How do you decide when to go?

[Disneyfan754321]

We have a reason to travel to the Orlando area this fall, I cant decide when to go. We could go in August or September. I was thinking about getting into my Disney gift card money taking the family to MNSSHP and maybe a night at a Disney hotel following. We homeschool so that doesnt matter, I saw that the weather is starting to cool and its rain/hurricane season. How do you pick a week? The parties are on Tuesday and Friday nights, Im thinking Tuesday might be the better choice.
My DH is going to a place that lets him drive a tank on a Friday or Saturday Day about an hour away. Just getting people thoughts.
Our big vacay trip in in March when we go to all the parks and go all out. Thanks for all of your ideas.

 

[Klayfish]

That's probably based on peoples' personal planning style, touring styles, etc... Some people study crowd calendars, some schedule around school, events, holidays, etc....

For us, we pick whatever time works best for our family schedule. Doesn't matter if it's June, July, Thanksgiving or Christmas (those are the times that usually work best for us). We don't care about the weather...it's Florida. We don't care about the crowds...we expect the holidays to be busy. We're going to "go with the flow" and enjoy being there.

That philosophy may not be for everyone, but it's my $.02. Go whenever you want and it works well for your family. Unless there's a medical reason, who cares if it's hot? There are very simple ways to deal with that. Who cares if it t-storms sometimes? Simple ways to deal with that. Crowded? Yeah, sure, it's WDW...it's always crowded. Hurricane season? It's rather rare, and Kissimmee isn't on the coast, so it's simply not a "risk" I have any concerns over.

I don't know there's a ton of difference between Aug and Sept anyway unless you want to do MNSSHP.

 

[ErinsMommy]

IMO August and September are equally as hot and equally have a chance of getting a hurricane/rain on most days. Tuesday night will likely be less crowded - unless its a holiday - than a Friday night when locals are off and are looking to party the night away because there's no work the following day.

 

[jennyq87]

That's probably based on peoples' personal planning style, touring styles, etc... Some people study crowd calendars, some schedule around school, events, holidays, etc....

For us, we pick whatever time works best for our family schedule. Doesn't matter if it's June, July, Thanksgiving or Christmas (those are the times that usually work best for us). We don't care about the weather...it's Florida. We don't care about the crowds...we expect the holidays to be busy. We're going to "go with the flow" and enjoy being there.

Agree with this! Personally, I don't think there is a perfect time to go. The parks are always busy. FL weather is crazy and can be unpredictable. I think it's best to just go when it's best for you and the rest will work itself out.

 

[mrd7896]

agree with everyone above. if you already narrowed yourself down to August and September you are already 8204 steps ahead of most people when planning.
There isn't much difference between those months. I think i would prefer September (even though your kids aren't worrying about school other children are back to school) which may make the tiniest of differences since ~most~ parents i would assume wouldn't take their children out of school AS SOON as they get back.
The pricing won't be too different
The weather won't be too different

 

[ErinsMommy]

~most~ parents i would assume wouldn't take their children out of school AS SOON as they get back.

You would be surprised - we sure as heck were when we did this one year. Let her start off school so she knew her teachers and classmates, then a week later took her out before the work really began and things were just getting started so easy enough to catch up, and came across quite a few others from the northeast doing the same.

 

[FCDub]

I just go when I want.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

I have been looking at the calendar I forgot about Labor day Monday September 2

agree with everyone above. if you already narrowed yourself down to August and September you are already 8204 steps ahead of most people when planning.
There isn't much difference between those months. I think i would prefer September (even though your kids aren't worrying about school other children are back to school) which may make the tiniest of differences since ~most~ parents i would assume wouldn't take their children out of school AS SOON as they get back.
The pricing won't be too different
The weather won't be too different

I think you are right, I went into planning for the end of aug early September and ran into one more stumbling block my DH wanted to avoid Labor day Monday September 2nd. but maybe it wont be that bad. Im just looking at being somewhere warm before I know it it will cold here again.
My Husband is so excited to drive a tank he can hardly stand it so the sooner we get there the better https://www.tankamerica.com

 

[Disneyfan754321]

I have been playing with the hotels.com ( it easy to use ) going week by week to see the change in hotel prices.. maybe that will give me a good idea. It looks like the last two weeks are pretty booked I'm guessing for those schools that go back September 3rd. Where I live they are back in mid Aug. Thanks for all your help

 

[celeste.]

I would love to go by the crowd calendars/what festivals are going on but I'm a teacher so I go when most of the schools are off
But my favorite time to go out of all the school breaks is mid-July!

 

[DISNEYSQUIRRELS]

We pick a general time of year that “feels” like the right time for vacation.
I start researching pricing for flights & room rates & we narrow it down from there.
We try to get the best deal possible.
At work, I have a lot of flexibility but I do try to avoid overlapping with the person that covers me. This would not be a deal breaker though, more of a courtesy.
We’re fine with going in the summer, holiday times, etc.
This year we’re going for 9 days during the F&W Festival, very excited!

 

[Nolefan1984]

I've used crowd calendars but I still just base it off of Birthdays or my daughters school schedule.

 

[tguz]

We are Summer vacationers as my GF is a teacher and my son is school age. We leave in a month from yesterday. However, in 2021 I would like to go in September or Thanksgiving week, for a special occasion.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

why are all the crowd calendars different? Im not sure which one is correct.
My kids are home schooled now but prior to this I use to take them out of school a week before spring break started so we missed all the crowds and the higher hotel cost. I dont even like going to local theme parks during spring break.. and Disney is times ten.