Any dates to avoid in January, February or March?

[mollies_mum]

I'm thinking of going in January, February or march 2011 with a 5/6/7 month old and my 10 year old daughter. Are there any dates that I should avoid ie, presidents day, spring break, martin luther king day etc? I'm sure that I've read something about all of these during these times...?
The reason we are thinking of these dates is for the cooler weather and low crowds. It's my daughters birthday 7th March so would like to be there then if possible.
Thanks

 

[disneyholic family]

you've mentioned the weekends that there are increases in attendance...
but usually it's only for a few days and the week before and after are ok..
so i don't think it should necessarily influence whether you come or not...

marathon weekend towards the beginning of january brings in a lot of people, but again that's mostly just for the weekend..

march has bigger crowds i guess, as you get towards spring break...
but spring breaks are staggered between march and april, so i don't think it really gets too intense except right around easter, whenever that is..

i would think that aiming for your daughter's birthday at the beginning of March would be fine, both in terms of weather and crowds..
if you're going for two weeks, i would go the end of february and beginning of March...

from mid-March on, the crowds increase...

 

[disneyholic family]

i just found this chart of holidays and attendance levels on all ears net.....
according to this, presidents week has high attendance....so if i were you i'd plan to visit right after presidents week in February and through your daughter's birthday....
so that basically works out to arriving at the end of february and staying for the first two weeks of march (assuming it's a 2 week trip)..

http://allears.net/pl/holidays-us.htm

and this is what's on all ears about attendance levels ( http://allears.net/pl/attend.htm )
Disney states:

The Lowest Attendance --
January (except New Year's Day) until just prior to Presidents' Week in February
The week following Labor Day until the week prior to Thanksgiving
The week following Thanksgiving until mid-December

More Moderate Attendance:
After Presidents' week in February through early March
Late April through early June (except Memorial Day weekend)
Columbus Day Weekend (October)
The first part of Thanksgiving week

Highest Attendance:
Presidents' week in February
Mid March through Late April ("Spring Break")
Memorial Day weekend
Mid June through Labor Day
Thanksgiving Day and weekend
Christmas week through New Year's Day
We recommend TouringPlans.com for Crowd Level conditions!

 

[mollies_mum]

Thanks very much, that is great info!

 

[chocolateMinnie]

We went Februay half term in 2009 and it hit President's Day weekend. The Sunday and Monday were very busy in the parks. Couldn't even get on the CSR transport on The Monday and that has never happened to us. The rest of the week was busy but with EMH, rope drops and fastpass Tuesday onwards wasn't unmanageable for us at all.

 

[T16GEM]

We usually go between new year and the thrird week of January, and can honestly say that we probably won't be doing it at this time of year for a while, mainly due to the weather, this time we were frozed for the 1st week, and when I say frozen I mean frost on the car and having to wear wooly hats and scarfs through out the day. It did warm up a bit towards the end of the holiday and we managed to get 3 water park days in.

I would also say that the crowds were a lot heavier than had been predicted, we had longs waits for some attractions, but with some clever planning and use of Fast Passes this can be gotten over.

Marathon weekend is usually around the 2nd weekend in January and it is noticably busier for that weekend, however we tried to avoid the Disney parks and definately missed out Epcot that weekend as a lot of runners tend to spend the day there after they have finished.

I hope that helps you!

 

[mollies_mum]

Thankyou

 

[Mrs Stonfiesta]

we often go at the end of january and if you are staying at the value resorts be aware that there are lots of cheerleading groups (they are like ants and get everywhere lol!) not sure what they are like at the mod resorts but the all stars is packed with them. We went on 23rd feb this year for 2 weeks (stayed at pors) and found the crowds fine, a little busier than we normally get them in january but it was completly manageble - we had a busy day as the princess half marathon was on the day we left and the day they opened the flower and garden fest at epcot was busier than normal, but still fine.

 

[Soprano]

Avoid Spring Break at all costs. The place is VERY busy when it peaks.

 

[buzz for boys]

My ds birthday is 7th March and we have been twice for his birthday.
I think the weather is perfect - just like our summer days with little rain ! The crowds we have been have always been quite minimal the longest by far last year was TSM all teh others were doable and around 30 - 60 mins in each park for the big rides.
We tend to head home around 12 - 15th March as after this thecrowds start to build for spring break. The last day of our trip last year the crowds in Mk were so bad we gave up but on the boat on the way home we were told it ws the start of the spring break in some areas.

I would reccomend March and going for a birthday is amazing !!

 

[kid-at-heart]

A lot of the American colleges/universities are on spring break March and April. In our area, mid-Michigan, we are on spring break from March 5-11, 2011. We have visited in both Jan and Feb and found the crowd levels to be low during those months. (weather is iffy though)

 

[mollies_mum]

Thanks everyone for your great advice