Just me and my daughter who will be 8 1/2 by then. We are getting to be Disney Pros-this will be her second trip to WDW but she has been to Disneyland about 8 times.She has just turned 7 when we did WDW last and we needed the strollers but did the plans and had a fantastic time.
My question is about the crowds being at 10 and if that is worth it or if I should absolutely go at another time. This really is the only time we can go for this long. I don’t like to pull her out of school and my ex likes it even less and may fight me on it. We did June/July this year and boy would I like to go when it is cooler.
It would be tricky, probably less days, but I might be able to swing Jan/Feb if people think that is way better. Thoughts??? Being at Christmas would be cool but I do hate the crowds. I like to go early and then take a break between 11-3 because with the heat (maybe not so bad in Dec) and crowds it is just miserable. I am also okay with paying a bit extra to do the after hours or early magic mornings.
Based on the above, I would say that you definitely do not want to go between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. The heat will not be a problem, but the crowds will drive you crazy even with a mid-day break. Going for fewer days in Jan/Feb might be the better option as you will have an overall better time. Add in a few DAH/MMs, and you would probably be doing far more attractions than you would during the longer Christmas period.
We were there early December and loved all of the decorations and Christmas extras. So I vote for after Christmas. If you go early with a plan and are willing to pay for extras I think you would be ok. Also if you go over holiday weekends in Jan or school break time in February, crowds may not be much better. A short trip is harder too because trying to fit it all in can be difficult.
Can you do the week before Christmas? I just did that and it was amazing. There are lots of extras at Christmas which it would be a pity to miss. The crowds got busy in the couple of days before. But with FPPs you can guarantee yourself (at least) three rides a day. And spend the rest of the time soaking in the atmosphere and exploring the resorts.
Or, if you have the budget, you can pay for access to rides, e.g. extra FPPs on Club Level, EMM, DAH.
I have only been to WDW during Christmas break and while it is extremely crowded, I think that the number of days that you have coupled with smart planning that includes some rope dropping, midday breaks, and perhaps an extra event or two such DAH or dessert party makes it entirely doable.
If you’re staying at Club Level at a Deluxe hotel you can buy three extra FPPs (booked at 90 days) per day for $50 per person per day. These addition FPPs don’t have the restrictions regular FPPs have — they can be in multiple parks on the same day, and tiering rules don’t apply.
We’re here this Christmas and also did Christmas 4 yrs ago here. I don’t know if it is just fantastic planning but we have found this Christmas so far very manageable… its less busy than four years ago or the busy days last Easter too.
If you like to tour early then i think you will find Christmas fine. If you hit the parks on opening then waits this Christmas have been really reasonable. Utilise your FPP and you’ll do plenty of rides between 7 and 11. Alternatively save your FPP for the late afternoon / evening when things start to thin a little. Also definitely use the plans to plan your day and route. We also tried a new tactic this time and we split the parks in two (or three for MK) and we only did rides in that area which massively cut down on walking around just to get to a ride. I originally thought the wait times in the app were wrong, but actually I have come to the conclusion the app is more accurate than the posted wait times and on the headliner rides they artificially inflate the ride times to persuade you to ride something else.
Oh boy this is hard! I just looked at the calendar and got so excited to see 1’s in September!!! That is worth taking the kid out of school even if the ex is mad at me for it!
We don’t mind crowds at all, at least the 8/9 CL level in August. A good Personalized TP, FPPs, RD, resting in afternoons, we actually avoided all lines that trip. With the exception of a couple of ride breakdowns, but even those weren’t too bad.
But this 10 & level for December Holiday week sounds like it’s even more crowded. Never been that time of year, so I’ll take the experience re that from others.
My fave time of the year has always been September. I don’t mind the hot weather, though I know many others do. We stay out of the parks during hottest part of day, so that makes a big difference.
Recent trip 6, 7, 8, 8 grands & cousins took some days off school during October. Trips b4 that we had to go during school vacas b/c Ddil was school counselor, couldn’t get that time off. Now she has own business, so we can do the time off from school weeks.
A week off from school at those young ages doesn’t seem such a big deal to most schools/teachers. never had a problem with that when my kiddos in school, and now with the grands and cousins.
Maybe you could get the ok from teacher first, like in a little letter. Then your ex wouldn’t give you such objection to that.
Oh darn I didn’t even think of that! Well shoot. Okay so if I am pulling the kid from school then I can really go anytime, it would be shorter though, Wednesday to Monday.
So when are the lowest crowds that don’t have hurricanes?
Don’t forget about the Monday/Tuesday holidays, like MLK Jr Day, President’s Day, Memorial Day, (Labor Day is probably too close to the start of the school year), Rosh Hashanah, Columbus Day or Veterans Day. It gives you an extra day in the World without missing school.
We also look around the school ‘Professional Development’ days. I was able to take DS from Wednesday after school for 5 days and he only missed 2 days of school. We got there Wednesday night, flew home Monday. We’re big on the long weekend!
I probably could go the last week in August and heading into labor day and she would only miss the first couple days (how big of deal is that???) but the person who brought up hurricanes has me worried about September now!
I might be able to swing Oct 8-14 or Nov 5-11 Any recs between those two?
ok I now get the concept of an 11!