First off-season trip to BCV in 2020, advice on when to go?

[disneydenisel]

We have always had to travel to WDW during school holidays, but Fall 2020 will be the first time we can book a trip off-season since we won't be bound by the school schedule anymore. I have read great things about EPCOT's Food and Wine Festival. We prefer the less humid times of year since we are from California (have always gone November-December). I would also love to take advantage of lower points seasons, if possible, since we have never done that before! We are used to longer park hours during the holidays, so I suppose we will have to get used to shorter park days. Any advice on a good time to go? The travelers would be me, DH and DD21 (special needs). Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[BillPA]

Do you own BWV/BCV? If not, you will have great difficulty booking at 7 months as Oct/Nov/Dec are very, very busy times at DVC and with SW opening it will just be harder to book. You will do better trying to book away from EPCOT, but every DVC is difficult to get during the "fall frenzy".

 

[disneydenisel]

We own at BCV, so plan to join the frenzy, I guess. Is it a frenzy because of the lower points?

 

[Matty B13]

We actually like the Flower and Garden time of year at Epcot, the park is beautiful when all the flowers in bloom. So, you might try going in March, not sure about the point charts, but getting a room will be easier and the crowds lighter.

 

[BillPA]

Book right at 11 months, or you may get shut out. It's the F&W fest, low points, cooler weather... add in SW and you have lots of DVCer's trying to get close to EPCOT/DHS

 

[jerseyduke]

Agreed about Flower and Garden. I have, for the past few years, gone the last weekend of April (made it a 4 or 5 day weekend). I have been able to stay at BCV switching at 7 months. It is starting to get hot - but not July, August, Sept hot. However, if its clear of Easter, crowds tend to be manageable and point totals low. This was not the case in 2019 as Easter was late in the year. Also, it tends to be Dapper Day, which I enjoy as well.

If you use the pools at all, January and February are no good. But, after the Marathon and before Presidents week, you tend to have very low crowds as well, but that is when you tend to get more ride closures (particularly things like Splash mountain, Kali River Rapids in particular) - but that is the price. Disney is going to do as many refurbs as it can during low crowd times

 

[CarolynFH]

Does it has to be Fall? January point costs are the lowest of the year (along with all of September and the first two weeks of December), and for January after Marathon Weekend rooms are generally easier to book than in October (January 2020 has been an exception; no way to tell whether a temporary "Galaxy's Edge effect" or permanent). Yes, it may be cold, but January is our favorite time to go. And use your 11-month booking advantage.

 

[disneydenisel]

Thanks for the great advice so far. It doesn't have to be Fall. I was looking for a low points non-humid time of year when there is something interesting happening (some side event/reason to go) and not a ton of refurbishments. I have never been able to plan a trip to WDW that wasn't over Thanksgiving or Christmas, so this is all new to me. We've been going to BCV since 2005! I didn't even know about Flower and Garden, but DD21 would probably enjoy that. That would mean booking it for 2021 and trying to avoid Easter, which looks to be April 4. I know that a lot of Spring breaks happen during the month of April.

Years ago before marriage and kids (1994) I was there in May and thought it was too hot and humid to ever go back in May.

Off-topic, I need to fix my signature and add the BCV logo which has somehow disappeared.

 

[CarolynFH]

The Festival of the Arts is in January and February and rapidly gaining aficionados. Staying at your home of BCV would be perfect!

 

[Matty B13]

We went in June last year for an anniversary trip (We have kids and only go in February & April), and it was really strange to be at Epcot with out the F&G festival displays, it's amazing how much more appealing Epcot is with all the flower displays. I highly recommend it, at least once, if you haven't been.

 

[Deb & Bill]

September is always nice because of low points, but it is also still prime hurricane season.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

The fall will be the lower point time for F&W vs F&G although I do agree that F&G is a great festival to attend. It's my favorite time in Epcot. But Fall gives you F&W and Halloween parties and lower charts. Or you could do a late Oct/Early November trip and catch both the end of Halloween and the beginning of Christmas if you visit for a little more than a week. We've had lower humidity during both times and high humidity/heat during both times.

 

[disneydenisel]

Thanks for the great ideas. I will research F&G and check out Festival of the Arts, too, but not sure about the weather/cold. We've been in November when it's been 85 or 60, but prefer something in between. For F&W, does everyone book one night at a time and keep adding on each day?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Thanks for the great ideas. I will research F&G and check out Festival of the Arts, too, but not sure about the weather/cold. We've been in November when it's been 85 or 60, but prefer something in between. For F&W, does everyone book one night at a time and keep adding on each day?

Since it's check in plus 7 there's no need to add one night at a time. Just book from your date of check in. If you require more than 7 nights then you can modify the reservation to add the additional nights and I would start out with booking the first 7 nights at the 11 month window. And BCV isn't as bad as other places. As long as you book right at 11 months it should be fine. It'll book up shortly after that but it's not as frenzied as say BWV standard or Boardwalk views.

 

[disneydenisel]

Since it's check in plus 7 there's no need to add one night at a time. Just book from your date of check in. If you require more than 7 nights then you can modify the reservation to add the additional nights and I would start out with booking the first 7 nights at the 11 month window. And BCV isn't as bad as other places. As long as you book right at 11 months it should be fine. It'll book up shortly after that but it's not as frenzied as say BWV standard or Boardwalk views.

Thanks for the information. We own a few timeshares, and I just got done booking some nights in NYC via a different system, and that usually requires booking one night at a time. I have to switch to DVC mode now! We'd probably book a two bedroom, which may be easier to book than the smaller villas because of the points requirement. Looks like F&W is going on for a long time this year. F&G in March also looks really interesting. Is it less crowded in March than in October?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Thanks for the information. We own a few timeshares, and I just got done booking some nights in NYC via a different system, and that usually requires booking one night at a time. I have to switch to DVC mode now! We'd probably book a two bedroom, which may be easier to book than the smaller villas because of the points requirement. Looks like F&W is going on for a long time this year. F&G in March also looks really interesting. Is it less crowded in March than in October?

March is during Spring break times so no. I haven't been in March in awhile but have been during April for the past few years (not during Easter) and find October to be a bit less crowded although there really aren't many slow times at WDW anymore. I took a quick look at Touringplans and they have expected March crowds a bit higher than October. For the most part though if you have a plan and utilize your FP's it's not going to seem too different IMO if you decide you'd prefer to check out F&G.

 

[AnnaS]

We have been going for F&W for years (since we also did not have to follow a school schedule). The past few years we have also gone in May for F&G. Can be hot, can be rainy and very similar to F&W with food booths, concerts, etc.

As everyone has mentioned, as soon as you decide to go, make sure you book as soon as your 11 month window opens up.

Good luck.

 

[disneydenisel]

We have been going for F&W for years (since we also did not have to follow a school schedule). The past few years we have also gone in May for F&G. Can be hot, can be rainy and very similar to F&W with food booths, concerts, etc.

As everyone has mentioned, as soon as you decide to go, make sure you book as soon as your 11 month window opens up.

Good luck.

What did you think about both F&W and F&G, in comparison? Equally enjoyable? It's so weird to be able to think about traveling outside of the school holidays.

 

[Deb & Bill]

What did you think about both F&W and F&G, in comparison? Equally enjoyable? It's so weird to be able to think about traveling outside of the school holidays.

We moved to SW Florida from NW Louisiana two years ago. We used to go twice a year, F&W and F&G. Now we can go F&W, F&G, Festival of the Holidays and Festival of the Arts. We enjoy the outdoor kitchens the best. F&W always has more and we have many favorites there. F&G has different items than F&W since they are usually based on plants. But it is always fun to see what is back from the previous year and what is new. We really enjoy the Specialty meals and have done a few of them several times. We kind of have a really fond feeling for F&G because our son led some of the Gardens of the World Tours while he worked at Disney. He was a gardener for Disney. We enjoy the musical acts during these festivals, but the last two years we haven't hit any we really need to see. It was great to see Davy Jones before he died and Peter Noone is always fun.

When we lived in Louisiana and our son was in school, we usually left the day school was out for the year since they got out about the third week of May. It gave us plenty of time to beat the rest of the world getting out in June. We sometimes did the marathon time since my husband was a runner, but our son did not like to miss school. We did Easter time once or twice, but it was pretty crowded. We did Columbus Day week a few times, but it was still hot in Florida, almost too hot to wear a costume to the Halloween party. Once he was in college, we could pick times when he might be able to join us if he got a fall break or a spring break. After he graduated, we went anytime we wanted because he was working for Disney (for two years). When he quit Disney to go back to grad school, we also moved to South Florida, but to the Gulf Coast (he's in Miami). Now a working guy, he can't just pick up when we go because we'll go for three or four nights at a time, usually during the week. But it's nice to have all the family together when we can.

 

[disneydenisel]

Thanks for the continued advice. Since we live in California, it's hard to get to Orlando more than once every other year. I'd love to go more often, but it's expensive to fly us out there. Maybe early November would have nice weather, or early March. It's so hard to decide. Maybe being bound by school holidays was easier because I didn't have to choose!