Rethinking Time of Year/Crowds in 2017...I'd be grateful for some advice.

[Little E]

I am in the preliminary stages of planning a 2017 WDW trip, and I need some advice. My DH and I have two boys ages 14 and 11. Our youngest has some special needs, and as a result we have traveled to Disney at lower crowd times during the year. We have been to the World at the end of January, beginning and end of February, beginning of March and beginning of May. All of these times have worked well for our family, but it has required pulling the kids out of school for a few days to go.

This has worked fine, up until now. In the fall, our oldest son will be a freshman in high school, and we don't feel comfortable having him miss school for a Disney trip anymore. So, this puts us in a position to look at traditional school calendar breaks to go. We know we couldn't handle the crowds over the Christmas break, so we are considering the following:

-spring break, which for us in 2017 would be the first week in April
-mid June, as soon as school gets out
-early or mid August, before DS's band camp the last two weeks of August

Since we have not ever gone at these times, I have no frame of reference for crowds. I have reviewed crowd calendars, but they all say different things and I really don't have a clear understanding about what high crowd numbers "feel" like, as we think the crowds have been very managable in the times we've gone.

If it helps, we are an "as close to RD 'til after lunch-go back to the resort for a break and a swim-go back to the parks in the evening" kind of family.

Any advice regarding the pros and cons of going at the beginning of April, mid June, or early/mid August of 2017 would be so appreciated. Additionally, the only other time of year that involves a traditional school year break is Thanksgiving. I've assumed that the crowds over that week are roughly equal to the Christmas break crowds, which is why we have not considered this time frame. If my thinking is off here, I'd love feedback about that time frame too.

I value the knowledge that folks here have...thank you so much!!

 

[Alesia]

I would pick the first week of April. It will be busy, but not as busy as June. And the weather is much nicer in April. August will be very busy and extremely hot and humid - almost unbearably so, really.

Crowdwise, Thanksgiving is busy, but nowhere near Christmas-level busy. Thanksgiving is pretty similar to what you'd see in June or August.

 

[Mikie]

Ditto Alesia's advice. Curse that a High School and band camp! Same exact thing happened to me thus year when my daughter started HS and joined band. Awesome experience, but throws a major kink in vacation flexibility!

 

[2Gma]

My order of preference for your dates would be April, then June and lastly August.
Easter is April 17th so while you will have Spring Break crowds still lighter than at Easter break/week. August way too hot and humid for us.

 

[N8sgirl12]

I had annual passes this past year, and went to WDW in May, June, August, November, and January (I know - ridiculous ). Crowd-wise, the latter part of August was much better than mid-June, but we went in June during Star Wars weekend so that may have contributed to it. I hate the heat - but it wasn't too bad even in August, we managed even though it was hot. We altered our approach, though, and slept in/swam until around 3, then hit the parks until close. We would start the day with indoor, high capacity, A/C attractions and scheduled our fastpasses for the evening at 7, 6, and 8 or so. This way we avoided the heat of the day as much as possible and we would stay till close - sometimes as late as 1 or 2 am. Hope that helps!

 

[dreiwhit]

I've been to Orlando for a conference in August. High temperatures - mid 90s and above during the day, with high humidity. Being middle aged and way too used to air conditioning makes me unable to handle the heat and humidity anymore. I would not want to go to Disney then.

Out of those three months, I would pick April to go.

 

[bauer1168]

I don't know how much it will affect crowd levels, but April 2nd 2017, Wrestlemania will be at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando (70,000 capacity, they will easily fill that).
Again, not sure if it will put anything towards crowds but with Orlando being such a big holiday destination and Wrestlemania being very popular and it becoming a several days event the past decade or so, this crowd is going to stick around, especially with Disney and Universal near.

 

[fauntleroy1953]

Either April or August. The way you set up your day would already deal with the Summer weather,so that issue wouldn't be a big issue. Most Southern schools are starting up during the third week of August and most families from farther away like to be home in August for preparation to return to school, so there are less crowds during that time.
We have a son who has ADD. He is 25 now,but when we took him to WDW in 1999, when he was 8, crowds were a big deal to us. Back then,you went to Customer Relations with a doctors note and they gave us an index card with an orange stripe across the top. We were supposed to show it to a CM at each ride,who would then lead us to the exit and we would get on as others were getting off. That way,waiting on long lines would be avoided.
We tried to find the right balance between having our son learn coping skills and not abusing the privilege of the card. So if a line was moving fairly well,we waited. If it seemed like it could be an eternity,which would definitely create a bad situation,I would discreetly pull the card out of my purse just enough for a CM to see,not making a big deal of it. Only once did we miscalculate our decision. Don't remember which ride,but,the pre- show area we were led into had us all standing almost on top of each other,really squished in. Not good. Then,the room went dark and a voice was explaining some back story. A dark room with squished people was a recipe for disaster. Our son started screaming, really frightened. We were as far away from where we came in as possible and no one was letting us through,but boy,were they also commenting on how horrible we were as parents,putting our son through this. As if we knew and did it on purpose. A CM eventually came to our aid,fought through the crowd and led us out through an exit . It was the Poly pool the rest of the day......
The crowds will be fewer in August,but the weather in April will be less taxing.

 

[pktbMouse]

We did August last year and never again..it was just too hot for us and we are from Texas! We are heading down the 2nd week in June this year, that is always a good time for us.

 

[Little E]

Oh Fauntleroy1953, I'm so sorry for your squished, screaming recipe for disaster. It sounds like it was tough for your son and you as well. Pool at the Poly sounds like the just the right fix.

Our son is on the spectrum and has anxiety and OCD issues. We, too, use the accommodations from Guest Services, although they are set up a little differently now. That's part of what makes us come back to Disney year after year. Our youngest also has some food allergies, and so the accommodations between sensory/anxiety/food allergy issues plus the general magic of WDW makes it the perfect vacation spot for our family.

I so appreciate everyone's feedback on the time of year to go. I can see pros and cons to April, June, and August...it's gonna be a tough choice. I have to keep reminding myself that it's Disney...any time we go will be fantastic.