Need advice for 2001 trip with baby (Oct or Dec??)

[dkfogt]

Hi there. Can someone give me some advice on our situation:

We have a brand new baby in the house, plus two older girls who will be 3 and 10 as of next month. We have been planning on making our next trip to Disneyworld the first week in December 2001. Our littlest will be 7 months old. I have never been to WDW during the holidays but have always wanted to go.
Now, there are some great discounts for early fall. I have an AP and am a member of the DC. I want to stay at the Poly (or Contemp. - NEED the monorail conveniece!!!). If we were to go the first week in October we would get the killer rates, right? (I mean even though they end 10/3, don't you get the rate for the entire stay as long as you check in before it expires?) But, Baby will only be 5 months old.
The weather will be warmer, though we don't need to do a water park this time, so it might be more comfortable for baby?

I am so confused - I would have grabbed the $78 round trip airfare as a decision maker a couple weeks ago, but this summer would be too much - too early - and too hot - for a new baby. I hope airfare goes down before our trip.

Another idea is to wait until January, because there are normally some good discounts then, too. Then I suppose we could go Dec 2002......

Eegads - can someone help???

Thanks!!!

DKFOGT

 

[DonnaDavid]

LOL! Hi, I'm almost your twin. I have an almost 7 yo DD and a 4 yo DS and my baby was born 4/16. I'm planning a trip Sept. 22-29th to take advantage of warm but not overwhelming temps and a 2 day break from my DD's school.
We were at WDW 1/00 (at the Poly) and 12/00 (at HIFS). Both times my kids were disappointed that they couldn't take advantage of the great pools; this year I promised we would go when they could swim without turning blue. Our Dec. trip wasn't as bad, but our January trip was TOO DARN COLD! The 1st 2 days were unpleasantly cold - there were no crowds and the rates were good, but I would rather have more crowds and higher prices and not be huddled together on Dumbo for warmth. The weather is so unpredictable during the winter - you may have wonderful weather or you may freeze. I can't imagine being there with a baby if you do get unlucky and get cold weather.
It was really nice being at the world with the Christmas decorations. We did MVMCP, but I don't know that I would recommend it to someone with little kids given the late hours. We had to carry both of my kids home and the 6 yo is not small. I think it's better saved until they're older and able to stay up late.
This year I promised myself that with the baby we are going to slow down and spend more time at the hotels. I have a ressie at the PO/FQ (two connecting rooms, I hope); but I'm considering changing to the BC/YC because my kids would love that pool (my baby is so good so far that I'm not sure we need 2 rooms). The monorail at the Poly is wonderful though.
Yes, you are correct about the rate staying the same throughout your stay. Also, have you checked the rate code link? I got the $89 a night rate at the PO/FQ.
E-mail me if you have any questions I may be able to help with. Donna

 

[dkfogt]

Good point.......I would hate for it to be too cold for the baby..or too hot. We went last year in March and August. March weather was perfect, and we left just as the crowds were getting HUGE. How is Feb?

Does it rain often in October?

 

[DonnaDavid]

There was a good site that showed the historic weather patterns (www.weatherplanner.com, I believe); unfortunately it is no longer available. Maybe someone else knows another good site. We went in Oct. '98 and the weather was wonderful and the crowds were light. Hurricane season ends in Oct., but you can still get a fair amount of rain. October is usually quite temperate. There is certainly less rain in the winter than in the summer or fall. However, I would rather take my chances on rain than have to worry about extremes in temperature. Feb. is still too cold for us Northwesterners (actually I grew up in the Deep South) to go swimming, but it is unusual to get really cold weather.

 

[tiggersmomof4]

We are going to WDW at the end of Oct. for the third time! October is a great time to go, the crowds are light and the weather is just about perfect. 78-85 degrees when we have visited. In the past two years it hasn't rained once! When we went in 99 we took our 8 mo. old DD. She slept contentedly in the Baby Bjorn carrier the whole 8 days we were there!! She even slept through the fireworks. Hope this info helps--enjoy your trip and congrats on your new baby!

 

[Lesley]

Consider your kids' development too.....if your kids have been early crawlers you might want to do the earlier trip so that the baby is content in arms/ in the stroller. We took my dd at 5 months when she was just starting to crawl...and it worked out great, but at 7 months she would have needed much more time to be down and crawling! You'll have to guess by your older kids patterns on this one though....

My dd also hates being hot, but did fine in August (go figure!)..even in a sling. We got those great rates at the Poly and it was wonderful....best WDW trip so far!

Have fun whenever you decide to go!

 

[Gillian]

Have you called about availability for October? We are going end of sept/beginning of oct & lots of the good discounted rooms are no longer available. You may have to call a few times to get the place/dates you want.

January weather was pretty cold this year, I think.

My DS is 7 months now. The biggest differences from 5 months are that he can now sit up in a restaurant high chair, and that he is eating solid foods. He was exclusivly breastfed until 6 months. He still isn't crawling & is content to stay in his stroller. The food thing is a bit of a pain because it's more to carry around. but, uh, diapers are easier than with bf babies.

Either way will be great!