June or July?

[Belle1217]

I have started planning our next family trip to Disney and I am having a ton of trouble picking a week. With my children getting older and on very different school schedules it looks like we will have to go next summer! Let me start by saying I DO NOT like the heat but I love Disney...so the summer is it. Is there much of a difference (crowds and weather) between the last week in June and the last week in July? And do the thunderstorms that I have been hearing so much about usually pass quickly. Also, we are not a family who ever makes it there for the opening of a park. We usually get into the parks by about 9:30.

[faline]

I don't think there is a lot of difference in crowds between the two weeks you've identified. Both time periods will be very hot and humid.

Thunderstorms are frequent during the summer months - often occurring in mid afternoon though they can occur at any time of day. While they can be quite intense and drop lots of rain, they are usually short-lived and move out fairly quickly but quickly might mean an hour or two of bad weather.

During summer hours, I would suggest getting to the parks as early as possible in the morning. When things get really hot (sir a thunderstorm moves in),head back to your resort for some pool time (if no storms) or nap time during the hottest part of the day. He's back out to parks in the evening when things are a bit more comfortable.

[Kairi_7378]

Our last trip was during the week of June 25- July 1. (We scheduled our trip to coincide with my husband's grandmother's 90th birthday.) I went with pretty low expectations for the trip- thinking that it would be horribly crowded and that we'd have to eat Pecos' Bills for the week.

I was pleasantly surprised that we had a great trip! Part of it was that we had tempered our expectations a tad. But most if it was because we went to the parks at opening and used fast passes wisely. We had a few designated cool places in each park, carried thermoses, and we had an agreement that if someone was too beastly hot, that we'd head back to the resort. We snagged earlier dinner reservations (our preference at Disney anyway) and used the time to tour some of the other resorts.

Long way to say that if you plan carefully and are realistic about expectations, you can have a great trip in the summer.

[Dulcee]

Crowds will be similar unless you push too close to the 4th of July holiday.

We always did summer trips when I was growing up as a kid. We're back to summer trips this year now that I run on a teacher's schedule. As others have said, if you plan accordingly it works just fine.

We do early mornings to beat the heat. We head out of the park most days by noon for a pool/nap break. Back into the parks by late afternoon for dinner and then we take advantage of the cooler nights. Thunder storms are daily but tend to blow over quickly and often bring a (temporary) break from the heat. Pick up light weight ponchos before, or on day one, of your trip. We also stock up on water bottles and bring along misting fans that we purchase in advance.

[busterthebronco]

we have "braved the heat" and try your best to get to the parks early. The only break from summer heat is from about 6:00 am until 10:00 am.
use sunscreen! the Florida sun is merciless and has made folks sick!

We enjoyed our summer trips (were going back around July 17th) but we also temper our expectations and take is slow and easy.

We go swimming too!
Try Blizzard beach or Typhoon Lagoon!

[#1donaldfan]

It's gonna be hot either of those weeks specified and crowded. We ALWAYS rope drop the parks and in doing so, are able to take advantage of a little cooler air and much thinner crowds. By 9:30 AM ish the parks begin to get more crowded, ride times increase and the heat rises. The thunderstorms are more frequent and sometimes intense, but that is the perfect time to shop, grab a bite to eat or simply relax a bit ... the storms seldom last long, so you can head back out to enjoy the fun ....