When to go and where to stay?

[diz karen]

All my family has decided to go to Disney. They are counting on me to plan it as I have been a number of times and it will be the first time for everyone else. I have always gone the end of April as I like it hot but not crowded. My Mother does not like it too hot, but the rest of us want to be able to swim. We were thinking of maybe going at the end of October. Has anyone been at that time and have opionions and info to give me? How is the weather and the crowds? Do the parks close early? Are any of the water parks closed at that time.
Also we really want to stay on site at the all stars, but would it be much much cheaper for us to rent a huge house in the Disney area? There may be 18 of us. Has anyone done this before?
Thanks.

 

[squirrel]

I went in Sept. and found the weather warm but not too hot. There wait time for rides was short 10 min. max-except test track.

We stayed on property at ASMo. We used early entry and that helped alot. We also Fast Passed as much as posible. We saw almost everything (in the main parks) in the 5 days we were there-with the exception of Epcot as the Hurricane closed the parks for a day and a half. Blizzard Beach is closed in Sept. Don't worry Typhoon Lagoon is open and in my opinion a better waterpark-not as much walking. Shark Reef is very nice!

I have been in November-after Thanksgiving (US), when attendance is supposedly slower. I found it more crowed than in Sept. It was also harder to chose appropriate clothing-warm in the day, cold at night.

I would stay on site! All the extras are worth it to me. Refill mugs, early entry, transportation.

 

[e_cr]

We have vacationed in Florida twice during October-November and found the weather to be wonderful - definately warm enough to swim. We will be spending 10 days at Marriott and Isle of Bali this October. During our March break trip, we rented a very large home from a private home owner and it was a wonderful experience. It was a luxury villa with a private screened-in pool. It easily slept 11+. If you would like more info ; including the web site; please email me. This couple is very reputable and I would highly reccommend them.

 

[JSR]

We have been in October, early December, early January, early May and late May. I would go for either October or early December. December is especially nice since all the holiday decorations are just starting to go up. During all of those times the lines are very tolerable. Using Fast Pass especially makes it worthwhile.

As for accomodations, it depends what is the group's highest priority. For a large group, staying in one of those vacation homes is nice. We stayed in a 4 bedroom once with 9 people. But when I'm on holiday, I like to come back to a made bed, clean bathroom and the option of room service. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Family Suites and if you got a few suites together, it would could work out nicely.

 

[tink2dw]

Dido-the Holiday Inn Family Suites,this place has even more magic than WDW!!! and free breakfast!!

Check out their web site!! here a link http://www.hifamilysuites.com/index.html?

 

[tori]

Hi we've gone November just before U.S. Thanksgiving a few times and also a few times in early February. We've always been able to swim, but then we're Canadian - no Americans to be seen in them thar pools! It's quite funny to see ride operators in mittens when you head back to the pool for a swim.

We went in January this year (too cold even for us to swim) and took the extended family for the first time. We chose to stay offsite in a large suite because of the size of our group. In retrospect we should of stayed onsite, as my husband spent a great deal of the trip shuttling older parents back to the hotel for afternoon naps or before parades because they were beat. As the one who knows Disney best he got to do the shuttling since he wouldn't miss anything he hadn't already seen. It was wonderful to have his folks with us and enjoy our love for Disney, but he might have enjoyed his own holiday more if they could have just hopped a Disney bus to go back to the room and met us again in a few hours. Ditto if there are young kids in the group. Consider carefully the choice of location and what kinds of responsibilities that will place on you and changes that will make to the whole experience. Being the Disney expert can have it's downsides.

Good Luck, Tori

 

[DSNY FN]

Hi we have been in Dec and in Feb and by far we choose Dec the weather has never been bad while there in Dec it seems we have always had mid to high 70's while there and the last time down in 99 it was into the 80's so it was plenty warm for swimming and water parks and so on. We just love it in Dec the decorations are just the best it is a day trip in itself to ride the bus around to all the resorts to see how they are decorated and to see al the really cool gingerbread houses. I would recomend a stay at one of the All Star resorts unless you go after Dec 15th then the new Pop Century resort will be open and it to is a value resort. We always go the first couple weeks of Dec it is value season and not very busy and like I mentioned before the weather has always been very good for us while there and lines are almost non exsistent. I hope this helps you out if you have any more questions let us know
Darren & Lisa

 

[mainey-mouse]

We were just there May 11 -20.

Weather. Beautiful. Its was 90+ every day but the first day. But it was beautiful hot. Not the humid humid Ontario hot that we get in July and August - where you just step outside and sweat, and the heat never lets up 24 hrs a day. The evenings and mornings cooled down. The days were hot - but not humid. We love swimming, and it was great. You could get in and out of water, and not get cold ever.

Parks. This is regular season and all I can say is I'd hate to see what PEAK season would be like! MK and AK were plenty crowded in my books. The ride line times ranged from 30-60 minutes, but with Fast Pass, that really wasn't an issue. But if you don't like crowded parks, this would not be the right time, I don't think.

Accoms. Don't know what your style is. If you happen to be outdoorsy type people, check out a place called Tropical Palms Fun Resort (www.tropicalpalms.com). They have studio, 1 and 2 bedroom cabins with full kitchens. Not fancy, but comfy, and a really nice setting. We stayed there and really liked it. We had a two bedroom cabin for our family 4 (two adults, two kids). The rates in regular season top out at $79 for a two bedroom cabin which COULD sleep 6 adults and 2 kids - but I wouldn't suggest more than 4 adults and 2 kids per cabin. The layout of the cabins on the property is such that you could probably get a little quad of 2 bedroom cabins all facing into a little court yard for yourselves. They all have decks too, and are really nice relaxing places to return to after a day in the parks. Its close to Disney - took us 15 minutes from our door to the MK parking lot. If you prefer something more urban, go to www.hotelkingdom.com and take a look at some of the timeshares offered. We considered Vistanna Resort and Vistana Villages seriously. At V V, we had a rate of $119/night for a unit with two bedrooms - a queen bed in the master bedroom, and 2 doubles in the second bedroom, as well as a sofa bed in the living room, I think. Also a whirlpool in the masterbedroom. Both V R and V V are getting really good reviews on the Orlando Hotels board. If you check there, you'll probably get even more ideas.

 

[poffles]

Went Oct 27 - Nov 11.

Weather was beautiful. It was 80+ every day. We were lucky we didn't even see rain the entire trip. We were swimming several days, and I don't even swim in our salt water here because it is never warm enough for me so that should tell you something.

It did chill off a little in the evening, and I wouldn't swim at that time, but kids were certainly enjoying themselves splashing around.

As for crowds, the first week was nice, but it did get a little busier the second week especially at MK. I think this was because it was the year 2000.

We want to return at this time of year again, the only deterent for us is not having direct flights at this time of year. It is an added pain to have to fly to TO, stay overnight and fly out the next day to Orlando. The other choice for us will be April, but only because of the direct flight. October/November is definitely when we'd rather go.

 

[diz karen]

Thanks for all your replies. I think we have now decided to go the first week of May next year. My sister just got accepted to teacher's college so we will wait until she is finished school. Can anyone tell me if the buy 1 ticket get the second one half price is usually on until the middle of May?

 

[e_cr]

The Disney promotion that offers "Buy One and get The Other at Half Price expires at the end of April each year.

 

[wagmt]

Is this a promotion that runs every year for park tickets? Can anyone shed some light on this?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Canadave]

Sorry wagmt. This was a deal for Canadians only(or at least you had to buy the voucher in Canada) . The buy 1, get second one at half price has been the promotion for the last 2 years. A few years ago they had tickets at par. (I doubt that will happen for a while, but we can wish). The deal this year ended in April, but I think there was something about extending into the first week of May if you started using them in April or something like that. Maybe someone else can recall. As far as the coming year, I hope they have something good planned, as we are heading down in January. If everyone joined in SandraC's letter writing campaign (see SandraC's thread), maybe, just maybe, we can have a positive effect on Disney's Canadian plan for next year.

 

[mainey-mouse]

...we evaluated the value of the buy one get one free Disney park admission deal but discovered that it was cheaper to go in May, during regular season, without the deal, than it was to go in April at peak season WITH the deal - especially when considering the Disney Resort accomodation rates.

 

[wenabre]

I remember once when we were going to WDW and we looked into the possibility of going on the last date for the tickets at par in the hopes that it would be valid as long as you had started to use the ticket you could go on till the finish i.e. seven days. But alas it was not to be. You had to use it up by the expiry date. It really is a shame,the way its set up that it couldn't be all year round or at least extend the season as our kids are in school longer into the summer and it does make it hard to plan. Hope you do have a great time, Diz Karen!