Need some shared experiences on times of year:)

[MDH]

So background, I'm Canadian, family of 3 kids, wife, and 2 grandparents. Including our trip this january we will have been 3 times, always the last week of january, first week of february. We always pick this time, because to us, low crowds are the most important factor. It can be cold, we're fine with that. However, my wife recently accepted a teaching position after being off to raise our kids. Now this nasty little thing called "responsibility" is ruining our ability to just go whenever we like! We have a set of tickets we were planning on using late January 2020, but now with this teaching position, it is unlikely we can get that time off.

So, our alternatives. Summer is the most obvious, and with crowds being a priority for us, Aug 12th to the 26th type of time frame as crowds seem to be lower then according to many sites. Obvious concern here is the heat. Just how blazing hot is it? We were at Disneyland in summer 2016, and had a week straight of 100 to 105 degrees, and although it was stupid hot, we managed. But all I ever hear is how the heat is different in Orlando.

And huricanes, I know they can't be predicted, but if there is a tropical storm is it a, ruin your whole 2 week trip, or ruin 3-4 days type thing (not counting on evac situations, that's different).

What about daily rain? In January we hardly ever had rain, but I see that climate averages suggest rain happens almost every day, is that just little sprinkles, hard rains for the whole day, short showers?

There are other options, it's possible that we could maybe get ONE week off in mid feb, and then hit the feb break week as well, but crowds are quite bad that week.


I appreciate any and all opinions/advice/mockery of my wimpy Canadian ability to take the heat!

 

[W.E.D.]

It is HOT. No denying it. Standing in queues in August can really be killer. Luckily, a majority of attractions are indoors so you get some relief. We used to only go in August, but it got to be too much for us and now we look at November, December, January dates.

Can't speak to Hurricanes.

The daily rain in the summer is rarely something that washes out your entire day, or anything like that. It is usually a little storm that passes in 10, 15 minutes.

And we're right there with you regarding the heat!

 

[piglet1979]

We have gone the last few days of May and the first week of June and the week of Labor day. Not exactly when you are going but close. It is hot. Like really hot. Drink lots of water and take some breaks to go on the rides that are inside. Hall of Presidents is my favorite for this. I also get to rest some. As long as you drink your water you should be fine. We also hit the parks at rope drop until about 11 or 12 and then head back to the resort. We rest and or go swimming. This is the hottest part of the day. Then we head back to a park for dinner until closing. The temp is maybe 90-100 with high humidity.

I find that it is not too busy. If you have a good plan you won't wait in lines to much. We never ride a ride if the line is over 30 minutes long. We use the touring plans to help make a schedule to avoid the lines.

It does rain a lot. But it is for short time periods so it will not ruin your plans. One year it rained everyday as we were heading to dinner and then was gone when we done. June of 2016 we were at WDW when a Tropical storm came through. I am from Northeast Ohio and the storm was nothing more then a really bad storm we get here. No more then 50 mph winds but lots of rain. The storm was coming in the afternoon so we stayed at the park until it got bad (early to mid afternoon) then headed back to our resort. We changed our dining to eating at our resort that night. The pool was closed because of lightning but I think that is the only thing that closed (except for the few out door rides that close when ever there is rain). By the next morning everything was back to normal. Now a tropical storm I would still go but anything higher I would most likely cancel.

 

[FishyMom]

Another wimpy Canadian here who wouldn't dream of mocking your ability to take the heat. I'm right there with you! We spent 10 days in late August in Orlando back in 2015 (split between WDW & Universal) and I can't imagine a reason why I'd go back in August again. The heat I could deal with...it's the humidity that kills you! Image walking out of your room at 7am to catch an early bus and getting knocked over by a wall of humidity. Same thing at 1am waiting for a bus to go back to your resort. The humidity never goes away, and we found that the rain only made it worse.

Rained every day, but not usually for long. Many times, we didn't even know it had rained until we got out of an attraction and found everything wet outside. Take ponchos and you're good to go with the rain.

If your winter break is in February (ours is in March), I personally would suggest that time of year. Yes, it will be busier than late August, but many schools in the US have their break closer to Easter or during the 2nd half of March. I would take anything prior to mid-March over August myself.

Good luck with your choice!

 

[cgattis]

I'd take February crowds (really only bad on the Sat and Sun of the holiday) over August heat any day, and I've lived in the south my whole life.

 

[Alesia]

It's really hot, but the humidity is the real killer. It's like being in a sauna all day.

With hurricanes, it just depends. The actual storm itself lasts for a few hours, but there can be a lot of other factors involved, such as airport closures and widespread damage. You can also get pretty much constant rain for days

The daily rain is typically 20 minutes or so. It's actually pretty refreshing because for a short time, you're drenched with water rather than sweat.

I won't give you any flack for not being able to take the heat. I live in a place with summers that are very similar to Orlando's. It's miserable. I have lived here my whole life and will never get used to it. Humans aren't meant to breathe air that is basically half water.

Lower crowds used to be a high priority for us, but I've realized that we have much more fun when the parks are a little bit busier. The park hours are longer, there are fewer refurbs, and our wait times are still about 20 minutes or less.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We've gone to WDW the last week of August for the past 7 years including just a few weeks ago. I've also toured through a tropical storm (mid-June of 2013).

After this past August, we will probably never do late August again. Were the crowds low? Yes. Some things still weren't walk-ons (like 7DMT, FOP, FEA), but crowds weren't really an issue. However, it was so hot this trip, I didn't think I would make it through our touring plans on certain days and it really impacted our trip. On our AK day, we rode Primeval Whirl twice around 4 pm and I was so hot when we got off that we went to get some bottled water (we really hadn't been in the park that long. Maybe an hour at this point). I remember standing there drinking my water and sweat was literally just pouring down my body (sorry if that sounds gross!) We had FOP and ROL passes for that evening, so I was determined to make it through, but even when the sun went down and we were sitting to watch ROL, it was so unbearably hot.

We've now gone almost every month of the year and, quite honestly, I would pick almost ANY other time of the year (except Christmas week! we've done that too!) than go in late August again. Honestly, almost any time of the year you are either battling heat or crowds or both and they all affect planning. I would just rather go in cooler temperatures.

As for the tropical storm, it rained 72 hours straight. We still went to the parks (I have a lovely picture of DS sitting in his stroller with the rain cover on in front of the castle), but a lot of rides were not operational. We spent a lot of time in Innoventions, but, sadly, the interactive exhibits are closed so that rainy day activity has been done away with.

 

[MDH]

So I'm seeing a theme here..... I'm definetly going to have to figure something out then. Sounds like August would be a lot less fun. The other time teachers get off is easter and christmas, but I think both those weeks are just bonkers.

 

[biondagirl]

It's hot. It's humid. It rains. We were there from August 17th to 26th this year and some days, the "feels like" temp was 110 or 112. There were times where we were just dripping. Then you get in line for a ride, or a meal and the fans and the ac make it manageable again. Sometimes after it rained it felt better, sometimes it felt more humid. We've been going in August for years now. Mostly because of the kids' school calendar and we usually get free dining then. We're from Pennsylvania and normally our summers are pretty hot and humid, too, so we adjust well. This summer was pretty mild and the heat did feel warmer in Florida. We managed though with lots of water, iced coffee and mickey ears.

 

[bethbuchall]

Having been out west (including Disneyland and several National Parks) last year and in Disney World the first week of September this year, I can confirm it's a completely different kind of heat with my preference being for the much drier heat out west. But we survived just fine and wouldn't hesitate to go back because of the heat. Just know what you're going into, stay hydrated, and use locations with A/C as much as possible. At least more of the queuing at WDW is inside out of the heat and rain.

We were at WDW in 2008 (?) during Tropical Storm Faye. That didn't ruin any of our plans, since nothing really closed. There was just a lot of rain (which isn't my favorite, but...) We went to a water park one day, and everyone on the bus laughed at us. But it was just rain and some wind with no lightning in the forecast. We were going to be wet anyway. There was almost no one at the water park, and we had a great time. Another day we rode Expedition Everest 10 times in a row (getting off and pretty much walking right back on). We could have done even more, but we'd all hit our limit.

We were at WDW the week leading up to Irma this year. I never felt that I would have been unsafe if we had to stay, but my daughter needed to be back to work on Monday, so we cut the trip a little short to make sure that she'd be able to get back. So, I'd recommend not scheduling right up until the day before you need to be back home because other things can also cancel/delay flights.