Crowd Question May 04

[DisneyFan79]

For all of you who went the week before Memorial Day of May 04 I have a question. I was wondering if any of you could remember how the crowd levels were? I have been in May in 02 and 03 and the crowds were quite manageable if not slow. I noticed this past May's park hours seemed to be a bit later then in years past. Were there lots of crowds this year? I am planning my next trip for this week in 05. Thanks for any help you can give me!!!

 

[HopperFan]

May 03 we arrived Sat of Memorial Day weekend. Sunday and Monday were very crowded but the remainder of the week we had the place to ourselves. It was great!

May 04 we figured it would be even less crowded the week before because many kids are still in school that week, most around here are. So we went the week before - May 23 ~ May 27.....IT WAS PACKED ! It was like when we usually go in July. Fast Pass in MK were timed hours out, lines expected to be long such as Peter Pan & Space Mtn were over an hour. We were very surprised by the crowds and unfortunately we had unseasonably hot weather. Hence one day was decided to be just pool time.

Don't know why the difference unless everyone was thinking the same way as us

 

[Ilovestitch]

We went to WDW this past May (16th thru the 24th) and I thought the crowds were pretty low. I chose to go towards the end of May to catch Star Wars Weekends, Flower Garden Fest. and longer park hours.

We usually go to WDW in the summer- I could definitly tell it was less crowded than the summertime- a lot of rides were walk-ons or less than 15 min wait. The only rides w/longer lines (30-45 mins) were the ones that always have lines like Splash, RnRC, Test Track, Peter Pan. But its very managable w/fastpass, of course.

I'm planning to go again this May- I think it could be a little more crowded since 5/5/05 is the kickoff for the big 50th anniversary celebration. Eventhough its DL that's 50 yrs old, they are planning a celebration at all the parks. Also Soarin' and the Motor Stunt show should be open. StarWars weekends may also be big this year since the new movie opens in late May. -Steph

 

[dcmbshafe]

We thought the parks were fairly crowded when we were there this past mid-May. Granted, our perspective is probably a little colored because our previous two trips were in September and October when the crowds are really light. Everyone has their own view on what "crowded" means - it may be based on the appearance of a lot of people, it may be based on the average wait to experience attractions, it may be how early in the day meaningful lines begin to form. From all these perspectives, it was more "crowded" than we expected it to be. That said, it wasn't anywhere near "packed" in the sense that wait times weren't prohibitively long, they didn't have to close the park gates, etc.

Interestingly, we talked to some people at the airport when we were leaving and they reported that the non-Disney theme parks (Universal, Sea World) were quite empty with practically no waits.

 

[qtwns]

We were there the week before Memorial Day this past May and I thought the crowds were very manageable. I've also been there Memorial Day--YIKES! But I agree that the week after Memorial Day you could practically walk on everything.

 

[kandmwedding]

I went this past May (the 18th through 24th I believe). The crowds were very light on the weekdays, comparable to our January trip. Most waits were no more than 25-30 max. The weekends got more busy, but not horribly so. The weather was beautiful too!!!

 

[DisneyJen0504]

During our trip in May we found the crowds very manageable-sometimes surprisingly manageable! This was our first time there in May and now we plan to return during the same time of year for the great weather and less crowds!

 

[DisneyFan79]

Thank you all for your replies. I will definitely plan my usual May week (the week before Memorial Day) for 2005. I am sure the crowds will be fine. 6 months til the Poly here we come!!!

 

[TiffJ]

So am I reading right that the week after Memorial day is fairly slow? My DS gets out of school the Thursday before Mem day & hadn't even considered going them because of being too crowded. So does everyone seem to leave on that Monday of Memorial day? Looking to camp for the first time but dont want to go when its too crowded. Was thinking about taking him out of school & going end of April but we could stay longer if waited until May.

 

[ladydancer]

Originally posted by TiffJ
So am I reading right that the week after Memorial day is fairly slow? My DS gets out of school the Thursday before Mem day & hadn't even considered going them because of being too crowded. So does everyone seem to leave on that Monday of Memorial day? Looking to camp for the first time but dont want to go when its too crowded. Was thinking about taking him out of school & going end of April but we could stay longer if waited until May.

FYI...just so your aware I believe the first week of June is Gay/lesbian week @ WDW. I remember because the first week of June is my birthday. So if your talking about the week after Memorial day it might coincide. Check for yourself, if you want to know for sure.

 

[floridafam]

We were there last year the week before Memorial Day.

We took the Family Magic Tour at MK on the 22nd and I thought the crowds were rather large. We were only there in the morning.

The heat got to me. It was very hot that day but that can change from year to year.

 

[tjkraz]

I think it's worth mentioning that the week in question was also host to a Disney Vacation Club member exclusive event in 2004. As I understand it, May is usually a pretty slow month for DVC members, but for this event the DVC resorts were at 100% occupancy and some members even chose to stay a non-DVC resorts.

As part of the event, the Magic Kingdom closed early one night to the general public and remained open for DVC members only.

We were at WDW the week before, and found that the crowds varied greatly from one day to the next, one park to the next. We typically avoid the EMH parks/days, so that wasn't a factor. But on Monday at MGM both ToT and RnR had 20-minute standby lines in the middle of the day. The next day at Epcot, Test Track was up to 50 minutes around noon.

If you use FastPass, you'll have little trouble hitting the thrill rides without much wait. The non-FastPass attractions were virtual walk-ons in most cases. Longest we waited the entire trip was 25 minutes for Astro Orbiter.

 

[BABYJOSIE98]

I am also hoping the days before Memorial day weekend will be ok...We are leaving on May 24th and then heading home on Saturday..

My Cousin and I are taking our girls for 4 days and just planning on doind two parks...MK and AKL...So I will plan weekdays for those parks and then we plan to spend couple days just swimming at the resort and maybe Downtown Disney

The little one is just turning 3 and we don't want to try and do too much!! I figure it has too be better than summer time.

 

[QuickGold]

You can find historical wait times at the Studios at http://www.mgmstudios.org/wait.html