Best Month for Universal & Disney Jan or Feb?

[have2getaway]

We originally planned to go to Disney next January, 2019 for a week and add on a day or two at Universal, but we are now considering February break week so we can go longer (10 days) and not pull out boys out of school. They will be in 4th grade and we weren’t sure if taking them out of school for 8 days was such a good idea. What do others think? They aren’t in middle school yet, so we thought it would not be as big of a deal as it may be in later years. What do others suggest? Our other concern is cost. We plan to stay at the Polynesian and RPR it PBR and know we can get a fairly decent rate at both in January, but expect tickets, hotel and airfare will be more in February. Looking for thoughts and suggestions? For those who have pulled your kids out of school, is 8 days too many? TIA

 

[bobbie68]

Hi when DD was in elementary school I did take her out a couple of years for Disney trips. However, I never took her out more than 5 days. We have a very tough attendance policy here and it wasn't worth the aggravation. I guess if you don't have to deal with attendance issues and you can get their make up work it would be okay. We stopped taking her out of school in middle school. The work got to be too much for making up. If you are comfortable with it then I would do January. It would be cheaper, you may have the tour groups then.

Staying at RPR or PBH will get you the express pass so you don't have to really worry about crowds and wait times in February for Universal. I understand about he costs adding up in a different month and I think if you can save money than great.

The one benefit to February is you can go longer. I would love the chance to do a longer vacation at Disney/Universal. We spend a week at Universal between the parks and the resorts.

Good luck!

 

[macraven]

Check the rates uo hotels are going for this February
Consider an additional $20-25 increase at most for what 2019 price could be at its highest

Last February I stayed at rpr with the ap price of $204 + tax per night for the first week that month

I have not checked the going price for this year

President week brings peeps into the parks

Mardi Gras can do the same for weekends

I have no experience for mid to end of the month (February) so can only read about how crowds are for that period

Op, when is your school break in February?

 

[hhoope01]

I recently got back from a trip (1st week of February). Chose that week as it was cheaper than what I could find in January and according to Undercover Tourist, the 1st week of February (along with the middle week of September) were stated as the least crowded weeks of the year.

 

[prairiesarah]

I always try to look at dates where at least some of it is covered by non school days. That said, we took DS out for the 7 days before Christmas break when he was in Grade 4. It was fine, he did have a fair amount of work to catch up on, but it worked well that we were back December 27th and he had through to about January 6th to get caught up. That would be my only concern with taking kids out for that long - how is it going to be getting them caught up. We're going for a week in March, but one day is a inservice day so no school for the kids and another is his class field trip to the ski hill, so he only has 4 days of instructional time and his teacher is very understanding. He's in Grade 6 now and there is definitely an increase in the workload, but it will be manageable for us as he is a pretty good student. I thick for me that decision would really come down to how much cheaper it would be in January vas February and how you feel about the amount of work they may have to do to get caught up. There would be a breaking point for me on that which would push one direction or the other.

 

[have2getaway]

Check the rates uo hotels are going for this February
Consider an additional $20-25 increase at most for what 2019 price could be at its highest

Last February I stayed at rpr with the ap price of $204 + tax per night for the first week that month

I have not checked the going price for this year

President week brings peeps into the parks

Mardi Gras can do the same for weekends

I have no experience for mid to end of the month (February) so can only read about how crowds are for that period

Op, when is your school break in February?

Our February break is typically around Presidents’ Day. For 2019, it is the week of February 18th. I have been looking at getting an annual pass for our stay at Universal. I know that our rate for the Polynesian will be about $43 more per night.

 

[have2getaway]

I always try to look at dates where at least some of it is covered by non school days. That said, we took DS out for the 7 days before Christmas break when he was in Grade 4. It was fine, he did have a fair amount of work to catch up on, but it worked well that we were back December 27th and he had through to about January 6th to get caught up. That would be my only concern with taking kids out for that long - how is it going to be getting them caught up. We're going for a week in March, but one day is a inservice day so no school for the kids and another is his class field trip to the ski hill, so he only has 4 days of instructional time and his teacher is very understanding. He's in Grade 6 now and there is definitely an increase in the workload, but it will be manageable for us as he is a pretty good student. I thick for me that decision would really come down to how much cheaper it would be in January vas February and how you feel about the amount of work they may have to do to get caught up. There would be a breaking point for me on that which would push one direction or the other.

Thank you! What’s hard is they are triplets with delays. School is a struggle already. 2 are in 12:1:1 classrooms, but they are doing better and better each year. They all have slight ASD and speech issues, and the smaller crowds make a huge difference for them. We found it benefited them to go when we pulled them out before. But, I do worry about catching up the work. If we go in January, we could do 8 days (2 at Universal & 6 at Disney). We would go the week before MLK, and the school typically is off the Friday before, which means they would miss (at most) 5 days, but likely only 4. I guess we are leaning in that direction, especially because it also works better for our work schedules. I work at a college and the kids are still off for Christmas break then. I don’t think we can swallow $43 more a night for our room rate, plus the increased cost in airfare and park tickets. We could stay at a moderate, but I have done both, and with three 9 year olds, the monorail is much easier.

 

[keishashadow]

Our February break is typically around Presidents’ Day. For 2019, it is the week of February 18th. I have been looking at getting an annual pass for our stay at Universal. I know that our rate for the Polynesian will be about $43 more per night.

Lucky you having school schedule in place already.

Just back, kept checking rates/availability, many hotels were sold out entirely for months. FYI, Rates went up substantially this year for this time period. Webooked a group rate in august that turned out to be a bargin. Rates Not out yet for 2019 as far as I know for WDW.

Look at this year’s Universal hotel date & rate thread (along with past years) to get an idea of the historical pricing for those dates.

It was crowded @ WDW, I’m talking level 8, 9 & 10’s surrounding the weekend. U gets busy but the FOTL perk is a lifesafer there when it is. Only time I was disappointed with it was weekend after 4th of July last year.

Pull up the race dates for Jan & Feb. MLK weekend is always busy, not so much days surrounding it. Pro bowl week has an uptick @ WDW. At U HP weekend is popular