My little girl and I have been to DL/CA Adventure twice (lower season) and had an absolute blast. Looking for advice for first WDW trip (for both of us–I have never been either). I know the weather concerns for June–more concerned about crowds. If we go late/May through early June, we can stay 10 or more days as we don’t have to worry about school. In October, we’d have a week (only three school days missed due to a few scheduled days off) and it would be Oct 13-20/21). My daughter is 7 and a great adventurer/traveler. Halloween sounds fun (with the MNNSHP) but catching the tail end of the cool ttopiaries at Epcot’s Garden Festival sounds really awesome too. Any advise/experiences–better to go during more crowded time with extra days, or consolidate in October? Thanks for any thoughts.
Although I typically go either earlier in the Spring or later in the Fall, given those two options, I would go for more days in June. October can be just as hot as June, and every year the crowds seem to be more difficult to predict. But with 10 days, you’ll have 10 RDs and 30 advance FPPs, so the crowds will have less of an impact on how much you will be able to get done. I HATE the summer heat and humidity, but the one time I went for Memorial Day and part of the week after it was not bad, and the crowds were very manageable. I don’t know if this is a factor for you or not, but Toy Story Land is rumored to be opening on Memorial Day weekend; if it does open then, DHS will be very crowded, if the opening is delayed, you might miss it (whereas you wouldn’t in Oct, and some of the crowds may have dissipated a bit).
If you are planning for late May 2018, be warned that the 180 day window for ADR’s has already started. We are going from May 31 - June 10 and I have already made my dining reservations. 60 Day window for FPP is end of March.
If you don’t care too much about the really hard to get dining (or you are willing to see if you can pick up ADR’s for the difficult dining through the reservation finder), then you should be fine for timing.
Have fun!
Thank you for the replies thus far–much appreciated! In terms of the dining, I might try to schedule a character dining or two but it’s not a huge factor, as we have done four character dining experiences over two visits in CA/CA Adventure. It’s a great point, though–I’ll have a look today.
Tough one. Although October ‘can’ be as hot as June- overall it is cooler by an average of 5 degrees or so during the day- and with our humidity levels down here that makes a difference. And speaking of humidity- it rains a whole lot more in June than it does in October- which makes June much more humid than October. The overnight temps are where you will notice the biggest difference here- as it is MUCH cooler on most nights in October then it is in June. All that said- it is hard to predict- if you hit a ‘heat wave’ in October you could see temps similar to June. Same with rain- if you pick a week in October that is more rainy- it could be similar to June. Bottom line is that you will ‘probably’ be much more comfortable down here in October. As for days, a late May/early June visit should be more crowded than October. What you should do is go into the crowd calendar and look at levels that occurred in 2017 for your proposed dates- this will give you a good starting point. We have a resident AP Silver Pass, which is essentially an AP that is much less expensive than a regular AP with blockout dates applied during the busiest times. We are ‘blacked out’ the entire month of June (except the first 3 days)- and can go all days in October. That should tell you something about expected crowd levels- and when in June to be wrapping things up. If it were me, I would do October- but that is personal preference- we really don’t ‘do’ WDW when it is crowded- as it is akin to having a root canal. The weather is a lot better as well. I am guessing once you look at the crowds from 2017- the October dates are going to show being a lot less crowded than those in late May/early June, but that is your ‘homework’- not mine- LOL! Good luck with your decision.
If you are taking kids be advised that the first week of June usually has gay days.
We are allowed to go any time. 
Yes, but if you pick the wrong day you may be over run. I have heard that even many gay people don’t like to go on gay days because it has gotten out of hand at times.
Any time Gay Days comes up, red warning lights start to go off…
If anybody is actually concerned about this, here is the whole Gay Days schedule, which includes the “featured park” for the day.
https://www.gaydays.com/calendar/
For those who don’t want to work their way through the lengthy calendar, here is the “featured park” schedule
Thurs, 31 May - AKL and Sea World
Fri, 01 June - DHS and IoA
Sat, 02 June - MK and USF
Sun, 03 June - EP and Discovery Cove
The Doubletree Sea World is the host hotel, so that will be party central, but all of the “organized” events occur there and not in any of the Orlando parks. I have some friends that go every year and they say that the hotel is nuts, but the parks are not really all that impacted. Unlike us Liners who equate Orlando and WDW, a lot of people who attend Gay Days just want to party in Orlando and have no major interest in any theme parks…
Personally, it wouldn’t even enter my mind as part of the planning process.
My advice would be the October visit - much less crowds- May/June will be crazy for HS with Toy Story Land opening and all of the most wanted ADRs are probably gone now - 7 days is plenty with the crowd levels you will be getting in October
This is all very helpful–thank you to everyone so far. I considered Gay Days only because I wasn’t sure about crowd impact, but there (almost) always seems to be something going on in/around the parks in terms of groups, special events, etc., that could increase crowds. Toy Story Land’s potential opening does factor in for us because I would rather avoid the crowds this will inevitably bring.
Strongly considering either letting my daughter miss 3 or 5 days of school for her first WDW trip (mine, too)–I have no problem with it (and I’m a former teacher who works now in higher ed!) but my husband thinks it’s kind of frivolous to miss school for Disney; he’s not totally opposed to her missing days but he’s just not a fan of theme parks and doesn’t really care much for these experiences and is happy for me to take our little girl on special trips like this, just the two of us.
For 5 years in a row we went during October. We have always pulled our kids from school for 5 days in addition to their scheduled fall break which made for a nice, long vacation. This year our son is in college so we waited to go until after Thanksgiving but still pulled our high school daughter out for a week. They are bright kids and easily catch up. We give their teachers a 3 week heads up and it’s never been an issue. I would pull your daughter and enjoy a longer vacation in October. Just my $.02 
Not sure if your interested but Magical Vacations Travel has a Labor Day Special between Aug 15 and Sept 5. I am personally going at this time and using MVT because of there ability to get room rates at about 50%. I am saving about $4500 using them. This special has been on for some time now so I am unsure about availability. Because of the pricing I am able to book I, my wife, and grandson at the Poly. You can only get park tickets for 8 days and one special day like water parks. No meal plan available for this special. If interested email or call MVT for a quote. I use Darcy but there are many other agents. Got nothing to lose and you may be able to save a bundle to use for other things. I have NO affiliation with MVT other than a customer that has gotten big savings. MVT is mentioned out here a number of times and the Big Book tells just how they are able to get you these type of savings. Good luck with your vacation and have a Magical time. Oh yes, a number of people have questioned if Disney knows about this and if it is legal. Not only does Disney know about it but there business dept. is making it possible.