Thoughts on Summer Trips

[CapeCodTenor]

Good morning, fellow Disney lovers. I am planning our family’s first trip to Disney World, and due to various scheduling reasons we can only go during the summer. I understand it will be hot and crowded, but I’m just looking for people’s thoughts and experiences in going during the summer. As for a time frame, we are looking at going mid June, right after my wife’s school’s graduation. The last time I was down there was over 20 years ago when I was in college. I would always go two weeks before I had to be back in college, so I knew it was hot and crowded and still had an absolute blast. I am hoping we can still have fun, even though, from what I’ve read, it seems to be even busier than in the past. Thoughts?

Thanks

 

[JIMINYCR]

Yes… hot, humid and crowded. That hasn’t ever changed and since you have experienced it before you know what to expect. The crowds have gotten larger, the lines longer and guests ruder. But with all that… you can still have a great time. Planning out how you attack the parks starting off early will get you through most everything in a day. Plan out meals as well to make it easier for your timing. Be flexible and patient when you run into longer than expected waits.
If your wife has never been then you can enjoy showing her the best aspects of the parks that you’ve enjoyed and share in her joy.
Even on the most crowded miserable days I’ve had at WDW I’ve managed to have a great time. It’s all about attitude and how you stay positive through the not so ideal Disney that exists now.
Enjoy your trip back!!

 

[Weather_Lady]

If you can time your visit after the Florida kids go back to school (they usually return mid-August), you'll see a bit of a dip in crowds, particularly on weekdays, that only gets better (lower) into late August and early September. If you can handle the heat, and plan for some hurricane-season rain/thunderstorms/wind, it can be a great time to visit! We were last at WDW during the third week of August 2021 (granted, this was pre-Genie+/ILL, which have increased standby waits across the board), and had a fantastic time. There was some terrible weather, but we only had to put up with it in short bursts, as we walked from one indoor climate-controlled environment to the next. The only thing we changed for that trip was to pack different footwear (relying more on waterproof hiking sandals instead of sneakers), and rain ponchos (bringing heavy-duty reusable ones that were extra-long, folded into their own pockets and had adjustable hoods, rather than cheap plastic disposable ones that the wind could tear apart).

 

[We love Edna Mode]

Yes hot and humid but a little less crowded than full blown summer. Went many times in June. We found always booking a sit down luncheon was a life saver. Relax in the ac, have a nice meal and reenergize. Sometimes after lunch went back to the room for a nap/swim before the evening festivities. Just go slow and enjoy the journey!

 

[CapeCodTenor]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. Don't have time to hit all points, but definitely know about the heat, humidity and crowd levels going in, so they'll be no surprises. We're not a park commando style touring family, so we won't plan out our day to the minute on how we'll ride rides and do things, but we will have some kind of plan. Part of the fun for us in going is being in the parks and soaking up the atmosphere. And yes, riding rides. Don't get me wrong, we'll have A plan for riding the rides we'll want to ride, but we're not going to go crazy. I paid for Touring Plans and have discovered that the crowd levels for the Magic Kingdom for mid-June isn't as bad as I thought, though it'll still be crowded, but it's not predicted to be crazy as I thought. Now Hollywood Studios? That's predicted to be crazy busy during the peak hours of the day. I may have read those wrong, I just got the subscription and will play around on that site a bit more.

Well, gotta run to work Have a good day, everyone.

 

[Leo!]

Been there past July and past October. It was a lot worse during October, crowd-wise. July was hot, humid, but crowds were manageable. I think you'll be fine in june.

 

[CapeCodTenor]

Hey everyone! So we settled on June 10th as the date for our trip, D-Day if you will. I had purchased Touring Plans to help plan my trip, which is helping me plan what dates I'll be in the parks. According to the site, Magic Kingdom won't be as busy as I thought for that week, between a 5 and 6 on the crowd calendar, with Sunday, June 11th being a 5 on the crowd calendar. Don't worry, I'm not delusional to think that the parks won't be busy because I know they will be. I was just surprised that the crowd calendar shows it to be a 5 instead of higher. I guess, and this is only a guess, that the weekends are the days that people check-in/out of the resorts. But gain, that's only a guess. Schools in New England wouldn't have gotten out by that point, so maybe that has a some effect on it. Who knows. All I know is I'll take advantage of it. Any other tips?

So my daughter's a big Harry Potter fan, so my wife and I are going to surprise her with a day at Universal so we can hit Harry Potter world. We've talked about not telling her until the day we head to Universal, but we're still working out the logics of surprising her.

Been there past July and past October. It was a lot worse during October, crowd-wise. July was hot, humid, but crowds were manageable. I think you'll be fine in june.

Worse in October? This surprises me because school is on Is it because of the Halloween party?

 

[Leo!]

Worse in October? This surprises me because school is on Is it because of the Halloween party?

Yes. You've Halloween party plus food and wine festival running.