I’m planning a “budget” trip to WDW next year. My date choices are determined by school dates (though as a tutor I have more flexibility than teachers) and by flight prices. My preferred airline (Virgin) is currently having a “sale”.
I’m looking at six nights at ASMo. I’m taking the very low risk that all the rooms will be refurbished by next summer. Per my other thread, I can only find preferred rooms. But they’re slightly cheaper than Pop and I will have stayed there twice already, so it will be fun to try somewhere else. Pop has the Skyliner — but in the summer? Hmm.
I’ve narrowed it down to three options:
Mid to end of June
Overlapping 4th July
End of August / beginning of September.
All three are neutral in terms of Disney pricing. The first two will allow me to use my UOR AP. The first two are neutral as to flight cost; no pricing is available for flights for the third.
Option 1 will be less crowded than Option 2. But, this being my 6th trip, will it be fun to enjoy all the 4th July hullabaloo?
Option 3 will have MNSSHP and lower crowds. And the later I leave it, the more chance new things will be open. But it’s at the end of my summer vacation time and I’ll be impatiently waiting all summer to go. With Option 1, my lessons finish and I’m on a flight the following week! Woohoo! Also Option 3 is deeper into hurricane season. But Option 3 gives me longer to pay. The flight has to be paid for when it is booked, and Disney has to be paid for six weeks before arrival.
I’ve never been to WDW during those times but I can tell from your wording that you don’t want to wait until option #3. Go with the time that feels the most right to you.
I’d say option 1 for lower crowds, although I waver with July 4 festivities. Buuut then I see that it’s on a Saturday, which I assume will mean significantly more crowds, and I go back to option 1!
I’d totally rule out August for heat, hurricanes, and an hour less of sunlight comparatively:
Being that friday is observed and saturday is actual day, i would think ppl will extend through the next week. I would actually go before and wrap it up on sunday or monday.
Down here, everyone I know in the industry is asking off that Monday and Tuesday after. I would go b4 but i can see kicking it off with the 4th and then enjoying the 4th of July high the rest of the trip😁
DH and I went labor day weekend last year from Wednesday thru Monday. Very low crowds. Hot but no worse than our October trips. you can do Halloween part then but I think you’ve already done it. If I’d find out when Julia is going back and plan accordingly @sanstitre_has_left_the_building. Ha! That way you have your J-Uber, homemade marcons, and Club 33 access.
Option 1 unless you have a Christmas or other winter trip planned already.
As for rooms available, come on… you know you’ll change where you’re staying a few times before everything’s final anyway. Don’t let that be the deciding factor.
How upset would you be if you go in June and something you care about opens in July?
Can you wait until d23 ends so you have at least a vague idea if there is anything you would want to wait for?
I would go with option 2 because I am curious about 4th of July fireworks, having never experienced something similar, not sure how applicable that is for your case
So last night I bit the bullet and made a decision.
I went for . . . Option 1.
I felt very happy about the choice when I went to bed.
This morning I felt a teensy bit regretful when I scrolled through my twitter feed and saw awesome pictures of the new fireworks at MNSSHP. Well, awesome fireworks and awesome projections, awesomely working together.
But I still think I made the right call. Crowd level predictions for June are certainly much less than for July. And I think that’s more important than more exciting July 4th fireworks — which last fifteen minutes, compared with days of crowded parks.
June gives me “free” UOR access with my AP, which August doesn’t. And the weather and weather-risks are more positive in June than in August.
And I am genuinely trying to stick to a relatively low budget. I know the flight price I booked was low because it was about £400 (about a third!) cheaper than what I paid for my flights this year. There was no guarantee I’d get such a good price for August. And if I wait until those come out (in October) the June cheap flights will be long gone.
Finally, I’m excited to be trying a new hotel. The ASMo rooms are identical to the ones at Pop. Although Pop has the Skyliner, it may well be grim in the summer. I’ve heard the AS busses are good — and air-conditioned.
So I’m back to having two trips booked: December and June.
