PDA

View Full Version : when to go?



Gymgirl975
05-03-2005, 07:40 AM
We are Texans who try to make it to the DLR once every year (or so.) We love our vacations there and usually stay for 7 days and take it very slow. We are at park opening, play at the park for a few hours, then back to the hotel room to swim and rest---------then back to the parks at night. We generally go in the summers andm ake good use of fastpasses and don't mind the crowds too much. We love the summer atmosphere. We did go in March of 2003 during our spring break. Crowds were low (but not too low) but we weren't fond of the park hours, early and random closures of restaurants, and not having the parade and fireworks every night.

That said, we are looking at a trip for 2006, either in March or in the summer. Our spring break is March 11-18th. I think that is early enough to beat the Spring Breakers---but not 100% sure. We have a baby now---so reduced park hours would work well in that aspect, but we would really miss the fireworks, F! and the parades. We would probably be there from Sunday-Friday, so we would get two weekend days to try to see it all. We could also go in the summer and have all the atmosphere and great hours (Grandma could take the baby back to the room).......but it would be hard to dealw with the crowds with a baby, I think. (Baby would be almost 2.) Any advice or words of wisdom?

sediment
05-03-2005, 07:51 AM
That's about a month before Easter, so you should be safe from the larger crowds. There are some districts and colleges who do not care when Easter is, though.
Note that with a baby, your visit will be different from past ones. Different in some ways good, and different in some ways not as good. But different it will be. Good idea taking the grandma.

bradk
05-03-2005, 08:09 AM
to supplement what sediment said, i think you'll find more-or-less the same types of crowds you had in 2003 (probably a little heavier since 2003 might have been still recovering from the 9/11 effect), but it shouldn't be nearly as heavy as march was this year because the early easter.

Gymgirl975
05-03-2005, 08:12 AM
What do you think, summer or March?
I just realized if we go later summer 06, we could use APs and go again early summer 07. Hard decisions!

3894
05-03-2005, 08:13 AM
Note that with a baby, your visit will be different from past ones. Different in some ways good, and different in some ways not as good. But different it will be. Good idea taking the grandma.

Enjoy the different rhythm of the visit. Soon enough, the baby will no longer be a baby and things can go back to (more) normal.

bradk
05-03-2005, 08:14 AM
summer will undoubtedly be heavier.

i suppose it might make sense, if you concentrate on going in the morning and evening and break during the mid-hours. 7 days should be plenty for that.

MommyTo3Boys1Girl
05-03-2005, 08:23 AM
I for one, like to when the crowds are going to be as low as they can be. This year we went spring break and I didn't like it at all. I mean I loved being at DL but would have preferred to go in Feb when the crowds would have been lower. My favorite time of year is the first week in November. The holiday decorations are up, believe holiday starts and the crowds are low.
Best of luck on your decision when to plan your 2006 trip.

sediment
05-03-2005, 08:43 AM
What do you think, summer or March?
I just realized if we go later summer 06, we could use APs and go again early summer 07. Hard decisions!
March, then late Summer (post-Labor Day September), with APs. And then again in early December.

Gymgirl975
05-03-2005, 09:15 AM
March, then late Summer (post-Labor Day September), with APs. And then again in early December.

We can only go once a year---max. We like to live it up while we are there and it takes a year to save enough to do that. :) Although I would love to go all three!

Yes, our plan when we go in the summer is to get there at opening.....stay until after lunch, then go back to the room and swim, have coffee, relax for three hours or so and then hit the parks in the evenings. When we go in March there is just really not time for that with the reduced hours. Oh, what to do, what to do.

Wendi
05-03-2005, 10:25 AM
Well, since you said that you don't mind the crowds, but don't want to miss out on festivities... do the summer trip. You can take that nice afternoon break, baby can nap, you can take turns swimming (or nap with the baby... that would be my choice!) and go back to the parks for the rest of the night.