Late Jun/Early July - What's it like?

[Pluto]

Hi
We have booked a villa and flights for 23 June - 9 July next year. I know that it will be busy due to the US school holidays but has anyone else been at this time of year and what can we expect? Any advice on weather/where to avoid/best parks on what days would be most appreciated. Also as it covers 4 July weekend I am assuming Disney will be very busy. Will the same apply to Bush Gardens/Sea World etc.
Thanks for any advice

[E. Cosgrove]

This is our favourite time to visit, late May - early July, it's when we've had the best weather and although it's been busy it's never been too bad except for mothers day which I think is late May sometime. Having said that we have never been any earlier in the year only in the months May - Sept. Going in Oct this year and again in Dec /Jan and March.

[CarolAnn]

We have visited Late June before which I found too hot and humid[msntongue]But the parks weren't too bad[8D]I think if you go during the summer months or key holiday periods you have to expect the parks to be busy sadly, but to be fair, that also creates the buzz and the atmosphere[)]
We have been in February too, and the parks were so easy to get round it was spooky, but then the weather was of course not as warm. I am sure you choice of time will be fine whatever you plan to do[msnwink][msnsmile2]

[Elaine62]

we've gone at this time twice, 2001 and 2003 and plan to return at the same time next year. We found that the weather was fine in June but as we moved into July the rain seemed to be more frequent, but it never stopped us from doing anything. Although there were some thunder storms, the only problem we encountered was that some larger rides were halted for an hour or two. The first time we went we visited Epcot and MK on 4 July and this was a big mistake. MK was heaving and really uncomfortable plus after the fireworks it took an age to get out of the park and back home. Last year we visited friends for the day and had a really relaxing time, we got back to our hotel on I drive as the Universal Studios fireworks started and saw them all from the hotel. Next year we'll be having a quiet day on 4 July also.

Elaine

[Nostromo]

I must admit that it is not a favourite time of the year for us to visit Orlando for the following reasons.

First off, the parks (all of them, WDW, Universal, Sea World etc) will be very busy. Therefore, the waiting times in queues (not just for the rides, for food outlets as well) tend to be long, which combined with the hot and sticky weather, can make kids (and then the parents) irritable and cranky. Compensating for that is the fact that the parks stay open late.

The weather will be hot and humid. Personally, I don't mind the heat that much but the (not always short) spells of afternoon rain can really catch you off guard. The rain may occasionally serve to cool you off, but it can equally occur at a very inopportune time and spoil rest of the day.

The villas and hotels tend to get booked quickly for that busy time of the year. The special events, dinner shows etc also get full-up early. So, early booking is a must.

You need to make an early start on most days to make-up for the heavier traffic, longer waits, full parking spaces and queues. Occasionally, a park may close its doors if it gets too full.

If you still decide to go, plan carefully and in detail - from now. You need to choose the days that you visit a specific park, avoiding busy days of the week. For this and everything else, the ideal companion is Simon Veness' A BRIT'S GUIDE TO ORLANDO & WALT DISNEY WORLD. By October this year, the 2005 edition of the book will be out and it is worth waiting for it to check the busy days for the parks, which can vary yearly.

Allow adequate REST DAYS in your itinerary, at least once every 4 days. Bookmark the WDW, Universal and other related sites and refer to them regarding park schedule, closures etc.

Hope this helps.

[Drew]

We were there for these dates this year. I was apprehensive because of the heat, but I have to say that I really enjoyed it - didn't take long to adapt. Best time of day was early morning, could almost time the thunderstorms to 4pm when it went from sunny to dark within minutes, then after the thunder the air cleared.
For July 4th went to the fireworks at Celebration. Very impressive and they had a supporting programme of entertainments - get there early.
Drew

[heathercobbett]

You do benefit from the long evenings,but not as busy as high summer.

It can be hot,but not in the way that the med is. Everywhere is air conditioned,so you sleep well and are not hot 24/7 . You are only hot when you are out in the sun.

Also,it is green which gives you shade and is not dusty.

I echo the advice to get the Simon Veness book and indeed we have one in our house for our guests.(we also have other helpful books,but this one is best)

[Pluto]

Elaine62

Would you advise steering clear of the parks for the whole weekend or just on 4 July itself.

[Elaine62]

we usually do one day "on" then one day "off" so we must have had an "on" day (if that makes sense!) either side of the 4th of July and I can't remember either of these days being exceptionally busy in comparison to any other days we went to the parks. The thing is as some of the others have said, all the parks are very busy at that time of year anyway, it is just that we found 4 July tremendously busy in 2001 and vowed to have an "off" day on any future holidays. Whenever we have been there we have not really been able to just walk on the rides, we have usually had to wait around 30 mins for those that we haven't managed to fastpass. In fact there are some rides that we've not yet been able to do even although we got to the parks relatively early, e.g. Shrek or Spiderman. Hopefully we'll manage these next year. The unfortunate thing is that when you ahve children you are really tied to having to go during the school holidays which are the busiest times.

Elaine

[Magical Dreams]

We have found most american holiday days to be busy in the parks.
Next years Holiday days are as follows
Mothers day 8th May
Memorial Day 30th May
Fathers Day 19th June
Independance Day 4th July
Labour Day 5th Sept

Hope this helps!

We also use the one on one off now we have the twins!!

That time of year is always busy, its just that bit busier on the main holiday days!!