Originally Posted By RidgebackLuver I realize this is a vague question, but we haven't been since 2000. 1. We want to either go: Dec. 1-9, or Feb. 2-10. Which would be better weather wise? I know at DL here in Cali, it always rains in February. Is it the same in Orlando? 2. We are also thinking of renting one of those $85 a night 2 bedroom condos off property. We have two kids who need their own room, and I want laundry and a kitchen in our room. This sort of condo is beyond out of our price range at Disney. 3. We need to go on a budget. As tight as we can get, yet still not skimp too much if we don't have to. Where is the best place to get airfare, tickets, and condos?
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb Flights will probably be less in Feb, but you won't get the Christmas decorations. I recommend one of you get an AP as it will save you the $15 a day on parking and will get you discounts on mini golf and a few other things (but not the nice dining discount you get at DLR). If you won't be going to water parks the basic Ap will do you. You *may* find that you can afford one of the suites at the All Stars with the AP discount and that could save you on a rental car and parking. You are more likely to get a good room rate in Feb than in Dec. Also, make sure you sign up for the newsletter on Mousesavers.com, they offer Disney and non Disney room and area attraction ticket deals every month. Have fun!
Originally Posted By bigthunderranch For my money, early December is the best time to go than any other time(I have gone at all times of the year). Not only do you get to see all the Christmas stuff, but the crowds are much less, hardly any rain, and the prices are unbeatable. There have also been occasions where they offered the free meal plan. This can reduce costs considerably. My advice is to get the Disney Visa card as soon as possible and start racking points. I average around 400 points off my bill per trip.
Originally Posted By Disneymom443 Cost wise Feb. is better all around. As for how pretty the parks look it is Dec. Feb. also tends to have more rain, and cheerleading comps. I would look into the allstars for the family suite. That may be better like Deb said. Have fun choosing, you can get dec. pricing now you'll have to wait until Aug. to get the Feb. rates.
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub I think Deb is correct. The month of Feb will definitely be discounted more than Holidays in Dec. What city will you fly in&out of? I know SW offers package deals. Do you have AAA discount or a senior citizen(traveling with you), military discount or Dept of Defense Status? I also think Disney offers teacher discounts. I think the Dolphin and Swan have discounts for teachers. Mousesavers has early alerts for registered users so you might want to consider becoming a member. Does anybody know the timeline for the POP Century Opening? Sometimes Hotels offer early preview discounting for the purpose of training staff. I know it is frustrating to try to catch a discount from WDW. In general the earlier you make your travel plans the better chance for a discount usually. Keep a watch on LP because somebody usually gives an alert for discounting announcements!
Originally Posted By Bolna I think your idea of staying offsite to save money is a good one. Even though I really enjoy staying on property, it really is a question of your priorities. If you want a separate room for the kids, kitchen and laundry there really isn't a cheap option on Disney property. Even the All Star Music Family Suites are at least 195$ per night (weekday night in value season) and they don't have a full kitchen nor laundry. I am sure you will be able to have a great trip even if you are not staying on Disney property. It is way more important to have a room to come back to after a day in the parks where you can feel comfortable and which offers the things you need than who owns the property you stay in. I have been to WDW a few times in early February and my luck with the weather varied. Most of the time it was pleasant and sunny, not too hot, but some days were warm enough to enjoy the pool. I also experienced quite a few sunny but cool days and then last year it was mainly just cold and miserable. But I guess the same could happen in December. I think the biggest difference between February and December are the Christmas decorations (I personally prefer the parks without any additional decorations, but many people really love them) and the fact that there are the Christmas parties at the MK. I just realized when planning my upcoming trip for October how those parties really change the park opening hours from what I am used to in February. With the MK closing early on so many evenings, it is kind of difficult to find an evening to see Wishes.
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb MK closes early on night with special ticketed events like the Halloween and Christmas parties. But, if crowd levels are expected to be low it could close as early as 6:00 in February. I think you're more likely to get 8 or 9 PM closings for MK in Feb, but can't say for sure. The other parks have fairly consistent hours. 9-9 for EPCOT, 9-5 for AK and 9-7 or 8 for DS.
Originally Posted By RidgebackLuver ^^ 6:00?!? I am not flying all the way to Florida to get shut out of the parks that early!!!
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb It may not be that early. I just checked the hours for our '07 trip the week after Thanksgiving which is one of the least crowded times of the year and the MK closings that week ranged from 7PM to 1AM. I honestly don't remember the park closing time for our February trip back in '06 but the crowds were so low we got everything in we wanted to every day.
Originally Posted By Disney4Fun4US Having experienced WDW in Dec & Feb I would recommend early Dec. The park has an added Magic about it. The energy is high with the Holiday ahead. Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party is so fun and there all kinds of other bonuses that are only through the Holiday. I would recommend renting an entire house... you get the biggest bang for you buck. We stay in a house 9 minutes from Disney every year. I hope this helps. Have Fun!
Originally Posted By Bolna Here are links to 2011 February park opening hours <a href="http://www.disneytravelagents.com/StaticFiles/DTA-Domestic/pdf/ParkHours/WDW_Operating_Calendar_feb.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.disneytravelagents...._feb.pdf</a> and 2011 December hours: <a href="http://www.disneytravelagents.com/StaticFiles/DTA-Domestic/pdf/ParkHours/WDW_Operating_Calendar_dec.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.disneytravelagents...._dec.pdf</a> I never experienced the MK closing at 6pm in February (I have been the last four years in early February). The huge difference you will see is that February has 8pm closing at MK on most days with Wishes daily, while in December there are many evenings with the MK closing at 7pm and no Wishes fireworks. The other parks are about the same (Epcot closes 30 minutes later in December). The few evenings when the MK does not close early in December are bound to be pretty crowded.
Originally Posted By RidgebackLuver Yes, but Disneyland was supposed to be low crowds the first week of December. It was packed! We kept asking around and everyone said "the AP holders love coming for all of the Christmas stuff so it's not low crowds anymore at this time of year."
Originally Posted By Bolna I think WDW is very popular in early December now as well because of the special decorations etc. I have never been in that time frame, so I can't compare, but I have seen truly empty parks (not every day) during late January and February. I remember one day when the line for Space Mountain was never more than 15 minutes. But then I also made the mistake of being at DHS on one of the two days that week when Fantasmic was scheduled and it was very crowded.
Originally Posted By RidgebackLuver Well, I think we're leaning towards Feb. 1-9. Now I have to worry about rain!
Originally Posted By Disneymom443 I looked up in one of my planning books and the average rain for both Feb. and Dec. are 2.3 inches.
Originally Posted By seafairy1622 We went last December 1-5. It was really nice to see all the parks decorated. The Osborn lights at HS was really good. It was cold but the afternoons it warmed up to the low 70's. We didn't have any rain. It only rained when we were having breakfast at Crystal Palace and when we left the resteraunt it stopped. If you are going to be there the first weekend in December you will probably be there for the taping of the abc Christmas Parade. We were there for it last December. MK was a little crowded in the morning when we got there. They have the park roped off so you have to go around certain parts. It was neat to be able to see some of the parade. It was flimed in segments so we didn't stay and see all of it. The next day when we went back to MK for dinner it was packed. They flim the parade over 2 days. Other than that we had little wait times for all the rides except Toy Story Mania. We also did ride swap because we had my grandson who was 15 months old at the time.
Originally Posted By RidgebackLuver We've decided on Feb. 2-10. I think it will be easier not to try to cram a WDW vacation in with Christmas. We do a BIG busy Christmas in our family so I don't want to be too stressed out.
