Visit April or August?

[mom2luncate]

My DH is a principal so we can only visit during school vacations. I was wondering if anyone could give advice on when to visit? We usually go in July or August but the heat's a killer. Imagine that?! Would anyone advise going during April break to avoid the heat of summer? Or, are the lines so long that it's better to wait? Help!

 

[RMulieri]

April will be a lot busier than August. Spring break and Easter break are some of the busiest weeks at Disney. I would go in August.

 

[Bob P]

Hi,

I assume (maybe incorrectly) that when you refer to "April" you mean the week leading up to Easter or the week of Easter? If that is the case, both of those weeks are among the top five most crowded weeks of the year. Have a look at this thread to see what I mean:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1414215

We often go he last two weeks of August and we find they are quite manageable crowd-wise. The heat is another story, of course....

 

[mom2luncate]

Actually, our break this year is an entire week after Easter (starts 4/17). And we can't go in late August as my DH has to be back at school. July and early August are our only options. Thanks for the advice!

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

April is nearly as hot as August and the crowds are *monster* during spring break.

It requires very special, careful planning to go during this time and you have to acknowlege that unless you are willing to wait hours for some rides, you may not get to ride many of them.

We were just there for valentine's, and were *shocked* at the crowd level. After we waited in line an hour for food at Flame Tree BBQ at AK, my husband was like, we need to go home, this sucks.

I agreed, it did suck, but the problem was that we should have looked for lunch at 11 am with no lines, not waited until 1 pm. We know better, we just didn't expect the crowds and hadn't created an itinerary to deal with them...

I say go in late July and do what we call The Vampire Trip: the parks are open late so you stay at the pool all day, take naps, and then only hang out at the parks in the early morning and then after the sun goes down. You never get sunburned, there are no crowds at 11 pm in the magic kingdom, and it's AWESOME. Our kids switched over to night time much quicker than we did-by the second night when MK was open until 3 am, we were chugging coffee like crazy but they were fine .

Also late July avoids the "holiday" crowds-all of europe and south america shows up at Disney's doorstep in August, and they can be tough to deal with at times because of different customs.

 

[MrsJ Henry]

I would hate going in the heat so I would say go in April. I would have a good plan on how we were going to do the parks (tourguidemike.com/touringplans.com etc...) And go and have fun.
You have gone before so you know the lay of the land etc.... that will be helpful with the crowds etc...

 

[JESW]

We are also in MA and have been going April vacation the last couple of years and love it. The weather is so nice and everything is in bloom at EPCOT for the Flower & Garden Festival. Yes, the crowds are there, but not as bad as the years when it is near Easter - since as you know, our week never changes, but others do according to when Easter falls.

We have also gone in August several times and the heat is brutal - last year we were there for the tropical storm. So you have to choose between the heat or the larger crowds - whichever you think you can handle better. I wonder what the crowds were like down there this week for February vacation??

Another thing to consider is airfare. For April vacation it is always a lot higher. I stake out Jet Blue's web site and get tickets the day the come out for April. We also fly Sun - Mon to cut costs and crowds at the airport a bit - kids miss a day of school but we are ok with that - one year we saved close to $1000 just by changing the days.

Jill

 

[vettechick99]

I've been in August. It's really, really, really hot. Like you stand outside and in less than 10 seconds you are sweating.

The only way I'll do it again is to get up early, hit EMH, go back to the resort to swim, and then go back to the parks after dinner. Spend lots of time at water parks, at the movies, anywhere it's cool!

Have fun!

 

[Bob P]

Actually, our break this year is an entire week after Easter (starts 4/17). And we can't go in late August as my DH has to be back at school. July and early August are our only options. Thanks for the advice!

Well, that's different!!

If you go the week of the 19th-ish, crowds should be quite manageable. April is fine once you get past Easter week.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[mom2luncate]

Thanks for all the advice everyone!

 

[SmallWorld71]

MA teacher here who always travels in the summer or on April vacation. Really it depends on a couple factors:
1) When Easter is. As PP's mentioned, the weeks before and after Easter are brutal. When vacation week doesn't fall around Easter, it is still crowded but managable.
2) When in summer you can go. The last 2 weeks of August are the least crowded. We go the week before Labor Day and the crowds are much less than they are in April.

A couple other things to keep in mind:
1) Air fare - trying to get flights during April vacation week is ridiculous. They prices are high and every year I play the waiting game with all the sites like Orbitz etc... and end up with horrible flight times. We always get cheaper flights during the summer.
2) Weather- I have to disagree with PP who said that the weather is similar. I have been to Florida to visit relatives every April for the last 11 years and the weather is almost always beautiful. It is hot, yes, but the humidity hasn't set in and it is SO MUCH nicer than in the summer where you start sweating as soon as you step outside your door. It is a lot easier to deal with crowds in this kind of weather.

HTH

 

[momof4kid]

Hi,

My DH is a teacher, so we're in the same boat. We did DW once in August and I said never again. Heat was too much. April is very busy, but if you use the fastpasses well, it's not too bad and the weather is usually very nice in April. We will be there again this April. Of course I would like to experience WDW w/out the crowds, but that's just not an option now. We have a Great time, even with the crowds!!

have a great trip

 

[mejkjj97]

My DH and Sister are both teachers and last year we went the last week in August and my sister went April vacation.
We had very different experiences with our trips. They said the crowds were horrible and with little ones had trouble getting on a lot of rides because those usually don't have the fast passes. The didn't get to do too many ride more than once. The said the weather was great and would plan their days slightly differntly. Plus they did pay a ton for the flights (500 a person)
We went in August. We hit tropical storm fay for 2 days- another chance you take in the summer. These 2 days were actually really good because it was only 79 degrees but it was raining- not bad but still needed ponchos. When that cleared up it was very hot. We hit the parks from 9 to 1 and then back to the hotel to swim and cool off. Went back to the parks around 6. WE got on so many things without having to wait it was great. We have decided to go again this year in August and already booked flights for $94 each way.