Hello,

personally i like may, ive only been twice before once april & once may, but if we couldnt travel in may i think september would be our next option....

april you will find very busy over easter etc & july, august with the summer holidays & i think this would be way too hot then anyway. may was very hot this year, i thought, when we were there anyway, it was 97 degrees the one day & some times thought it was a little too hot, as you said sometimes you dont want it that hot! there were some thunderstorms on the way the following week after we left someone told us, in actual fact it started while we were in the airport on our way home.

i found the ques ok in may, i think we always got to the park early & knew what we wanted to do & kinda went to those first which we thought would get bigger ques as the days went on etc, you can always use fast pass for some things!

i also think we got a reasonable deal aswell, booked flights & hotel seperatley, was it international drive you were hoping to stay?

Well, first thing to note is that September will still be very hot. However, September is still very much hurricane season and you will find it is very similar to June/July/August in the typical Orlando weather during those months i.e. hot, cloudy and very wet, mixed in with a few brighter days (although still daily thunderstorms). We've been before in September, and thought we might miss the worst of the weather going a bit later in the year but we were wrong. In fact, when we left Orlando to fly to New York for our 4 nights there, it was touch and go weather any flights were going to be going from MCO at all, the weather was that bad. It's certainly nowhere near the absolute best time to go in my opinion.

Personally, I think June/July/August/September should be avoided if at all possible, although of course as has been mentioned on the thread by Karen recently, a holiday to Orlando at anytime is still better than none. May is better, however this year it was very wet, which certainly goes against my experience of far better weather than the months mentioned already.

My favourite time of the year to visit Orlando is end October/early November (remember Thanksgiving in November, you don't want to be there then). This obviously necessitates a long wait for your major holiday of the year, but it will be worth it. We had 11 nights during that period in 2006, and only on the final day did we see any rain (quite heavy rain to be honest). Up until that point we had experienced temps between 24-28c, clear perfect blue skies, and glorious sunshine. It was a pleasure to visit at that time, warm enough (t-shirt and shorts day and night) but none of this sticky, oppressive temps you get during the summer months and the lack of rain was a Godsend.
Factor in some great hotel deals, $39 a night + tax at both the Quality Inn Plaza and Comfort Inn LBV (both booked direct) and it was a cheap trip (we were already in the USA as part of a round the world trip anyway).

I've heard good things mentioned about the winter months, but obviously temps will be cooler so it might not suit your girlfriend as much? Late October/Early November still provides the warmth day and night which is what Orlando is all about really. Also, worth noting severe lack of crowds at this time also, longest wait 30mins for Men in Black (of all rides), and all the water rides including Splash Mountain basically walk straight on. Perfect.

HTH

i would 2nd october!
when we first went,it was in sept.i found the queues,to be quite long & the weather,was hot & sticky,with rain most afternoons.
our further 3 visits,have all been,the last week in oct,first week in nov.the queues,seem to be alot more manageable & the weather,has always been perfect.last year we had rain,one morning but it had cleared up,by about 10a.m.the weather was hot,but not a sticky hot,which i think is,alot more pleasant.i also love MNSSHP,at the magic kingdom & we always go,on the 31st & have a fantastic night.
we already have our townhouse booked,for oct next year & can't wait!!!!!!!!!!
tracy

Yes I agree. If I could go any time, it would be October. Decent weather and not too crowded. Of course prices will be higher for English half-term week at the end of October, so if not tied to school holidays, best to avoid that week.

i've booked 22nd of september for two weeks, hopefully weather will be fine.

Ive just booked June 17th 2010.

So far, I've been Feb, May, July, August and September and due to go again on 26th October.

Out of all of them, May was my favourite. Not too busy, weather glorious without the heavy torrential afternoon downpours associated with the main summer months.

We are going for the first time 2nd April 2010 easter holidays. We have to go in school holidays and thought this was the best school holiday to go for (don't like being away from family at Christmas) October would be good but a week isn't long enough.

Hi Louise, you should definitely be prepared for it to be mega busy then. I believe Easter and Christmas are the two busiest times. Still though, I bet you have a fabulous time and I'm sure you will want to go back.

Just a word of advice though, don't rule out going for 7 days in the future (especially if you can get a good deal). We went for 7 days in August 2006 and paid a total of £1356 for 2 adults plus 2 children (then aged 12 & 9). That was with Airtours before they were gobbled up by TC. Last year we went in July for 2 weeks and paid just over £3,000 with Direct Holidays. Going again with Virgin in October at a cost of £2200 for 7 days. It's actually surprising the amount you can pack into 7 days. Strangely enough, we were more exhausted after 14 days in Orlando. I have a theory that my 40 something body has only enough stamina for 7 days and then wants to come home to sleep in its own bed.

One thing I regularly do is price up different options at different times of year, just out of curiosity really. A couple of weeks ago, I could have got 29th March - 8th April 2010 (Easter Holidays) in a 3* villa in Orlando for £1608 that included flights from Manchester via Philadelphia with US Airways from the Opodo site. Putting those dates in now brings back a price of £2158 and that's just to stay in the Howard Johnson (a motel on I-Drive). Now don't get me wrong, I'm no snob and I've stayed in plenty of motels, and quite comfortable ones at that, but even I would baulk at a motel when I could have had a villa. Biggest problem with sites like those I mentioned though is being able to pay up front. They don't 'do' deposits.

Hi yeh I know it will be busy but I work in a school so no choice with the hols, whenever we go on hol now its busy, seemed to get a good deal 5 of us £4000 with Virgin

Hi Louise, I work in a school too, so I completely understand. When we went in May 06, I was lucky enough to have an understanding HT who let me have the Friday off the week before the May half term started. Saying that, they probably owed me hours and hours of unpaid overtime.

Know what you mean KH2508 but I love it

September is good. Later and you get smaller queue's but the "love-bugs". Ealier in Sept. ang longer queue's but no luv-bugs.

Last year went for two week sin late Sept. and these critters are a real pain. They don't bite but they are EVERYWHERE. This time (in 3 and a half weeks thank God) we are off again and will miss the bugs. I expect the weather will be slightly drier than June/July/Aug, the nights will be slightly cooler but overall will be better than mid summer.

Been perhaps 20-22 time to the states over the past 25 years - generally in the summer months and found central Florida to be really consistent with regard to rainfall and temp's throughout the summer months. However, was there a couple of months back (Ft Lauderdale) for one night prior to boarding a cruise in late Jan or early Feb (I forget which now) and it was damn freezing at 10pm of an evening but great after 10am in the morning.

Sept 7th 2009 is Labour Day in the US - so best avoided for the theme parks (5/6 likewise) I suspect they will be busy that weekend.