Best time of the year?

[pirasha]

So I'm trying to plan my 2017 adult only trip to Disney. As we can go pretty much any time of the year we're trying to hit the sweet mark between low crowds and great weather.

My sister really wants to go around April/May (avoiding the spring break craziness of course) but we know someone who works will Glass Slipper Concierge who suggested the week after labor day; so September.

What do you guys think?

 

[ChloesDaddy]

It depends on what you want to do. Both are good times, and you'll get responses from posters favoring one or the other. There is a pretty comprehensive chart in this thread. September appears to be a little better on crowds, but hot. The risk (albeit small) of weather impacts due to tropical storms is also higher in September. Also, the Flower and Garden Festival runs at Epcot March-May -- garden exhibits, food, drink, and weekend concerts. We're going this May and are really looking forward to it.

 

[ptlohmysoul]

What's great weather to you? We would never consider going in September due to the heat (and humidity), but the crowds are great.

 

[Mikie]

I like looking at easywdw.com where he reviews every single week of the year, predicts crowd levels and states why he thinks that week will or won't be good.

If I had my pick of any time, I'd pick a good week in April/May because that's better weather to me and Sept is part of hurricane season. However, I have loved my Sept trips. You can't go far wrong with those choices!

 

[gwb]

been there the week after labor day and it's HOT!!! (95 and higher never got below 90 even in night for 7 days) and Humid. Crowds were almost non existant though. Think about going in 1st week of Dec. crowds generalyy are low; weather for the past 6 trips we took at this time was very nice. Temps generally started in mid 60's and went up to low 80's. But it can be variable. Only had 1/2 day of rain in all those trips

 

[mzsarah10]

Our two favorite trips were the last week of January and the last week of April. Now that the kids are in school we go in June and it's hot and crowded. We miss those weeks.

 

[Accident]

If pandora in animal kingom interests you then later in the year has a better chance of it being opened.. (and will attract crowds)

 

[Xennia]

So I'm trying to plan my 2017 adult only trip to Disney. As we can go pretty much any time of the year we're trying to hit the sweet mark between low crowds and great weather.

My sister really wants to go around April/May (avoiding the spring break craziness of course) but we know someone who works will Glass Slipper Concierge who suggested the week after labor day; so September.

What do you guys think?

April and May is spring break.

I'm a annual pass holder. We go January and it's soooooo smooth and quiet. Also second half of feb. and early March. Otherwise we wait till after may. Like at the end the last two weeks. But it's not as quiet as January. Then we wait till September. And come back again in November.

 

[ChloesDaddy]

been there the week after labor day and it's HOT!!! (95 and higher never got below 90 even in night for 7 days) and Humid. Crowds were almost non existant though. Think about going in 1st week of Dec. crowds generalyy are low; weather for the past 6 trips we took at this time was very nice. Temps generally started in mid 60's and went up to low 80's. But it can be variable. Only had 1/2 day of rain in all those trips

Maybe they were vaporized when they stepped outside.

 

[CJN]

I thought spring break was over by the last week of April. 4/28/17-5/8/17 are the dates we're looking at. So that's still in spring break season?

 

[GWhitten98]

We have through weather/crowds were great all three times we went...Last week of October(but before Halloween), the full week before thanksgiving week and the full week before xmas week. If all year is open to you, I would say trying the end of Feb/first of March over May and end of October/beginning of Nov over Sept.

 

[Karebear]

We love September....we usually go Labor Day week because then kids only miss 4 days of school but I think that the next week is equally as good. The reason that we like it is the crowds are small....last year we got on Soarin around 5 in the afternoon with no more than a 10 minute wait. Yes it is hot...but the low crowds make the vacation so much nicer, at least to me!

 

[AshleeH]

If I had my pick of the year, I would want to go during the Flower and Garden Festival, during a non-Spring Break time. For crowds, I would choose September after Labor Day.

 

[pirasha]

Hmm okay so what I'm getting is March-May is better for weather and Aug/Sept is better for crowds. Thanks guys; I'll have to discuss

 

[buccikulju]

Mid December and mid January are great as well! I believe you can still find little pockets of time when things are slower than usual. Have fun!

 

[abnihon]

I thought spring break was over by the last week of April. 4/28/17-5/8/17 are the dates we're looking at. So that's still in spring break season?

That's the week we're going.
I wouldn't call it spring break season.
I hear crowds are fairly light and weather nice.
I hope so!

 

[pirasha]

I thought spring break was over by the last week of April. 4/28/17-5/8/17 are the dates we're looking at. So that's still in spring break season?

I just looked at a bunch of college websites; it looks like most Spring Breaks are going to be mid/ end March with college ending around the second week of May so it looks like you're going to be alright

I've went once at the end of May after college ended and the crowds were fine; the parks did get a tad crowded from time to time but if you just hopped over to another park or took a break to eat or nap they were quite manageable. But you may only have to worry about that maybe on the weekends.

 

[Dentam]

We went the week after Labor Day last year and it wasn't too bad. More crowded than we were expecting though and the heat on the last two days was pretty unbearable. Next year we're planning to go for the opening days of the Flower and Garden Festival - can't wait!

 

[PSUGuy]

We used to go the first week in March and loved it. Great daily temps, little rain, moderate crowds. About 10 years ago we started sampling Oct for Food&Wine and switched to mid Oct more or less permanently. Temps usually in the 80s, little rain and Food&Wine is a great attraction for adults. Nightly concerts, great food choices and many food related events at extra cost. Avoid Columbus Day and the weekend prior and crowds will be lighter than early March. WS will be crazy crowded on a Sat., locals will flow in starting Fri. night be we only skip Sat. Weekdays are a dream in WS, the other parks are not impacted in fact crowds may be lighter because of F&W.

Bill From PA

 

[L&Lfan]

We went in September for the first time in 2014. WORST WEATHER we've ever experienced in over 40 years of visits! We were there at the end of the month. Crowd level was fabulous, yes, but when it wasn't STEAMING hot and humid it was pouring down RAIN! We spent most of the week having adult beverages in the air conditioned (and dry) lounges. (Maybe it wasn't such a bad vacation after all!) Seriously, we still had a blast because it's Disney but we hardly rode anything because our park time was cut short because of the downpours. We just didn't want to deal with umbrellas and ponchos (and my overweight friend (she has bad knees) was on a scooter which made things DOUBLY difficult!)