Disney trip 2014

[KrisM]

We've been planning on going in 2014 so that the kids are old and tall enough for most everything. My initial thoughts were to go at the end of August right before school starts. It'd be hot though. We'd go for close to 2 weeks, as we don't plan on going again. But, I was looking at the school calendar for next year and the kids are off for spring break the week of April 7. Easter isn't until the 20th, so a full week is in between our break and Easter. Would that be a better time to go? Not as hot, for sure. Would it be really crowded? We'd be limited to just a week then, but maybe that's okay since we wouldn't need breaks in the hottest parts of the day.

[hellokitty]

I think that a wk is plenty for a trip solely focused on WDW. Have you checked the crowd calendars? If you don't have touring plans, www.easywdw.com is a great site that has decent crowd calendars too. Mostly, spring break is the worst around easter. So, if your easter break is not during easter, you guys might be ok and like you said, the weather will be better too.

I HATE weather that hot, and feel that when it's hot, you end up having to return to the hotel sooner to rest and swim. We honeymooned at WDW in late June and it was just so uncomfortable, we still had a good time, but IDK how I'd feel about dragging 3 sweaty kids with us in the heat either. We have been to WDW twice in the past two yrs and always go in Nov/Dec and we enjoy the weather so much and the lower crowds. So, we pull the kids out of school for about 4 days and have felt it to be worth it.

[KrisM]

I think that a wk is plenty for a trip solely focused on WDW. Have you checked the crowd calendars? If you don't have touring plans, www.easywdw.com (http://www.easywdw.com) is a great site that has decent crowd calendars too. Mostly, spring break is the worst around easter. So, if your easter break is not during easter, you guys might be ok and like you said, the weather will be better too.

I HATE weather that hot, and feel that when it's hot, you end up having to return to the hotel sooner to rest and swim. We honeymooned at WDW in late June and it was just so uncomfortable, we still had a good time, but IDK how I'd feel about dragging 3 sweaty kids with us in the heat either. We have been to WDW twice in the past two yrs and always go in Nov/Dec and we enjoy the weather so much and the lower crowds. So, we pull the kids out of school for about 4 days and have felt it to be worth it.

I hate the hot, too. Hate it. I'm not a fan of pulling the kids out of school. DD doesn't like school a lot and I think it would give her the wrong idea if we skipped for a fun vacation.

I was originally thinking 2 weeks because of the heat. I figured we'd need a lot of breaks and we'd do the water parks, too.

I found a couple crowd calendars, but none go until April 2014 yet and I'm not sure if I should compare to a March date 2 week before Easter this year or what. August 2013 looks like 4 and 5 for crowds, but 90 deg days (ugh).

The biggest problem with April is that we're down to a week and we lose a day or 2 on each end to driving. I'm not sure it's in the budget to fly the 5 of us there.

[hellokitty]

Yeah, I definitely agree with you that if you are going when it's hot, then you will need more days. If you are going with cooler weather, you wil get a lot more touring done and won't need two wks. I also totally get losing all those days driving. When we went in 2011 (19 hr drive from OH, so I am sure it will be longer for you), we split it into two days, each way. I thought we were going to drive again in 2012, but I really lucked out and got $200 round trip flights out of Akron/Canton flying Airtran, so we ended up with more park time, due to flying.

Your schools don't start in August? I know that the end of Aug, the crowds dip, b/c of schools starting, and we are one of those schools. I know you are not wanting your kids to miss school, but what we have done to avoid crowds is go at the end of Thanksigiving break (what we did for 2012 and it was awesome and I would do it again in a heartbeat), so that is how they only ended up missing 4 days of school. In 2011, we went before winter break officially started, so my kids missed 4 days prior to winter break, but I didn't realize that the schools down south get out a little earlier, so the crowds were a little higher than I thought they'd be. So, I kind of clump it with the beginning or end of a holiday break and we get lower crowds that way.

If I were in your shoes, I would opt for April, just b/c I hate being hot and sticky and going to WDW at the height of summer means that you are always in a state of feeling damp and I hate that feeling. I would also take a poll or look for one, to see when other schools are out for 2014 spring break. I'm jealous you already have your dates. I need to call our school to ask about the 2013-2014 calendar for breaks. Would you be able to budget in plane tix, if it were a shorter trip? For me, I had told myself that if I could find plane tix for less than $230 each round trip, then we would fly. DH is just so exhausted after driving two days to get there and get home that we felt that it was worth it.

[KrisM]

Very good point on maybe flying if there are fewer nights in a hotel for costs! I had not thought of that.

Schools in Michigan aren't allowed to start until after Labor Day, so we always start Tuesday after. And, we have to have a Common Calendar by county for a few of the breaks, including Christmas and spring break. So, we know those for years out now. Our county is always the first week in April and it's actually posted online. By law, my district has to have that week off. Kinda nice to know now!

Our drive would be about 23 hours, I think. We drive to NH every year and that's about 13 hours, so what's another 10 :). We would need to split into 2 days though. We'd probably do 18 or 19 the first day, sleep, and then be able to get there by lunch on day 2.

[SnuggleBuggles]

With the cost of a park ticket, I don't know if I'd personally plan a 2 week trip. :) I would knock out the parks and when we got hot, we wouldn't leave, we'd find a show or an a/c restaurant...that could be enough to perk up the group. So, I'd be ok with a shorter trip. But, not everyone is crazy cheap like me. :) I vote for April, btw.

[KrisM]

With the cost of a park ticket, I don't know if I'd personally plan a 2 week trip. :) I would knock out the parks and when we got hot, we wouldn't leave, we'd find a show or an a/c restaurant...that could be enough to perk up the group. So, I'd be ok with a shorter trip. But, not everyone is crazy cheap like me. :) I vote for April, btw.

If I weren't cheap, I'd fly :). Going from 5 to 10 days adds about $300 total for 5 of us for tickets. $1200 vs $1500. I figure at $1200, what's another $300? :).

DS1 will turn 10 at the end of April 2014, so he'd be cheaper if we went then too!

[SnuggleBuggles]

Yeah, they really do drop the price the more days, huh? I didn't know it was that much though! I just paid $362 for 4 us to go to Disneyland in CA for 1 day.

[infocrazy]

We are going at the end of April this year! Just FYI, I found flights for $168 on Spirit RT. They are going to charge for water for goodness sakes, but driving wasn't going to work for us since we only had a week as well. You might get lucky on flights.

[KrisM]

We are going at the end of April this year! Just FYI, I found flights for $168 on Spirit RT. They are going to charge for water for goodness sakes, but driving wasn't going to work for us since we only had a week as well. You might get lucky on flights.

Wow! Out of Detroit? We prefer Flint, but could do Detroit. I'd fly us for $200 each. More than that and it's a bit much.