When Not To Go To Disney?

May and Oct during love bug season. Ick

Haha, I've almost always gone during May and while I've seen quite a few mating love bugs it's never really bothered me: I think May is a great time to go--warmish weather but not hot, Flower and Garden festival, and moderate crowds!

I personally wouldn't want to go during the summer (mid-June through early September)--huge crowds, hottest weather of the year with all the out-of-school kids--and would recommend that others didn't either, but I know for some there's no other options.

I wouldn't want to go during the summer either. Way too hot for me! I've been during Christmas and New Years before and I wouldn't do that again. I'm not a fan of the crazy crowds! New Years eve was the worst though. The park was at capacity and they were giving out those noise maker horns so thats all you heard for 12 hours straight

I avoid summer and any holiday where the kids are out of school for a week. The crowds are just too big.

I wouldn't recommend going to WDW from the beginning of May through the end of September. I hate heat, and in my opinion anything over 80 degrees Fahrenheit is hot. April and October are borderline, but I can tolerate low to mid-80s, so as long as Florida isn't having an unseasonable heat wave I'd be all right. But other people are more heat tolerant than I am, so my advice might change for folks who think 90 degrees is perfect.

I also would not recommend going to WDW when the crowds are large - which means any time kids are out of school.

And my final recommendation - avoid Epcot the last weekend of the Food and Wine Festival.

Agreed

I'm in this camp!

From now on I will scour the crowd calendar and try to find the absolutely slowest season possible. We have been there in all different months. I will definitely never go in summer again, like others have said the crowds and the heat. Overall Disney World seems much more crowded overall than in the past. And there is such a great difference between being there when it is crowded and not crowded. We have been there in January when it was very low crowd and those months can be a bit iffy on the weather. If Florida is having a cold spell January can be a little to cold. But I will gladly risk the cold weather to avoid the crowd.

We have gone early December and Mid January. Westher was great for both. But the december trip we were overwelmed wth Pop Cheerleaders. I can't handle the ehat so we would not likley go in the summer. i would choose January, although i thinki would suffer thru the crowds to go to F&W

Well we will be going in July, so we will tell you exactly what it's like! We are actually leaving on July 4 and will arrive on July 5. If its hot there will just be a lot of pool time!

Of course we much rather like going in January, cooler and less crowds, but then you got the tour groups to deal with.

Oh boy...I forgot about the tour groups. We went in late January one year, and the tour groups were overwhelming!!!!

We were there in early Oct this year and LOVED it! I don't remember there being a problem with love bugs, and I'm terrified of bugs so I would have noticed!

I'll join the no summer group! I would hate spending so much money on a vacation and not being able to enjoy it to the fullest because of the insane crowds!

We only travel during those times.

I avoid summers, Thanks Giving, Christmas (19 Dec - 2 Jan), and Spring Break because of crowds. Other than that, every day at Disney is a good day!

When we had our Disney Wedding trip, we had to go in July (sister and her DH are teachers too). We normally go in October or beginning of December, so we were expecting much bigger crowds, but I can honestly say I didn't notice too much of a difference. There were crazy queues for Toy Story Mania, which was new at the time and Harry Potter at Universal, but other than that we more or less walked onto all the rides we wanted to do. It is hot though! So walking from DHS to the Boardwalk for example, I would not do on a summer trip. There were storms every afternoon (except our wedding day!). We did not make any ADRs before we arrived, and managed to walk in or make reservations when we were there for everywhere we wanted to eat. I would definitely do a summer trip again, you just have to plan a little differently because of the heat, storms and longer park hours. We would get up and out to the parks early and then head back to the resort during the heat of the day and storms, then go back out again in the evening for drinks, dinner and more parks/DTD.

We went several years ago around Thanksgiving and will not do that again! It was very crowded and although we had fun it would have been less stressful if the crowds ever thinner. We went last summer the third week in August and while it was hot and we had a thunderstorm in the late afternoon...the crowds didn't seem bad at all. We can only go that week right before my oldest son goes back to college. Hubby & I went in early December last year and the crowds were much worse!

I would not go right after Easter and I would not go at Christmas week. My first two Disney rookie trips were then and it was definitely a learning experience. I have found I can do heat or I can do crowds. Crowds with heat? Not so much. I'd love to give the week right after Labor Day a try as an adults only trip.

Summer is too hot and too many kids. Easter week is insane. I'll put up with the crowds Xmas week only because its so special for Xmas and New Years in the World.

I like the fall. Kids go back to school. Weather is still warm enough to swim. MNSSHP. Low DVC points required. And best of all, Food and Wine Festival.

We went for the 4th of July a few years ago and the crowds really weren't THAT bad... Definitely not as bad as I thought they would be... We were able to do everything we wanted with no problem... And yeah it was hot, but it wasn't unbearable... The hottest day, go to HS and do The Voyage of Little Mermaid, it's a nice way to cool off.

Actually the crowds were worse in February when we went on our honeymoon. The crowd level was overwhelming. People were everywhere.

Crowd wise, I actually prefer July 4th to February.

Aug/Sept is probably a great time to go because people get scared of hurricane season....And they're also scared of the crowds and heat... So I think the summer scares a lot of people away.

Check out the crowd calendar. It's pretty on when it comes to which parks are the most crowded each day.

Best time EVER to go!! You practically have the parks to yourself!!!!

Great to hear! That's when we're planning on for our next trip!

As teachers, we really didn't have a choice: with choir kids in March or in the summer when we had time off. Yes, it was hot and I don't like pictures of me because there is no make up left, if I tried it and if it rains my hair just goes curly. It can be a bit overwhelming and you need to pace yourself. BUT if it's the only time I can go, I go!

Same here! Teacher too, so you will see me at all those school break crowded times. But one, when I retire......look out!

The tour groups are here in full force right now (spring break) TONS of groups - bands, dance groups, cheerleaders, 5th grade trips, 8th grade trips, you get the picture, all with matching bright colored shirts! They have taken over the parks, MK was swamped with them this week. Going to HS today, we'll see.

There is some kind of dance and cheer competition going on at ESPN Wide World of Sports this week. There are lots of sports in the area for spring training as well.

This may seem awful to say, but it has been my observation over the years - I don't mind the American groups as much as the groups of young people from other countries.. I know it's been covered on here in the past, but the foreign groups are very loud, they chant and sing and tend to be rude and demanding, pushing through lines with 100 fast passes. I don't notice that with the US groups. Just my observation. Seems like American groups there now for spring break, not sure when the other groups will invade.

My wife and I are going Sept7 -12 for our 30th anniv. We hope for smaller crowds then. Having trouble with dining reservations at some places already. Any suggestions?

We'll be there the week before you! It's generally a slower time but reservations for popular places can still fill up fast! I made mine at 5:00am at the 180 mark and still my first choice for a Cali Grill reservation was full. What reservations are you having trouble with?

Ditto.

We hit part of the Pop Warner Football/Cheerleading thing in December. I assure that the American cheerleading groups have the ability to be just as annoying with their chanting, walking 27 people abreast, randomly screaming, etc.