Okay, we have our 2008 trip to WDW planned out to the following options/scenarios:

1 - October 16-25 staying at the Wilderness. The pros: Son's 2nd birthday is October 18. The cons: the Poly is $1500 more than the Wilderness and the Contemporary less expensive rooms are sold out.

OR

2 - September 11-September 20 staying at the Poly. The pros: We love the Poly. The cons: We would have to either move our daughter to a different track (our daughter's school goes year around) to have the vacation line-up or pull her out of school. :rolleyes:

If it was up to you, which would you do? What other pros and cons are there between the two dates? Crowds? Weather? Annual events? Also, would you recommend checking in on a Thursday versus the weekend? Are crowds that different between the weekend and weekdays?

AAA said that October is the second busiest time of the year??? It has been 5 years since we went to WDW in October and I cannot remember the crowds being that bad.

Thanks!

I would go in Oct rather than Sept, as the weather will be much nicer and the Food & Wine festival will be going on at Epcot. The crowds are very nice in Oct as well.

I love the Wilderness Lodge!

September will still be really hot and humid. I'd wait the month and keep calling back about rooms opening up or discounts becoming available.

Thank you! Being from arid Denver I hate humidity! It makes me more cranky than crowds! Unless it is a crowd of strollers! :)

Glad to know that you loved the Wilderness. It does look beautiful.

What DVC Mike said. October's weather is much nicer than September's, and you'll really enjoy the fabulous Epcot Food & Wine Festival!

Ditto. Sept is too humid--go with Oct!

We've been both...September crowds are low...low...low......but, it's hot, hot, hot!!! One year we went the very end of September going into October. That had to be one of the best trips we had.

Then, last year we went around Columbus Day weekend. It was sooooooooo nice up until the Columbus Day crowds arrived and we couldn't wait to get out...we couldn't believe how much the attendance picked up.

The Halloween Party was fabulous! The weather was much less humid....we even wore sweatshirts at times in the evenings.

Have fun planning your trip!

Thanks! It looks like October. Besides the Food Festival and Halloween Party are there any other major events happening during that time (i.e. golf tourneys, cheerleaders, Boy Scouts, NASCAR, etc. etc.)

NASCAR is in February...we remember that one quite well....there were so many fans walking around in NASCAR jackets and T-shirts.

There's a professional golf tourney in October - but even when I've been there during it, the only things I noticed were a bunch of cars parked in grassy areas on the ride to the MK.

Mark tends to include most things that will impact the crowds in the calendars on the weekly park updates.

Good to know! Do you think Tiger will be staying at All Star Sports????

Another vote for October from me. I am all about avoiding heat and humidity as much as possible. I would also enjoy the cost savings of Wilderness Lodge vs. Poly... but you can always keep checking for Poly cancellations if that is what your heart is set on. I would rather spend the money on extras than the hotel. Food & Wine Festival is great, and I don't know why October would be the second busiest time of year to go, I think your AAA agent is WRONG.

Definitely October! My Orlando timeshare is for the last week of October, so I've been there many times. Weather is great, crowds are light. You won't regret an October trip.