A Consensus of May Crowds, please!

[ptrbryant]

Okay, I've been following trip reports and I can't figure out if May is crowded or not! It seems 2 people can say the opposite about how crowded the parks were..when it appears they were there at the same time!
We're thinking of going in the 1st or 2nd week of May 2004...hopefully for a Star Wars Weekend. My 7 yo ds is the Star Wars fanatic and it seems like it would be fantastic for him. Then again, if it's shoulder to shoulder people and he only gets to ride Star Tours 2x for the trip, that's not good, either.
So...opinions, please!
Thanks!
Karla B.

 

[Mickey]

We just return from a vacation at Disney from May 4 - 17 and the crowds were moderate. The only day that was crowded was a Tuesday we went to MK. It probably was because it was open late and Spectro Magic. I know the crowds start to pick up now, but as for the beginning of the month they were fine. I think the longest we waited in one line was 15 minutes. Most of the time there was a minimal wait or we used fast pass.

 

[CEDmom]

We were there May 1-6 and the crowds weren't too bad when all the parks were open. However, during that time MK held several grad nights and MGM closed early for a private function. This left Epcot the sole park open in the evening and it was very crowded. Normally if all the parks are open it's a good time to visit.

 

[Trinity721]

We went for Mother's Day May 11th and May 12th, just to Epcot and MK respectively. We found that Epcot was not crowded and didn't have to wait for anything. On Monday, MK was crowded but manageably so. The longest wait we saw was for Splash Mountain (it was hot that day) for 30-40 min. Space Mountain was a 5 minute wait. Some of the rides in Fantasy Land were 20 minute waits. I didn't think MK would be that crowded on a MOnday, but I guess I was wrong.

I think March is a good time to go, when DH and I went March 2001 there was almost no wait for everything. And the weather was nice, it was cool and not hot.

DH, DD and I may go to WDW again next May as well. Hopefully we can go before then, maybe for Labor Day. I'd like to find out how crowded it is for that time. I know we were just there, but they have such a great promotional offer for the military I feel like it would be such a waste if we don't go! That, and I'm just trying to find an excuse to go again...

 

[donna in Oz]

Keep in mind that not everybody's definition of crowded is the same!! Some folks grumble about having to wait 10 minutes, while others think any wait less than 30 minutes is great!!

We were there May 1-10 last year and found crowds to be moderate and the weather great. Not many lines, and with FastPass, we seldom waited more than five minutes. A big plus to visiting at this time is the Flower & Garden Festival at Epcot. Even if you're not a gardener, the beauty of the park is really breathtaking.

Trinity721, on your next trip, you may want to avoid MK on a Monday. That day is notoriously bad for the MK and is historically the worst day of the week for crowds there.

 

[jaysue]

Seemed not crowded to me but my benchmark was mid-March so it may have been busy compared to other May's but did feel busy to me at all

Peter Pan suffered with long lines probably due to Winne the Pooh being refurbished

For example:

Fastpass not offered at many of the rides

Space Mountain was near a walk one at many points between May 13-19

Splash Mountain and BTMRR from time had fastpass not offered and at BTMRR, the wait was rarely more than 20 minutes posted time

Epcot was pretty quiet - only wait time was at TT

AK was moderately busy but easy to get FP for KS and KRR and near walk on for everything else

As for MGM, cannot speak to that since DS (3 1/2) gives it a big thumbs down

Yes, I am sometimes confused over people's views as well as to what is busy and what is not - I would certainly go again this time of year if the opportunity comes up again - easier to tour than mid-March was (March 9-13)

Thanks
jaysue

 

[sherrie]

I went the past two years for Mother's Day week and thought the crowds were just fine. We used fastpass for splash mtn. then rode the thunder mtn. coaster. the stand by said it was 20 minutes, only took ten. If it wasn't so humid, it would have been perfect, Even the character wait lines moved quickly.

 

[diznefreak]

My DH and I went for the first time May 2- 9. We thought the crowds were just fine. The longest we waited was and avg 10-15 min. but we did wait for 30 min to get on perter pan at MK and we we went on the rapids at AKL toward the end of our day at that park and we waited around 30-40 minutes (they ran out of fast passes- but it was worth the wait. Another thing we did was avoid the parks that had early entry mornings and went to another park that day. Just take advantage of FP. One down fall is the Grad night - mk closes early, second is Mk did not have fireworks everynight and the spectromagic parade was only on one time during our 8 day stay. It all worked out well we just had to plan around the schedule of the parade.

 

[nativetxn]

I've been here since 5/19. The crowds have been killer the whole time but they got much worse starting last Thursday.

I think the first two weeks of May have much lower crowds.

Avoid any holiday weekend.

 

[DisneyFan79]

Just returned from Disney. I was there the 17th-23rd and the crowds were light in my opinion. I didn't find the crowds to be as bad as last May same time. The longest wait I ever saw was the Saturday we arrived and was at the Magic Kingdom. I am sure that Spectro and FiSky was the reason for this. The wait for Big Thunder was 40 minutes. We fastpass and that was the only time we did the whole week. Most rides were 5 minutes and I think the most was 15 for Test Track at EPCOT which is slow loading anyway. Hope this helps!!!

 

[ptrbryant]

Thanks for all the detailed opinions! But, I think I'm leaning towards early Feb., as we did this year...very low crowds, without a doubt!
Thanks again,
Karla B.

 

[DebbieB]

We were there May 9 to 16. The only bad day for crowds was Tuesday May 13 at MK, I think because Spectro & Fireworks were that night. We also went to MK on Thursday May 15 and it wasn't crowded at all.

 

[Pig Pen]

Except for Fantasyland in MK, which is ALWAYS a mob scene, I thought the crowds were light and I have been to WDW many times during different months. The worse I have seen is during summer and Easter. The lowest was probably Dec 2001 or Sept 2002 with this May coming in next.

 

[DisneyRN1]

WE were there May11th-21st. I thought the crowds were very managable early in the trip but got progressively worse as time went on.(still nothing like summer) But we did have shorter hours and other limitations like only 1 boat shuttle running at Epcot and not all fastpasses in use. We have been there 20+ times at different times of the year. I actually remember when Epcot opened--you want to talk crowded!!!! I don't think you will ever have a time when everyone agrees on whether it is crowded or not, but early May is usually a good time.

 

[timbud1]

We found the crowds to be quite manageable. Didn't really wait over 10 minutes for anything other than Jungle Cruise and Splash. Splash had posted a 20 minute wait time so we went for it only to wait an hour...happens sometimes!

MONDAY, MAY 5th THE MK WAS NOT OVER-CROWDED! We were there open to close despite warnings about Mondays, and we only waited more than five minutes for Splash (above). In fact, we found Thursday afternoon, May 8th, to be far more crowded.

Beware of heat waves...they can happen! It was 94-96 all week for us!!

 

[ktglads]

We were there the 15th - 19th for the Star wars weekends being the entire reason for the trip. Star Tours really never had a long line. There were always people hanging around that area, making it busy, but I have seen it the same way in the summer. At 1:00 in the afternoon, TOT and RNRC were walk-ons or had less than 20 minute waits. The parks were not busy and I felt that in 2 days we were able to do everything for the weekends at least once

 

[d-r]

Here are some pictures of magic kingdom from Tuesday, May 6, the only week night that week that was open last for fireworks and parade:

<img src = "http://www.msu.edu/~meece/mainstreet.jpg">

It is still a light so you can tell the parade hasn't happened yet. Here is a picture of frontierland-

<img src ="http://www.msu.edu/~meece/front.jpg">

There were a lot of worn out people that night.

DR

 

[jaysue]

Was there for two Spectro/FITS nights at MK - Tuesday May 13th and Saturday May 17th - the Tuesday was way more crowded for Spectro/FITS - the Saturday was very very quiet for the parade/fireworks - the weather threatened Saturday and may have driven some people out of MK but the difference was quite surprising as I figured the Saturday would be busier

Thanks
jaysue

 

[apagano]

I was there 5/10-5/17. I would agree that "moderate" is the best way to describe the crowds. WDW was significantly busier than it was in the Fall, but nowhere near mid-summer levels. It all depends on what you're used to. Our longest wait was 40 minutes for Splash Mountain around mid-afternoon on a scheduled Spectromagic day. Most of the waits for major rides were 20 minutes or less during the week. We generally used Fastpass for waits over 30 minutes except for Splash Mountain which we rode while waiting for our BTMRR fastpass window.

 

[tidoublegger]

We were there May 7-13, 2003 and I thought the crowds were pretty small. We had to use fastpasses for Buzz and Kali River Rapids (it was broken down when the park opened), otherwise we managed to get onto every ride with under a 5 minute wait or a true walk-on! THe heat was the worst part of the week, not the crowds! I'd love to go in late January or early February someday, but I'd be afraid that we'd get a blizzard here in MA and my flight wouldn't leave!