Best time for WDW

[quesyrah]

When is the best time (crowd/weather wise) to go to WDW? We’ve always loved November, but I’m wondering do there is another time that we should consider?

I don’t have to work around school vacations and am not interested in Halloween or Christmas parties.

[alleinesein]

Mid-January through the end of Feb.

November used to be a good slow month but between F&W now extending into Nov, Jersey Week and the MK closing early for Halloween and Christmas parties; it isn't really worth it if your whole goal is to go during a slow time.

[huskymom]

We’ve gone in mid May a few times, had great weather, not too crowded and the flower and garden fest is going on.

We once went the last week of Sept which was also low crowds but it was so hot, which makes me afraid to try true summer there.

[mainelyfoolish]

If I didn’t have to work around school schedules, I would pick the last week of April, the first week of May or week of Halloween (the Halloween parties are crowded/sold out but the normal park hours aren’t too crowded).

ETA: I shy away from considering January or February because I live in an area where it’s not uncommon to have flight delays or cancellations due to snow storms and I’d hate to lose a day or two of vacation due to that (which has happened to many people I know, as we have a school break in February). If you live somewhere warmer, this won’t affect you!

[curbsideprophet]

I would consider late Feb/early March or early May.

[acr]

Mid-feb was a great time to be there

[nicolewi]

We just went in March, but everything I read said to avoid President's Day weekend in February, just FYI! The rest of February is supposed to be fine.

[jeaniebueller]

We have gone Presidents’ Day week 3 times and it’s not that bad. The weather has been anywhere from the 70s to upper 80s (this year but I think it was unusual for that time of year).

[quesyrah]

Apr 27, 2019 8:44:50 GMT -5 mainelyfoolish said:

If I didn’t have to work around school schedules, I would pick the last week of April, the first week of May or week of Halloween (the Halloween parties are crowded/sold out but the normal park hours aren’t too crowded).

ETA: I shy away from considering January or February because I live in an area where it’s not uncommon to have flight delays or cancellations due to snow storms and I’d hate to lose a day or two of vacation due to that (which has happened to many people I know, as we have a school break in February). If you live somewhere warmer, this won’t affect you!

It doesn’t snow where we live so not a concern luckily!

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

[bronxgirl]

Apr 27, 2019 19:29:59 GMT -5 jeaniebueller said:

We have gone Presidents’ Day week 3 times and it’s not that bad. The weather has been anywhere from the 70s to upper 80s (this year but I think it was unusual for that time of year).

I'm so glad to hear that.  My next trip will be President's week and I'm worried about the increased crowds.

[minniemouse]

Now. We are finishing up an 8 day trip. Last week was spring break for our school aged kids. I figured the parks would be so crowded compared to our previous Fall trips and had low expectations. It’s actually been an awesome time to be here! The weather is perfect, mid 80s. It has only rained one day for a couple hours.
We haven’t had to wait very long for anything- buses, rides, food. The vibe is completely different than we are used to, because it’s a lot of older kids/teens and adults. There is a dance/cheerleading competition going on and a lot of school music groups, but all the groups we have Interacted with at the resort and parks have been very polite.
No free dining deal means we can eat almost anywhere without an ADR and still get in. If we have an ADR there is no wait at all. There are not many families with younger kids, so there are no lines for things like signing up for Jedi training at HS.
It’s also been very easy to get around the park since there are less strollers and less scooters.

[curbsideprophet]

Apr 29, 2019 21:57:27 GMT -5 minniemouse said:

Now. We are finishing up an 8 day trip. Last week was spring break for our school aged kids. I figured the parks would be so crowded compared to our previous Fall trips and had low expectations. It’s actually been an awesome time to be here! The weather is perfect, mid 80s. It has only rained one day for a couple hours.

I hope this continues for this week. We arrive tomorrow! So this report is good to hear.

[milano]

I've always gone (3 trips) in early to mid February and think it's great both weather-wise and crowd-wise. We live in a cold climate so the winter trip to sunny Florida is always a nice break from the snow.

This year we are going in Sept to try something new and do a Halloween party.

[TBM]

Apr 30, 2019 7:09:51 GMT -5 milano said:

This year we are going in Sept to try something new and do a Halloween party.

The September heat will definitely be something new for you. ;p So will the Food & Wine Festival!



I am local, but I am a big baby and hate the heat. Like spend almost all of my time indoors in the air conditioning half the year hatred of the heat, so that skews my opinion. To be fair, the heat hates me too...it is a migraine trigger and is my kryptonite.

We only go to the parks in August or September if there are Food & Wiine or some other events that we want to attend. We are approaching my other "too hot" cutoff, but since we're local, it is no big deal to just go until it gets hot and leave.

I love Jan/Feb, ( love the Festival of the Arts at Epcot), but we always seem to be there on the coldest day of the year, one of those that catches everyone (not just locals), off guard....where Disney sells more sweatshirts, jackets, blankets and beach towels to use as blankets than any other day (week) of the year. lol People from cold places often underestimate how cold it can feel here, because the numbers don't seem that cold. We see a lot of miserable people wearing shorts and tank tops "because it is Florida...it's not supposed to be cold."

As a general rule, we avoid spring break crowds as much as possible, and we avoid the week after Christmas, (unless we have guests who want to go), but we go pretty often between October and mid May.

[revolution]

Apr 30, 2019 7:09:51 GMT -5 milano said:

I've always gone (3 trips) in early to mid February and think it's great both weather-wise and crowd-wise. We live in a cold climate so the winter trip to sunny Florida is always a nice break from the snow.

This year we are going in Sept to try something new and do a Halloween party.

It will be a change but you will love it!  We had alwasy gone end of Jan or end of Feb.  Our last trip we did October and loved the MNSSHP!  

And I agree about going warmer in middle of winter!  It's so nice.  Even on the cold days in Florida, we were coming from around 0, so even the evenings in the 40s were nice!  

quesyrah, I love the end of Feb.  Crowd wise and weather wise.  I also loved the week before Halloween, which was a little warmer and a little bit larger crowds than end of Feb, but nothing crazy.

[milano]

Apr 30, 2019 12:33:02 GMT -5 TBM said:

Apr 30, 2019 7:09:51 GMT -5 milano said:

This year we are going in Sept to try something new and do a Halloween party.

Ther September heat will definitely be something new for you. ;p So will the Food & Wine Festival!



I am local, but I am a big baby and hate the heat. Like spend almost all of my time indoors in the air conditioning half the year hatred of the heat, so that skews my opinion. To be fair, ther heat hates me too...it is a migraine trigger and is my kryptonite.

We only go to the parks in August or September if there are Food & Wiine or some other events that we want to attend. We are approaching my other "too hot" cutoff, but since we're local, it is no big deal to just go until it gets hot and leave.

I love Jan/Feb, ( love the Festival of the Arts at Epcot), but we always seem to be there on the coldest day of the year, one of those that catches everyone (not just locals), off guard....where Disney sells more sweatshirts, jackets, blankets and beach towels to use as blankets than any other day (week) of the year. lol People from cold places often underestimate how cold it can feel here, because the numbers don't seem that cold. We see a lot of miserable people wearing shorts and tank tops "because it is Florida...it's not supposed to be cold."

As a general rule, we avoid spring break crowds as much as possible, and we avoid the week after Christmas, (unless we have guests who want to go), but we go pretty often between October and mid May.

Yeah the heat and humidity will be tricky! We plan on doing air-conditioned TS meals and checking out all the air-conditioned shows that we have skipped on past trips because we didn't want to be inside. I'm just hoping for no hurricanes!

[TBM]

Apr 30, 2019 14:11:52 GMT -5 milano said:

Apr 30, 2019 12:33:02 GMT -5 TBM said:

The September heat will definitely be something new for you. ;p So will the Food & Wine Festival!



I am local, but I am a big baby and hate the heat. Like spend almost all of my time indoors in the air conditioning half the year hatred of the heat, so that skews my opinion. To be fair, the heat hates me too...it is a migraine trigger and is my kryptonite.

We only go to the parks in August or September if there are Food & Wiine or some other events that we want to attend. We are approaching my other "too hot" cutoff, but since we're local, it is no big deal to just go until it gets hot and leave.

I love Jan/Feb, ( love the Festival of the Arts at Epcot), but we always seem to be there on the coldest day of the year, one of those that catches everyone (not just locals), off guard....where Disney sells more sweatshirts, jackets, blankets and beach towels to use as blankets than any other day (week) of the year. lol People from cold places often underestimate how cold it can feel here, because the numbers don't seem that cold. We see a lot of miserable people wearing shorts and tank tops "because it is Florida...it's not supposed to be cold."

As a general rule, we avoid spring break crowds as much as possible, and we avoid the week after Christmas, (unless we have guests who want to go), but we go pretty often between October and mid May.

Yeah the heat and humidity will be tricky! We plan on doing air-conditioned TS meals and checking out all the air-conditioned shows that we have skipped on past trips because we didn't want to be inside. I'm just hoping for no hurricanes!

Good plan....and I am right there with you on the hoping for no hurricanes thing.

[Doggy Mommy]

I went mid May last year and it was a great time to go. We did so much and lines weren't bad at all. Weather was a little drizzly, but we just threw on a lightweight rain jacket and were good to go. The rain never lasted all day and some days had no rain at all (or like a random 5 minute downpour). My 72 year old mom and I went on 19 rides at MK one day and left before dark. I would absolutely go mid May again!

I disagree about Presidents' Day weekend being a good time to go. I was there this year and it was crazy, crazy busy. We did ok at MK with fast passes (though even things like the People Mover had really long lines), but AK was insane. 3-4 hour wait for Flight of Passage. Universal was even worse... soooo crowded and rides kept being shut down.

[sent]

Last year we went the second week of December and it was empty (relatively speaking). Friends commented that they had never seen castle pictures as empty as the ones I posted. I got all the "OMG so hard to get" character dining reservations like a day or two in advance - Cinderella's Royal Table for lunch for 2, Be Our Guest for dinner for 3. We didn't get fast passes to Mine Train or Toy Story Land rides, but I also wasn't willing to stand in line either with a 5 year old. We did attend a Christmas Party and that was fun - this was also the night we ate at Be Our Guest. Our goal for the trip was to meet characters and we met a ton. The weather was chilly for the first half of the trip and then warmed up. But it wasn't pool weather which was probably the only downside because our hotel had an amazing pool. The year before we went at the end of May leading into Memorial Day Weekend though we left on Saturday. It was much hotter and more crowded. I did plan ahead and book reservations and fast passes when the windows opened for that trip. I would have preferred to have gone in early May.

Our next trip will most likely be the second week of December again.

[TamiTaylor]

Late Jan/Feb to early March. Early May.

[lauren170]

Early May sounded great...but it’s been super hot and magic kingdom was insanely crowded on a Monday and Tuesday. I’m used to January and will be going back to January after this trip.

Oh and there’s no changing fast passes around, they’ve been completely booked solid on the app all week.

[jeaniebueller]

Apr 30, 2019 19:27:44 GMT -5 Doggy Mommy said:

I went mid May last year and it was a great time to go. We did so much and lines weren't bad at all. Weather was a little drizzly, but we just threw on a lightweight rain jacket and were good to go. The rain never lasted all day and some days had no rain at all (or like a random 5 minute downpour). My 72 year old mom and I went on 19 rides at MK one day and left before dark. I would absolutely go mid May again!

I disagree about Presidents' Day weekend being a good time to go. I was there this year and it was crazy, crazy busy. We did ok at MK with fast passes (though even things like the People Mover had really long lines), but AK was insane. 3-4 hour wait for Flight of Passage. Universal was even worse... soooo crowded and rides kept being shut down.

Did you follow the crowd calendars? We were also there President's Day week and we went to MK on Thursday and HS on Monday and crowds weren't that bad but we went by what the crowd calendars said, you may have been there on one of the 9/10 days, as all of the parks were predicted to being busy depending on which day you went. The days we went to MK, HS and SW, the crowds were predicted to be 6/10 or 7/10

ETA: this is the one that we used


www.undercovertourist.com/orlando/crowd-calendar/

[curbsideprophet]

We were just there May 1 - 5th and thought the crowds were great. Much better compared to the week after Easter last year.

There were a few weather issues with rain/lightning but I would go again at that time of year.