Ugh! Forced to reschedule Sept trip! :( Please help me choose new dates!

[chocolatemint]

I had *everything* completely booked for Sept 11-26th, and just found out last night that my husband has a major deadline that precludes us from going those weeks.

Trying to decide between these four choices - if you have any input or opinions I would really appreciate it! It will be a 2 wk trip staying offsite, we'd like to do the YES program, and our kids range from 4-12yo.

Choices:
1. August 22 - Sept 5th
PROS: CLs will be 3s & 4s and it's guaranteed to be warm, so we can enjoy the waterparks and the pool at our rental house. The YES program has dates for that time. It looks like I can move our house rental and plane tickets without an issue. Not getting ADRs at character restaurants means saving money.
CONS: CLs will be 3s & 4s (our original dates had 1s & 2s) it will be hotter, and it's too late for me to get any of the important ADRs I had booked (CRT, BOG, CA Grill etc). Hurricane season.

2. (Just added this choice!)
Sept 26 - October 10
PROS: Cooler than August, Food & Wine festival (although I don't care too much about that)
CONS: Still too late for ADRS and higher CLs.

3. November 8 - end of the year (any dates)
PROS: Christmas decorations, cooler weather, still time to make some ADRs
CONS: Crowds will be even higher, weather is unpredictable (if it's as cold as last yr, swimming in our pool & waterpark visits would be out, and the waterparks are important to my kids), airfare will likely be higher.

4. Spring 2016 (any time after mid March)
PROS: Nice weather, Flower & Garden festival, plenty of time to plan ADRs, Disney Springs will be more complete, more walls might be down?, not as many ride closures
CONS: It's not until next year! Weather can still be cool in the Spring, CLs will be 4s & 5s at best, there aren't any CL calendars up for those months yet

I am leaning toward choice #1 but shaking my internal fist at Disney and their stupid 180+10 ADR insanity that makes everything more complicated and inflexible than it has to be.

Thanks everyone!

 

[anniebean]

You can still do the #1 dates even w/ the 180+10 ADR schedule. 2 Septembers ago, we didn't book our trip until like 150 days out so I couldn't get a BOG reservation. Well, I finally found one at the 50-ish day mark.

I guess a lot will depend on where you want to eat. Either way, good luck, and you'll have fun regardless!

 

[chocolatemint]

You can still do the #1 dates even w/ the 180+10 ADR schedule. 2 Septembers ago, we didn't book our trip until like 150 days out so I couldn't get a BOG reservation. Well, I finally found one at the 50-ish day mark.

I guess a lot will depend on where you want to eat. Either way, good luck, and you'll have fun regardless!

Thanks for the reply! I know I could possibly hunt down an ADR or two, but our party size is larger than average so that makes things difficult. Getting an 8:05 AM CRT reservation seems highly unlikely, although I suppose a miracle could occur .

 

[missangelalexis]

That's tough and I can imagine how disappointing that is!

I agree all your dates have pros and cons. However I wouldn't focus on the CLs as much. All those dates should have pretty moderate crowds as long as you stay away from holiday dates.

If you're leaning towards option 1, I would go with it and keep stalking reservations to see if something opens up for any of the meals you want!

Just to throw in my 2 cents: End of September-mid October is a great time to go. It's still hot so you can definitely do the water parks. You can also consider attending MNSSHP! And I also just came back from a spring trip and REALLY loved it. Weather was great, F&G was great, crowds were decent. I know it's far away but if the ADRs are important to you I would consider this time of year an option!

 

[magicaldisney]

Personally, If you have been to WDW before, I would chose a time of year that you haven't visited before. Different times of the year are completely different trips and it's always nice to have new experiences. We have been during all the times you mention and not one is necessarily more special to us than another because they are all different trips. Anytime you chose will be a wonderful vacation, so don't fret too much over it.

 

[dkrauss]

I like choice #2......but you have hurricane season. The holiday season has some holes in where its not as crowded..........the first week of December can be lighter (relative term ) If you're staying at AllStars or CBR or CS you could have to contend with the Pop Warner kids..............other wise this may be your best time.

Good luck and have a great vacation no matter when you go!!!

Doug

 

[robndani]

I'd go with choice #2. It's when we usually go. I know you say you don't care about F&W, but it's a huge draw for us! Have fun whatever you decide and remember, even 180 days out a lot of people don't get what they want, and sometimes you snag the best reservation a week before!

 

[3Gsandme]

How will date number 1 work with your husband's deadlines. I know my husband gets super busy leading up to a deadline on a major project and taking time off still wouldn't be a great idea. He'd be on the phone and I'd be annoyed.

My choice would be to pick a nice, slow, cool week in November. We're looking at going the week after Thanksgiving 2016, so check that week on the crowd calendars for this year. I think you'll be surprised at how low the crowds are predicted to be.

 

[hskaggs11]

I've been in late October, and the full week before Thanksgiving. We had hot weather still in October--I was pretty sweaty leaving AK then, certainly warm enough for water parks. CL seemed about normal to me, although I do remember waiting quite a while for BTMR, like 50 mins.
When we went before Thanksgiving, there was a cold snap all over the eastern half of the US--my hometown had big snow the day after we left, and in Disney, one morning waiting for the bus to Epcot it was 45 degrees!! Weather hovered in the high 60s and peaked around 72 the rest of the week. I actually loved the cooler weather, but wished I had packed a few more hoodies. My 1 Disney hoodie looked pretty bad after wearing all week! (I convinced DH to let me buy a Gryffindor hoodie the day we went to the dark side, lol) All the parks had their Christmas decorations up, and we got to see the Osborne Lights, which are AWESOME! Despite the cold snap, I felt like it was a great week to go, with decent crowd levels. I would go back again that week, but DH schedule doesn't work out then. I did check the weather the week after I got back (actual Thanksgiving week) and Orlando had temps back in the high 70s and lower 80s, perfect weather.

This year I think I'm going at the perfect time: First weekend in November. 11/7 thru 11/13. It's at the end of Food and Wine (last day is the 16th), so we get to check out all the yummy food around the world, we get in on the first November week of FD (our resort ressie is booked 11/8-11/13, and we are doing a RO the first night), the Christmas lights will be out, and if we wanted to go to a water park, one of the two will be open. Hoping for lower crowds, especially with F&W winding down.

 

[anniemae]

Definitely choice #2.

 

[Lucius Best]

If pools and water parks are important, that pretty much rules out option 3.

I would guess that CL for option 2 wouldn't be that much higher than option 1. CL for option 4 definitely higher, and could be very high depending on what exact dates you pick and how they line up with Spring Break, Easter, New England's April vacation week, etc. We've been down there end of September, it is still reliably very warm, with lower chances for hurricanes/thunder showers. The bonus for option 2 would be Halloween decorations.

For both option 1 and 2, even though it is inside 180 days, do you know for certain that you can't get the ADRs you want? If you are going to be there 2 weeks you can be flexible with dates/times and something might pop up. We just got back from a late April trip that we planned 90 days out. We couldn't get BOG for dinner, but we kept checking and were able to find a BOG ADR for lunch.

 

[shana398]

There are still times available for BOG and Cali Grill for choice number 1. If you really want to do the water parks, that would be a good time to go, and crowd levels aren't too bad, either, as you've said.

 

[shana398]

Just an example: For Tuesday, August 25th, California Grill has openings at 5:50, 7:25 and 9:25 for dinner and BOG has a 9:30 p.m. California Grill has openings at on Tues., Sept. 1 at 5:55, 7:30 and 9:00. I just randomly selected a couple of dates during those time periods and checked for reservations on my phone. We are going the end of August/beginning of September, and there are still plenty of openings left!

 

[yeheyprincex2]

We just returned from an End of April trip and really enjoyed the F&G Festival at EPCOT. Makes us want to experience F&W in the fall. When it was not raining it was hot. The crowds were 4/5 and we had time to do everything we wanted.

The dates right after thanksgiving are suppose to be a great time to go and it is less crowded, cooler weather. One of our best trips was Nov 13-20 in 2012. Parks were very manageable and there were days it was nice, warm enough to swim.
It can suck to wait till next spring if you have to.
I think I would pick beginning of November or after thanksgiving into the first two weeks of December.

 

[chefmb]

We just returned from an End of April trip and really enjoyed the F&G Festival at EPCOT. Makes us want to experience F&W in the fall. When it was not raining it was hot. The crowds were 4/5 and we had time to do everything we wanted.

The dates right after thanksgiving are suppose to be a great time to go and it is less crowded, cooler weather. One of our best trips was Nov 13-20 in 2012. Parks were very manageable and there were days it was nice, warm enough to swim.
It can suck to wait till next spring if you have to.
I think I would pick beginning of November or after thanksgiving into the first two weeks of December.

I love the Christmas decor in Disney! In fact, DH and I took a "we're doing this once" trip in 2011, and have been back every year since. Just booked our airfare today! We have definitely had some cold weather --winter coats and gloves cold--but nice days each trip too. And as long as you bundle up, it can feel very Christmassy and festive. Last year, the night we went to Osborne Lights was quite cold. The CM's had their striped hats/gloves and warmer gear. They LOVED working on a cold night because it really felt like Christmas to them It was a magical night (and I hate being cold!).

 

[yeheyprincex2]

I know chefmd Disney during the Holidays is completely addicting. We have been several times during December, its my DH favorite time to go.
Back in 2011 it was so cold during our MVMCP we had coats gloves on. I had no idea it could get that cold in Florida(lesson learned, pack for anything lol)

 

[slford00]

Don't give up on the A-list ADRs. Our last trip (about a year ago exactly) we didn't decide to go until a month or so in advance when I unexpectedly received an extra week of vacation. It took a LOT of obsessively stalking the Disney ADR site, but I was able to get reservations for just about everything we wanted (CRT, BOG, Chef Mickey's)--and A&E FP+ to boot. Pretty much the only thing I wasn't able to get was Rose & Crown for IllumiNations.

Now, I did have to be flexible with scheduling and dining times... but it's not impossible. Especially as you get 24-72 hours away and people start dumping their reservations at the last minute.

I can imagine it would be more difficult with a larger group (we had 4), but not impossible. Are you able to split up into smaller groups/separate eating times for reservation purposes?

 

[SPOERLX3]

Christmas time at WDW is our favorite time to go.
The best dates for lowest crowds that we have experience are any dates:
November 12th-20th and any dates from Dec 1st-17th
The weather, the decorations and the low crowds make this time of year amazing!

Good luck finding the perfect dates for your family