How to Use This Topic - The Easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit 2015 - page 2

How Long to Stay [Chapter 3]
Wonderful Walt Disney World vacations come in all shapes and sizes, with guests enjoying
trips that last anywhere from just one day to as long as several weeks. However, for a once
in a lifetime trip, we recommend spending nine days in Orlando.
Guests planning to return enjoy the ability to ease into visiting the theme parks with
shorter trips of four or so days, knowing they can catch missed attractions and experiences
in the future. Those planning once-in-a-lifetime style vacations are best served pushing
their stay to eight or nine days. This affords the opportunity to enjoy most of the best of
Walt Disney World, and also allows a mixture of longer days in the theme parks tempered
by more relaxing downtime back at the resort. While a longer trip will be more expensive
than a shorter one, fixed travel costs and the way Disney prices tickets make the per-day
costs of a longer trip significantly lower.
Shorter stays are often rewarding and enjoyable for everyone involved, but the limited
time necessitates skipping key experiences and often requires a more ambitious schedule
with fewer opportunities to relax.
When to Go [Chapter 4]
If you can, visit Disney World at some point between the day after the Martin Luther King
Day holiday in January until the Thursday before President's Day in February, or the two
weeks beginning the Sunday after Thanksgiving.
In picking dates, it's important to consider crowd levels, pricing, weather, possible re-
furbishments, and special events. Our specialty is honing in on the less crowded times to
visit, when wait times are lower at attractions, lines are shorter at stores and dining venues,
and there's less congestion inside the parks. Lower crowds means being able to do more in
a less stressful environment. From there, we typically prioritize lower resort pricing, fol-
lowed by weather, refurbishments, and special events.
Based on these factors—but especially low crowds and lower prices—we recommend
the following weeks:
• From the day after the Martin Luther King Day holiday in January until the
Thursday before President's Day in February
• The last week of February through the first week of March
• The week that begins the Sunday after Easter until mid-May
• From the day after Labor Day through the rest of September
• The last two weeks of October
• November after Veterans Day until the Saturday before Thanksgiving
• The two weeks beginning the Sunday after Thanksgiving
Among these, Josh recommends the late January and early February dates, with the
lowest prices, comfortable daytime temperatures, and some of the lowest crowds of the
year. Dave prefers the two weeks after Thanksgiving, which marry below average-crowds
and prices with Disney World's astonishing Christmas displays and offerings like Holidays
Around the World and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party.