When is the slowest season?

[Kelly Grannell]

Hi all, I'm new here and we (my husband and I) are planning to go to WDW soon. According to Birmbaum's official guide and the 2004 unofficial guide, the beginning of December is the slowest season. Unfortunately it's not an option for us.

Our options are between October to November. When will be the best time (read: quietest) time for us to go. We are also planning to spend time to go to Universal Studios and SeaWorld within the same trip.

What will be the ideal number of days to go to WDW, Universal and SeaWorld?

Thanks for all the info beforehand.

Shalom!

 

[MrsPete]

The truth is that there is no "slow" season any longer. Why? Families are more willing to take their children out of school, and Disney shortens the hours drastically (6 PM closings instead of midnight) in the "off season", which means fewer hours in the park. There really is no "slow" season inside the parks.

As for the ideal number of days, give us more information: what ages are your children? That'll make a difference in the answer.

 

[kikipug]

I have always gone during the full week before Thanksgiving (not Thanksgiving week)... the parks have been empty!

 

[Kelly Grannell]

I have always gone during the full week before Thanksgiving (not Thanksgiving week)... the parks have been empty!

So when is the week before Thanksgiving? I'm planning for 8 days at Disney. Would you kindly give me the date. I don't know when is Thanksgiving 2005 in America.

 

[MrsJ Henry]

We went two sundays before Thanksgiving to the Sunday before Thanksgiving.
By Friday it was starting to get crowded.
This is what I would do if I were you. I would go back 8 days from the sunday before Thanksgiving and go then.
I would also read UG and maybe join tourguidemike.com so you can get great tips on how to avoid the crowds and what parks for what days.
This has worked GREAT for us.
My husband and I also like going when the crowds are LOW.
The week we went we were waling on rides at MK. Of course we also got to the park at opening each time. That is VERY important.
Have a great time

 

[Luv2Travel]

What will be the ideal number of days to go to WDW, Universal and SeaWorld?

Don't know how long you will be in Orlando on your holiday, but I would recommend at least 4 to 5 days at WDW, 2 days at US/IOA, and 1 day at Sea World. Basically one day at each park, with more time at WDW if you have it. October and November are wonderful times to go. Thanksgiving is the 4th Thursday of every November, that would be the 24th this year. October can get a little busy, but the weather is still really warm for swimming and MNSSHP is great. You might want to look into (if you haven't already) staying at one of the Universal resorts for your visits to their parks. Resort guests get front of the line access with their hotel key. Makes changing resorts worth while! Hope you have a great time!

 

[2gether]

The week after Labor Day is amazing! We went 2003 the first week of Spetember and I think the longest we waited in line for ANYTHING was about 10 minutes!

Of course, there are some drawbacks....some of the rides are in rehab, etc., but all in all it is well worth it!

I would plan 9 full days in Orlando....

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I was in Orlando 4 times during the last year--a week in Feb 2005 (left the Friday before Pres Day), 5 days the very end of Sept into Oct, almost 2 weeks in early Dec and 5 days Jan 2005 (not MLK weekend).

None of the times were busy, but Feb and Jan were the best as far as crowds go.

The end of Sept was still very hot, so not my favorite time to go. The Halloween Party was fun, though, as was the Food and Wine Festival. Jan was very quiet and the same with Feb, at least until the Thursday before Pres Day. December was quiet and the decorations were nice, but it wasn't as slow as January.

Given your time frame I think I'd go in early November. You can spend as much time as you want in the parks. Is this a once in a lifetime trip or will you return? Do you have children and if so how old are they?

T&B

 

[Kelly Grannell]

Thanks for all the help. This is really helpful.

I think this will be the only trip I will have for a very long time. I still have the rest of the world to visit.

Shalom!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

If you're not planning on going back anytime soon then I would allow 6 days for WDW (7 is even better), 3 for Universal (can do it in 2, but 3 would allow you to reride rides and soak it in more), and 2 for Seaworld (I've never been to SW, but they often--always?--offer the second day free so you might want to take advantage of that).

I would plan on a day at each of the WDW parks, with 2 open days to return to the parks you want to return to. I would do the park hopper option so you can go to more than one park a day. That would allow you to go to Epcot after an early closing at AK. etc. Also, the last couple of days you'd probably want to hop to return to the parks of your choice.

This is all assuming that you don't have children and are willing to do full days in the parks, without a lot of time off. I think that a rest day every few days is nice, but you might not have enough days to do that without spending a couple weeks in Orlando.

T&B

 

[cranbiz]

I found that it was very quiet around Veterans day. DW and I went over that week LY and it was walk on to everything. What a great time we had.

 

[princess aurora]

Take a look at Value season on Disney's website for rates. It tells you when the lowest prices are for staying at resorts because these are their "slowest" times. We've been in Sept 1st week and it was great but HOT and HUMID. Did I mention HOT! Probably yhr best time would be end end of Sept or Fitst week in October before Canadian Thanksgiving. Cooler but still warm temps and "less" crowds. Also the firt 2 weeks in December are traditional "off season" vacation times for anywhere and I also heard there are "fewer" crowds at this time. Expect lots of ppl though.

Sometimes I think ppl are a little to caught up in "crowds". Disney is designed and set up to move ppl in and through quickly and still entertained. They do the best job in the world. Not every ride is an hour wait(even when I went a Christmas). Use your Fast Passes. Take advatage of early or late lunches to miss some of the meal time crowds. Go riding while the parade is on and try to take the left line at most rides (ppl tend to gravitate to the right).

You'll have a great time regardless. Have fun!

 

[Kelly Grannell]

We will be there at Disney for 8 days, Universal and SeaWorld will be the extra days. So I take it from the posts here we may need the total of 11 days (not including arrival and departure days). 8 Days for Disney + half a day for arrival, half a day to "shift" to universal, 2 days for Universal + half a day for "shifting" in and out for SeaWorld and 1 day for SeaWorld + half a day to "shift" from Universal and plus a day for departure from the airport. Total 14 days.

Now we just have to find the exact date to "move-in" to Orlando and out from Orlando.