January or March?

[biodtl]

We like to visit in October - we love the weather, crowd levels, and F&WF. Unfortunately, this time around, we plan to go at a different time (we'd rather take the kids out of school closer to the end of the year, various other reasons), plus, we are not the ideal family for dealing with the heat and crowds of summer.

So trying to plan for the next trip, we wanted dates right after a semester ends (so the kids don't miss important tests, etc) and it is looking like either January 22-30, 2011 or March 25-Apr 3, 2011. I'm wondering what the pros and cons are. I think weather won't be as good in January, but then it's a bit cheaper, so that never hurts. Plus, neither time is a guarantee on swimming, anyway.

But what about crowds?

And will I have a hard time getting ADRs at less than 180 days? Unfortunately, my husband works for himself and the slightly erratic pay makes it hard and we haven't booked yet - it may be a little while longer, too. We tend to be flexible with meal times/locations. I think both visits start a few days before free dining starts, so I won't have it unless it's economical to do 2 reservations.

For those of you who go during these times, what are your thoughts? Pros & Cons?

[Strmchsr]

January will definitely be less crowded than the late March time frame as that is very close to Easter and peak spring break season. The cons to January is that it has become significantly more crowded due to South American tour groups coming en masse (it's their summer break) and a lot of refurbs happen in January. ADRs for the most popular places fill up at day 180 no matter the time of year, but you'll still be able to get in to a few good places at less than day 180. That said, they are already offering the "free" dining discount for parts of 2012 and that always makes ADRs crazy hard to get.

January weather is a mixed bag. It can be really cold or quite warm. Late March generally will be very pleasant.

[iceicebritney]

March is my favorite month to visit. Towards the end of the month is ideal. The flower and garden festival is fabulous:mickey:

[lighteningqueen]

We are going in January 21-29 Free dining the whole week.They just moved it to the 21st it was the 22nd. I sure hope it is nice. We usually go in Dec but no free dining the week we booked so we moved it to Jan.I am hoping for good weather. Oh plus the free dining our room at POP is only 89.00 that time of year so yea for that ..

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

I would say January. The weather will probably be cooler than you are used to in October but probably not real cold. Plus that week in March will probably be the same as a lot of school's spring breaks. The only negatives I can think of is that a lot of tour groups supposedly visit in January, but I still think it is the better option.

[epceddie]

We've been the last two Januarys and it was a lot colder than we expected both times. We had to scrap ice off the car windshield early in the morning and it was cold enough to be able to see our breath.
Didn't even go swimming this past January, which was a first, and with all the snow we had up here, just getting to Disney was an adventure.
We're going to start going in May and October in the future. Those months have been very enjoyable in the past.
January is too much of a hit-or-miss kind of month in Florida. We've missed the last two times and won't be scheduling any winter-time visits any time soon.

[TinksGoofyMom]

If you don't want too cold, I'd try March. We did Presi. weekend in Feb a few yrs ago and thank God we had brought our winter coats on the plane w/ us. I was told it was unusually cold but if i'm paying that much to go to FLA in winter, I want semi-decent temps.

[DVC2004]

It can be cold in January, but the crowds will be significant that time in March you are thinking of. We've gone in Jan and Feb many times. We love it for the lack of crowds. But, there has been times it has been downright cold. I guess it is a toss up which is more important to you- less crowds or warm weather. Any trip to WDW is fun though!