Well, the Edwards family is planning a trip to Disney World. If anything will inspire me to start blogging again, it will be Disney! In fact, we used to have a Disney blog. We took a huge trip in 2010, fell in love, and could not get enough of all things Mouse-related. We even got free press passes to Disney events in the Atlanta area! It was glorious.
Dang...I may need to start that thing back up again...
Anyways, I will attempt to walk you all through the beginning to end journey of planning a trip to Walt Disney World. It can be confusing. It can be overwhelming. It can make you cry...but not the good kind of cry like when you are 31 years old and Cinderella gives you a hug and you don't care that you are 31 years old because CINDERELLA JUST HUGGED YOU!!!
BEFORE you start researching where to find Cinderella for your hug or which rides are best for your 3 year old or your 13 year old, stop. Take a breath. Calm down.
Simply determine when to go.
Some of you can't help it. You get one week off and its in July or December and the crowds will swallow you up. That post will be for a later date...I can help you! And, you will still have a magical time.
But, for most of you...you just want to go to Disney. You want it to be inexpensive and worry-free.
Fortunately, inexpensive and worry-free (read: "crowd-free") go hand in hand at Disney.
1. Go during the "Value Season"
We once found a chart, buried at the bottom of the internet, in the same place where the government keeps the Indiana Jones Ark, that had all the room rates and the different "seasons" for Disney. When I find it again, I will post it for you. But, until then, just know that Summer is NOT a "Value Season". September, October, parts of November, January and February have majority "Value Season" pricing. But, the prices per night goes up slightly ($20 or so) for weekends and the price goes into another category of season if its near a Holiday or 3-Day Weekend. So, even though school is in session and crowds are typically light in September, the week of Labor Day will still be more expensive.
I have got to find that stinking chart...
(Edit: Here's the link to the chart and a great Disney website)
2. Avoid Holidays and 3-Day Weekends
As mentioned above. February is a fantastic time to go! Except for President's Day weekend. October is beautiful! Great weather! No crowds! Except for Columbus Day.
If you aren't certain when to go, just Google "WDW Crowd Calendar 2012". Lots and lots of people have tracked the crowds for you already. It will give you a good idea for your trip.
For instance...
This is December. Yellow =Heavy. Red = Out of Control Purple = We warned you! Black = Crushing Crowd.
Do not go the week of Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here's July
See? Holidays are evil. Weekends are also not awesome. Even yellow means 30-90 minute waits for rides, or longer for the major attractions.
Now, follow me to Disney heaven...
Ahhhhh, Sweet September. It even looks calm, doesn't it? Green and blue mean, "Come on in! The water's fine! Want to ride Peter Pan 3 times in a row? Sure! What's stopping you? Want to eat lunch when you are hungry without waiting in a 30 minute line for a lemonade? Of course!!! Right this way..."
"But Sara!" many of you are saying, "My kids will be in school!"
Um...yeah...so?? Its totally worth it. At least when the kids are young. My children go to a VERY academic school. However, its still only Kindergarten and Pre-k. I asked my friend, a 2nd grade teacher, and she said that its often better to give the teachers the option to collect the homework while the kids are gone. I guess collecting as the class works is easier than putting together a gigantic packet ahead of time. Our teachers have always opted to do a packet ahead of time and our kids did not miss a beat when they came back to school. I am SURE this gets harder when your kids are middle school or high school, but most Disney trips are for the young 'uns, anyways, right?
3. Try to avoid weekends
Even during September, we were SHOCKED to find we had to wait 30 minutes for Peter Pan when we went to Magic Kingdom on a Sunday. We'd just been on Thursday and had the run of the park. However, 30 minutes would be a dream come true for someone going the week of Christmas, so its all relative.
4. Consider Extra Magic Hours
If you stay on Disney Property, you get to use Extra Magic Hours. You get to enter certain parks on certain days an hour earlier than opening or stay up to 3 hours later after closing. Our favorite is Sunday...Magic Kingdom's Extra Magic Hours that mean getting to stay in the park until Midnight. Our 5 and 3 year old were full throttle the entire day and Disney truly is Extra Magical at night.
HOWEVER, when you are planning which parks to go to on which days and are staying off Disney Property...avoid those days like the plague. They are busier. This is not such a big deal in "Value Season" but it is a MUST to avoid a park with Extra Magic Hours during busy seasons...and that includes people staying on Disney property.
Here is the current Extra Magic Hours schedule (although Disney likes to change this frequently):
Morning
Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat. Sun.
AK Epcot X MK X HS X
Evening
Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat. Sun.
HS X X X Epcot X MK
(AK=Animal Kingdom, MK=Magic Kingdom, HS=Hollywood Studios)
5. Hidden Obstacles
We did our research last year and picked a pleasant little weekend in March for a quick Disney trip. Our first day was splendid. The 2nd day, although the Crowd Calendars predicted a very slow (on a scale of 1-10, it was a 2) day, it was CRUSHING! It ended up being a 10 day crowd! And the park was only staffed for a light crowd. Turns out it was Mardis Gras weekend and New Orleans schools bussed ALL (apparently) of their kids over to Disney World to escape the madness. We were constantly in line behind groups of 50-100 kids all in coordinated shirts from different schools in Louisiana. Avoid Disney the weekend of Mardis Gras.Also, if going in the Fall, get on Disney's site and look up the "Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween" calendar. Starting in Sept, on selected days, Disney kicks out the Magic Kingdom visitors at 7pm to allow in the guests for the special Halloween event. You may inadvertently pay for a full day at MK only to get booted out of the park 2 hours early. Technically, you can stay in the park, but you won't be allowed on any rides without the special "Not So Scary" stamp on your hand....which will cost you dearly to get ($50-$70/person). We plan our Sept. trips around this Calendar more than any other. The same will be true in Nov./Dec. for "Mickey's Christmas Party".
SO...
That is the theory. Here is the practice.
The Edwards family Googles "Crowd Calendars", does some research, discusses what WE want from our vacation, then make a calendar in Excel of September...we write in the different Crowd Calendar numbers, EMH days, and Mickey's Not So Scary days on it.
We pick a week in September that avoids Holidays....it will still be HOT...but so be it.
Saturday - Travel
Sunday - Magic Kingdom (love Extra Magic Hours!)
Monday - Epcot (don't need EMH...Epcot is huge and my kids will be exhausted before the end of the day)
Tuesday - REST (ALWAYS REST. That's a post in itself)
Wednesday - Animal Kingdom (park closes at 5 so there's no need to consider PM EMH)
Thursday - Hollywood Studios
Friday - Magic Kingdom (we always do MK twice. Future post again)
Saturday - Travel
PLEASE contact Yankee Peach if you have questions. Is this a record long post and there is still so much to consider.
My family has now moved on to Determining Our Budget, Where to Stay, Considering the Dining Plan, Arguing over If Our Kids Need Naps, and are ALMOST to the fun part of Where To Eat and What Rides to Ride.
You will be a part of all of these choices in an effort to help you plan your trip to the MOST Magical Place on Earth!
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