If you're limited to school breaks, what's your favorite time to visit?

[Schneewittchen37]

I have 2 school age children, but I'm a Disney addict and like to go every few months if it's not a plague year.... Basically, I'm all about staying at a moderate or deluxe hotel or villa with awesome pools and good amenities. That will save you when the crowds get awful in the early afternoons.

1. Never been during Thanksgiving, but I would consider it. Usually do a long weekend around Veteran's Day. You get nice weather and Christmas decor without the Christmas crowds. Unless Mariah Carey is filming an ABC Christmas special at the DL iasw, but that's a story for another day..... you can go to the pool!!!! But the amazing DL Christmas parade makes me want to cry.

2. Christmas - we've done it. It's neat, but really super crowded. But again, we go all the time, so lines and crowds don't bug us. You have to have a leisurely mindset. Frantic crowd vibes, just stay cool and roll with it. You can go to the pool during the crazy afternoons. And nighttime in a fully decorated park is amazing. That's when I fell in love with Hollywood Studios. It's like the set from A Christmas Story. Peter Billingsley should do a meet and greet.

3. President's Day weekend is the bee's knees. Love it. Recommend it. Wish I could be planning that trip right now. The crowds aren't awful. It actually might be a bit chilly for the pools, but you should go to the pool anyway. Just run back and forth from the pool to the hot tub and don't pass out.

4. Easter - We do this every year. Slightly less insane than Christmas. Wonderful weather. Epcot garden festival stuff. Prime pool weather.

5. Summer. Did this in mid July recently and it was good. It was damn hot. But the crowds were not bad. And the pool time was lovely. Drink lots of water, gatorade and Icee drinks. Avoid heavy meals. The humidity wasn't a problem for my family, we're from DC, so we're used to it.....

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

Either February break or as soon as school gets out for summer. Early June is not nearly as hot as August, but still hot!

We went at spring break a couple of years ago and the crowds seemed crushing. Luckily we planned for some after hours events that week.

 

[disneycat321]

We do not have kids so can travel anytime but other than a few summer trips pretty much go every few years during Thanksgiving Week. We have found it crowded but manageable. We have been to Epcot on Black Friday several times when the storytellers and Candlelight Processional began on that day and had made our reservation for the show package and FPs so did not find it too bad. We did have an Epcot day earlier in the trip where we did most of FW and got to some things in WS so on this second day did the rest of FW and most of the rest of what we wanted to see in WS.

I'm really glad to hear that we could manage to do Candlelight Processional on Black Friday with a dining package. That was our main hesitation about Thanksgiving because CP is a must do for us if we go during the holiday season.

Summer break, for the most part. DD and I are both school employees now, so no sneaking down for a trip in the middle of March. We like August, actually. Sometimes we go in early August for the great late night hours, and other times we squeeze a trip in late August before we go back to school as it's less crowded then.

I have heard that August is good, but I go back to work the first week of August, so we can't do it. We were there until July 27 in 2019, and that was about the latest I'm willing to do. I was back at work (not officially, but I started getting things set up) later that week.

Spring break - if NOT the week before or after Easter. The weather is usually great, F&G is running, and because spring breaks run between later February to mid-April - its not really a school holiday shared across the country.

Not sure when your school year starts and ends - but the first half of June and the fourth week in August are good for crowds - BUT - late summer is miserably hot and humid.

And frankly - whenever is best for you! As folks have mentioned here - it's about the expectations you set. Crowded times can be just fine for some folks (ie Christmas) - and drive others insane.

My spring break is always the week before Easter, alas! I guess we'll stick to long weekend trips to Disneyland during the spring, because we can avoid that actual week since it's so much closer.

I get out halfway through June and go back at the beginning of August (more breaks during the year makes for a shorter summer than many have). We've done mid June in the past, as well as late July. It was actually hotter when we went in June, oddly. I think next time we do a summer trip, we'll probably try to go as early as we can, which is right around June 10-12 usually - the second weekend of June.

I appreciate the encouragement! We've never tried a truly crowded time at WDW, but we sure have at DLR, so it's not like we are totally inept at crowds. I guess we'd have to try it to find out how we like it as compared to summer. Getting away from only going in the horrible heat is sure appealing!

We went a week before Christmas one year, the parks were really full and lines were really long.. the best day we had was MMVMCP that was amazing.

We would LOVE to do that party! We've done the Halloween party at DLR and DAH events at WDW, so we know we love those hard ticket events. That one looks like it would be our favorite.

Not appreciably, best I can recall. Seems like parks mostly closed at 9 or 10. But now with Covid hours, it’s hard to make any guesses. The plus side is since it will get dark early, you’ll prob still get to see the parks at night during that time, even with short hours.

DD has her heart set on 1st grade

We love the parks at night, so that early darkness is super appealing! In the summer, when Epcot and AK closed at 9, I was always annoyed that we didn't get to be there much after dark.

I taught 1st my first two years of teaching. I have nothing but wonderful memories. Absolutely loved it. They are so much fun and make an amazing amount of growth during that year. 3rd is where my heart is right now (I actually never sought to teach 3rd, but after a few years in 5th I ended up here and I just love and adore it, unexpectedly), but I could definitely see going back to 1st someday. She will just love it. Best of luck to her as she gets started! It's so exciting.

I've have visited in every period listed except Thanksgiving.

2. Extremely crowded, can be cold, flights and accommodations are expensive. But it's Christmas.
3. This was our choice most years. Generally less crowded than the other options, mostly because it is not a week off universally around the country. Though as some have noted, when this week coincides with Ash Wednesday/Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras, it seems all of Louisiana also shows up. In my experience tends to be less cold than December, even though it is more in the heart of winter, but that's my personal experience and actual data might be different. Flights not cheap from regions where schools are closed. I have found you can find some value if you don't fly down Saturday or Sunday morning, which has its own trade-offs. This week also coincides with the last week of Epcot festival of the Arts, and there's usually a run of some kind the weekend after Presidents Day weekend, but I have never found that to affect us.
4. Spring/Easter: Can be extremely crowded, but also not as bad. It seems some school districts are a bit inconsistent scheduling the weeks before and after Easter, which I found makes predicting crowd levels those weeks somewhat random. But WDW, especially Magic Kingdom, are beautiful this time of year and the Easter touches in the parade (if parades are back) are beautiful. Some resorts also set up very nice decorated egg exhibits.
5. Crowds in summer have been decreasing. The heat is extreme and the humidity is palpable. But we also have found it easier to manage walking around the parks than any other times because of the noticeably lower crowds. Flight and accommodation costs should definitely be lower.

Thank you for this! Super thorough and informative! #2 "but it's Christmas" made me laugh - that's about where we are with that decision!
#3 Barely any schools have that week off in our region. I'm expecting flights on Presidents' Weekend to be higher, but probably not that bad on the way back. I'm glad to hear the run wasn't a big deal!
#5 We thought that too, about the crowds, until our trip in 2019. There were some days at MK that were surprisingly crowded. Not a big deal, but I sure wouldn't do it without some version of FP. Summer is when we can stay deluxe, which is a HUGE bonus. We'd do mod at the other times because it's so expensive to do deluxe.

We usually do Thanksgiving to avoid the excessive heat in the summer, but if you can deal with the heat, the last week in August is a good time to go with reasonable crowd levels.

Unfortunately, I've already been back at work for a couple weeks by then! Avoiding the heat is definitely the main reason we want to try another time of year!

 

[disneycat321]

I have 2 school age children, but I'm a Disney addict and like to go every few months if it's not a plague year.... Basically, I'm all about staying at a moderate or deluxe hotel or villa with awesome pools and good amenities. That will save you when the crowds get awful in the early afternoons.

1. Never been during Thanksgiving, but I would consider it. Usually do a long weekend around Veteran's Day. You get nice weather and Christmas decor without the Christmas crowds. Unless Mariah Carey is filming an ABC Christmas special at the DL iasw, but that's a story for another day..... you can go to the pool!!!! But the amazing DL Christmas parade makes me want to cry.

2. Christmas - we've done it. It's neat, but really super crowded. But again, we go all the time, so lines and crowds don't bug us. You have to have a leisurely mindset. Frantic crowd vibes, just stay cool and roll with it. You can go to the pool during the crazy afternoons. And nighttime in a fully decorated park is amazing. That's when I fell in love with Hollywood Studios. It's like the set from A Christmas Story. Peter Billingsley should do a meet and greet.

3. President's Day weekend is the bee's knees. Love it. Recommend it. Wish I could be planning that trip right now. The crowds aren't awful. It actually might be a bit chilly for the pools, but you should go to the pool anyway. Just run back and forth from the pool to the hot tub and don't pass out.

4. Easter - We do this every year. Slightly less insane than Christmas. Wonderful weather. Epcot garden festival stuff. Prime pool weather.

5. Summer. Did this in mid July recently and it was good. It was damn hot. But the crowds were not bad. And the pool time was lovely. Drink lots of water, gatorade and Icee drinks. Avoid heavy meals. The humidity wasn't a problem for my family, we're from DC, so we're used to it.....

Thank you for this! I love your responses! We do plan to always stay moderate (at the super expensive times) or deluxe (in the summer or whenever else we can manage to afford it), because we love the resorts and that's a huge part of the trip for us. We've stayed at POR and YC, but have several others we'd like to try.

1. We have done Veterans Day weekend at DLR many times since it's so much closer for us. LOVE LOVE LOVE Disney at Christmas, which is why we know we'd love WDW. I laughed at your Mariah Carey mention. Sounds like an adventure! Somehow we've never run into the filming at DLR, even when we were local APs there and went all the time.

2. I guess if our expectations are at the right level as far as not being able to get everything done, we can handle the crowds. I can't decide if we'd be more annoyed by extreme crowds or extreme HEAT.

3. I am really happy to hear this about Feb! It's a top contender for sure.

4. You brave the week of Easter? That's what I'm worried about. People seem to think it's just atrocious. I feel like maybe I'd be able to deal with extreme crowds during Christmas better because...Christmas?

5. We are NOT used to humidity, but we had a similar experience in July. We stayed at YC with SAB and loved that. We also love the water parks.

Either February break or as soon as school gets out for summer. Early June is not nearly as hot as August, but still hot!

We went at spring break a couple of years ago and the crowds seemed crushing. Luckily we planned for some after hours events that week.

After hours events saved us in July, too, but because of the heat! So much cooler at night. We'd definitely do as many of those as possible if/when they return....

 

[hlrubin507]

I have been in summer, Thanksgiving, and Presidents weeks. I would not venture into a park on/around Christmas time if you paid me $1,000 as that amount of crowding is miserable to me.

I would choose Thanksgiving or Presidents week due to the weather being most cooperative. Thanksgiving-ish the Christmas decorations come out which I love. Presidents has the Festival of the Arts and it feels like a lovely time to vacation (for me), in the dead of winter (elsewhere).

The summer weather is just oppressive and not worth it to me anymore. I can't really enjoy myself with sweat rolling down my neck, but that's just me. The Christmas week crowds are a deal-breaker for me.

I think Thanksgiving and Presidents are comparable, crowds and weather-wise. I was there Presidents week 2020 just before the shutdown and the crowds were pretty bad. We navigated the crowds well at that time with Club Level Fastpass add-ons, but even without that, it would have been great. I think Presidents 2021 would be a great/perfect time to visit if the capacity limits are still in place and if you are comfortable traveling at that time.

 

[Lizzards]

I think Thanksgiving week would be my choice!!! I have been twice....once before Covid and now this past Thanksgiving during Covid. It is a fun time to go because Christmas decorations are up and crowds were manageable to me. I love the Christmas decor!!!!! The weather is also very nice....not much rain...cool breezes and sunshine.

 

[FireflyTrance]

I love going during the February break. The weather is nice and the crowds are less than Thanksgiving/Christmas break.

 

[ArielSRL]

Teacher here as well. We are lucky enough to live in GA so we go 6-7x a year. We really like Thanksgiving week. Crowded, yes. But weather is nice and you get all the holiday stuff. We also like Independence Day week. It is hot and we spend mornings and afternoons at the pool, park at night. Our longest trip of the year is usually the first week of June because it isn't quite too hot or too crowded yet. But basically we go for most holiday breaks.

 

[Sarahslay]

Out of all of those, crowd wise once things are more normal, the beginning of June is great. I know, I know, it’s hot, but the other times of year have been building in crowd levels and I can’t do it anymore. I’ve been every month of the year, aside from September, in the last 3 years and have seen the crowd shift. We are going over Christmas because it won’t be jam packed (which I hate), but our next trip is beginning of June and I think we are going to start making that our key time to go. Last summer I did every month May-August and that early June time was great for me since a lot of schools are still in session for another week or so (we get out May 21 this year, always well before a lot of my friends kids schools).

 

[MomOTwins]

We’ve done it all except easter week but I have heard horror stories from friends of the easter crowds. I personally prefer summer. Christmas was the absolute worst. The crowds were SCARY and we all got noro (covid isn’t the only nasty disease that peaks in winter). February and November both had nasty cold snaps (cold always feels worse in Florida with the humidity) and we missed having the pool, but the crowds were not as bad as Christmas (though still worse than summer). I would rather be too hot and cool off periodically with a swim or ice cream than too cold all day. But my husband is the opposite and he hates the summer heat so YMMV.

 

[MomOTwins]

Out of all of those, crowd wise once things are more normal, the beginning of June is great. I know, I know, it’s hot, but the other times of year have been building in crowd levels and I can’t do it anymore. I’ve been every month of the year, aside from September, in the last 3 years and have seen the crowd shift. We are going over Christmas because it won’t be jam packed (which I hate), but our next trip is beginning of June and I think we are going to start making that our key time to go. Last summer I did every month May-August and that early June time was great for me since a lot of schools are still in session for another week or so (we get out May 21 this year, always well before a lot of my friends kids schools).

I think you mean summer 2019 rather than last summer, since the parks last summer were closed May-June

 

[Sarahslay]

I think you mean summer 2019 rather than last summer, since the parks last summer were closed May-June

You are right, I am just blocking this past summer out of memory since it blends in to all the crazy as one big blob

 

[MrsPete]

You didn't list the best school break choices:

- Fall break, which for us is three days mid-October. Since this isn't a holiday, it'll be less crowded.
- Veteran's Day, when it falls at the beginning or end of a week, giving a three-day weekend. Similarly, do your schools get the day off for voting day in November (or May)? We do because they use the schools as voting locations.

 

[MMR76]

We love going as soon as the kids are out of school, which is mid-late May for us. Ideally before Memorial Day or over the holiday if they are not out before. The weather is hot but not unbearable and the crowds are not too bad.

 

[Memorymakerfor4]

Thanksgiving is lovely, especially if you've never seen the Christmas decorations. There were odd pockets of parks not busy too. MK the Tuesday before was bizarrely empty that morning. That would be my top pick for you.

I haven't been President's Day weekend, but close to it. It can still get cold, but just come prepared for all weather.

We've been in summer (July and September) and I don't think it's that bad. Parks are not bad in the morning or afternoon when people clear out to go to swimming. Plus you usually get late park hours. I hope they do that in 2021.

 

[Ariel620]

I feel like I'm in the minority here, but I would choose summer, we have gone in June and July the past 3 years, and we DO adjust our touring style (every day we take a mid day long lunch in some AC before leaving the park, then a long swim at our hotel) but we RD our mornings, and stay out late nights, when the weather is cooler, those 7pm-10pm evenings are wonderful. but the RD works well too. We squeeze in a nap in the AC instead of a swim some days if it's needed.

However, my big caveat to my comment, is that I won't be doing this without FP. I'm not saying I wouldn't wait a few more min for a ride, but in reality, we just run from AC que to AC que with our FP booked. This is much less possible without FP because more of the lines are out in the sun, and a 30 min wait in AC is much different than an 30 min wait in the heat (even the shade, and they aren't all even shaded.

 

[disneycat321]

I have been in summer, Thanksgiving, and Presidents weeks. I would not venture into a park on/around Christmas time if you paid me $1,000 as that amount of crowding is miserable to me.

I would choose Thanksgiving or Presidents week due to the weather being most cooperative. Thanksgiving-ish the Christmas decorations come out which I love. Presidents has the Festival of the Arts and it feels like a lovely time to vacation (for me), in the dead of winter (elsewhere).

The summer weather is just oppressive and not worth it to me anymore. I can't really enjoy myself with sweat rolling down my neck, but that's just me. The Christmas week crowds are a deal-breaker for me.

I think Thanksgiving and Presidents are comparable, crowds and weather-wise. I was there Presidents week 2020 just before the shutdown and the crowds were pretty bad. We navigated the crowds well at that time with Club Level Fastpass add-ons, but even without that, it would have been great. I think Presidents 2021 would be a great/perfect time to visit if the capacity limits are still in place and if you are comfortable traveling at that time.

If we did Presidents week, it would be 2022. I'm glad to hear that it's a decent time to go. We don't really have a "dead of winter" situation here to escape from (we're in CA), but it would still be warmer than home, probably.

We’ve done it all except easter week but I have heard horror stories from friends of the easter crowds. I personally prefer summer. Christmas was the absolute worst. The crowds were SCARY and we all got noro (covid isn’t the only nasty disease that peaks in winter). February and November both had nasty cold snaps (cold always feels worse in Florida with the humidity) and we missed having the pool, but the crowds were not as bad as Christmas (though still worse than summer). I would rather be too hot and cool off periodically with a swim or ice cream than too cold all day. But my husband is the opposite and he hates the summer heat so YMMV.

The illnesses that are around in the winter have been a thought I've had about this, for sure. We don't go very often since it's across the country and expensive for that reason, and I'd hate for it to be ruined by a virus or something. Noro - that must have been awful! ugh!

You didn't list the best school break choices:

- Fall break, which for us is three days mid-October. Since this isn't a holiday, it'll be less crowded.
- Veteran's Day, when it falls at the beginning or end of a week, giving a three-day weekend. Similarly, do your schools get the day off for voting day in November (or May)? We do because they use the schools as voting locations.

You're right, those are great, but those are Disneyland choices for us. We did 3 days with Oogie Boogie Bash during my 4 day long Oct weekend in 2019, but that weekend has lately been 3 days instead of 4. We've also done Veterans Day weekend. But DLR is a 7 hour drive from us, so long weekends are doable. With the flight time and the time difference, we basically lose an entire day on either end, especially the way there. To justify that and the high cost of the flights, our WDW trips are always at least 7 nights long. We definitely don't get a day off for voting! That's a thing?? We do get a couple random long weekends in the spring because my district has a policy of giving us one day off every month, and I have my sights set on one of those already next school year for a Disneyland trip. So I definitely understand the appeal!

 

[disneycat321]

I feel like I'm in the minority here, but I would choose summer, we have gone in June and July the past 3 years, and we DO adjust our touring style (every day we take a mid day long lunch in some AC before leaving the park, then a long swim at our hotel) but we RD our mornings, and stay out late nights, when the weather is cooler, those 7pm-10pm evenings are wonderful. but the RD works well too. We squeeze in a nap in the AC instead of a swim some days if it's needed.

However, my big caveat to my comment, is that I won't be doing this without FP. I'm not saying I wouldn't wait a few more min for a ride, but in reality, we just run from AC que to AC que with our FP booked. This is much less possible without FP because more of the lines are out in the sun, and a 30 min wait in AC is much different than an 30 min wait in the heat (even the shade, and they aren't all even shaded.

We actually do really like summer. We adjust our touring style just like you're talking about. We love the lower costs especially. The evenings are fantastic. In 2019 we did three DAH events, and those were just amazing. We did tons of TS meals as well. But I 100% agree with you about FP. I've seen pictures of those lines right now and just said - NOPE. NOT doing that in the FL heat and humidity. Pure misery. We also will not be back in the heat without FP. I wish WDW would revamp FP and maybe do MaxPass like DLR, which is amazing and worth the surcharge. But that's another topic.

 

[disneycat321]

Lots of votes for Thanksgiving and Presidents' Week! Those are both looking like great options.

Originally, we actually were 100% set on Thanksgiving because we want to be there at Christmas time and the crowds would be at least a little bit lower. But then we realized we wouldn't be able to do Epcot Festival of the Holidays much or would be stuck doing it on Black Friday, we might not be able to get Candlelight Processional (though it sounds like we could on Friday), and we wouldn't be able to do MVMCP. Epcot is our favorite park, especially World Showcase, so it's a hard thing to think about not getting their holiday offerings. But is it worth it because the crowds are so much less than actual Christmas?

Is there anything else we'd miss by going that week? Would we still get to see all the resorts' decorations? The gingerbread displays?

If we did Thanksgiving, we'd most likely arrive Saturday night or maybe Friday night the week before Thanksgiving. We can't do earlier in the day with the 3 hour time difference and the long travel time. We'd leave Saturday afternoon the day after Black Friday.

 

[Memorymakerfor4]

Lots of votes for Thanksgiving and Presidents' Week! Those are both looking like great options.

Originally, we actually were 100% set on Thanksgiving because we want to be there at Christmas time and the crowds would be at least a little bit lower. But then we realized we wouldn't be able to do Epcot Festival of the Holidays much or would be stuck doing it on Black Friday, we might not be able to get Candlelight Processional (though it sounds like we could on Friday), and we wouldn't be able to do MVMCP. Epcot is our favorite park, especially World Showcase, so it's a hard thing to think about not getting their holiday offerings. But is it worth it because the crowds are so much less than actual Christmas?

Is there anything else we'd miss by going that week? Would we still get to see all the resorts' decorations? The gingerbread displays?

If we did Thanksgiving, we'd most likely arrive Saturday night or maybe Friday night the week before Thanksgiving. We can't do earlier in the day with the 3 hour time difference and the long travel time. We'd leave Saturday afternoon the day after Black Friday.

We did Sat-Sat that week. It took us a long time to get on ME, just be warned. DO NOT go to Festival of the Holidays on Black Friday. It was a madhouse last year and I hated almost every moment we were there. EPCOT on Thanksgiving day was a lot of fun. I heard from friends that MK was actually not that bad though. If you like TS meals, you'll have a great time seeing the resort decorations. We picked a new resort every day. MVMCP also had a party the Sunday or Monday (I forget) before Thanksgiving, so you could do that. It was really busy because it was the only one that week, but an upside is MK doesn't close down early any other night you're there.

Our absolute favorite day was Wednesday. Slept it, had a meal at Boma, then went to AK for a half day. We took the Elephants tour and all agreed it was perfect mid week for a break.