Summer vs Winter Vacation ( especially for us northerners)

[chama1]

Travel

My family love to come the week before Thanksgiving. Temps are really not that bad and they love the Xmas decor. Crowds are not bad and flights are cheaper. This year they are doing Sea World as it's a better bargin compared to Very Merry, so that's a new thing for them. But remember it is the fall and temps change even here in Florida so be prepared to wear layers at times. :wave:

 

[googilycub]

Soooo.......whats your pleasure? Take off and leave snow and cold behind you and take chance on weather OR go down during heat and plan for it?

We like to go in October for reasons some have already pointed out. That being said I had to snow blow 2 feet off the driveway this morning, stuff like that makes me think of changing my mind........:lookaroun

 

[Alison1975]

We went for Christmas one trip..it was cold, snowy and gross.. our flight was delayed, overbooked etc.. never again..

I'd rather the hotness of August then dealing with the weather here and there in the winter!

 

[flavious27]

I DISagree with you. we usually go in march and never had a problem BUT we usually do the first couple of weeks. Florida's spring breaks aren't until about April.



For the original question, like I said, we usually go in March. We usually go with our tax returns and my son's bday(3/21) so we go in the middle of march. No crowds. The problem with that, though, is Spring is really unpredictable in FL. I am Floridian and I'm used to it but it's a different story at the world. We could have great days in the 70s while the nights are around 30. We don't swim. I know you crazy northerners do but Floridians don't swim until it's consistantly above 85 ha ha ha.

Last year, we went June 2010. I was afraid of crowds and the heat. It wasn't that bad. Wait times were going pretty well. It was hot enough to swim. The humidity had it muggy but we just kept cloths to wipe sweat and fan mist things. No one really complained(expect at AK GEEZ!). What I loved, though, was the summer rains. We had rain everyday from 12-3. all of the tourists went back to the hotels. We stayed and rode everything with no waits and walked around practically empty parks. The only thing that sucked about the rain was the 1 showing of fantasmic was cancelled So I didn't get to see it then.

This year, we are doing another Summer trip, esp with the closing of ST. I want to see the new version!

I saw what I saw. Also the time we went was when spring break happens in the NE, colleges students from the NE is why spring break happens in FL not the locals. And like I said, sports tournaments happening which is why people avoid the time pop warner happens in Dec.

 

[GeoDonJac34]

My in-laws are down there now. My son got a text from my nephew they were going to Typhoon Lagoon. We were shoveling out from ice and snow. Schools closed for two days now. I think if you luck out and leave horrible weather and go into great weather there, than the vacation was well worth it. But I wouldn't want to be there if you need a heavy coat at the parks. Well change that I would want to be there, but would rather go when its warmer.

 

[DiPSU224]

We're about the embark on our first February trip. I am a little nervous about weather since we have been getting smacked just about every week with something here in Philly. But, I've always dreamed of heading to the world for my birthday and decided this would be the year.
Like someone else said, I would rather be brutally hot than cold, so hopefully it won't be freezing. I guess it's the chance you take, just like in August and September with hurricanes.
I plan on packing a little of everything; shorts, jeans, tanks, sweatshirts and light layers.

 

[Mikester71]

I DISagree with you. we usually go in march and never had a problem BUT we usually do the first couple of weeks. Florida's spring breaks aren't until about April.



For the original question, like I said, we usually go in March. We usually go with our tax returns and my son's bday(3/21) so we go in the middle of march. No crowds. The problem with that, though, is Spring is really unpredictable in FL. I am Floridian and I'm used to it but it's a different story at the world. We could have great days in the 70s while the nights are around 30. We don't swim. I know you crazy northerners do but Floridians don't swim until it's consistantly above 85 ha ha ha.

Last year, we went June 2010. I was afraid of crowds and the heat. It wasn't that bad. Wait times were going pretty well. It was hot enough to swim. The humidity had it muggy but we just kept cloths to wipe sweat and fan mist things. No one really complained(expect at AK GEEZ!). What I loved, though, was the summer rains. We had rain everyday from 12-3. all of the tourists went back to the hotels. We stayed and rode everything with no waits and walked around practically empty parks. The only thing that sucked about the rain was the 1 showing of fantasmic was cancelled So I didn't get to see it then.

This year, we are doing another Summer trip, esp with the closing of ST. I want to see the new version!

I saw what I saw. Also the time we went was when spring break happens in the NE, colleges students from the NE is why spring break happens in FL not the locals. And like I said, sports tournaments happening which is why people avoid the time pop warner happens in Dec.

I think many people in the U.S. must underestimate the affect our (Canadian) Spring Break has on the parks in March. I would tend to think the crowds flavious27 saw during his March trip were partly influenced by this fact. I know a lot of us up here have their Spring Break the second or third week in March and the rest of the country, usually either the first or last week. I have never been to WDW other than during Canadian Spring Break, but the parks definitely seem pretty packed to me. I have a friend who has been to WDW more than me and at different times during the year, and after looking at all my pictures from our trips, he can't get over how crowded the parks look in them. He has even said to me that he would never want to go during March because of it. :shrug:

Just as a quick reference, I have edited my post here to include a few pictures from our Spring Break trip in March 2009 to show the CRAZY crowd levels!!! :wave:

 

[flavious27]

We're about the embark on our first February trip. I am a little nervous about weather since we have been getting smacked just about every week with something here in Philly. But, I've always dreamed of heading to the world for my birthday and decided this would be the year.
Like someone else said, I would rather be brutally hot than cold, so hopefully it won't be freezing. I guess it's the chance you take, just like in August and September with hurricanes.
I plan on packing a little of everything; shorts, jeans, tanks, sweatshirts and light layers.

It is going to be warmer in FL than the Del Valley in Feb, this coming week it is going to be in the mid 60's and 70's in orl while only the 30's in phl.

 

[SpoonOfSugar]

We normally go in April/March for spring break but when the kids were younger we went once in November and then in late May/Early June. Overall we liked November better. We went the week after Thanksgiving so we were able to see the holiday decorations. The parks weren't busy at all. The only thing is we would have preferred it to be a little bit warmer. It was around 50s/60s. We really like the weather in April, 80s-90s. It feel more "Florida" like. and when we think vacation and Disney, we think Warm weather and pool time without being cold walking back to our room.

 

[Disney_Belle]

I normally prefer end of October/early November.

We were in WDW January 29th (last Saturday) and were set to fly back to Providence tomorrow AM. That all fell apart. Got a phone call on Wednesday from the Maintenance guy here at our townhouse developement that our fire alarm was going off. My brother who was house sitting was at work 45 minutes away. The fire department had to break in to find our living room ceiling, in the middle of the room, all over the furniture. The dining room walls were soaked and so was the floor in the dining room, living room and bedroom upstairs. Because of the amount of snow we had gotten, it fell off the roof, onto our balcony and ran over the sliding glass door through the rooms. We couldn't get ANY flights out because of the amount of rebookings because of the mid-week storm we had. So we rented a car and drove the long 22 hours home, and had to cut our vacation short 3 days I think if at all possible I will avoid leaving in winter months. The trip itself was great though! Great weather and great crowds... just wasn't great that we had to leave early and come back to a mess!

 

[mickey2008.1]

I can relate being from Cleveland. But neither is an option for us anymore. We went this past december, and had the coldest weather ever experience in FL, 19 degrees at night with a high of 47. Not what we wanted, and has not been that cold since. We prefer late sept/oct for now on. While its great to see the christmas decorations, it s not worth the freezing temps, we get that here enough. One time of cold december temps was enough, now its sept/oct for our family.