when would you prefer to go to wdw

[Mushu11756]

I have a choice to go to WDW in May or the week before thanksgiving of Nov. 2012. When would you go and why?

[Pirate Granny]

We are at OKW right now...the parks are the emptiest I've ever seen...Xmas decorations are up, and the weather is beautiful...May is nice, and the flower and garden show is at EPCOT...everything equal, I would pick the lower crowd level with decorations.

[CosmicRay]

If you can see by my signature, you will notice what time of year we enjoy going :mickey:

[kemps@wdw]

October is our preferred time to visit he World. Better weather, lower crowds, and...the Food & Wine Fest...YUMMY!!! :cloud9:

[TheVBs]

We've been in early May and had a great time, really like the F&GF. It's a tough choice. I'd love to try the week before Thanksgiving for decorations and to experience a time of year we've never been before. But the girls would be awfully disappointed if it were too cold to enjoy the pools/waterparks.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Week before Thanksgiving:mickey:

[Katzateer]

The first week of December or the last week of April.

[cer]

I'd pick early May. We have school-age kids, and I like the idea of going, returning and having only a little school left. There is also the Flower and Garden Festival (not sure when that is over, though)

Also, May gives you something to look forward to in the spring that has little holidays. Does that make sense? Already have big family time in Thanksgiving and Christmas in the Fall/Winter...

I also like the idea of warmer weather then. It makes packing a little easier. (Although, maybe speaking to the weather is a stretch - I have never been in Nov, but in Jan and Feb you never know what the weather will be, so it is a lot of layering.)

On the other hand, I have never seen the Christmas decorations, and that would be a treat. Ok, I just don't know. There are some things to consider....

[buzznwoodysmom]

That's a tough one. Those are our two favorite times to visit. We love our Thanksgiving week trips, and to go the week before would probably be even better since the parks would be less crowded. However, in our experience not all the decorations at the resorts were up till the end of Thanksgiving week, so keep that in mind if you are going for the decorations. Also Epcot's Christmas "around the world" doesn't get underway till the Friday after Thanksgiving normally. You'll still be able to see lots of holiday decor, it just may not be complete or in full swing yet.

We love our late May/early June trips as well. For one its so much easier to pack for, you only need summer clothes, not a combination of everything. We also enjoy pool time and the warmer weather in May/June gives us plenty of pool time. We also really enjoy getting away from the parks and we feel that in the cooler months there really isn't anything to go do when breaking from the parks. In the summer we can go back to the resort, swim, relax with a drink by the pool, then head back to a park when the sun and temps start going down.

Either month you pick I'm sure you'll have a great time.

[mook3y]

Anytime there is snow locally!

We have really enjoyed the light crowds in late September and early October.

We like to time it so the last part of our trip includes the wine and dine festival.

We did go in May last year and we enjoyed the slightly cooler temperatures and still light crowds.

The time we are most looking forward to going is in early December. That was our favorite time to go to Disneyland when we lived locally. Very light crowds and amazing decorations.

[Ms. Mode]

Well, we have been several years during the Holidays; last year we did the Backstage Tour and they took us to the nursery where they were getting the topiaries ready for the Flower show. I'd love to go for that sometime! Crowds don't matter much to me, I've seen them small and large...you just deal. :thumbsup:

[Mushu11756]

We've been during the flower and garden festival and we where also there in December for the mmvmcp . I prefer to go during the less crowded times and I'm not sure which would be less crowded May or November . Does anyone know which time is slower?

[syndrome]

The last week of July! We love the summers in Orlando. That being said.....we did go the first week of December a few years back and it was incredible. Not crowded at all.....the only downside was that we could not enjoy the water parks due to cool temps.

[Mary Chase]

We've only been around Thanksgiving - we love it and I'll be so sad when we can't do it anymore when the kids get too old to take out of school! It is beautiful - all of the decorations up, special things going on, etc. Also the weather is usually wonderful - we've had some times where we have had extreme cold (for FL anyway). The crowds are also pretty low.

[darthmacho]

In a perfect world, I'd like to go in May, because spring is so vibrant in WDW. However, I've never been before Christmas, so I'd probably choose that if it was an option for us. :mickey:

[DisneyorBust]

Based on your two choices, I would go the week before Thanksgiving. The big drawsfor me are decent attendance numbers and the start of the Christmas decorations and events.
Either way, you can't go wrong with your possible travel times.

[jarajam]

We just got back from a week trip. the crowds were very low and wait times were practically non exsistant. The decorations were up (some fully up, some in the process) and the Osborne lights were in full swing. Crowds were really picking up yesterday (Sunday) when we left.We've been in May too, and I would pick this time every time!

[ANG]

Definitely the fall!

[Jezzup]

I have never been to WDW in May but have been there the week before Thanksgiving in 2009 and 2010. It was fantastic. It rarely rained, the temperature is usually around 80 during the day, crowds are manageable (on weekdays), and free dining. Just a great time to go.

[MrPeetrie]

You really are choosing between two wonderful times to visit. As of late, we have only been going down to WDW in October. (This is a great time, with decent crowd levels, MNSSHP, and the pretty fall decorations.) But, we used to go either in May or early December. Both have their appeal.

For the pre-Thanksgiving trip, most of the Christmas decorations should be in place. The Magic Kingdom is so beautiful this time of year. The Main Street loop is changed to Christmas music. There are Christmas shows, a Christmas version of the Country Bears, and if course the MVMCP, probably our favorite event.
Also, there's something about doing Christmas shopping in Downtown Disney that's a touch more "magical."

May, however, has it's beauty , too. WDW explodes with beautiful flora and fauna everywhere. There's the Flower & Garden Festival on Epcot. And the weather is warmer and sunnier. (We've done five October trips and have never made it to a water park once. This past trip, we were in WDW for 10 days and had water park trips scheduled on two of them. The weather never cooperated. The best we could do was swim in our resort in 68-degree weather on an overcast day. Not great!)

The other day, my DD8 and I were looking at an old planning video when they spoke about the F&GF. I told her, you should see how beautiful Disney is in May! (She's only been there in fall.) Then I got to thinking: I really do miss those May trips.

I think all I did was confuse you. But as a previous poster already pointed out: not all the Christmas decorations will be in place. Christmas Around the World in Epcot, for example, doesn't begin until the end of November. That's something to keep in mind.

[kreme28pa]

we've been there during the week of mother's day.park isnt crowded and the weather is just right.we r planning our trip now for may

[tjstrike]

We like late September, early October because of the crowds. We are going to try out late May next year.