Spring vs Fall Disney Trip

[paisleysmommy]

I need opinions on which would be a better time to visit disney world. Last year we went in late April and had a blast. Our options this next year are April or September. In April our girls will be almost 4 and 10 months old. Or we can wait and go in September when are youngest will be a year and four months? Which would you choose?

 

[Crystal824]

Either is a good time to go.

I like spring because it doesn't rain as much as Sept. usually, but you might get free dining in Sept. Then again during our trip the May before last it rained every single day. In Sept. you are almost guaranteed at least one shower each afternoon.

 

[MandiC]

If it were me I'd wait for September. Crowds are low, free dining is almost always offered and the ages of your kids IMO would be easier. A 10 month old baby will likely not be walking and there will be nowhere really for her to crawl and she will want to. I tend to think that preschoolers get a little less likely to tantrum and test limits after 4 (they definitely still do but at 3 it is so much worse, my kids have always been worse at 3 than at 2 and I have heard the same from so many moms I know)

 

[puffkin]

I would go in April (unless it is close to Easter which is super crowded). September is ridiculously hot and can be very rainy. Crowds will be lower and possibility of free dining, but I don't know if that would outweigh the heat in my book.

I have been with a 8 month old and 13 month old and the 8 month old trip was WAAAAAAY easier than the 13 month trip. So I think a 10 month old would be more comparable. My 13 month old wanted nothing to do with the stroller, had no interest in being held and was all over the place. At 8 months old we did need to find places to give him a break from the stroller because he was too big to carry all the time but it was still better than the 13 month old. Chasing a newly walking toddler through hordes of people and watching him get almost trampled is not easy. They find holes to squeeze through that look impossible in a crowd and they move faster than you think.

 

[Stubbzilla]

If you really want to do a lot of swimming type of stuff, then pick September.

April will be more crowded, and it may be too cool to enjoy swimming. I have been in Spring twice and both times we swam once but it was a cool swim. But, I went in March, so you might have better luck a couple of weeks later in April. We have a pool at home but my kids really wanted to swim in the Disney pool.

I felt like it was hot in September and I don't really ever want to go back in that heat. Especially not with a hot,sweaty baby strapped to me. We still had a fun time, but I'm not a fan of the heat. March was very nice weather-wise (minus the swimming). It still rained off and on but we came prepared for that.

I've been with an 11 month old (was not yet walking on her own), a 4 month old, an 8 month old, and a 22 month old. The babies were a lot easier than the 22 month old. The 4 month old was difficult because she wasn't sleeping through the night very well yet, but 8 months and 11 months were a total breeze. Just bring an Ergo or other good quality ergonomic baby carrier. Bringing and cleaning bottles for babies was a pain in the neck, but when I took the nursing baby that was not a consideration. Disposable bottle liners also meant that I only had to wash nipples and not the whole bottle, too.

We still had a great time with the 23 month old, but I had planned everything out so we didn't really wait for much of anything. She could not have taken a lot of lines and even as it was she sobbed a few times waiting in the character lines over feeling rejected by her favorite characters (because she couldn't run to them immediately and had to wait her turn - it's hard to be that age and not understand anything).

 

[paisleysmommy]

We are leaning more towards the spring now. Our youngest will still be nursing so bottle won't be an issue. If we were to go in the fall we would be fighting her weaning from nursing so we are afraid that will make her extra cranky. I plan on bringing our double stroller but also my moby wrap for when she wants to be held. My husband assumed September would be cooler lol. I don't do well in the heat at all so it's looking like a spring disney trip for us. Plus it means this disney obsessed momma will be back at the world sooner