June traffic from offsite?

[crusoe2]

We're looking at rental homes in Windsor Hills and Windsor Palms for sometime in June. Most likely May 30 - June 6 or June 13-20. Memorial Day and Gay Days will fall during the first week. Don't know of anything special going on the later week. Any idea which one would have the least traffic? How much would the holiday and Gay Days event affect traffic going between either of these properties and the parks? We'll be doing Disney only, if that makes a difference. TIA

 

[mareed]

I've stayed both places and have been during the first week of June as well a much more crowded times like July 4th & XMAS week. The first week of June will be much less crowded (& therefore less traffic) than the 3rd week, and if I had a choice I'd definitely take the first week. We don't have a choice because our kids are still in school, so our upcoming trip will be starting June 6.

Even at the busiest of times like July 4th week and XMAS, we haven't had any trouble with traffic from either place as long as we were heading to the parks before opening time in the morning (which we did at least 90% of the time).

 

[crusoe2]

Thanks Mareed. This is a tough call. If we go the first week it means leaving the day after we get out of school for the summer. I teach special ed and the end of the school year is so hectic with IEP meetings & paperwork, programs, final exams, and commencement. Not to mention closing out my classroom for the summer. I could use a little more time to catch my breath and re-group before we head to Orlando. If we wait till June 13-20, just how bad will the traffic be? Any tips on dealing with it or avoiding it?

 

[mareed]

Thanks Mareed. This is a tough call. If we go the first week it means leaving the day after we get out of school for the summer. I teach special ed and the end of the school year is so hectic with IEP meetings & paperwork, programs, final exams, and commencement. Not to mention closing out my classroom for the summer. I could use a little more time to catch my breath and re-group before we head to Orlando. If we wait till June 13-20, just how bad will the traffic be? Any tips on dealing with it or avoiding it?

Your reasoning for not going the first week is exactly why it's so much less crowded than later in the month! So many kids are either just out of school or still in school that first week.

But having said that, you'll be fine with traffic later in June from either WH or WP as long as you know how to use the Sherberth back road shortcut. Search the boards here as map have been posted many times. From WP we always use Sherberth to get to all parks. From WH we use it for AK always, and for the other parks if we're heading out after park opening. From WH prior to park opening in the morning, I think traffic is light enough that you could just go the main road and use the main Disney entrance. I'll also say that returning to either WH or WP in the evening around park closing time, I'd always use the Sherberth road way (follow Disney's signs to AK and then to Animal Kingdom Lodge) because 192 gets pretty backed up at park closing time.

I had a friend who has stayed offsite in the same area for many trips but I couldn't quite convince her to try Sherberth road, so they sat in traffic (since they typically arrived at the park after morning opening around 11-12) and would stay until close. She finally tried Sherbert and said it was so much better!

And again, if this works at the busiest times of XMAS and July 4th, it should be perfectly fine in late June!

 

[mossy1]

I'll also say that returning to either WH or WP in the evening around park closing time, I'd always use the Sherberth road way (follow Disney's signs to AK and then to Animal Kingdom Lodge) because 192 gets pretty backed up at park closing time.

This is a great tip----DO NOT use 192 after park close.

 

[crusoe2]

Thanks again! I've heard about that Sherberth Road route but we haven't tried it yet. We stayed at Windsor Hills when we went in October but the traffic was so light that we were able to use the main route with no problems.

As for not going that first week - tried that once and swore never again. The end of the year is beyond insanely busy and, due to the special ed stuff, extremely stressful. I was only considering it because we've decided not to take advantage of the onsite 4/3 deal and wondered if we'd regret having to deal with the traffic later in the month. Sounds like it will be manageable tho.

 

[ahoward]

We stayed in the Formosa Gardens area last year (Oak Cove I think) from June 9 - 20 and never had problems with traffic, but we always used the Sherberth shortcut. I think that was the best "tip" I got from these boards. It's a lifesaver! We would even come home for breaks around lunch and go back in the evenings and still no probs.