POR in April or Dolphin in Aug?

[tzolkin]

One of those annoying WWYD questions, but would appreciate some advice on additional pros and cons.

Option 1:
POR 4/7-4/17= $2576
- Not sure what the crowds will be like-- Easter is the 20th
- School district has not announced our Spring Break dates yet, so this depends on that. (This year it was the second week of April, if it is again that would overlap with our trip so the kids would miss minimal school. If it's moved to the week after Easter, that week is cheaper so we could adjust the dates but then we would be there over Easter weekend.)
- We stayed at POR for the first time last year and enjoyed it.

Option 2:
Dolphin 8/18-8/28= $1880 (nurse discount)
- Love the location. We spend most of our time at Epcot and the kids are old enough that they can split up from us occasionally so being able to walk to EP and HS is a big plus.
- Kids don't have to miss any school.
- It's ridiculously hot. (We went last August. It wasn't quite as bad as we were expecting, but we would prefer the spring weather.)
- DH is transitioning into another career, so this may be our last year with him employed as an RN. We have never stayed here and it would be nice to try it with the nurse discount.

Option 3:
Dolphin in April
- about $350 more than POR for the same dates
- about $1000 more than Dolphin in Aug

Other considerations:
We like to go to Disney in the Spring because we live in an area that gets 10+ feet of snow and it's nice to escape into "Summer." We did our first August trip last year, and, while it was nice to be at Disney, it wasn't quite as appreciated because we had just been enjoying a beautiful summer at home.

We have only gone during lower crowd times (mid-late May, late August, Sept, Oct) so I am not sure what the Spring Break crowds will be like. (We are a "get to the parks at rope drop, take an afternoon break to get away from people and the heat, then hop to another park in the evening" kind of family, if that makes a difference)

 

[patty57]

You should check the crowd calendar on www.easywdw.com to look at your dates for April (if it's posted yet).
Personally, I couldn't go to FL in August...even for Disney! I hate heat and humidity.
As far as POR vs. Dolphin...I've never stayed at POR. It seems to have a lot of fans on the DIS. The Epcot area is our favorite place to stay. After multiple trips to BC & BW, I've stayed at the Swan in June 2012, and the Dolphin in May 2013 and highly recommend them.

 

[tzolkin]

The crowd calendar for 2014 isn't up yet.

Last year it was 10s all week leading up to Easter, but Easter was in March so I don't know what difference that makes.

The April dates were 5s and 6s, but I am sure they will be higher due to the holiday this year.

 

[dminnie]

Personally, I couldn't go to FL in August...even for Disney! I hate heat and humidity.

I'd much rather pay more and deal with crowds than go in August. Used to live in FL and have no desire to visit there from about the middle of May until Oct. again unless I HAVE to. So many other nice places to go in the summer! I'm guessing the crowds will actually be similar anyways. Plus, getting away from the cold, rainy, muddy April weather...priceless.

 

[nkereina]

If you do April, are you trying to have your dates coincide with Spring Break due to school? Or are you trying to avoid Spring Break? I would select April due to the weather but I would not be willing to go over Spring Break. It's a tough call - I'd rather stay at Dolphin and have lower crowds, but I'd rather have April weather. For us, this year we are paying a little more and going during a busier time to try a time of year with more tolerable weather. Who knows what we'll think!

 

[tzolkin]

If you do April, are you trying to have your dates coincide with Spring Break due to school? Or are you trying to avoid Spring Break? I would select April due to the weather but I would not be willing to go over Spring Break. It's a tough call - I'd rather stay at Dolphin and have lower crowds, but I'd rather have April weather. For us, this year we are paying a little more and going during a busier time to try a time of year with more tolerable weather. Who knows what we'll think!

We are trying to minimize the time our oldest (10th grade) misses school. If we go over our Spring Break (the week of Apr 14th), we can do a two week vacation and have the kids only miss one week of school.

We could go another (off-season) time of year, but we would probably have to do a shorter trip. In the past we have always done a 2+ week vacation, but I think the kids are getting too old to miss that much school.


We just went to FL the same two weeks in April this year (did Discovery Cove, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, and St. Augustine). Everything was pretty empty, but it did not coincide with Easter.