October???

[Mickey'snewestfan]

I teach at a year round school, with 2 weeks off in October (Columbus Day week and the week after), and I am sooo tempted to take one of those weeks and head to Florida this year with DS(9). Our #1 goal would be to try out Aquatica, but we'd also want to do Disney (including MNSSHP?), and maybe a couple of days at Universal, and a couple of days at Cocoa Beach.

Can someone tell what it would be like at that time of the year? How bad are the lines? What's the weather like? DS and I both love the pool and the waterpark but I'm a wimp so I only like the pool when the air's hot and the water's warm, will we get our wish in October.

Another option would be the 2nd week in January, but I suspect the weather then would be too cool -- am I right?

Thanks!

 

[Bob P]

Hi,

Plus your dates in here for recent weather history. October is still pretty warm, and crowds are manageable.

http://www.wunderground.com/tripplanner/index.asp

As for January, the weather is completely unpredictable. you could have warm days (80s) with cool mornings, or you could have mornings near freezing with afternoons in the 40s or 50s. Or you could have a little of both. Or you could have something in between.

 

[3mickeys&me]

If I had to choose between October and January I would pick October. Its much nicer weather wise IMO. You are more likely to have nicer warmer weather than January.

 

[K and K's Mommy]

We went this year in October. It was hotter than I thought it would be. It was definitely pool weather. MNSSHP was so much fun! I highly recommend it.

 

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

We took an October trip in 2006. The crowds weren't bad at all. MNSSHP was amazing!!!!!!!!! The weather was a lot hotter and more humid than we expected. It was definitely pool weather.

We're planning a January trip next year. The kids have off 3 days at the end of the month, so they'd only miss 2 school days. That just screams "Disney" to me! I know I'll be more nervous about weather at that time of year, but we'll just play everything by ear and plan accordingly.

 

[dsnymomof4]

We just went this past October - 16th-22nd and it was very hot and very crowded. I was very surprised at just how crowded it was. I thought it was one of the better times of the year to go. Maybe because of the F&W festival and MNSSHP. We did do the MNSSHP and it was awesome! Would definitely do it again! Temps were in the 90s all week - good pool weather! Of course, I'm of the mindset that there's never a bad time to go to Disney! Have a great trip no matter when you decide to go!

 

[DreaGirl]

We went Oct. 3-9 last year and the crowds were low and the weather was hot and sticky!

We are going back this year in May for DD's b-day, but we would go back in October again. It was hot, but not like summer. The crowds were low, but got heavier at the end of our trip due to the holiday.

 

[mom2aredhead]

October is hands down my favorite time of year to go. We LOVE the Halloween party, the decorations, the weather, the low crowds. We've always had warm weather and lots of sunshine during our Oct trips. I think the Jan weather is not only cooler, but very unpredictable. (When we were there in Dec, we had 80+ days and 30 degree days in the same week)

A suggestion for the beach part - it's a little further out, but having been to both Cocoa and Clearwater, we LOVED Clearwater so much more. We stayed at the Hilton on Mandalay Ave which was walking distance to the marina, park, pier and lots of good restaurants. It's a little pricey, but a great location. There are lots of other hotels and condo options there too, so I;m sure you can find something budget friendly.

Someone here recommended Captain Memo's pirate cruise in Clearwater which your son may really enjoy (I've never been, but its on the list for our next trip - Google it) and you're also really close to Busch Gardens ($59 for 2 day admission) and Lowry Park Zoo which looks very cool.

If you're going to do all of those things, look into an Orlando Flex ticket, which would include admission for US, IOA, Seaworld, Busch Gardens and somewhere else (Wet and Wild maybe?) - it may work out cheaper.

HAVE FUN!

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

A suggestion for the beach part - it's a little further out, but having been to both Cocoa and Clearwater, we LOVED Clearwater so much more. We stayed at the Hilton on Mandalay Ave which was walking distance to the marina, park, pier and lots of good restaurants. It's a little pricey, but a great location. There are lots of other hotels and condo options there too, so I;m sure you can find something budget friendly.

HAVE FUN!

Thanks! Can you tell me a little bit more about Clearwater? I was thinking Cocoa beach for 2 reasons. 1 is that DS love waves and boogie boarding -- which wouldn't work at Clearwater, the other is that I've heard about red tide in the Gulf and DS has asthma.

What has been your experience as far as waves and red tide at Clearwater?

Thanks!

 

[mom2aredhead]

Thanks! Can you tell me a little bit more about Clearwater? I was thinking Cocoa beach for 2 reasons. 1 is that DS love waves and boogie boarding -- which wouldn't work at Clearwater, the other is that I've heard about red tide in the Gulf and DS has asthma.

What has been your experience as far as waves and red tide at Clearwater?

Thanks!

I've been to Clearwater twice and never had an issue with red tide. Maybe I was just lucky...we were there once in Jan and once in Oct. I don't even know what time of year that's an issue to be honest
No, you can't really boogie board in the gulf and if he's into that, he'd probably really like Cocoa Beach and Ron Jon surf shop. I just found Cocoa to be a little dull...the beach was nice, our hotels were nice, but if you wanted to go for a walk, window shop and grab an ice cream or coffee after dinner, there was ZERO to do unless you count the coffee counter at Publix. Yes, the pier was probably nice once but looked a little tired to me. The area seemed to cater more to the snow bird condo set..

 

[mickeylove2]

We just went this past October - 16th-22nd and it was very hot and very crowded. I was very surprised at just how crowded it was. I thought it was one of the better times of the year to go. Maybe because of the F&W festival and MNSSHP. We did do the MNSSHP and it was awesome! Would definitely do it again! Temps were in the 90s all week - good pool weather! Of course, I'm of the mindset that there's never a bad time to go to Disney! Have a great trip no matter when you decide to go!

We went this past October too, the 21-29...we loved it! We did MNSSHP and of course it rained for the 1st few hours, but it was so worth it. I found that the crowds were nothing compared to the last time I went. The longest line we stood in was about an hour and a half and that was to see Ariel in the Grotto, the longest ride line was Soarin' and that was about 50 minutes, the only other long line for characters was the Princess line in the Judge's Tent, 45 minutes but we saw 3 Princesses. The last time I went was in July and the crowds were unbelievable, I remember 2 hours +++ for some rides! We loved going in October, and will never go at any other time of year, unless someone else pays for the trip!