Late August or Thanksgiving

[Boom Baby]

I can't decide - visit WDW this summer in late August for 2 weeks or visit the week of Thanksgiving for 1 week. There are pros and cons to both. Any suggestions or opinions? I'd love to hear what others think. Thanks.

By the way its me, DH, DD age 8, DS age 5 and baby (DS) either 9 m or 12 m, depending on the timing.

[SBETigg]

Tough one. Two weeks are better than one, and August crowds were very manageable for us last year. But, you should know that it is nearly unbearably hot. We love the heat and had been in August before, and it still surprised us and slowed us down. If I had little ones, I would never go in August again. We saw so many fussy, very unhappy babies in the parks. But, you know how your kids handle heat and if you're from a Southern state, or a hot and sticky place in the summer months, it may be very tolerable in August if you plan well.

[Strmchsr]

While I agree that 2 weeks is always better, and the crowds would be WAY better during late August than Thanksgiving, I also agree with SBETigg that August heat/humidity would probably be WAY to overwhelming for a 9month old child. It's almost overwhelming for me and I live in the deep south. If you decide to do August, for health's sake please take a break during the hottest part of the day (1 to 5 pm), use LOTS of sunscreen (on everyone, but especially the kids), and be sure all of you drink a water bottle basically every 60-90 minutes. If you just do mornings and evenings in the park (very doable since you'd have 2 weeks and wouldn't be rushed) you might could get by with everything okay. It'll be tough on the 9 month old no matter what.

[Jasper]

While there is always the chance that you may get a cool spell in August I would not count on it lasting for two weeks. And, as others have already said, taking a babe in arms to someplace that hot and muggy is just not a good thing to do.

In addition to the cooler weather the Thanksgiving trip would also allow you to see the Christmas decorations in all their glory. (Some are turned on before Thanksgiving but EVERYTHING is on starting the day after Thanksgiving.)

We have taken the majority of our WDW trips around the Thanksgiving time frame and have really enjoyed it. As far as crowds go if you can time your trip to either leave WDW the day before or arrive at WDW the Sunday after Thanksgiving the size of the crowds will be far different than the days from Thanksgiving through the Sunday after.

One thing I do wonder though is why you could do two weeks in August but only one week in November? If you shared that with us we might be able to provide more help.

[Boom Baby]

Thanks for the input! We can do the 2 weeks in August because it is before school starts for my older kids, they start after Labor Day, later than most schools. I would have to pull them out of school for a few days before Thanksgiving, I can't do more than a week that time of year. We are from Pennsylvania, the heat may be too much for the kids. I was half thinking with 2 weeks we could do mornings and evenings at the parks with nap time/swim time at the hotel during the heat of the day. But if the heat of the day starts at 8 am and lasts till 8 pm, we'd be done for. We did go in early September one year when my oldest was 2, it was hot but I don't remember it slowing us down. It's a tough one!!

[Lizzie]

I would do the two weeks at the end of August. It may be warm but you have more time and smaller crowds. And the waterparks and the pools at the hotel are so much fun!