Summer break, Spring break, or Fall break

[Bon1423]

Our kids first trip to WDW was last October during their fall break. Our MK day was crazy crowded and I believe it was TP that ended up giving it a 10/10 for crowd. It was the only non party day at MK that week and we just HAD to take the kids to the fireworks for their first trips. Bad planning, we knew, but it was still projected to be moderate (7) crowds. It was an awful day full of really long wait times, MDE that was down, and rude CMs.

This year we are going in September, but I'd like to go in spring/summer of 2017 as opposed to fall. However the kids will miss school for the September trip and I would hate to pull them twice in one year. So we have to plan around the school schedule.

The first week of June 2016 is listed as a 7. Not having to plan around party crowds is really appealing to me, as the parties do not interest is at all. Using the non party day last year as a baseline (hopefully you all know what we are talking about) would you do spring break '17, summer break '17, or wait until fall break of '17 again? If we went first week of June, despite the projected crowds at 7, should we expect those crushing level 10 crowds every day? I keep reading a 7 one year is a 9 another year...

I can see the parks are projected at around 7/8 for fall break and early June, and a little higher for spring break so mentally I'm kind of excluding spring break. But given the moderate crowd predictions for our October trip and our kids desire to stay in park for fireworks, I'm starting to think June might be most pleasant.

We will be traveling as a party of 8 (4 adults and kids 8, 5/6, 3, and 1/2) if that matters. To us we try to eliminate days of school if possible as priority one and low crowds as second priority. We do love resort days and the last trip plus this one we have 8 days with only 4 park days. Swimming is crucial to my crew We plan to stay deluxe, possibly monorail if it will be of enough benefit (our Sept stay is at the Poly so if that seems helpful may do it again) but my group would also love AKL if that has an impact.

Thanks for any insights I hope this isn't a dumb questions. Like I said I've checked the calendars (for '16 as '17 is not available), just hoping for some anecdotal experience.

 

[Oswin]

Honestly, after traveling the past few years to WDW multiple times a year I prefer summer over the other times of the year. It helps that most people have the entire summer to take off and it's not as pressing for families to travel during a certain week like there is with spring or fall break to the crowds are spread out a little better. My September and October trip last year were insanely busy, almost to the point I'm questioning if I really want to do MNSSHP and Food & Wine this year. It will still be busy, there is no time of year that isn't, but I've honestly found summer to be much more manageable than other times of the year that were previously known as slow/easy times to go. That's obviously not going to be the same for everyone.

 

[MainMom]

We enjoyed our July Summer trip last year. We are going the first week of June this year. We leave the day after the kids get out of school. What a great way to kick off summer vacation! We are also staying at AKL and planning a few resort days. I vote for summer.

 

[alliecat523]

Early June might not be so bad. While lots of kids are out, there are still many more yet to finish school. It might be your best bet.

 

[rbhamom]

We have gone in June many times. I remember one year when we were there for two weeks, the second week was noticeably busier ( I believe our dates were 16-30th). But even so I felt it was manageable and we had a good time. The heat is another story lol

 

[isaboo]

We usually go the first week in August. Yes...HOT! But the parks are usually open very late. We close down the parks and sleep in.

 

[UnderTheRialto]

I went a few times during party season last year and really disliked having to plan around them, plus the crowds. We are trying summer this year. I know it will be hot but oh well.

 

[goofy4prez]

Two years ago (2014) we were at WDW from June 2nd - June 9th and didn't find it all that bad. Sure it was busy but was very manageable. Last year we were there from June 18th - June 23rd and found it to be much, much more busier than the previous year. This year we are going from June 3rd until June 10th. In the past we use to take my DD out of school and go when it was not as crowded, but once she entered high school we no longer wanted her to miss any classes which is why our travels have now been in June. This year she graduates...

 

[Indio]

We love going in June. Crowds aren't too bad - definately no 10's. Not too hot, and perfect for swimming. Spring break is BAD and Fall break has gotten that way. We'd rather go in the summer than either of the other 2.

 

[mindeola]

We went the first week of June last summer and it was great. Last year it was Gay days and Star Wars weekends. Just plan around those so you are at opposite parks from the crowds. With FP and rope drop, we rarely waited in lines. The longest wait was 30 minutes at Splash Mountain. It was a great week!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We really like early June. NO WAY I'd try Spring Break.

 

[LuvDaisy&Minnie]

Another vote for early June. Mornings and evenings are very pleasant (weather and crowds), and hours are long enough to take a break midday if it is too hot or crowded at that point for you. A lot of schools aren't out yet that first week which is nice. We were there last few days of May and then first few days of June. It did get more noticeably crowded as June arrived, but it wasn't bad with a good game plan. We had a great time and would go again at that time.

 

[AntFarm]

Our past few trips have been during spring break and it is busy but not bad if you know what you are doing. We are going in June this year because both of my sons have sports schedules and that is the only free week for us outside of spring break. Summer isn't that bad but July is a no no for me with all those tour groups!

 

[Bon1423]

Thanks everyone I am
Almost feeling brave enough to do it! Now convincing DH is another story lol

 

[Mikie]

Very interesting. . . We have always loved our fall trips, but as more and more schools have fall break and the timing of ours has shifted, it is definitely busy crowds. Maneuvering around parties is a trick, but worked well our last trip anyway. I'd have to look at the weather to see whether other peoples' "not too bad" jives with my definition, but this thread really has me thinking about early summer. My kids get out late May, so maybe crowds aren't too bad yet late May/early June.

Otherwise my experience us with fall and spring breaks. I love fall, the decorations (though I don't do the parties), Food and Wine and the weather. Spring break would not be my pick at all.

 

[cindyfan]

Another vote for early June!!! We've gone during all 3.... spring, summer and fall break. Most recent was just 2 weeks ago during spring break.
Everyone in our group agreed NEVER AGAIN during SPRING BREAK!!! The worst crowds in the parks ever!
I love going in the fall.... except during the school breaks like Columbus day. Early June is great!!! not everyone is out of school yet and a lot of those that are have not embarked on their vacations yet. The parks get much more crowded a the end of June going into July. Stick with early June!!!

 

[abja09]

I was just in WDW over spring break and it was packed we left the parks by 1pm. We only did 2 days pre cruise but I would never go back over a holiday week like that again.

 

[madge]

Thanks for any insights I hope this isn't a dumb questions. Like I said I've checked the calendars (for '16 as '17 is not available), just hoping for some anecdotal experience.

In the last year, we have visited WDW during the week of July 4, Fall Break (week leading up to Columbus Day weekend), and got home today from a spring break trip. I think I fit your profile I use a combo of easyWDW & personal experience (we go every year for fall break) to plan our days. For spring break, I relied heavily on the crowd calendar. I think everyone else at the resort did, as well. :/

We actually discussed the differences of the times of year on the way home today:
July 4: we loved being there for the holiday ... loved it. the fireworks were spectacular. Epcot was surprisingly uncrowded, as was the Studios. so much fun staying at the Campground. BUT. BUT. BUT. It was hotter than hot. Hotter than the hottest I've ever been. It also stormed a lot, not just rain ... but big storms.

Fall Break: we go every year during this week & it's very familiar to us. love the Halloween party, Food & Wine ... and the weather is good. Crowds have gotten bigger over the years, but nothing like July 4 OR ...

Spring Break: weather was PERFECT this week. crowds were higher than we expected. Studios was much worse than we anticipated Monday (the easyWDW day) -- highest wait times of the 3 parks. MK was busy Tuesday, but we managed our fast passes well & crowds subsided as the day went on. we left before wishes & had we stayed, I'm sure we would've seen very manageable waits. Epcot was good yesterday compared to Mon/Tue at the other parks and the Food & Wine festival.

Our preference?
1. Fall Break
2. July 4
3. Spring Break

Outside of the weather, we could come up with no reason to return for spring break.

 

[jolene63]

We have gone the first week of June twice now (2010 and 2014) and both trips were amazing. We even were lucky to have temps between 82-85 the first five days of our 2014 trip. The other days were 90!!! I don't remember that much from our 2010 trip because we have done multiple trips since then, however, I know we did not have long waits in 2014. We never waited more than 15-20 minutes. We used FP+ a lot and would come back to the headliners later in the evenings when the lines weren't long. MK is opened later in the summer months so we definitely spent lots of evenings there. I would totally recommend going in early June.

 

[mshanson3121]

Our kids first trip to WDW was last October during their fall break. Our MK day was crazy crowded and I believe it was TP that ended up giving it a 10/10 for crowd. It was the only non party day at MK that week and we just HAD to take the kids to the fireworks for their first trips. Bad planning, we knew, but it was still projected to be moderate (7) crowds. It was an awful day full of really long wait times, MDE that was down, and rude CMs.

This year we are going in September, but I'd like to go in spring/summer of 2017 as opposed to fall. However the kids will miss school for the September trip and I would hate to pull them twice in one year. So we have to plan around the school schedule.

The first week of June 2016 is listed as a 7. Not having to plan around party crowds is really appealing to me, as the parties do not interest is at all. Using the non party day last year as a baseline (hopefully you all know what we are talking about) would you do spring break '17, summer break '17, or wait until fall break of '17 again? If we went first week of June, despite the projected crowds at 7, should we expect those crushing level 10 crowds every day? I keep reading a 7 one year is a 9 another year...

I can see the parks are projected at around 7/8 for fall break and early June, and a little higher for spring break so mentally I'm kind of excluding spring break. But given the moderate crowd predictions for our October trip and our kids desire to stay in park for fireworks, I'm starting to think June might be most pleasant.

We will be traveling as a party of 8 (4 adults and kids 8, 5/6, 3, and 1/2) if that matters. To us we try to eliminate days of school if possible as priority one and low crowds as second priority. We do love resort days and the last trip plus this one we have 8 days with only 4 park days. Swimming is crucial to my crew We plan to stay deluxe, possibly monorail if it will be of enough benefit (our Sept stay is at the Poly so if that seems helpful may do it again) but my group would also love AKL if that has an impact.

Thanks for any insights I hope this isn't a dumb questions. Like I said I've checked the calendars (for '16 as '17 is not available), just hoping for some anecdotal experience.

I'm curious, you're talking about planning around school and not wanting to take them out twice, but... aren't your kids still in school the first week of June? Most schools don't let out until the 2nd or 3rd week.

By the 2nd or 3rd week of June it'll be 7/8 crowd levels. The last week of June leading and first of July leading up to July 4th will be 8/9. It's busy. But doable. My *guess* is spring break might be a bit less crowded than the end of June, depending on when your break is and how close to Easter it falls. The weather would also be a bit better, less hot/humid.

However, if you can actually indeed go the first week of June, then that would probably be less crowded than spring break.