how hot,crowded, miserable is August?

[alexedan]

Now that oldest DS is starting Kindergarten we can no longer travel at will. Our APs expire just before thanksgiving so I'm thinking of an August trip to DW. How bad will it be with a 2 and 5 yo? We stayed at the Poly last time but have booked both that and Dolphin this time (500) price difference for the week-lake view Dolphin vs Garden poly. Anyone with experience during this time? Also, are AP rates likely or not for this time? Thanks!

 

[TLinden16]

I went August 13-23rd last August, and I found the crowds to be very overwhelming. I usually travel in the off season because I don't have kids, but I was travelling with my sister and her family, so I didn't really have a choice. Even with the use of Fast Passes, we felt like we missed a lot during the trip. At times, I remember looking out over the sea of people and just feeling overwhelmed.

That being said, one of my sisters went down August 24-31st last year, and they didn't have to wait for anything. I've gone the last week in August a couple of times, and found the crowds manageable.

Karen

 

[goofy4tink]

The third week is better than the first two and the last week is the best of the bunch!! It is very hot/humid. I found the crowds to be pretty heavy. We were there the 13-23 also. A lot of rain, which made park touring a little more difficult since a lot of the outside rides shut down with thunderstorms. Made more people in lines for things like Buzz Lightyear. But, we went back in Dec and found that we preferred the hot weather!! So, we're going back this August again.

 

[lillygator]

Keep in mind that August is VERY hot here in Florida.....

 

[kc26]

We went in August I think 3 years ago and it was hot and humid but nothing unbearable. I like the heat. Eveyday in the afternoon the dark clouds rolled in and then came the downpours. Overall the crowds weren't to bad from what I can remember. We are going back to Florda this August but not to disney (boo Hoo.) Overall we vacation to Disney in Nov. evey year and I think I prefer Nov. in Dusney.
Have fun.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

We went the first week in August in 2000, after always going in October. Same reason, kids getting older.

I didn't think it was that bad. I see you are from Richmond. I am from the Baltimore area and am used to hot and humid. I was hot in the AK but the rest weren't that much different from home. I don't think you would find it much different.

As far as crowds, just go with the flow. There were crowds but we went with the expectation of NOT doing EVERYTHING. We made lists of "Must see" attractions and made sure we saw them. It was a good trip.

Any trip to WDW is better than no trip at all.

 

[oogieboogie]

I have a child in grade K and we have pulled him out this year for 2 disney trips. I guess it is a personal thing but even the teacher said it was no biggie as she could give us anything the class was going over and he could work on it in the car. I think grade K is more for the interaction than anything else.

 

[goofy4tink]

Originally posted by oogieboogie
I have a child in grade K and we have pulled him out this year for 2 disney trips. I guess it is a personal thing but even the teacher said it was no biggie as she could give us anything the class was going over and he could work on it in the car. I think grade K is more for the interaction than anything else.

I have to agree. My dd was in K when we first traveled to WDW. It was no big deal. Then again in 2nd grade. Not too bad still. But, in 4th grade, this past Dec....she had a ton of stuff to make up. Just not worth it if you miss more than a few days.

 

[nigel-bigel]

Count me as another person who has no problem taking a kindergardener out of school. I agree with oogie-boogie, kindergarden is more for interaction. And if they are working on letter sounds, what better place than WDW to teach your child all about the letter M ?

When my oldest was in kindergarden we took her out of school for 2 months so we all could accompany my husband on a work assignment. I was all worried about it, but when I talked to the teacher, she laughed and said, "It's only kindergarden ".

(Did you know that kindergarden isn't even compulsory?)

Go in November! Early November is one of my favorite times - no crowds, still warm enough to enjoy the pools but not sweltering, value season rates. Getting an AP rate - which you probably will later- will just be icing on the cake!

Nicole

 

[nhdisnut]

We went a few years back during the last week of August. We found the crowds to be reasonable (and we made good use of Fastpass), but it was HOT. I recommend some of those spray bottles with the fans attached - kept us cool when otherwise we would have melted... Enjoy!

 

[Disfreek]

DW is a teacher.. so Easter and August are the only options I have.. but I cant complain about the rates at the S&D.

Florida is RAINY, and VERY HOT in August..
ohh yeah, and the Crowds are crazy..

but if you plan for these conditions..you can have a great time.. Since we goto DW twice a year.. we just go with the flow..
example:
My 3 year old loves to ride Dumbo.. we never find a line for Dumbo when its raining.. so DW and baby just go shopping and I take my 3 year old on all the rides..
WD does alot of things to make u feel as comfortable as possible in the heat.. most of the lines are cooled or are indoors.. so the heat doent get to us.. Living in Michigan, we love the heat anyway..

 

[Selket]

We went the 3rd week of August last year due to not wanting to take our son out of 1st grade classes and it worked out well for us. The weather there was hot and humid and rainy but it was the same in Maryland! I was quite worried about the weather cause we have 2 young ones (20 months and 5 at the time) but we all did fine. I'm overweight too and wondered if I could make it but no problems (and now I've lost weight - woo hoo!). We usually go in major off peak times and I found the crowds manageable by using FP and EMH at the MK with the 5 yr old for all the fantasyland rides. That 3rd week was also the last week of eride nights for the summer and they were early ones - 7pm and 8pm start times and that was AWESOME for us cause we could take the little one one of the nights. That made it all worth it for us cause I love eride nights. I would not hesitate to go back again that 3rd week of August. I think your view of the crowds depends on what you're expecting and willing to put up with and how much you HAVE to get done! I rode everything I wanted and more and never waited long for things. We were also upgraded to savannah view at the AKL so perhaps the hotel wasn't as full.

Have fun!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

We go every aug but this year we are going in april due to other things going on. Our ds are older. This past aug. we went to the poly and the swan. We went the 2nd week I think going into the 3rd. Starting the 3rd I think they decrease the hours alot like mk at 7 pm. This aug. it was hot, really hotter than we are used to and even DH got hot and grumpy. If you are prepared you can deal with it. Mister fan, no dark colored clothing, rest and ac and swim breaks. Lots of hydration. Besides the refillable poly mugs, I brought gatorade and koolaid into the parks that dh carried in our backpack. We still had our fill of drinks in the parks. Went through like 2 bottles of suntan lotion for the 5 of us. We also had to deal with the tornado warning and transportation shutdown and tons of rain this trip. I will see how the crowds/easter trip goes. I did also notice compared to the poly, where the pool got really crowded, I am talking kids swimming underwater and crashing into you and no chairs available, that the grotto pool was awesome, although the ds said the slide was lame. Chairs every where and lots of room to spread out in the pool. Also I made all our ps reservations before we left. Felt great when at crystal palace and hollywood and vine they said, sold out no walk ups accepted. So plan accordingly.

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

I used to go the last week in August. There was over an hour wait at almost every ride and we kept sliding around because of all the sweat that kept pouring off of everyone's sun scorched bodies.

 

[winifredweasley]

I agree with these other people that you should just take your kid during the school year. It'll be worth it. A kindergartener doesn't do much and i bet his teacher wouldn't mind. You should take advantage of him being able to miss school without any bad consequences while you still can.I bet his trip'll be more valuable and educational than school right now.

 

[karylrocks]

I also agree that it would be better to take your child out of school in the fall rather than go in August. August is so hot and humid! You can do so much more when it is not crowded in November. I agree with the person that said that it is not that big of a deal for the first few years of school, but after 4th/5th grade there is a lot of work and may not be a good idea.

 

[Aimeedyan]

I find July and August to be miserable, for me. I won't do it again. October has been my fave time to go. I grew up in a family in which family vacations were important enough to miss school. We didn't go often, maybe every other year, but we always missed school for it. But I know some people don't feel comfortable doing that (which is probably why the parks are so crowded during the summer!)

Good luck to you!

 

[DisneyArk]

We went in November and took my oldest DS out of kindergarten. His teacher was great about it. Each night I had him draw pictures of what we had done/seen and then he would write a few key words of things in the picture. I also printed out a lot of Disney worksheets that he did - there are links to these at the top of the Disney for Families board.

I don't know if we'll continue to take him out as he gets older, but in this case it worked out great. This was by far our best trip to WDW yet. My DS really enjoyed EPCOT this time. He had already learned so much in school and he enjoyed learning new things. Going to WDW in August would not work for us because my boys get really cranky when they are hot and stuck in a crowd - for that matter, I guess I do too!

Best of luck! Orlando is hot in August, but you can always swim a lot!

 

[alexedan]

Thanks so much for everyone's really helpful advice. I would love to pull him from school but he's going to be in a private school and I'm not sure yet how strict they are. Right now he's already doing phonics and can write upper and lower case. I know public schools review these and I hope his school does too but since most of the kids they accept are the same as my DS they might just plug on and I don't want him to get lost. To complicate matters my DH went to this school 3rd through 11th grade and had a perfect attendance record!(which he's not proud of!). Once he got hit by a car riding his bike on the way to school and his mom just bought him new clothes and made him stay!

 

[jubileegirl]

We visit WDW from the UK and have to travel in July/August. We have no choice (other than to NOT come which is really no choice, is it?!)
We know that it's hot and crowded but it's worth it to be there! When we holiday in Europe it's just as hot although perhaps not so humid. We went to Turkey last year and it hit 100 degrees most days.
If you can come in the cooler weather then that's great but I would never choose to miss a trip just because it's got to be in the high season. I suspect that many of the crowds in WDW in August are also Brits!