Never Again in February

[Sparkly]

MK was very crowded yesterday because of EMH (yeah, thanks for suddenly changing that, Disney.), we couldn't move in some places. Tons of tour groups. Surprisingly though, it quieted down a little in the evening and we even got a decent place for the MSEP 5 minutes before it started thanks to a lovely CM.

 

[fuzzlekins]

We were just there 2/1-2/9. We found the crowds at Magic Kingdom to be higher than normal for the time of year but not unbearable. With fast passes, we never had a long wait. Most non-fast pass rides only had 10-15 minute waits. We stayed at Pop Century and the last night we were overrun with the Fifteens at the eatery and we certainly saw them throughout our stay, but they're not only there in Feb. We saw lots of them when we went in November one year. The crowds at the other parks weren't bad at all. I asked one cast member about it and she agreed with my guess - attributed to the new Fantasyland and the Stay/Play/Dine deal. Crowds at MK have been up. It definitely wouldn't preclude me from going again in Feb b/c I'm sure the crowds are still light compared to peak season and best of all, the weather was GORGEOUS all week. We had an amazing trip!

 

[appleorchard]

We were also there Feb 3-9th. Because my DGD is 5, and we stayed at BLT and could walk over, we were in the MK for some part of all but one day. We saw the Electrical Parade on both nights it was offered, because she loves it. We knew it would be mobbed and it was. We got there early enough -- around 45 minutes before the parade started -- to sit on the walkway in Frontierland.

We know it will be packed to the gills for every parade, but both nights, the park stayed open an hour after Wishes and the crowds disappeared. We got a ton done in that last hour, including a near walk-on to Peter Pan.

Waits of over 30 minutes are the norm for any of the popular rides anymore, whether it's a slow day in the park or not, unless you just luck out with the park staying open late or it's freezing or pouring rain. Fast pass use is the only way around it.

 

[Buzzsgramma]

Pulled up to on load car at the BWV 1/27--2/2.....i thought what the heck is going on..talk about crowded....
that evening i stopped by conceirge...she said "its convention week" OY! and the tour groups....I am done with this time of year...
It was DH and I..we are retired...we can go whenever...i will say the weather was gorgeous...

 

[disneyfanlincoln]

We went 27 jan to 8 feb and thought the crowds were much heavier than normal. Certainly it was much busier than last year. The fact they extended MKs opening hours says it all. This worked in our favour, we had a whole extra hour to play while a lot of the crowds left after wishes. It didn't spoil our trip but it certainly wasn't a slow time of year....

 

[quandrea]

I was at MK on 2/7, a touring plan rated "4" day at a neutral park. We are local so we usually avoid EMH days as we don't stay at hotels. This time we did stay on property so we took advantage of the early EMH and got everything done by 11 or so. But for those of you that doubt the OP's experience, here's a couple of pictures for you. 3:48, Thursday afternoon. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. I call the second picture, "Look Ma! No smiles."

And for those that wonder about TP vs EasyWDW, TP had MK as "neutral" while Josh had it as "avoid" due to the EMH. We only went to that park on that day because we had a family reunion of sorts happening and that was the only day that worked for us. For an idea of other times, at 2:30, Mermaid was 70 minutes, SM was 70 and Jungle Cruise was 55.

We always avoid the MK in the afternoons. I feel it's really a morning park. We usually do two or three morning there during a holiday. The first two hours are golden time.

 

[Belle5]

I was at MK on 2/7, a touring plan rated "4" day at a neutral park. We are local so we usually avoid EMH days as we don't stay at hotels. This time we did stay on property so we took advantage of the early EMH and got everything done by 11 or so. But for those of you that doubt the OP's experience, here's a couple of pictures for you. 3:48, Thursday afternoon. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. I call the second picture, "Look Ma! No smiles."





And for those that wonder about TP vs EasyWDW, TP had MK as "neutral" while Josh had it as "avoid" due to the EMH. We only went to that park on that day because we had a family reunion of sorts happening and that was the only day that worked for us. For an idea of other times, at 2:30, Mermaid was 70 minutes, SM was 70 and Jungle Cruise was 55.

This is exactly the crowd I would expect on the afternoon of an EMH day even during a slower time of year! Of course, you knew to have your main touring done by 11! I've always thought people are crazy any time of year when they roll into the MK at 11 or 11:30.

 

[hhuck]

We are leaving Feb 23 for the week... had to change the order of parks as my dad was able to join us last minute.. great, but has us going to MK on "park to avoid" day... crowd level is only supposed to be 4.5ish. Any recommendations? We have two little ones and I dont want to spend all of our time in lines. I will be trying to use the touring plans as much as possible, but if anyone has any great tips, please advise!

 

[2012bella13]

Let me see if I have this right;
I should use Josh's crowd calendar not TP
I need to go to MK at RD or EMH on a day not recommended only for a few hrs - try to leave by noon to avoid the crowds
If I want to see the Electric Parade, I could come back to the park about 40 minutes before parade.

I am trying to decide what to do on what day, Feb. 24 - March 1
Sun- HS or Ak- somewhere I seen that I should avoid Epot because of traffic due to marathon
Mon- HS or AK
Tue- Mk or AK
Wed- MK -reservations
Thur- Epcot or HS
Frid- MK - Epcot
We do not have park hoppers & I have a 4yr old that would love the Electric parade
Try for RD at each park.
TP does not reccommend MK for tuesday but Josh does


Any suggestions?

 

[honeydiane1953]

Thank you for posting this news. Even though I am truly sorry it's so busy, you did a great service for those thinking of going perhaps on a whim. When it's people to people crowded no one is happy well maybe Disney but that's it.

 

[Thumper_Man]

Which goes without saying. I guess I would research the crowds and best park days for my trips before declaring I'd never go in a certain month ever again. My point is that if you do that type of research it is going to be more enjoyable and easier to manage. I don't doubt that it was a miserable experience. I was pointing out that it doesn't have to be.

Not saying I disagree with you. I agree that you and I would do a little research, and figure out the best times of year to go. Point I'm making is not a lot people do or really know the tools to use. We know because we found this site as a helpful tool and we can get/give a lot of information that will help. There's a lot of people that don't even use or know about this site. I actually discovered this site through a forum DW and I own our timeshare through.

First time DW and I ever went to WDW, we went in July for a convention. I probably researched the common websites most people would. I did not know about any of the planning sites, what FP was, or much of anything. All I knew is that DW had never been and this would be a fun trip for us. Now I know better than to go in July ever again. Then I found the Dis and our next trip was 10 times better. We all learn from our mistakes.

 

[mmmcl]

We're here now and I'm shocked at the number of people. So very disappointing . There are sooooooo many tour groups. They haven't been rude or obnoxious, just so many people.

 

[pixarmom]

We were at MK that night too. It was so crowded. I think I know why. The MSEP was that night. Disney only had the MSEP a few nights that week: Sat, Mon, and Thurs. I'm guessing that attracted a larger crowd.
We weren't planning to go to the MK that night, but I wanted to see the Main Street Electrical Parade. Yikes! Me and thousands of other guests apparently.

On the other hand, we had a surprisingly easy exit. We caught a bus (to Boardwalk) right away and were back at the hotel by 8:35PM. We walked to Epcot and watched Illuminations too. That was kind of awesome.

Orsino, it's SO funny that you post this. We did a split stay between Poly (3 nights) and BWI CL (5 nights) from 1/26-2/3. On the 28th, as it took 1.5 hours to get back to Poly, my husband said, "I bet if we were staying at BWI tonight, we could get on a bus and be there in 30 minutes!" Seriously - too funny! We love BWI!!!

And I bet you're right about MSEP. The last time we were in MK at night was in 2010 when MSEP started up there again. I thought we'd try a night visit to MK just because I wanted to see it. And I could barely see it because it was so crowded.

 

[princessallegra]

We're here now and I'm shocked at the number of people. So very disappointing . There are sooooooo many tour groups. They haven't been rude or obnoxious, just so many people.

Just like you are off for mardi gras, so are thousands of others. Hit rope drop, use fp, and relax and enjoy. Check out easywdw.com's crowd calendar asap, it's free

 

[JediMasterMatt]

I think I can assist with the late January – early February crowd level questions. My wife and I have been taking an annual 9 day vacation during the last week of January/first week of February for each of the last 7 years and the crowds have definitely increased significantly over this time – until this year. This year seemed very similar to last year in terms of overall crowds.

Like many have said, the primary difference over this time has been the increased number of tour groups. This noticeable in the parks and the resorts. Also, at Universal.

Magic Kingdom did appear to be busier at times due to the congestion in Fantasyland because of the construction walls; but, elsewhere in the park – it wasn’t anywhere near as congested.

What this ultimately means is that which park you are in and which time of the day plays even more importance than ever. Simply put, the difference in crowd level in a Magic Hour park versus non-EMH park is magnified. The Magic Hour park can be very busy, while the non-EMH park can appear as “normal” off season. The tour groups primarily stay at Disney resorts (All-Stars I’m looking in your direction), so they definitely will follow the EMH around the resort. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any of them park hop, so it’s usually safe to say they are locked in where the arrive for the day. The only time I’ve seen tour groups in non-EMH parks in numbers are unfortunately – Main Street Electrical Parade nights in Magic Kingdom. Also, I believe they traditionally have a “send off” party in EPCOT one night, where Disney will even rope off spots for them near World Showcase Lagoon. I want to say Tuesday night where you will see them out in numbers.

This is likely why some people are reporting the sky is falling (huge crowds) and others are saying they aren’t seeing it.

I’ve been to WDW during busier times of the year and trust me in that the swing from EMH park to non-EMH park is magnified during tour group season. A EMH park will feel like busy season and you can still run into walk-ons in the non-EMH parks.

Late January/early February is still a good time to go; but, the days of it being dead are long gone. You can still enjoy off season crowd levels by staying away from EMH parks or just park hopping in for fireworks/parades when needed.

 

[Laugh O. Grams]

We'e heading to Disney this Saturady, the 16th, for a week with a party of 8 and I've got to tell you, I've never found it so easy to make ADR's at peak hours, even up until just this morning (amazed by be able to add on Teppan Edo at 6:00pm on Sunday & Chef Mickey breakfast at 7:15 am on Wednesday). I figured that next week had to be slower than I had anticipated.

All that being said, we are far from commando-style Disney guests. Our typical day is rope drop at the park of choice until 1pm at the latest, then back to resort for swim/nap for a few hours, then pre-dinner cocktails at whichever resort/Epcot restaurant we've chosen for dinner. After dinner, we might go to the resort bar for a night cap. We'll generally do a couple days of drinks around the world at Epcot as well.

With the early mornings and all the drinking, we basically miss all the craziness, or are just buzzed enough not to care, regardless of what time of the year we're there.

 

[Gamegrl1]

Thanks for the heads up about EasyWDW and Touring Plans...I'm adding that to my notes for our trip next January 2014. I'll remember to check up on the dates for the cheer competitions...I found it online somewhere but I don't remember the specific site.

I'm wondering if the Fantasyland renovation had something to do with greater crowds. Or maybe the crowds just seem bigger to those that have been before and have something to compare it to. We've never been to WDW, just Disneyland. We'll certainly be avoiding the EMH parks and plan to only have one park day on a weekend (Saturday). I bought our tickets a couple weeks ago through Undercover Tourist and we didn't want the Hopper option... my understanding is the place is so BIG that getting from park to park takes quite a while (unlike Disneyland where last time we hit both parks twice in a day). We figured we'd pick non-EMH parks and take our chances, use FP and just try to get A and B-list stuff done and anything after that would be gravy.

 

[diddldonna]

We'e heading to Disney this Saturady, the 16th, for a week with a party of 8 and I've got to tell you, I've never found it so easy to make ADR's at peak hours, even up until just this morning (amazed by be able to add on Teppan Edo at 6:00pm on Sunday & Chef Mickey breakfast at 7:15 am on Wednesday). I figured that next week had to be slower than I had anticipated.

All that being said, we are far from commando-style Disney guests. Our typical day is rope drop at the park of choice until 1pm at the latest, then back to resort for swim/nap for a few hours, then pre-dinner cocktails at whichever resort/Epcot restaurant we've chosen for dinner. After dinner, we might go to the resort bar for a night cap. We'll generally do a couple days of drinks around the world at Epcot as well.

With the early mornings and all the drinking, we basically miss all the craziness, or are just buzzed enough not to care, regardless of what time of the year we're there.

It would be nice if your right and it will be quieter than the crowds stated this week. I am arriving on Monday

 

[Laugh O. Grams]

It would be nice if your right and it will be quieter than the crowds stated this week. I am arriving on Monday

If I get stuck behind a BTG, I'll be thinking of you! Have a great trip!!

 

[Gamegrl1]

the US photographer at the globe...was really unimpressed with their behaviour all day and gave them a mouthful about their lack of manners!)

I love it! Sometimes people are going to blow you off and keep acting up but every once in a while I speak up and let 'em know (in as nice a way as possible, but clear and firm!) that their behavior isn't ok and it's affecting other people. At DL one time, a group of teenage girls were on the Little Mermaid ride, singing at the top of their lungs and screaming like they were pretend-scared and shouting to each other...all SO loud that I could hardly hear the music and voice-overs. I confronted them after the ride and they all looked so surprised, like it hadn't occurred to them that it wasn't "all about them". They were quiet and didn't say anything back (I was braced for smart-mouthing but it didn't happen). The line was super-short so I hopped on again and enjoyed it!

Sorry for getting off topic a bit.