Best Time of Year for a Disney Vacation If at all possible plan a trip to Disney during slower seasons of year when you’ll find half-filled parks, little waiting in line, and lower hotel rates. If you can stand guilt and your children are good students, take them out of school, whatever, to avoid busiest times of year. If not, summer months or holidays are certainly better than nothing and, with a bit of planning and a lot of energy, can be more than enjoyable. These are least busy times of year: second week of January through first week of February (avoiding Martin Luther King holiday weekend in January); third week of August until beginning of October; month of November excluding Thanksgiving weekend; week after Thanksgiving until week of Christmas, a special time when parks and resorts are festively decorated for holidays.

Best Deluxe Resort Disney’s flagship resort, The Grand Floridian, with its red-gabled roofs and Victorian elegance, draws inspiration from grand Florida seaside “palace hotels” of 19th-century America’s Gilded Age. Just a short monorail ride to Magic Kingdom, it spreads along shore of Seven Seas Lagoon, offering spectacular views of Cinderella’s Castle and Wishes fireworks display.

Best Home Away From Home Property Disney’s Home Away From Home Resorts are a great choice for those who want a vacation with all amenities including a full kitchen, living room, and a bath for each bedroom. For outstanding atmosphere choose Villas at Wilderness Lodge with its Bay Lake location and national park character or new Beach Club Villas conveniently located next-door to Epcot’s International Gateway.

Best Resort For Access to Parks Disney’s Contemporary, Polynesian, and Grand Floridian Resorts offer monorail access to Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Ticket & Transportation Center.

Best Resort For Nature Lovers Wilderness Lodge is Disney’s dramatic depiction of an early 1900s national park resort. In its awesome eight-story lobby are walls of ponderosa pine logs, a massive 82-foot tall fireplace, and two authentic 55-foot Pacific Northwest totem poles. Outside is a breathtaking scene of sparkling waterfalls, rushing creeks, towering pines, and Disney’s very own geyser. And it’s all only a boat ride away from Magic Kingdom.

Best Resort Pool Stormalong Bay, eye-popping free form, mini-water park complex at Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club, is simply divine. Three acres of winding, watery delight, it offers sandy bottom pools, a giant “shipwreck” water slide, a tidal whirlpool, bubbling hot tubs, a kiddie pool with its own slide next to beach, and enough waterway to float lazily in inner tubes to your heart’s content.

Best Resort Lounge California Grill Lounge on 15th floor at Disney’s Contemporary Resort offers unrivaled views of Magic Kingdom and Seven Seas Lagoon along with cocktails, sushi, and a view of Wishes fireworks display.

Best Disney Attractions For Thrill Seekers For a shot of adrenaline head to Disney-MGM Studios, where thrill junkies beeline it to Tower of Terror for a 13-story bungee-style plummet. Next-door is Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster that rockets from 0 to 60 mph in less than 3 seconds then loops and corkscrews in dark through a Hollywood night. It’s a scream come true!

Friday at The Magic Kingdom

1. Arrive one hour prior to opening which allows enough time to park, shuttle to Ticket and Transportation Center, and cruise over Seven Seas Lagoon by monorail or ferry to park’s entrance. 2. Grab a quick breakfast at Main Street Bakery. They usually begin serving their mouthwatering pastries around thirty minutes before official park opening time. 3. Head straight to Splash Mountain in Frontierland, then take in Big Thunder Mountain next door. 4. Cut back through hub to Tomorrowland, pick up a Fastpass (Disney’s nifty, free, timesaving device allowing you to return at a given time with little or no wait in line) for Space Mountain (if necessary). During your wait see ride Buzz Lightyear. 5. If anyone in your party is interested in Fantasyland attractions (as I usually am) go there now. It will probably be necessary to pick up a Fastpass for either Peter Pan’s Flight or Winnie Pooh, so check it out first. Ride Peter Pan’s Flight and The Many Adventure of Winnie Pooh and be sure to see Mickey’s Philharmagic. 6. After Fantasyland have a fast food lunch at Pecos Bill Cafe. 7. Pick up a Fastpass at The Haunted Mansion in Liberty Square before settling down for afternoon Share a Dream Come True Parade at 3 PM. 8. After parade, head to The Haunted Mansion and then to Pirates of Caribbean in Adventureland. 9. Make a priority seating reservation for Cinderella’s Royal Table or Tony’s Town Square Restaurant for dinner and enjoy park until evening’s festivities begin. 10. See SpectroMagic parade and don’t-you-dare-miss Wishes fireworks.

Saturday at Epcot