Spring break crowds vs mid-August heat/crowds?

[twoboysmom]

Due to an unexpected family wedding, we need to change our upcoming Spring Break plans and arrive two days later on 25 March. Myself and two teens would delay our departure until 30 March as well. As we have to change flights ($200 penalty each) no matter what we do, I am now considering delaying the trip to circa third week of August. We have annual passes and just went before Xmas for five days and will be going again in late Jan as well. New Toy Storyland will be open in August but one of our annual passes expires in early April. We have been in the parks the last two Spring Breaks so we know how crowded it will be. My question is, having never gone to WDW in August, is it worse to face the heat of August or the crowds in the week before Easter?

 

[loves to dive]

I've been in early March, mid-March, early April and late August. I can't say I've seen the difference in crowds any of the times but I'm kind of crowd blind. As far as heat, yes, it's hot as heck in August. We are from Georgia so heat and high humidity are normal for us and even we get a little wrung out in August. We always take a break for the pool mid afternoon.

 

[Alesia]

I would pick March over August

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We've done both spring break and late August. I would much rather deal with the crowds in March than do August again. It was so hot this past August I didn't think I would even be able to stay in the parks and this was in late afternoon/evening. Never again.

 

[merina888]

I'll take heat over crowds. I don't love the heat in August, but my husband hates the crowds more over spring break. And the crowd size is significantly less in August. Plus Disney usually has some good deals then which may make it cheaper to go since it is not prime season. I also find that the cost of flights is less.

 

[Shanti]

If you can stay at a nice, nearby resort with a great pool that you will really enjoy returning to for midday breaks and swims, I think August is your best bet. If you're going to stay at a value resort or faraway hotel/motel & plan to spend all day every day in the parks, I think March is your best bet.

I personally would pick summer heat over the late March crowds & prices, but that's just me.

 

[BillFromCT]

This year we did both week leading up to Easter and third week in August. I would definitely choose August. Fast pass availability, ease of dining reservations, resort prices. All better in August. I found the August heat manageable. Side stepping rain showers in August. Side stepping the mass of humanity leading up to Easter.

 

[cmorris303]

We did Thurs-Tues of Easter week and 10 days starting the third week of Aug.
Spring Break- we loved Flower and Garden and the weather, but it was crowded. There were only 4 of us and I constantly refreshed for fastpasses, so we did get to do a lot. Otherwise the wait times were high. Small World was at 50 min most days. Because the weather was great we were able to spend most of the day in the parks.
August- we loved the lower crowds and cheaper hotel prices. It was hot, but not as hot as the previous three times we went in August. There were 12 of us at times, and changing and getting 4th fastpasses was manageable. We did 4 parks in one day on our last day, so although it was hot it didn't deter us from doing what we wanted to do. Other than the last day we did earlier mornings in a park, afternoon at the pool, and back to a park after dinner.
Whichever date you pick, I think having reasonable expectations helps. For spring break we expected the crowds to slow us down and in Aug we expected the heat to slow us down.