Crowded the week BEFORE Presidents day? And is Feb or May better?

[Carrieberry]

Hi all! Decided to plan a trip for next year. I can choose either between May (the only time we went in May we were dying in the humidity (we are from AZ where it is a DRY heat, and it was an El Nino year!) or going in February the week before Presidents day, leaving WDW the Friday of that weekend. Which is better for crowds and weather? We would like to use the pools and water parks since our tickets include them, but don't want to die of heat stroke or be miserable and hot. Thanks!

 

[HLAuburn]

We're going Feb 10-17 next year. I know the weather can be somewhat variable in Feb, but I personally would take "variable" over guaranteed heat and humidity any day! Our last trip was the first week in Sept, and it was WAY too hot for us to go back that time of year. I would think May and Sept would be pretty comparible in Florida weather terms. From what I have read, the crowds are pretty low before President's Day weekend.
Not sure about going to the water parks in Feb, but if you get a nice, warm day, I'd go for it!

 

[heffalump9]

As my DH would say everytime we plan a trip to WDW the weather record books have to be re-written. Our first trip to the World we had record low temps (26-28 degrees in Feb 1996) on our second trip record high temps (95-98 degrees in late April-early May 2002), this year we had a wide range of temps (39-85 degrees late April-early May). Who knows what the temps will be, when you visit. My vote is for May the crowds are low because school is still in and you can catch the Flower Show at Epcot.

 

[Mich Mouse]

We visit WDW Presidents week every year since schools are closed for the entire week in the N.E.

The Thursday before Presidents Day through Presidents Day is an absolute zoo at WDW. We have learned it is best to arrive on Presidents Day, and stay for six nights. DD and I miss one day of school, but this is well worth the crowd free WDW. It is much better to tour the parks after the rest of the crowds have headed home! Most schools in the country only have the Monday holiday off, so the weekend prior is the busy time.

We've learned a thing or two over the years. Definitely expect large crowds if you go the weekend before!

 

[MommytoPayton&Max]

Our last two trips were May 2004 and Feb. 2005. We are from the Midwest, so it was nice to have heat in May. We liked the hotter weather and spent early afternoons each day at the pool or a water park. The crowd was very bearable. As someone else noted, the flower show was nice at Epcot. There were also concerts going on during the evenings at Epcot, which we enjoyed.

When we were there this past Feb., I did not like the cold nights, which required longer pants and definitely coats. We were there the week before Pres. Day, leaving on the Friday before. The crowd levels were very acceptable (lower) and I think they were better than the prior May. I would imagine the longest wait we had for anything was 20 minutes. We did not plan for a water park, because of the unpredictable weather, and I missed not being able to add this in to the trip. We spent one of the warmest days of our trip at the hotel pool and rented water mice on the lake at our resort, which was great.

I thought both times were pretty comparable trips, with the major difference being the hotter weather in May. If I was you, I would plan it based on resort costs, savings, etc. and take the better bargain. Also, just think how much the next Feb. is to the next May. You would already have a 3-month jump on it if you elected Feb.!!!

Have fun!

 

[LeoGrrrrl1982]

I have never been in May, but went last year the week before Presidents day weekend. We left the friday morning that it officially started. Monday-Wednesday were excellent crowd-wise, but by Thursday it was like night and day. The most wait we had seen fro Space Mountain up to that point was 25 minutes, on Thursday it was up to 90 and they were out of fast passes by 2pm.
Weather was very nice, absolutely no rain whatsoever. Our day in epcot was a little humid and I think it reached mid 80s whereas the rest of the week was mid to high 70s which is perfect to me!

 

[Carrieberry]

Thanks everyone. My DH is in the "sooner the better" mode so it looks like Feb is the way to go. We will probably leave the Thursday afternoon before Presidents Day weekend. We will just expect it to get more crowded as the week goes on. I just don't think we could handle the humidity and really enjoy ourselves. The last time we went May 7-12 we were just miserbale and could only handle the parks for a couple of hours at a time. We will be at ASMo so we don't want alot of hotel time. We just want to be able to rent water mice and enjoy the parks. We can save the water park for next trip-and who knows, it could be warm one day!