Travelling in August - Questions.

[scanne]

I'm starting to think about our next BIG (and I mean really BIG) trip to WDW, which won't be until 2007. My son turns 5 that year (Aug. 8th) and I want to celebrate his birthday in a big way at WDW. There is actually a slight possibility that we may be able to afford a suite at WL, but for now we're "hoping" to get a 2 bedroom villa at WL Villas.

We have been to WDW at mostly peak times: Christmas, 4th of July, Halloween, middle of summer...I have read (recently) that the end of August is not as busy as the times I listed above. So, I'd like to know, out of these options, which dates would be least crowded but also have decent park hours (not closing at 7pm).

Also, how difficult is it to get a 2 bedroom villa if we're not DVC members and if we go through WDW reservations instead of renting points? (I want mousekeeping services).

Thanks!!!

 

[mom23boys]

I voted for late August, we went this year from the 19th to the 26th. I have never seen the parks that empty. I spoke with a CM at MK on the 23rd and commented about it being not busy, he said usually there are 80,000 people who come to MK during the Summer that day only 30,000 had come through by 2:00. Big difference.

We walked onto every ride and waited the most for the Railroad (10 min). Every CS meal there were plenty of tables. I was worried about the free dining going on but we changed two TS meals while we were down there.

Except for it being hot and the pool water not refreshing, this was by far the best vacation we have ever had. The parks usually closed around 8:30 or 9:00 for us that was okay, we were up early every day.

As for getting a two bedroom I am a DVC member and I think CRO has a certain number of rooms they keep for reservations.

We have stayed at the BCV twice in a two bedroom and have loved it. We visited VWL in August and fell in love with it.

Good luck planning.

Sharon

 

[DeeDeeDis]

We've got the end of august for the past 5 years. Yes it is hot, but its hot at home too and we don't have as much water, air conditioning or rides to take our minds off the heat. Of course this August they had a dry spell, translation NO rain storms in the afternoon to cool it off so it was still in the 90's even at nite.

Is the soon to be 5 yr old your oldest?, If so have you considered Sept, its value season and the parks are deserted, first few weeks of Nov are also really nice time.

 

[MAGICinMYHEART]

The later in the Month the better, but August is too hot for me...Please keep in mind that the tropical storms do start-up in August.

 

[disneyobessed]

we went to WL this past august 12-17th. we usually go 3rd wek in april which is our school vacation when it is crowded. all i can say was it was just as crowded when we went in august the main differences were the HEAT which was outragous but there is so much a.c. you deal with it. and the other major differnce was a about a $250 difference in airfare!! august is much cheaper time to fly! our next trip in 07 will be in august again.

 

[johnvree]

I voted for 8/20-8/30.

We just stayed during that time perior (8/19-8/31). The parks are very slow compared to mid summer. You are right-it is hot. But it is hot most of the year in Florida. I think the difference between the average temperature in June and August is only 1 or 2 degrees. And we have been there in May and November when temperatures flirted with 100.

The only thing that is different in August is the amount of evening thunderstorms. We got one almost every late afternoon or evening. Usually a few days on each vacation, we spend the day at the resort and go to the parks in the late afternoon. This past trip we didn't get to do a lot of that because of the afternoon/evening showers. Other than that, we will gladly trade off the extra heat and humidity for the smaller crowds.

 

[jjohnson]

We went 8/13-20 & it was perfect. We walked onto every ride in every park. Never had a need for fastpass. The parks start to close earlier in the 3rd week & your more into hurricane season if you wait till the end. On the other hand we missed out on the free dining promotion.

 

[scanne]

The only thing that is different in August is the amount of evening thunderstorms. We got one almost every late afternoon or evening. Usually a few days on each vacation, we spend the day at the resort and go to the parks in the late afternoon.

When we were there in July of this year, we too experienced thunderstorms in the afternoon/evening. But luckily, we were having dinner at those times and the storms passed when we were ready to head back to the parks. Guess we got lucky!

I am leaning towards the end of August. I can deal with the heat and the threat of tropical weather better than crowds. It has just been too crowded on our last few trips. Thanks!

 

[Leota]

The end of August is great crowd-wise. We have been there 2x for the end of Aung. Last Aug. trip was this 8/24-8/30. We only waited in one line for 20 minutes. Everything else was 10 min or less, although we still used FP's for Soarin'. We walked onto many things including Space Mountain, RnRC, TT, Splash....
Even tho the Parks aren't open for the Peak Hours, they were still open til 9 average ( 8:30 MGM, 9 Epcot, 9 MK, 5 AK) But, you can do soooo much with no lines, the earlier closing doesn't matter anyways.

I didn't find it all that uncomfortable. We didn't get hot til the last 2 days when the humidity picked up a bit.