WDW with Fewer Kids?

[letterdavidman]

Hi, there. I have a question. And I'm sure I'll get more than a few flames for it. But I'll ask anyway.

But, first, let me give some background. DW and I went down to the World, just over a month ago (late August, to be exact) and had a Most Magical Vacation in almost every way imaginable. Almost. The one (one) thing that marred complete and 100% total Disney bliss was, simply, kids. No, not just any (or, for the more cynically minded, all ) kids, but kids who were allowed to run wild throughout the parks and resorts, with a blatant (and, to be fair, totally in-character, because hey, I know, they are kids) disregard for all WDW rules, whilst next to nothing (or, honestly, in most cases nothing at all ) was said, let alone done, to them by their parents. Believe me, I could tell you some stories.

And, hey, y'know, I know, right?, that this is Walt Disney World, only the kid Mecca of the western world. No, I, in fact, wasn't shocked that there were children (the hu-man-ity!!) at Disney World, and it's not like I'm expecting my future vacations at WDW to be kid-free.

No, what I'm wondering is, as DW and I are a) childless (at the moment, anyway); and, b) HUGE fans of WDW, when's a good time for us to go down there? Granted, like I said, our last trip was at the end of August when a lot of school age kids have yet to go back to school, but the time we went down before that was in early October, and I seem to remember not that many school age children, at least, being down there at that time. (There were lots of cute toddlers and preschool aged children, which is cool.)

DW and I were thinking of going next year either in late October or the second week in December. Would these be good times to go, as far as WDW not being totally overrun with children? Any other good, kid-light times of year to go?

TIA!!

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

Hummm.....well our family will be there in July with a child in hand so you might want to stay clear ........

 

[jann1033]

we have mostly gone in Jan and Dec ( early parts of each) and there are always some kids there..i think the non school aged kids parents might go off season so lots of stroller aged kids, not lots of older ones. i would guess that is the best you will do, the less people the less kids...we have found traveling in general not just disney, to have less kids in Sept or early winter than any other part of yr.( we haven't been to wdw in sept)

no one should flame you ..it's not like it's a requirement to take kids or want to be surrounded by them at Disney or anywhere else. even parents go on vacation with out the kids sometimes!

 

[Chuck S]

There are, of course, kids at WDW anytime of year. But fewer during normal US school hours. Beware of Spring Breaks, Thanksgiving, Christmas Holidays and other school holidays.

 

[Wish I lived in Fl]

The least school age kids would be there just after Labor day as parents don't want kids to miss beginning of school year. Some schools start in mid august and i think all are in session by the day after labor day.

 

[HaleyB]

No flames from me, I can understand completely. Heck I could use some no school aged children time right now (I have 2).

I would say, as a parent of school age kids, that early December would not be a time I would pull my kids out of school. Late October on the other hand, I might. And I AM in early October this year

December is when all the dance/gymnastic/marshal art recitials tend to be and it is also a time when lots of schools have special holiday programs and then there are the class parties... things I never would have thought of getting in the way of a trip pre-kids. (horrible run-on, I know, sorry) It is also the end of the reporting period for most schools so missing in December would have a bigger impact on grades. So I am going to say December would be better.

Just be aware that some schools let out pretty darn early for winter break- my kids get out on the 15th this year! Way too early if you ask me.

 

[letterdavidman]

No flames from me, I can understand completely. Heck I could use some no school aged children time right now (I have 2).

I would say, as a parent of school age kids, that early December would not be a time I would pull my kids out of school. Late October on the other hand, I might. And I AM in early October this year

December is when all the dance/gymnastic/marshal art recitials tend to be and it is also a time when lots of schools have special holiday programs and then there are the class parties... things I never would have thought of getting in the way of a trip pre-kids. (horrible run-on, I know, sorry) It is also the end of the reporting period for most schools so missing in December would have a bigger impact on grades. So I am going to say December would be better.

Just be aware that some schools let out pretty darn early for winter break- my kids get out on the 15th this year! Way too early if you ask me.

Thanks for the info!!

I don't know, I mean, hey, I work with school age kids, so I don't inherently hate them, or anything. It's just that it was a little amazing (and not in a good way) how rare it was to see parents correcting their children's wild/out-of-control/unsafe (to the kids)/disrespectful--take your pick--behavior, and, more often than not, these self same parents were not saying anything while some hapless CM was trying, as best they could (while also trying not to offend the family), to get the little darlings to cease their wreckless actions. And it did seem to pretty much be limited to the school age children, not so much the younger kids.

I dunno. Maybe I noticed it more because this was the first time I stayed on property and, therefore, was also the first time I extensively used Disney transportation (where some particularly egregious examples of annoying kiddie behavior occured). And, when I say "extensive", I mean that I did not drive one time the whole week I was on property.

Anyway, thanks for the info on December. It is my birthday month, and I've also always longed to go when the Christmas decorations were up, yet it wasn't so crowded (e.g., not actually during the Christmas holiday).

Again, thanks!

 

[brack]

No flames here.

I have said all along that WDW is not really meant for kids anyway. It is a family theme park which means with or without kids.

Of course I still love it when my DS goes with me (he's 32yo and makes good money!)

 

[letterdavidman]

Hummm.....well our family will be there in July with a child in hand so you might want to stay clear ........

Well, you see, you mention in your post the key cool thing about your family (as in "in hand")...