Memorial Day-trippers

[Missus Toad]

For those who were there the weeks before and/or after Memorial Day, what was your experience? How were the crowds at the resorts and the parks? Was the holiday itself ridiculously busy or manageable? Trying to make a decision for next year's trip, so thanks in advance!

 

[PLibster]

We were at CBR all last week(19th-27th). We came home Sunday. The first weekend was great! Resort was not busy and the parks were great. We noticed by Thursday evening it was really busy at the resort. We were at MK on Friday, and the crowds were heavy. At one time there was an 80 minute wait on Splash Mt. We went to DTD all morning Saturday, and it was really busy during the day. We are planning to go the same time next May. We plan to get in all our park days by Friday and relax by the pool on Saturday. Maybe we will see you around!

 

[kinggoofy]

Everything PLibster said i agree with. We were at POP from Wed 23 to Mem Day 28th.

Alot of locals showed up on Thursday night.

BUT, those dang love bugs were about as annoying as any crowded area we encountered. They were horrible and that being said, it is going to alter our plans for next year.

Trust me, the love bugs were horrid.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

This was our lst trip this time of year, May 24-29. We stayed at the Swan and I did notice alot of people checking in on memorial day. Very busy lobby. The parks were manageable if you want a sit down meal though make an adr because we did see them turning away people at places. The longest wait we saw was soarin so we got a fp for it. We took advantage of the evening emh's so that helped alot. As the other posters said those bugs were annoying. I also got about 6 mosquito bites.

 

[Missus Toad]

Thanks for the responses, everyone! I hadn't considered the lovebugs before-- now I guess this become a factor, however small, in our decision. Hmmmmm...

 

[crusoe2]

We arrived Sat. 5/26 and just got home a little while ago. The parks and resort (CBR) definitely seemed busier over the holiday weekend and then seemed to thin out some Tues. & Wed. The resort was fine on Thurs and Fri but the parks were packed - however we made the mistake of going to the EMH parks those days so I think if we had gone to other parks it would have been fine. All that said, we will probably chose another time to go next year partly because of the darn lovebugs - my DD really freaks out about bugs so you can imagine her reaction to the lovebugs. We get them here at home but I had no idea they were so much worse at WDW.

 

[sassyredhead]

We just returned yesterday from our Memorial Week trip.

We had a fabulous trip! Yes, the crowds were more numerous than our last trip, which was in early May 2006, but we were able to see/ride/do everything we wanted. My daughter even rode the teacups with Alice and the Mad Hatter on 05/26/2007, which was a treat!

If someone were visiting the World for the first time, I would highly recommend a less busy time of year for the "first" trip, but if you have been before and know the ropes, I say Memorial is a grand time to go! It's very vibrant, and as long as you plan for earlier mornings to snap up those fast passes, you'll be fine.

The love bugs were around, but they did not bother me as much as they did the other posters. They were not annoying enough to be but a minor blip on our radar. As soon as I told DD that the bugs don't bite, she was fine. Since we deal with "chiggers" around here on a regular basis, bugs that don't bite are a novelty!

 

[CindyKansas]

We just got back Thursday night and we were there from May 23rd thru May 31 and I thought the parks were busy but not like I have seen when we have gone during the Holidays. We were able to ride a lot of the rides with very little wait, which I think was fantastic. When I decide to make reservations again I would consider May.

 

[dbarker]

We just got back yesterday (May 26-Jun2). We stayed at AKL. The resort seemed pretty full. Memorial Day weekend was busy in the parks, but not so busy during the week. We followed the advice of TGM for which days to visit which park and it was wonderful. The weather was mild...a little too mild for me. I got cold and didn't have a sweater.

 

[DisneyIsTerrific]

We were there from the 27th-30th and stayed at Coronado Springs Resort. The resort didn't seem busy at all. We always had a seat on a bus and little or no wait. We did parks that weren't EMH and they seemed less crowded than we thought they would be. We didn't need any fast passes at MGM or Magic Kingdom, but did get one for Soarin' at Epcot and for Everest at Animal Kingdom. As for the love bugs, I didn't find them to be that bad.

 

[dna1990]

We just returned from 5/27 - 6/3...no problem at all with crowds. We did see crowds, but used simple planning that avoided essentially all of them.

Go early, fastpass alot.

 

[KimK2006]

We were there from 5/25 - 6/1. Crowds were not bad before lunch. As above poster stated, by arriving by opening and using Fastpass wisely, we had done all of the "good" rides before the crowds hit. We then went back to CS for a swim when it got crowded. We did find the night time crowds very large on the night we went back to MK (5/29). A girl we spoke to while waiting in line for BTMRR said MK was empty the night before.

We noticed the parking lot of CS emptied out on Monday and Tuesday.

I found the love bugs to be annoying at times, but other times I hardly noticed them. I did have the joy of swallowing one on Test Track! YUCK!!!

 

[samandryanmom]

We're just back as well. We were there from 5/24 until 6/3 and we did as the above poster stated. Arrived early and did major rides and then FP for later.

As for the love bugs, they were all over but at least they don't bite. They were really a non-issue for us as we're used to dealing with those nasty mosquitos at home which unfortunately do bite.

 

[cwf1028]

We were there for the last eight days. Weather was beautiful until Saturday (humid). I think that is more the norm and we had unseasonably less humidity. The love bugs were bad a couple of times during the week. Most of the time they were not bad at all. As far as crowds go, we used Tour Guide Mike so I'm not sure how our experience would have been if we had been first timers with no plan. As it was, we had a great experience.

 

[Ryann]

We returned home yesterday morning, after being at WDW for a week. The crowds were okay, busier at the beginning of the week as other posters said. We did use Fast Passes a good bit. And I agree about the love bugs....absolutely horrible.

 

[audisight]

We stayed at POFQ from 5/26-6/2. Check in was a very fast, there were only 3 people in front of us. The food court was never very busy, and the lines were short. There were at lot of people at MK on Memorial day, but since we had been there a number of times before we knew what to do to avoid long lines. The most we waited was 20 min. for the Buzz ride. We got fastpasses for Splash, Space and Big Thunder Mt so it all worked out great! Like the others have said, if you go during this time plan out what you want to do before. As for the lovebugs, I can't stand them, but they were not bad this time around. I went last September and I thought the lovebugs were awful at the time, I hated it. Good Luck with your plans.

 

[judykay53]

We were there 5/25 thru 6/2. We arrived early and did the rides we wanted and usually left around noon when it got crowded. If the wait time was around 30 minutes then we would do stand by that way we would not have to come back to that side of the park. I think we got a fast pass only one time and that was for Test Track. The weather was beautiful. Friday afternoon it started to rain from the tropical storm and we used our ponchos. Saturday seemed really humid. That was the day we left. We went the same time in 2004 and it seemed really, really hot that year.

 

[scrappinmom1]

We were there 5/27-6/1...I did not think the crowds were that bad, in fact this is the second time we have gone the week of Memorial Day. The weather was not stifling hot, the lines were not that horrific, and I didn't think the lovebugs were an issue at all. Sunday (5/27) we spent at the MK, took a break in the afternoon, had dinner and went back for EMH....we go SO much done in those extra 3 hours (in fact more than we got done during the day). We took advantage of all the evening EMH and a couple of morning ones. I didn't feel the morning ones were really a big advantage (of course we waited 30 min for a bus for one of them-got to the stop at 0735 to see the bus pulling away and another one didn't arrive for 30 minutes!!!!!).

Christine