3 Years From Today! (Possibly...)

In addition to the possibility of having the vacation in early December, another time worth considering is late August. Late August has several advantages, including not having to worry about taking kids out of school, and Disney World has had a "free dining" promotion starting in late August for the last 3 years. Currently worth about $40/night stayed per adult (and $10/night stayed per child), that's $700 worth of savings for a family of 2 adults and 2 children on a 7-night stay, which is a significant savings of about 30% off the cost of the trip (excluding transportation costs).



If we were to go in late August, I expect that the promotion would begin today, and today would be the potential 3-year-out mark. Late August isn't without a few disadvantages compared to going in early December, including no Christmas events, and not being able to stay at a deluxe resort without paying an arm and a leg (we'd be staying in a value resort in late August).



But the greatest disadvantage to going in August is, of course, the weather. For the last 2 weeks or so, Florida has been weathering tropical storm Fay, which has resulted in a surge of rain, flooding, and a tornado. President Bush has officially declared Florida a disaster area, and things may yet get worse.



Hurricane season in Florida is from June to November. Late August is host to hot weather in Florida, with the average high being around 33° Celsius (currently at 12:30pm, it is 30° Celsius). Rainfall is also relatively high, but rain typically comes and goes quickly in Florida, and of course it can rain at any time of the year.



Because of the undesirable weather and the fact that most U.S. kids are already going back to school, late August falls under Disney's value season, which is why they have the "free dining" promotion. There is no guarantee that Disney will offer the promotion in 2011 however, so we'll see what happens over the next 2 years with that, as well as with the weather. I'll add an update in 11 days, which is the possible/probable length of the full vacation.