!