Selecting a Time to Go to Disney

[pinkgirlmommy]

I have been looking at the crowd calendars and getting confused because I have looked at so many! We are going on our first and most likely only family vacation to WDW due to finances, and I am trying to find a time to go. My husband's job will be ending at the end of February so we are thinking of doing it between jobs so he doesn't have to worry about asking off right away at his new job. I want to be able to swim and possibly do a waterpark, but don't think we can wait until next Fall, so we are looking at either beginning of March, April, or Summer. How does the first week of March compare to the end of April. We want to go when there is a little bit lower price and less crowds of these options. Both the beginning of March and end of April look like they have 5's on the crowd calendar except the last part of the first week in March which would be the end of our tirp. I want to make the best of this trip since we may not get to go back and not have huge crowds, but can't go in January or September! How different is it going to be say Feb. 28- March 6 versus April 18-25? Is there really going to be that big of a difference in crowd an weather typically? A friend referred me to a Disney Vacation Planner and after looking over the crowd calendars for pricing and crowds, I contacted her and she has confused me even further. She said "I see that you are considering March / April. Disney’s peak travel season begins the middle of February through the third week in April. Because
of the various Spring Break time-frames for all schools Nationwide, you might see a spike in attendance if you travel during peak season. Having
said this, some time are better than others." From looking at the crowd calendar's I would never know that their peak travel season starts in February, and her information seems different than the crowd calendars. Which one is more accurate? June, July, and the first half of August seem to be way more crowded than the end of February and the beginning of March! Help!

 

[Taylor'sMom]

We have gone end of April many many times. It's our favorite time to go. Great weather, and moderate (very manageable) crowds. You just have to avoid the weeks before and after Easter. On years when Easter falls that late, we go earlier or later. But most years, last week of April is our choice.

We went in March once and found it much busier.

 

[Taylor'sMom]

As far as what DISNEY considers peak, check out Allears.net.
If you select a resort and then browse the "rack rates" you will get a sense of their regular/peak/off-season/holiday periods. It is not the same at every resort, oddly enough. I have picked a week at times, and looking at different resorts, it was regular for one and peak for another. Or soemthing like that. Just a bit strange, but that will give you a general idea.
That doesn't always equate to crowd levels though. Just their pricing system.

I think any of the calendars that give you the yellow/green/red calendars are a good place to start when picking a week.

 

[spayne12]

Don't believe Oct/November is low crowds. granted we were there from 11-1-11-8 and it was crazy busy yes I realize it was also the wine and food but cast members and hotel staff all commented on how busy it was and it wasn't normal. the fact that they extended hours at the Magic Kingdom until 11 on almost every night they too didn't realize it was gonna be that busy! One couple had commented hat this was almost as bad as last Christmas again abnormal and odd it happened it seemed.

 

[nobellybutton]

I was trying to plan for 1st week of November 2015 and I wanted to know if the buses are crowded as well? Trying to decide to drive or fly, if we fly I have to take buses because I didn't want to spend on extra car rental.