What's the difference btn January and April crowds??

[lovemy4sweeties]

We're planning a trip for Jan 2009. I want to come up with an alternate date just in case dh doesn't get his vacation days approved for the Jan dates (his busy time of year is Jan-Feb). So, I was thinking the beginning of April. I've heard great things about going in January. The Fort is less busy, the parks are less busy. How does that compare to April?

I'm wondering b/c I want to know which month dh should push for to get his vacation days.

 

[bama_ed]

Mid-February to mid-April is high season for campsites (not cabins) at the Fort because you are in the spring break season when the weather is really nice. The parks are crowded unlike no time except Christmas and the Fort is slammed full (but it's like that quite often).

I've been both times (spring break and January). Crowds are better in January; weather is better in April. The choice is yours!

Bama ED

 

[lovemy4sweeties]

Hmmmm, what about mid-late April for crowds? Maybe arriving Easter Monday (April 13) or Tuesday the 14th?

 

[OK GRUMPY]

Alot depends on when spring break and Easter falls.We went this last April 2008 the first part and the parks were CROWDED! I saw lines I didn't even know exisited. Last part of April early May may not be to bad. I prefer to go when its not to hot. January after tyhe Holidays before they take the decorations down from Christmas was Great! We went this year great time to go but you never know what the weather will be like.

 

[TheFlame]

I can only speak for January-

2001- 3rd Week, Not crowded, great weather-NO LINES!

2004-Right after New Years(beautiful decorations!) not crowded, okay weather, lots of rain, some really cool days but...NO LINES!

2008-The week of MLK holiday(BIG MISTAKE), FW was full the 10 days we were there as were the parks, very nice weather(cool w/ one day of rain-but NICE)......MAJOR LINES!!!!!!!!

We did not realize that alot of people leave their kids out of school this whole week like we did! (Should have learned this from our trip during Columbus week last October!) There were actually more foreigners than Americans so they made up most of the crowds at the parks. The campground was full of families like us and MATURE adults from up north.

That is just my experience. I would think that April would be a great time to go, then again, anytime at WDW is GREAT!

Have a great time planning your trip!

 

[Us3]

I've been in mid-January once and LOVED it. The weather can go from warm to cold...so you have to be prepared for that.

We've been several times in April. We've always seen LOTS of crowds!! Spring break falls from mid-March through the 3rd week in April for most schools and the lines are usually LONG.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[Colson39]

Crowds are much lighter in January (it's one of the slowest months at Disney), weather can be really cold to mild. April you have many more crowds (plus some schools have Spring Break/Grad Nights), the weather is normally warm to sometimes hot (although a cold front recently came through).

If you're looking for no crowds and mild weather, January is the time to go!

 

[MomofPirate&Mickey]

Agreed. January would be a better time to go. I know that next year, Seminole County's spring break is the wk before Easter & Orange County is the wk after Easter Sunday. So, not only do you have people from out of state/country, but you also have the locals.

Personally, we're looking to taking the boys camping the wk of Seminole's spring break ourselves, but not really planning on doing too many of the parks at that time either.

 

[bxtx]

If you can give more specific dates I can look up the crowd level predictions from a certain unoffical guide's website for you...

Bex

 

[bama_ed]

If you can give more specific dates I can look up the crowd level predictions from a certain unoffical guide's website for you...

Bex

I've used this website too and think it's pretty accurate. Being a numbers guy, their statistical approach appeals to me and gives them validity. It also breaks down to day-by-day which is nice.

Also, MLK weekend in January and Presiden't Day weekend in February are busy.

In my previous comments I may have given the impression that January isn't nice weather wise. As others said, it can sometimes be very pleasant. But the occasional cold front comes through. I usually opt to avoid crowds whenever possible.

Bama ED

 

[lovemy4sweeties]

If you can give more specific dates I can look up the crowd level predictions from a certain unoffical guide's website for you...

Bex

Sorry it's taken me a while to get back to this thread. If you're still reading, our tentative Jan 09 dates are Jan 1-14. Our 2nd choice dates for April 09 are approx April 13-27, and our back up back up 3rd choice dates are for Nov 08. Not really picky on the dates for Nov, so whatever is the least busy.