When is a good time of the year to visit

[KYCruiseCrazy]

WDW on DVC points and it's not going to be crowded at DVC resorts? I would like to call it a happy medium. Like it used to be at WDW right after Thanksgiving. You know when you drive your car to WDW and park in the same parking space (or close to it) for your whole trip. I did at Christmas 2008. Drove down in 2 cars (it was cheaper then flying with 5 people).
Car 1 was left in same place for whole trip. Car 2 was used to visit the parks. Car 2 has been there 3 times

So thank you for your help!!

 

[Rob S.]

The points are the lowest and the crowds are relatively small, and the weather is still quite warm (or hot). I've gone the last 4 years in September and have always been able to get exactly what room/view I want at 7 months.

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

The points are the lowest and the crowds are relatively small, and the weather is still quite warm (or hot). I've gone the last 4 years in September and have always been able to get exactly what room/view I want at 7 months.

Thanks. It get's hot and humid in Ky too. Sometimes not as humid!!

 

[Coach81]

Yeah.. month of Sept. or early January...

 

[mickey&minniealways]

You are going to get as many answers to this as there are months of the year. Everyone has a different favorite. DVC mostly has different busy times then central reservations. Easter week and the wee between Christmas and New Years are the absolute busiest. January and the begining of February are pretty quiet but it can be a bit colder. The last two weeks of February alot of schools have a winter break. March and April the weather is nice but most colleges have spring break in April and everyone else seems to have it in April. I like May myself but it can be problematic for us with school. Although it is better now that DD is the only one, she has an IEP so that makes things a little more flexible for us. Alot of people like June through August but I feel it is to hot. The first couple of weeks in sept. should be good unless you have kids in school and have a problem with them being out of school. The fall brings the food and wine festival and the marathons. DVC books up at this time. Especially the Epcot resorts. Holloween week is also bad for MK. First week of December is chaos at values and one of the moderates but the parks levels are not bad. The entire month of December dvc books up but the points are low. Go figure. The middle two weeks of November might be the best time as far as crowds but I am not sure about the weather. Sorry I could not be of more help. I probably created more questions then I helped with.

 

[KermitFrog2]

Christmas, New Year's, or Fourth of July! My favorites, but most crowded times

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

mickey&minniealways Thanks!! No you didn't get to many more questions. This is what I was hoping to hear. Thanks


Anyone else have favorite times? At least as DVC points are. December is packed. May looks to be good. Isn't September in the heart of Hurricane season?

 

[nolanboys]

I've been twice in October and love it. Points aren't bad, good crowd level and fantastic weather.

 

[HappyHappy]

Points were higher for our May trip but the weather was PERFECT!!!! Loved the beginning of December for points and decorations (4 out of 5 trips had good weather.) End of September hot but low crowds. On one February trip I got some sunburn, on another I froze.

 

[hakepb]

Week before Thanksgiving week is slow.
I've booked both BWV and BLT 1BR standard view categories that week. Crowd levels seemed to be posted as a 1 or 2 this year

But weather can be hit or miss (I've had a week no higher than 70 with actual snow flurries reported in Orlando) so I would lean May for more ideal.

 

[Dreamin Disney]

My favorite time is mid September because the crowds are low. We went this year and most of the rides were usually between 5-15 minutes long. It was AWESOME!!

 

[El&Asmom]

I'm not sure I have a favorite time yet. Still too many months to visit.
If you are looking purely from a crowd standpoint, I would say early Sept after Labor day, and Jan after MLK week.

We used to go the week of Labor day every year until oldest dd started school. Loved that we could walk onto everything.

We also go in Jan almost every year over MLK as I have a conference in Orlando that week. It is crowded over the weekend, but then dies off. Last year we did a cruise the weekend after MLK and my parents came back to WDW after the cruise. They said there was no one in the parks. They walked onto every ride.

Weather wise, we liked late April early May. Warm enough to swim everyday, but not humid yet.

We'll be trying out Oct next year and see how that goes.

 

[LSchrow]

We used to like early sept, but it has gotten much more crowded then. Early oct is nice (I hate the cold, so won't go late oct, when we had 30 degree temps once, thru april). Oct does get crowded with the F and FW, but weather is generally great, and weekdays are uncrowded in parks.

Our absolutely, pOsitively favorite time is early may - it is just about perfect with weather, crowds, eTc

 

[tjkraz]

The foundation of any timeshare is year-round maximum occupancy. If the resorts are under full occupancy (less any rooms taken out for maintenance), it means people aren't using their points.

So with that said, I don't think there are many times where DVC resorts are slow--particularly resorts like BLT, BWV, BCV and VWL. DVC uses the variable point charts to help drive up demand during slower periods.

You may find some vacancies at SSR, OKW or AKV because they are so large--particularly on the weekends when the points are still a bit higher. But it will never be like cash resorts where occupancy could fall to 60% during slower seasons.

As for the parks, even there it's getting tough to find a "slow" period. Disney has done a pretty good job of proping-up crowds during slower periods with special events and incentives. In January you have things like the Marathon and MLK holiday which draw extra people. Even the Christmas festivities overlap into the new year.

In September you're dealing with "free dining" promotions, Labor Day holiday plus the start of the MNSSHP and Food & Wine fest.

Weather is also a little dicier than some other periods. January can be downright cold while September is still hot & muggy with the chance of hurricane storm systems dumping buckets of rain on central Florida.

I do agree that parts of January and September are about the slowest you will find at WDW, but don't expect 15 minute mid-day waits for Soarin or Toy Story Mania. Just doesn't happen anymore.

 

[Pat817]

I live in Orlando and I love the weather here. The best months of the year weather wise are April and October. If I had to choose one time to visit, it would be October. The mornings are cool and the day time temperatures are in the 80's (not too hot and not too cold).

Of course, any time is a great time to visit. Come see us soon!

 

[mickey&minniealways]

mickey&minniealways Thanks!! No you didn't get to many more questions. This is what I was hoping to hear. Thanks


Anyone else have favorite times? At least as DVC points are. December is packed. May looks to be good. Isn't September in the heart of Hurricane season?

It may be hurricane season but Orlando is inland and they don't usually get bothered by the hurricanes a whole lot. There are exceptions but overall you are pretty safe

 

[HayGan]

We have been in January, May, June, August, September, October, November and December. Each time has a different feel to it. As far as crowds go we found September/early October the best time to go. The problem with that time of the year is that you can have very hot temps (95 degrees + this year for us) and there is the threat of hurricanes. We have only encountered one hurricane/tropical storm and that was in August (Faye - what a witch she was!) January can be low crowds if you avoid MLK weekend. It can also be FREEZING (which it was for us this year as well - below freezing some nights!) The marathon and holiday make DVC very busy!

Except for the very peak times, there are ways to easily manage the crowds. To us in picking a time of the year to go, it has to do more with weather, the events and our schedules. I don't think anytime is a bad time to go - some are just better than others

 

[tjkraz]

It may be hurricane season but Orlando is inland and they don't usually get bothered by the hurricanes a whole lot. There are exceptions but overall you are pretty safe

Hurricanes hitting Orlando are rare but the weather systems from hurricanes and tropical storms can definitely impact the area. We took a late-September trip a few years ago and had 5 straight days of rain due to hurricanes in the gulf region. Wasn't Katrina--some other storm system that's long forgotten. The storm itself didn't come anywhere close to the Orlando area but the reduced-strength weather system lingered in the area for days. Happens every year during those months.

Rain is part and parcel of many Disney vacations. Most people learn to just toss on a poncho, ride it out, and wait for the sunny skies a couple hours later. But when you spend the latter half of your trip squishing around in sneakers that are hopelessly drenched inside and out, it doesn't make for a fun vacation.

I'm sure many people have great experiences in September. But history shows that there is a much greater likelihood of overwhelming rain showers during those early months of hurricane season. For that reason, it's at the bottom of my list of ideal times to visit.

 

[SPBendersky]

Talked to alot of the help in Disney last winter when there. They were saying that mid to end of October was best. No schools off seems to be a lull in traffic and amount of people. And the weather is still perfect. Would like to try it.

Scot

 

[Rest&Relax]

Best time to go depends on what you want to do. Want to the parks commando style go during the quiet times of May & Sept. Just want to relax go in June & July. Quiet pools at resorts are very relaxing when everybody else is at the park. Went this past July and I loved it. It was probably one of the most relaxing trips we ever took. Empty nesters and loving it!

Does anybody know when it starts getting busy around 4th of July. I
thinking of going week before and leaving on the 2nd. Is that too close?