Category — a. When to Go to Walt Disney World

OVERVIEW: FEBRUARY 2013 AT DISNEY WORLD

This page reviews February 2013 Walt Disney World crowds, prices, deals and discounts, weather, operating hours, adds a few other notes, and ends with week by week summaries.

[Read more →]

2013 DISNEY WORLD PRICE SEASONS UPDATED

Barring possible typos, I’ve got the Disney World 2013 price seasons updated, and so have removed the “projected” language.  Find them here.

For some commentary on 2013 resort hotel prices, see this. For an overall view of Disney World 2013 price and value, especially in the light of changes to evening Extra Magic Hours starting in January, see this.

AVERAGE DISNEY WORLD NIGHTLY PRICES BY ARRIVAL DATE AND LENGTH OF VISIT [Read more →]

DISNEY WORLD SPRING BREAK CROWDS: THE PRINCIPLES

Walt Disney World Spring Break crowds are governed by two and a quarter factors:

• Public school Spring Break calendars, which are still largely framed around Easter
• The demand of snow-belters for a break from winter weather, which peaks in March, and
• The quarter factor, the date of President’s day.  Later President’s Days (which can range from February 15 to February 21) tend to make the first part of March better

An early Easter combines the first two factors, making for more than the usual horrible crowds in March but a great April; a late Easter spreads the first two factors out, yielding some good later March and early April weeks.

Easter 2013, on March 31, is early in the possible range. President’s Day 2013, on February 18th, is in the middle of its possible range.

As a result, 2013 Spring Break crowds at Walt Disney World will be fine the last week of February, iffy the first week of March, and  bad from March 9 through April 6, with the peak crowds (rated 11 on my 2013 crowd calendar) happening the weeks beginning March 9, March 23, and March 30.

2013 PUBLIC SCHOOL SPRING BREAKS AND THEIR EFFECTS ON WALT DISNEY WORLD CROWDS [Read more →]

OVERVIEW: JANUARY 2013 AT DISNEY WORLD

This page reviews January 2013 Walt Disney World crowds, prices, deals and discounts, weather, operating hours, adds a few other notes, and ends with week by week summaries.

[Read more →]

DISNEY WORLD CROWDS FROM LATER DECEMBER 2012 TO EARLY JANUARY 2013

Disney World usually sees its highest crowds and prices of the year in the later third of December and the beginning of January, in the week that includes Christmas, and the next week that includes New Year’s Eve.

This is for a pretty basic reason: kids are out of school these weeks.

However, not every school district has the same break schedule.

In 2012/2013, many more kids are out Christmas week than New Year’s week, but there’s enough on break New Year’s week to still crowd the parks…

SCHOOL BREAKS AND DISNEY WORLD CROWDS

[Read more →]

ANALYSIS OF 2013 DISNEY WORLD RESORT HOTEL PRICE CHANGES

Walt Disney World’s 2013 prices came out last week, and as usual on average they’ve gone up.

The only big deal for first time visitors is the switch of the third week of December 2013 from Fall Season to the Peak Season, raising hotel prices that week 25-50%.

But there’s some other interesting and unusual features to Disney World’s 2013 prices (actual reductions; effective reductions; new seasons; changes in the traditional dates of old seasons), so what follows analyses 2013 price changes at Walt Disney World resort hotels compared to 2012 by resort price class.

VALUE RESORT 2013 PRICE CHANGES: POP CENTURY EXAMPLE

Across 2013 price seasons, at first blush Pop Century 2013 prices have gone up a lot.

However, when you adjust to this site’s 8 night itineraries, and back out the $10/night charge for refrigerators that’s now gone, for all major seasons prices are either barely up or lower than 2012. But three 2013 weeks have been re-seasoned compared to 2012, and as a result, their prices are peppered. [Read more →]