Spring break or summer vacation...(concerned about crowds and heat)

[aprilbabes]

We’re booked at the YC for April break for one week. We’ve only gone to DW in April and found the weather to be great. Some hot days, but totally bearable. Now that free dining has opened up in the summer, it could save us about 1,000 if we change dates and go in July (August wouldn’t work). However, we said that we would NEVER visit during the summer months. Between the crowds and the weather I fear we’d be miserable. Just wondering what everyone’s thoughts are.

 

[Ensusieasm]

I’ve experienced June and April at Disney World. Without a doubt, I would recommend you stick with April.
I will never ever go back to Disney World in the summertime. The heat and humidity are oppressive.

 

[Hopefully]

April for sure. The humidity in July is OPPRESSIVE.

 

[my2lovedisney]

When we visit we always go in the summer. It’s hotter than the surface of the sun but we manage and always have a good time. We take mid day pool breaks to cool off. I don’t think I’d go in April at spring break but only because of crowds, the weather is way more bearable but I feel like I’d spend all of our time waiting in lines. Just a personal preference.

 

[3gr8boys]

Everyone's tolerance is different....I am a Florida native (with lots of family still in FL) and would not go during the summer....not even to save $$$. I know that I can't handle the humidity and that at least one of my boys would be miserable. We would end up sitting in the resort more and getting less done in the parks. We don't go often....I like lots of park time. Obviously, though, there are lots of folks who can handle it/make it work.


ETA while there aren't low crowd (ha ha) weeks in April, the weeks can vary based on where Easter falls and when Spring Breaks around the U.S. will happen. Lots of "when is your spring break?" threads to search for.

 

[Laz]

When we visit we always go in the summer. It’s hotter than the surface of the sun but we manage and always have a good time. We take mid day pool breaks to cool off. I don’t think I’d go in April at spring break but only because of crowds, the weather is way more bearable but I feel like I’d spend all of our time waiting in lines. Just a personal preference.

Being a school teacher, summer was are time to go as well. We had a great time doing the early morning, mid day break, back at night routine. We had our main meal around 3:30-4:00 pm. You should also expect an afternoon thunderstorm, but it does clear up quickly.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

I'm a teacher, limited to when I can visit. I don't do winterbreak as financially the money isn't there at that time. I live in FL. I'm used to the heat. My family does rope drop everyday and are typically out of the parks by 1pm. Go back to the hotel for swim time and then offsite for our dinner. The only park we are in throughout the evening is AK because we do that on arrival day. We get to Orlando around noon. Have lunch at the hotel and head to the park around 1:00. That's the only day I do late FPs. We stay in the AK till about 6. I think this year we might do some night time visits too. I'm curious as I've NEVER been at MK on vacation at night. We are definitely doing EPCOT in the evening as we have some Agent P's Missions to do! Going do Future World in the AM till about 11, then head over to EPCOT to meet some characters throughout the countries, start the Agent Perry Missions, and probably leave around 2 or so. Excited!

I didn't vote only because your poll said July. I'm not THAT crazy to go to Disney during THAT summer month! I'll be there on June 9th.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

While weather will be better in April crowds probably won’t be (I’m not sure which week you booked).
July is VERY hot & humid but crowds aren’t terrible to me. There will be large tour groups around in July.

 

[Vickie1016]

We go in July. July is HOT & HUMID!! We plan our days - rope drop every day, mid afternoon break back at hotel to swim, then back for dinner & nighttime rides/fireworks. Drink plenty of water and use loads of sunscreen. Bring ponchos for the afternoon thunderstorms. The past several summers - we found - the crowds to be manageable.

But - everyone has a different tolerance to the heat, humidity and the sun and that should be a factor in making your decision - will you and your family be able to have a great trip when dealing with the heat & humidity.

 

[Chrislovesdisney]

I’ve been during both. I have extremely low heat tolerance and found April to be almost just as hot and miserable to me as July. Actually, my most uncomfortable memory ever was EPCOT in April (and I was pregnant for a July trip!). Yes, of course July is hotter and more humid but for me, April isn’t exactly gorgeous 50 degree weather. I personally would rather grin and bear a little more heat discomfort for less crowds and the free meal plan.

 

[DizneyLizzy]

I'm a teacher too, and my school year is very long - the last day of school for students is June 21st, and the first day back for teachers is August 21st. So exactly 2 months off, and my husband and I work for much of that time. This eliminates the sort of shoulder summer weeks of early June and late August, so we too are limited to spring break and mid-summer. We did mid-summer last year and are doing it again this year. The only time we were miserable bc of the heat last summer was at Animal Kingdom. It was so uncomfortable that we are skipping AK entirely next summer, save for a quick evening trip to Pandora. If you love AK or World Showcase, then avoid summer - those are the only two parts of WDW that are truly awful in the summer...at least in our opinion. Before kids we used to do spring break, and we loved that time of year bc of the weather and long park hours, but now that we have 2 kids that require plane tickets, we choose to drive, and the summer is a more relaxing time to do that. Also, back when we used to go at Easter the MK still have 7 AM EMH every morning, and that alone made spring break worth it over summer. I don't know if they even do that anymore since they've been cutting park hours.

Another thing to think about is free dining in the summer. I can't think of anything worse than large amounts of food in FL in July. My appetite is inversely related to the temperature, so for me, free dining would NOT be a reason to go in the summer. Gross.

 

[BigOnDis]

It's a mixed bag for me. Summer is HOT, no doubt about that, but there were less crowds. I always thought summer was crowded until we took our first Spring Break trip a couple years ago, and man was it crowded. That being said, we prefer Spring Break because we have been enough that we dont feel like we have to do everything, so we kind of just go with the flow more and since the weather is nicer, it is more enjoyable for us. I guess you would have to prioritize comfort or doing a lot and decide based on that.

 

[Shellyb84]

I would choose July. I would rather deal with the heat and have less crowds.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

I would choose July. I would rather deal with the heat and have less crowds.

It still makes me go when I hear the summer months are actually a tad bit slower than spring break. The last two trips we took were doing spring break, and honestly I don't remember crowds being that bad. But, we did do rope drop everyday except arrival day and left the parks by 1pm. So I'm sure that makes a huge difference. I'm thankful I live in an area in FL where the schools are either out the last week of May (my son's district), the second to last week of May (my district I teach in), or the first week of June (Santa Rosa County). That makes visiting in early June easy. I almost changed our trip to June 2nd, but the parks are going to be a bit crowded from May 31-June 3 so I left our trip on the 9th.

 

[Shellyb84]

It still makes me go when I hear the summer months are actually a tad bit slower than spring break. The last two trips we took were doing spring break, and honestly I don't remember crowds being that bad. But, we did do rope drop everyday except arrival day and left the parks by 1pm. So I'm sure that makes a huge difference. I'm thankful I live in an area in FL where the schools are either out the last week of May (my son's district), the second to last week of May (my district I teach in), or the first week of June (Santa Rosa County). That makes visiting in early June easy. I almost changed our trip to June 2nd, but the parks are going to be a bit crowded from May 31-June 3 so I left our trip on the 9th.

I know! I'm thankful though. We go several times throughout the year but like one 2 week trip a year and summer is the only time we can do that long of a trip. We typically go the end of June into the beginning of July.

We're doing spring break again this year (haven't since 2016) and I'm dreading the crowds but since we just went Thanksgiving week it'll seem empty compared to that! lol We also usually rope drop and are back at the pool by right after lunch most days.

 

[SG131]

I went in 2017 in August. I've never done spring break week, but I just did Disney for the first two weeks in December. August was definitely really hot, but even being from PA I can tolerate the heat pretty well. I also got a cooling towel and was super careful about reapplying sunscreen and keeping my foster kids hydrated and we did really well with only one afternoon pool break in the 9 day trip. I went in Dec and was solo at this point. I was definitely able to move through the park faster when it wasn't as hot, but as it got closer and closer to Christmas and those crowds increased I started spending less and less time in the park. It was harder to get 4th fastpasses and just harder to move around and for me I'd rather be hot than not be able to move. But that is totally a personal preference. I know plenty of people that would pick the reverse.

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

Not sure which week in April is Spring Break for the OP but if it is week before or after Easter, I would opt for July based on crowds.

FWIW, even though summer months are more humid and hot, I find it feels less hot to our family because we are already acclimated to warmer weather before we go. When we visited in early June, we felt more hot and exhausted than our visits in July and August. I would rather visit in warmer weather and less crowds of July. Living in WI, going from April temps of 40s and suddenly being thrust into 80s and 90s with high Easter crowds is a no-go

If Spring Break is the first week of April, that is a harder decision as crowds will be much lower than later in the month.