Need advice-July or August?

[amytech]

Hello everyone!
My dd and I are planning on going down sometime this summer to visit my son who begins a professional internship with Disney the end of June. Obviously, we want his lovely cast member discount to make this semi-afordable So we can't book any of this until the end of June.
Here's our situation: We have been to Disney many times over the years but never in July. We HAVE been in August once to pick up this same son from his college internship program mid-August so we get the heat and humidity which was tough but not actually as bad as I feared. We have two choices: Go in July (mid or end of) or late August. July is best for us vacation-wise. We are going to California in August and the only time we could go to WDW would be the end of August right before school starts up August 31st. If we went in August, we would get home from CA two days before leaving for Florida. We live in the midwest so have a time change too. And we would get back two days before my dd's high school classes start.
So the crowds are way less the end of August but it would be a rushed trip and not as much time to get in the school frame of mind. We would arrive on my son's birthday though!
July is perfect time-wise for us except for the crowds and I'm assuming costs would be more for onsite resorts as well.
So, what would you do? Are July crowds terrible? The crowd calendars show 9/10 in July versus 4-5/10 in August. Is the heat similar? We want to enjoy our time there. We would only go into the parks on the weekends with my son since he works Monday-Friday. We will be in the pool and resort hopping while he's at work. We are flying down.
Thank you for reading this far!

 

[Shanti]

Hello everyone!
My dd and I are planning on going down sometime this summer to visit my son who begins a professional internship with Disney the end of June. Obviously, we want his lovely cast member discount to make this semi-afordable So we can't book any of this until the end of June.
Here's our situation: We have been to Disney many times over the years but never in July. We HAVE been in August once to pick up this same son from his college internship program mid-August so we get the heat and humidity which was tough but not actually as bad as I feared. We have two choices: Go in July (mid or end of) or late August. July is best for us vacation-wise. We are going to California in August and the only time we could go to WDW would be the end of August right before school starts up August 31st. If we went in August, we would get home from CA two days before leaving for Florida. We live in the midwest so have a time change too. And we would get back two days before my dd's high school classes start.
So the crowds are way less the end of August but it would be a rushed trip and not as much time to get in the school frame of mind. We would arrive on my son's birthday though!
July is perfect time-wise for us except for the crowds and I'm assuming costs would be more for onsite resorts as well.
So, what would you do? Are July crowds terrible? The crowd calendars show 9/10 in July versus 4-5/10 in August. Is the heat similar? We want to enjoy our time there. We would only go into the parks on the weekends with my son since he works Monday-Friday. We will be in the pool and resort hopping while he's at work. We are flying down.
Thank you for reading this far!

1. Crowd calendars rely on outdated attendance patterns & are not to be trusted. Take this grain of salt from someone who has visited several times over just the past few years.
2. We went to WDW for the past two Julys & had a great time without excessive crowds. The crowds in late July last year were actually remarkably low.
3. Late August is prime hurricane season, so your trip is a bit less secure if you schedule it then (although the overall risk is low).
4. Yes, it will be hot & rainy either month.
5. This year Disney is starting the Magic Kingdom Halloween parties in late August, which makes MK much more crowded during non-party days, and on party days they close MK to non-party-goers at 7pm.

Go in July.

 

[amytech]

Thank you! Very helpful! I would hate to not do July due to thinking the crowds were twice as bad as late August...

 

[Shanti]

Thank you! Very helpful! I would hate to not do July due to thinking the crowds were twice as bad as late August...

I wouldn't worry about that. We're going the 1st week of August this year, & can only hope that the crowds are as low as they were in late July last year.