1st time trip for the kiddies :-)

[Kaseys412]

My husband and I are currently in the process of planning a Disney trip (my 4th trip, his 2nd, we honeymooned there Jan 08, and FROZE ) anyway.. we have a little boy who is 4 and a half, and our daughter will be 1 in April, this will be their first time experiencing the magic!! My main issue is... my husband doesn't find out when he has vacation until at least May, so this trip could take place anywhere from June to December.. what are the best times to go?? I definitely want it warm enough to swim, but not crazy hot (I'm praying he doesn't get an August vacation :hurl, and the fewer crowds the better. We're not looking to see everything, ride a ton of rides and meet every character under the sun.. just relax, explore the parks at our leisure and relax at the resort (POR, my fav!). I'm a little nervous because I've seen parents come veeeeery close to the breaking point with little ones down there, but our kids are generally very laid back and just happy to see new sights so I'm crossing my fingers it won't backfire... I've already gotten comments about being brave for traveling down there with a baby but.. my son will be almost five and he shouldn't miss out on the magic! I plan on going every few years anyway..
So weather and crowd wise when is it ideal to go? September/October?

 

[coltow]

Our favorite time of year is October (with early December a very close 2nd). The weather is fantastic (high 80's) and the crowds are manageable. There's also the Halloween Party at MK where the kids can rick or treat. It's also of fun. Oh and did I forget to mention Food and Wine Festival at EPCOT, yummmmm.

 

[3girlswdwdreams]

How exciting!!!!

My personal preferences wold be the very end of October (after summer heat, getting later in hurricane season, kids are back in school, fall decorations, Halloween party).. or the beginning of December.

Our first trip with the kids was in December.. and having all the decorations, the castle lit up, the Christmas parade, etc was beyond magical!! We also were able to swim no problems.. but it could be ify that time of year.

Our kids were 5, 3 and 1 when we went.... so you're not crazy. LOL We had an absolutely fabulous trip and I am so glad we took them at that age!!

You already have the right approach... take it easy, pick a few must dos per park, go with the flow after that.... and it'll be great.
My husband and I also each picked one main attraction per park we wanted to do that the kids couldn't ride and did parent swap for that.

Happy planning!

 

[SMRT-1Michael]

Our favorite time of year is yo go during early December. We love experiencing the Disney Holiday Magic! The weather is still a good 75 degrees. At Magic Kingdom theres the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, very fun for kids and the whole family. Its always fun to see the beautiful decorations all throughout the resorts and parks. Main Street USA is breathtaking with all the garland, music, and the magnificent Christmas tree. They also have the Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas Parade. At Epcot, they have the Candlelight Processional in World Showcase and hearing those beautiful Christmas songs is a lot of fun. And its even better to know your in Disney! They also have their Christmas tree lighting ceremony. At Hollywood Studios they have the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing lights and that is a lot fun. Early December is also very uncrowed because people are just starting the Christmas shopping etc. We love to come during early December and its also fun because my birthday is in December. If you plan to go to the delauxe category of hotels, might I recommend Wilderness Lodge? Beautiful year round and the holidays. The moderates are nice too.

Our second favorite time is Labor Day week/weekend - UNCROWDED! :-D
The waether is fantastic Florida weather. I live in Florida so commuting to Disney isnt such a big deal.

Hope this helps with the planning process!

 

[Kaseys412]

Thanks!! All the replies are GREATLY appreciated.. I'm hoping for vacation sometime October through December. Unfortunately we won't be sure until the end of May.. and let me tell you, knowing that we ARE going to Disney and not being able to book the trip already is driving me insane :brick: I feel like once everything is planned and purchased you can just sit back and count the days.. have a certain date to look forward to.. I've got another 6+ weeks before I can do anything

 

[pacochran]

We used to love to go into October which is a great time of year to go, though you can still get 90's as we did one year. But job change forced us to change the time of year we go and now we go in early December, which we love and you can still swim.

 

[durangojim]

I'd recommend Sept, Oct, or early December as their all value seasons and have either the Halloween decorations and parties or the Christmas decorations and parties. You'll have a great time!

 

[eroyee]

Early December. Your 4 and a half yr. old would love all the christmas stuff. and you could take in MVMCP while there. Light crowds,too.

 

[WDW_Emily]

Mid/Late September Halloween stuff will be up but the crowds wont be too heavy and its still warm out. October is busier but isn't too bad until like a week before Halloween.
November is like March and April. Not weather wise but crowd wise. Sometimes there are huge crowds and other times its dead. My friend goes for thanksgiving every year and this past year she said the crowds were really good and they got to see everything they wanted to.
Early December is a good time because crowds aren't bad. however, the weather is around 50's and sometimes 60's i don't know if you want to swim in that weather...

Your kids will love it when ever you go. I work in a preschool and one of the girls went to wdw last year when she was 4 and now a year later she is still talking about the trip and how she met the princesses and donald(her favorite)=]

 

[Kaseys412]

Thank you all SOO much for your replies.. I can't wait to just go already, I have a beautiful picture of POR as my background and it's like longing to go home every time I look at it :lol: It's such a magical place, my husband absolutely fell in love with it last year and we're both thrilled to take the kids. For some reason.. I'm very attached to POR and don't really want to experience any of the other resorts, I've stayed at CBR once and didn't care to stray again.. I think the Poly looks very nice, but budget wise I think that one will have to wait for a vacation a little further down the road...
On another note.. now that I am SUPER excited about disney with the kiddos.. I'm not so excited about flying with a one year old (flight is 2 hours and 45 minute direct.. not too bad..) any tips in that department??

 

[Kaseys412]

OH.. another question.. if we stay for 7 days, but only want to do parks say five days, take a day or two to relax at the resort and buzz around downtown disney... I should only purchase the park tickets for five days right? How does that whole situation work? Do the little entrance machines you slide your card through know when your five days are up, and therefore not permit you to enter the park after they're used up?

 

[Disneykidder]

Of ther times I have been, I like Jan the best. It is not really cold or hot and there are still holiday decorations up. I would love to go durinbg Oct because of Halloween and I think it may be still kinda warm but not scortching like in the summer months.

We took our son for the first time when he was 2 1/2. He rode all of the rides, loved the characters and when he napped we went on big kid rides. It really was great. He has since been 3 times and everytime experiences something new. This past summer he did the Pirate Adventure and LOVEEED it. On our next trip we are booking him 2 times for that and also the cooking class at GF, if still available.(heard it may not be anymore)

My tip is to be prepared. That means be ready with snacks and drinks, the occasional meltdown and ready to leave if need be. Have a stroller with a compartment for "stuff", bring flow sticks for the evening and drape something on your stroller so you can find it in a crowd...especially when the cast members move them around. Also don't leave anything valueable in your stroller, have all your packages shipped to your resort.

Bring small things to occupy your little one on flight and snacks/drinks..new toys help keep interest, too. Try to keep them awake until your flight, so maybe they will sleep, too.

Enjoy!! Oh, take lottts of pictures!

 

[DisneyPirate85]

:wave:We always go at Christmas time, and 4th of July, That being said July is HOT, but we like it since we freeze all winter long. Christmas time can be hit or miss with the weather, I would say think about Sept ESPECIALLY if Disney throws out the whole DDP for free again this Sept like last 2 years I believe.:sohappy:

 

[WDWmazprty]

September and October are probably the best times to go. Less crowds and not too hot. We always go around that time and have a great time!

 

[Space Ranger]

September and October are probably the best times to go. Less crowds and not too hot. We always go around that time and have a great time!

I love going in Sept because of the low crowds and the free dining promo, but in my opinion Sept can be and usually is very hot and humid. Also the peak of hurricane season. October tends to give more of a break in the weather I think.

I've also gone the week after Thanksgiving/first week of Dec. Very low crowds, nice holiday decorations. But, you run the risk of catching a cold snap. When we were there we didn't particularly feel like getting in the pool because it was a bit on the cool side and we didn't want to make the walk back to the room being wet. Also, a little more expensive that Sept.

We flew with our son at age 1 & 2 for a 2 hour flight. At one year old, bring snacks/bottle/sippy cup especially for take off and landing. The eating and swallowing is usually comforting and helps equalize the pressure in their ears. Check the TSA website for restrictions on what food / drink you can bring through security. Our son was on formula at the time and we had a few bottles of water with us so we could mix up the powder as needed. TSA website said you could bring milk, juice, formula...for an infant, but apparently you could NOT bring the water to prepare the powdered formula. They actually told us to mix up a bottle of formula using the water we had and then it was ok to bring the bottle through, but we had to throw away the extra water....very frustrating experience for first time flying with our son. Also, I think they have a thing against ice....

If you happened to be able to get a flight around a normal nap time, you might get lucky have your daughter sleep some of the way down. We found that traveling with a 1 year old was easier than a 2 year old. At 1 he didn't really understand what we going on, and just sort of went along for the ride. At 2, he realized we was strapped into a strange seat for take off and landing an freaked out.... Have you decided if you are going to fly as a lap baby or with her own seat? Something to think about.... people have very strong feels on both sides of this issue.

Agree with other post about bringing something to help easily identify your stroller in a crowd of strollers. Because it is a matter of when, not if your stroller gets moved - usually by a CM organizing or mananging a stroller area. We put a bright green luggage tag on our stroller handle.

If you can keep your "normal" schedule as far a napping and bedtime, you greatly reduce you risk of a complete melt down. Our son always took his regular nap(s). We are lucky though, he'll sleep in his stroller. Around nap time, we'd usually pull into a counter service restaurant that was air conditioned and relatively quiet, have a drink a let him take his nap. Sometimes we'd walk around the park with him in the stroller napping, but found that most of the time we liked sitting down and having a break too. Some kids need to go back to the room to settle down and take a nap. Whatever it takes, don't skip normal naptimes. We also made sure we got to bed pretty close to normal time each night. Stayed a little late one night, but sort of paid for it the next day.

Good luck, have fun, and take it slow........

 

[coltow]

OH.. another question.. if we stay for 7 days, but only want to do parks say five days, take a day or two to relax at the resort and buzz around downtown disney... I should only purchase the park tickets for five days right? How does that whole situation work? Do the little entrance machines you slide your card through know when your five days are up, and therefore not permit you to enter the park after they're used up?

Check the prices before you decide. A few years ago we had planned on doing the same thing. It was only going to cost us $3 more a ticket for another day. So we added the extra day, just in case. Our thought was if we didn't use it, we only lost $6. We did end up using it for a few hours on one of our "off" days to go and explore Toon Town with DS.

 

[durangojim]

OH.. another question.. if we stay for 7 days, but only want to do parks say five days, take a day or two to relax at the resort and buzz around downtown disney... I should only purchase the park tickets for five days right? How does that whole situation work? Do the little entrance machines you slide your card through know when your five days are up, and therefore not permit you to enter the park after they're used up?

Also if they happen to be offering the buy 4 get 3 free deal, it won't cost you anything extra for 7 day tickets. If it were me, I'd spend the extra $6 per ticket and get 7 day passes, that way if you did want to go in a park for a short time unexpectedly you'd be all set.