January, April, or June

[Familyof05]

Hi Everyone! I'm looking for advice on when to bring the family to Disney. We have to work around school schedules so our choices are limited. Our family has never gone.

January 1-8
April 1-8 (week after Easter Sunday)
June 9-16

We'd love to be able to use the pools but first priority would be lowest crowds out of those weeks or at least not miserable crowds.

Please respond with any opinions on when you would go. I appreciate it very much!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Hi Everyone! I'm looking for advice on when to bring the family to Disney. We have to work around school schedules so our choices are limited. Our family has never gone.

January 1-8
April 1-8 (week after Easter Sunday)
June 9-16

We'd love to be able to use the pools but first priority would be lowest crowds out of those weeks or at least not miserable crowds.

Please respond with any opinions on when you would go. I appreciate it very much!

Just my opinion, but here are my thoughts.

Jan - Coming off one of the most expensive/non-discounted/crowded times of the year plus the marathon. Marathon dates can be expensive and crowded. Higher chance of non-swimming weather.

April - I went the first week of April this year (which was before Easter) and will (likely) never do real Spring Break at Disney again. Very high rates (among the highest of the year), crowded to the point of it not being that fun for us. Great weather though....and Epcot F&G was going on, which is fun.

June - Great pool weather, medium to high crowds, moderate costs. It's starting to get pretty hot by this point.

Granted I'm a summer WDW fan, but for me June wins by far!

Have fun planning!

 

[Mamabun]

We must have very similar school systems - those are weeks we have available too. We've been most of these times in previous years, and I concur completely with the previous poster, but here are a few extra thoughts.

Jan, the middle days of this week won't be terrible crowds, and the Christmas stuff will still likely be going on, Christmas outfits at meet and greets, Christmas night time shows, etc. The 1st and 2nd will be crazy busy, and I've only once felt it was warm enough to swim in Jan, but I'm a whimp about being wet and cold. The marathon has never had that big of impact on me, but I've never stayed onsite during it (it does make rooms harder to come by). I personally don't think it affects waits at rides too much or crowds in the actual parks, but that's just been my personal observation. Maybe it would have been really dead without the marathon there.

April, weather is usually awesome, warm but not sweltering, stays light long enough to have good days in the park, gets dark early enough that the nighttime stuff isn't super late. There is some Disney Easter stuff that's kinda fun, like Easter Egg hunt at Epcot, not sure when they stop that though. Crowds are bad, no way around it, and costs are high.

June, it's hot, humid, humid, humid, hot. But if you plan for that, it's totally doable. Parks stay open late, so you get long days, great for doing a lot, or taking mid-day breaks at the pool. Crowds seem to be getting better not worse every year in June, hope that trend continues, as this is when we would choose to go.

Have a fantastic trip.

 

[Leelo]

My perspective pretty much reflects those of the other commenters. Any time schools are out is when it is most likely to be busy.

Jan 1-8-Super busy during the first part of the week. Also very expensive. Seeing the Christmas decorations that will remain for a few days into this week is really fun. Weather might be too cool for the pool. This is our personal favorite weather for touring the parks. We find it very comfortable. We make an annual January trip, usually 3rd week when crowds are low.

Apr 1-8-Super busy and expensive! Easter/Spring break crowds are intense. The weather was pretty comfortable some days and very hot and humid on others when we went around this time.

June 9-16. Great pool weather. Might be super hot and humid for park touring. This is the most likely chance for moderate crowd levels. June also gets my vote if crowds and pool are your big concerns.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Apr 1-8-Super busy and expensive! Easter/Spring break crowds are intense. The weather was pretty comfortable some days and very hot and humid on others when we went around this time.

 

[Barbydoll8]

Yes. You are picking times when it is most crowded.
Living here I can tell you that April is the best weather but it's also spring break and Easter. That equals high crowds and $$$$
Jan can be lower crowds after the 2nd of Jan. Weather is a mixed bag. Winter in FL can be warm (not for FL's to swim but northerns seem to have no problem) or it can be down right cold. Like temps in the evening in the 30's.
June - It's hot. There are no two ways around it. If you can handle the heat, the crowds should be moderate as a large portion of the country hasn't ended the school year yet. School is out here at the end of May so locals would be there.

 

[Hootch]

We were at WDW mid June this year and have been in other parts of June. Crowds were reasonable. The weather is hot and rainy. Park hours are usually long. (The MK closed earlier this year to push people to DAK.)

I would suggest going in June

 

[kitkat4622]

April - I went the first week of April this year (which was before Easter) and will (likely) never do real Spring Break at Disney again. Very high rates (among the highest of the year), crowded to the point of it not being that fun for us. Great weather though....and Epcot F&G was going on, which is fun.

we were there March 31-April 8th and didn't find it super crowded at all. that being said I would not go the first week of April next year due to Easter being that week. We are going April 19-28th instead.

 

[Familyof05]

Thanks so much everyone! June sounds like it's the recommendation so far.