PLEASE HELP! Booked to go, but what's the weather like? Please leave suggestions!!!!!

[DaMalfishentQuen]

THIS WILL BE OUR FIRST VISIT! AAAAAAAH super excited
My brother and I will be 21 staying at Port Orleans French Quarter. First of all is this a good choice? Is it a magical Disney resort? We really want this to be the best trip ever because we probably won't go again, at least not for a long time, so please leave other hotel suggestions if applicable

We will going on the 19th of August 2015 and staying for 2 weeks, and coming home the 2nd of September. This is peak hurricane season.... so does that mean we will need a lot more travel insurance? Please let us know who to get insurance with also
Also what shall we expect weatherwise, have we picked a bad time to go? We are both only free from late July to the whole of August, and this seemed the cheapest time to go. Please do let us know whether you think we could go another time during this period that is more beneficial. Would love for it to be sunny to get our tan on lol. Will going at this time be rubbish for going to the waterparks etc?

We haven't booked our flights yet and were wondering when the best/cheapest time to do so would be?

Sorry for all of my questions, I'm freaking out haha.

 

[Shazzie B]

Relax, it's a great time to go

No special travel insurance needed, just make sure USA is covered (look for worldwide).

Not stayed at Port Orleans, but it looks lovely, great choice.

We went end August, beginning Sept lat year, you should get hot days with heavy ( but normally quick) downpours late afternoon 3-4 pm. We don't stress about it, just accept it as part of the experience,buy a poncho . You may get more rain, we were there once during a tropical storm, go to parks anyway with your poncho & suitable shoes, you'll get on loads of rides, it 's 'warm' rain.

We usually book flights as soon as they are released

You'll come back with a tan Have a great time

 

[wilma-bride]

You definitely don't need any special insurance.

End of August is a nice time to go as the heavy summer crowds are just starting to die down. It will be hot and incredibly humid. You need to make sure you drink plenty and we often take breaks in the afternoon when we visit in August.

As the previous poster said, August tends to bring with it some fairly heavy downpours but they usually don't last long and, since it's so hot, everything dries up quickly. We did visit a couple of years ago and had a few days with heavy rain, where it was just set in for the day. But there is plenty to do indoors too so just make sure you have a wet weather plan (the parks will empty out significantly if the weather is bad so, if you can cope with a bit of rain, carry on as normal).

 

[cliveywolves]

Hiya...
Cant help on your resort as we have not stayed there yet, done lots of DW Resorts and they are all amazing to us !! Travel insurance no just get a good standard policy !!

Weather we have been 3 times now in August, its hot & humid and like others have said you normally get afternoon & evening storms / rain showers, but they normally come and go fairly quick, even when a big tropical storm came close to Orlando a few years back we only lost the morning so we went shopping to a mall and then did the park late afternoon and night time.. Flights no real answer have a budget and book when you are happy ...

Have fun planning and enjoy your stay

 

[tinkerbells mum]

Hi hope you have a fantastic trip. I've stayed at POFQ twice and have booked to go back again next Easter. I love it there it is one of the smaller resorts so really easy to get from the bus stop to your room to pick up mugs, back to the food court to fill them up and back to the room,even after a long day in the park this is fine! The bus is usually only for French Quarter and there is only 1 bus stop, this means that the bus had left property and is on the way to the park while at other resorts the bus is on the way to the 2nd or 3rd bus stop. The boat to down town disney is great, pretty slow but nicer than the bus and quite relaxing.
The food court is ok (quite crowded) but the food is fine. It's only a 10 minute walk (or boat ride) to Riverside, I think the food court there is better but the resort is much bigger. I prefer to stay at French Quarter and walk up to Riverside to eat. Port Orleans seems to be roughly in the middle of all the parks so generally it doesn't take more than 10- 15 minutes from resort to any park. I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time which ever resort you stay xx

 

[NatalieMT]

We will be there the same time as you, fly out a couple of days later! I love going late August, think it's absolutely the best time to go from my perspective, in fact we rarely go any other time of year.

It will be hot and humid but I've found the tropical storms actually to have never been that bad, I remember last trip we went in August it was quite heavy rain for the first 2 days, then we really didn't see any rain for a further 10 days. I always sometimes go in April for the Cheerleading World Championships and the rain was the same then if not worse from my personal experiences. I do quite like the warm rain though, one year we just took our shoes off and walked in it up to the ankles but it was all good fun!

Not stayed at POFQ but I definitely would, we're at AS Sports in April next year and AKL in August, can't wait!

 

[disneyholic family]

orlando is smack in the middle of florida, so while hurricanes sometimes impact it, the impact tends to be much less than on the coasts.

In all our visits to WDW (well over 50, almost all of them in july/august), we've only had to ride out one hurricane. But it wasn't a big deal. The parks were closed (only for a few hours-they opened them up again by midday), but the resort was very secure. They build the buildings to ride out those storms.
The only people who were affected were those staying in the campgrounds - and they were moved to one of the regular resorts a few days before the hurricane hit.

i actually found the hurricane very interesting in terms of seeing WDW at work.
i've never seen anything so organized. Amazingly so.
They had everything removed, tied down, ready for that hurricane.
And again, hurricanes are much weakened by the time they get to orlando - the moment a hurricane comes inland, it's a lot weaker than on the coast.

And the resort called us every hour to update us. This was at the all star music resort - so one of the values and yet they couldn't have been more attentive.

again, we've been to WDW more than 50 times, almost all of them in july/august and that was the only time we've directly encountered a hurricane. It was fine. They know what they're doing.
If there's any place in the world i would like to ride out a tropical storm, it's WDW. Probably the safest place on the planet to do so.

 

[zavandor]

First time I went to WDW it was for 5 days at the beginning of September. It was hot, humid and it rained avery day in the afternoon.
Last year in September instead, I was there 2 full week and it rained only once for half an hour: I was very lucky!

However, plan for the worst: that time of the year afternoon showers are frequent, but they can play in your favor, since often after a shower parks empty out with families going back to the resort.

My suggestion is to plan for a lunch in an air conditioned place (I like to do sit down restaurants at lunch when I'm there in September) and go back to the resort after that. So dining will not interfear with evening shows and at luch many restaurants have a cheaper menu.
After lunch you can goback to the resort, go to the pool or take a nap. Going back to the resort is not wasted time, you will recharge your energy, avoid the park when crowds peak (but late August they are fine!), avoid the terrible hot and humid weater and then you are ready to go back to the park for the evening and stay until closure for shows or just ride attractions when everyone who stayed in the park all day will be tired and leave.

 

[maclondon]

Book early - soem packages allow you to book now (ie vigin)
otherwise fligths normally become available 9 months before - phone the airline you are thinking about and find out the date they go on sale.

they rise rapidly as they will be in demand.

I booked with virgin for next easter - well i got quote, then went back 2 weeks later - this was after the flights had opened up - and it had gone up in price 50% plus

so booked for may instead - flights are a big cost.

 

[scoobydooby]

Book early - soem packages allow you to book now (ie vigin) otherwise fligths normally become available 9 months before - phone the airline you are thinking about and find out the date they go on sale. they rise rapidly as they will be in demand. I booked with virgin for next easter - well i got quote, then went back 2 weeks later - this was after the flights had opened up - and it had gone up in price 50% plus so booked for may instead - flights are a big cost.

Don't book flights with a Virgin package now they are insanely expensive. You WILL do it cheaper than that. For certain.

 

[maclondon]

Don't book flights with a Virgin package now they are insanely expensive. You WILL do it cheaper than that. For certain.

i just tried cosmos in a panic - booked same dates as im going but put in art of animation - were actually having two rooms in Comtemporary.
it came out almost £2000 more - however i did book a while ago so virgin is probably more now too.

 

[scoobydooby]

i just tried cosmos in a panic - booked same dates as im going but put in art of animation - were actually having two rooms in Comtemporary. it came out almost £2000 more - however i did book a while ago so virgin is probably more now too.

Sorry didn't mean to cause panic. It's just I've been tracking fly drive prices on VH since they came out daily and they are much more than I will pay, and I already pay much more than many people on these boards are prepared to to fly direct with Virgin. I never book packages though but have booked flights from Virgin holidays fly drive once or twice. Last nights price on VH fly drive was about 5.5k for flights for four over 12's. It has been as high as 6.5k for our 2015 dates in the last few weeks. Fluctuates wildly. However. I got two adult PE flights, same route in My this year from Virgin Atlantic for £800 each. The prices I am quoting above are economy. Hopefully you got a good deal when they were released. Ignore me if you've done it now

 

[maclondon]

i did a few comparisons with cosmos and virgin

for all star resort 7 nights 2 adults 2 kids
with disney tickets in early may 2015

£4,371.03 for cosmos (flying on virgin!!)

£ 4,610.74 for virgin - flying club would get 7% discuont

you could save on the cosmos one by flying ba - £20 less

so they seem similar for packages - im sure that you can save by shopping around and booking yourself. miles+money tickets etc.

 

[SilentK]

I can't help on the weather as we go in the Winter but you've had lots of good advice already.

I have stayed a the French Quarter though and it's lovely. The grounds are beautiful and the resort is small so not too far to walk anywhere. You can get a boat to Downtown Disney which is something we really enjoyed. There is also a bar and they have a singer I believe.

I second what's been said about being prepared for the rain, you'll get so much done while others are sheltering. Apologies if this is pointing out the obvious but don't forget to budget for drinks if you'll be buying them in the park, there are other options though. Counter services will give you a cup of ice water free, there are fountains etc.

Have fun planning