Your Favorite Month to Travel

[Frozen2014]

Agreed. Missed the part about Splash, that is closed pretty much every January-February and see it is in 2015.

It looks like this year it's Jan 4-30. But I suppose other times it could go into Feb? Splash is a must for us.

 

[Frozen2014]

It can be cold. Not Canada cold but cold none the less. We went in early March 2013 and it was literally below freezing, like 30, several nights and not above upper 40's for the daytime on a few days. Is that normal, no. But it's possible. And impossible to predict ahead of time.

For the best chance to avoid cold or heat I'd pick late April, early May.
Otherwise, you can have cold and/or you will have hot.
Here's how I see things

late May-late Sept, Hot or Hotter
Late Sept to late Oct, generally good/mild, but you have those Holiday parties
Late Oct-late March, could be good, could be cold. Very unlikely to be hot
March to late May, generally good/mild. Lower crowds too, outside of Easter week and spring break (which may or may not line up)
Less of a chance of spring breakers the later you get in to April.

BTW...great layout of the dates. Thanks. End of April or early May may work

Have an awesome trip. I see you leave very soon.

 

[TXHauntedMansionFan]

We have been to WDW during all the times that the poll listed except May and would rank them like this:

1. Sept - Oct - this is by far the best time we've found for crowds (early Sept after Labor Day) if you can deal with the heat. You also get the F&W Festival and MNSSHP which are both a lot of fun.

2. Jan - there's pretty much no body at the parks outside of a holiday weekend or marathon time. However the downsides are colder temps, early park closings and sometimes heavy refurb schedules.

3. April - you get the F&G at Epcot and great temps. You can also get some crazy afternoon storms and crowds are a little more than we prefer usually.

4. March - we've never been lucky enough to make it without dealing with SB crowds. Really great weather but more costly to go and too crowded if we could go alternatively in Sept/Oct or Jan.

I'd also say that another great time to go is mid Nov and early Dec. We've been a couple of times then and have had a great time.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

It looks like this year it's Jan 4-30. But I suppose other times it could go into Feb? Splash is a must for us.

Right now these are the announced closing dates, but for the past two years, the refurb expanded through February. In 2013, a long refurb was planned in advance, but the 2014 refurb dates were expanded through February after work began in January.

When it comes to Disney, there are few things more sad than seeing your favorite ride closed. Peter Pan was closed for refurb when we were there last October, and it just seemed so...weird not to ride it.

 

[Satchmo128]

Our favorites aren't listed (early November or early December).

 

[Frozen2014]

Now I'm totally confused

Jan and Feb are out because of Splash refurb
March is out because it's busy
April isn't great because you can get bad storms and crowds getting higher
May - possibly (but getting warm?)
Jun-Aug - are out because of heat and crowds
Sept and Oct - Was thinking of avoiding second time around because of MK shortened hours
Nov and Dec - are out as we want to avoid Christmas months

Maybe end of April , start of May (which would be around 3 of our birthdays)?

 

[emldrl]

Now I'm totally confused

Jan and Feb are out because of Splash refurb
March is out because it's busy
April isn't great because you can get bad storms and crowds getting higher
May - possibly (but getting warm?)
Jun-Aug - are out because of heat and crowds
Sept and Oct - Was thinking of avoiding second time around because of MK shortened hours
Nov and Dec - are out as we want to avoid Christmas months

Maybe end of April , start of May (which would be around 3 of our birthdays)?

I am planning a trip, and it does get crazy trying to find the perfect time. Our requirements are; not too hot but still able to swim, not too crowded, and not insane pricewise. The best time I have found for all this is mid April. Fall would probably work too, but we'd rather do spring. I personally think April, after Easter week, would be a really good time for you. Good luck!

As far as weather, Fl weather is not super predictable at the best of times, but April is before the really rainy season starts, and yes it is technically hurricane season, but so is most of the year. So, this would be as good a time as any.

Final thought, if the weather is a major factor, maybe DL would be a good choice? Just a thought. It's too far for us to go right now, but I'd like to someday.

 

[Satchmo128]

I would recommend the end of August/beginning of September for low crowds and (though still hot), bearable weather

 

[vettegirl]

End of Sept value pricing, low crowds, and beginning of F&W

 

[Praying Colonel]

Sorry, not clear from your post...do you mean March was best combination? (Casue then it says 'never been in March'...but think you must have been referring to another month???)

The FLower & Garden festival would be lovely. I can only imagine how Disney would do things up. Beautiful.

Sorry I wasn't clear--we had never been in March before going in March this year. We thought our trip in March this year was the best combo of weather and crowds we've experienced. (We've been every month except February, July and December).

But as I said, Easter Week this year was in April. Some years it's in March. I have no doubt we'd want to avoid going in March if Easter fell during the dates we were considering.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Now I'm totally confused

Jan and Feb are out because of Splash refurb
March is out because it's busy
April isn't great because you can get bad storms and crowds getting higher
May - possibly (but getting warm?)
Jun-Aug - are out because of heat and crowds
Sept and Oct - Was thinking of avoiding second time around because of MK shortened hours
Nov and Dec - are out as we want to avoid Christmas months

Maybe end of April , start of May (which would be around 3 of our birthdays)?

We were at WDW the third week of October, too, and the weather could not have been more perfect. But it was annoying to have MK closed for MNSSHP on so many nights of our trip. I would probably choose this week again, though, just because the weather was so beautiful.

We took a short trip to WDW in September and the rain, heat and humidity were awful. We'll never go in September again.

Late April, early May are really great times to go to WDW. The weather is great for swimming without it getting too hot to enjoy the parks. The Flower and Garden Show is very nice.

 

[ariane37]

Now I'm totally confused

Jan and Feb are out because of Splash refurb
March is out because it's busy
April isn't great because you can get bad storms and crowds getting higher
May - possibly (but getting warm?)
Jun-Aug - are out because of heat and crowds
Sept and Oct - Was thinking of avoiding second time around because of MK shortened hours
Nov and Dec - are out as we want to avoid Christmas months

Maybe end of April , start of May (which would be around 3 of our birthdays)?

Even though Oct/Nov is my favorite, we really enjoyed May and you probably would, too. It was warm, but as a PP said the humidity wasn't there yet. Well, it did show up our last day but that was it, and even on that day it was nothing - NOTHING - like the horrendous humidity we experienced on our Aug. trip!!!! So even if DH hates heat I think he'll be able to handle May. I detest the heat and cannot stand to sweat. I generally am inside once it hits 80 degrees here and only venture outside in higher temps if I'm in WDW or a loved one is crying or bleeding out there and needs me lol. I not only handled May but was happy Plus, you'd be there for some of your birthdays!!!

 

[ariane37]

Oh and I wanted to say the F&G Festival is beautiful

 

[Frozen2014]

I am planning a trip, and it does get crazy trying to find the perfect time. Our requirements are; not too hot but still able to swim, not too crowded, and not insane pricewise. The best time I have found for all this is mid April. Fall would probably work too, but we'd rather do spring. I personally think April, after Easter week, would be a really good time for you. Good luck!

As far as weather, Fl weather is not super predictable at the best of times, but April is before the really rainy season starts, and yes it is technically hurricane season, but so is most of the year. So, this would be as good a time as any.

Final thought, if the weather is a major factor, maybe DL would be a good choice? Just a thought. It's too far for us to go right now, but I'd like to someday.

Yes, those sound like similar requirements (although swimming is a 'nice to have' but not a must for us). As for DL, I'd love to go there...just to see how it compares. But the air fare would be that much more (and have heard there are no value resorts) so DW is more likely.

 

[Frozen2014]

We were at WDW the third week of October, too, and the weather could not have been more perfect. But it was annoying to have MK closed for MNSSHP on so many nights of our trip. I would probably choose this week again, though, just because the weather was so beautiful.

We took a short trip to WDW in September and the rain, heat and humidity were awful. We'll never go in September again.

Late April, early May are really great times to go to WDW. The weather is great for swimming without it getting too hot to enjoy the parks. The Flower and Garden Show is very nice.

We lucked out on the weather didn't we?

Amazing how just one month can make such a difference. This past September was bad with rain (was watching daily with our upcomming trip)

 

[Frozen2014]

Even though Oct/Nov is my favorite, we really enjoyed May and you probably would, too. It was warm, but as a PP said the humidity wasn't there yet. Well, it did show up our last day but that was it, and even on that day it was nothing - NOTHING - like the horrendous humidity we experienced on our Aug. trip!!!! So even if DH hates heat I think he'll be able to handle May. I detest the heat and cannot stand to sweat. I generally am inside once it hits 80 degrees here and only venture outside in higher temps if I'm in WDW or a loved one is crying or bleeding out there and needs me lol. I not only handled May but was happy Plus, you'd be there for some of your birthdays!!!

This is good to know....so sounds like May is still manageable with the heat (have heard it can get warm too). And good to hear from someone who doesn't like heat (I laughed at your analogy of when you'd go outside).
The flower and garden festival does sound lovely...and something different to see from our first trip.

 

[conandrob240]

Weather has always been nicest for us in October. I've always wanted to try April but I worry about those Easter week crowds.

We did have a lovely Feb trip,last year. We had a week of amazing weather- 70s every day, sunny. We were in the pools day and night which I didn't expect that time of year.

 

[mombrontrent]

We are fellow Canadians and always pick late April/early May. I can't compare it to another time since it's the only time we have gone. It has just been so great each time that we keep going back to that same time frame. We are going again this spring end of April- early May and can't wait.

We have always found the weather perfect. It can get pretty hot but after a long Canadian winter we are ready for it and we love the water parks. Humidity is low and we have very rarely experienced more that a sort rainfall. Flower and garden festival is beautiful and crowds have always seemed very manageable to us.

 

[tigerbelly]

Our first family trip was end of August and it was MISERABLE for heat. seriously felt like we got hit by a truck every day.

Second was end of October and it was BLISS! Seriously best time ever. And we did go to the party and loved it. (looking forward to oct 2015)

Latest trip was end of May over Memorial day weekend and it was surprisingly wonderful! I was preparing for that horrible heat again but it only happened for maybe one half a day. The rest of the time was comfortable. I also planned for rain but it only sprinkled for half a day. If you family members are Star Wars fans- the Star Wars weekends at HS are really really fun! That was the focus of our trip. If not- then I would say avoid HS like the plague. It is busy during those weekends. The other exciting thing that happened during that week was the 24 Hour party at Magic Kingdom. We didn't utilize it like we had hoped but it is a fun event to have fall during your trip.

 

[L&Lfan]

I voted October but my actual favorite month to go is November. I avoid mid-May through September. Can't take the heat, humidity and rain.