End of May?

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Gotta get moving on planning that next trip! We are thinking about May 27 - June 5. I see that it is Flower & Garden festival at Epcot and Star Wars weeknds at MGM. It is also Memorial Day! DS is finished with school the week before so he won't miss anything. What do I need to know about going at the end of May? The UG says the crowds are "7" most of those days - how bad is it? Weather? Does it rain every day at 4 PM like it does later in the summer? Tell me, tell me! I must know what I am getting myself into before I start booking!

Edited to add:
I am aware that we would be there for Gay Days, and we are fine with that. We would just avoid the Gay Day designated park because we don't want to deal with the crowds. So far it looks like they are going to MK on Saturday, June 3. I wouldn't go to MK on a Saturday no matter what, so planning around the crowds should be pretty easy.

 

[danny1649]

Time frame this year and crowds were not to bad.Don't get me wrong it's not like going during the off season.If you arrive early and use fast pass you should be fine.We did everything we wanted to do has far as attraction's with a 15 minute average wait in que over all.That average includes all 4 parks.I think the thing we were not prepared for was the heat.It melted us some days and we would take a afternoon break back at resort for a little rest and relaxation in the AC.

 

[iliketoby]

I'm not going to quibble with the dear old UG! If they say 7, then 7 it is.

However, I like late April. Nice and warm. And I love the F&G festival. Even though I'm no gardening enthusiast, I love the flowers everywhere in Epcot & the bands in the evening. And the crowds haven't been anything we can't handle. But I've never done Memorial Day.

If you aren't into whatever they're doing at MGM (Star Wars or ESPN or whatever), I'd try to avoid at least that area of the park. That place is so hectic when folks start swarming.

Have a great trip!

 

[SqueakyMouse]

We always go the last week of May when school is out here. Last year, the parks were much, much more crowded than in the past. Memorial Weekend was absolutely crazy. Originally, we had planned on traveling home on that Saturday; then decided to extend our trip. All the WDW resorts and everything within 30 minutes of WDW was completely booked! Dh refused to give up and kept calling WDW reservations, hoping for a cancellation. At the last moment, we were able to move to CSR (from AKL). However, everything was so busy that we later decided we should have just gone home. That being said, we will continue to visit WDW at this time. It's just so much fun for the kids to have this to look forward to at the end of the school year. Also, since it's still pretty cool and wet here, the hot weather feels especially good.

Note: We found the parks far less crowded at the end of July/beginning of August than we did at the end of May. This was very surprising.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We just returned last Sunday from 9 nights at WDW. Although the temperatures were only in the 80's DH thought it was too hot. That means July and August would be out of the question for us! DS missed four days of school for this trip, so we HAVE to wait until school is out to go again. Our hope with Memorial Day is that the crowds would dissipate somewhat after the holiday. Some schools are still in session into June, so we thought maybe catching that first week of June would be better in terms of heat and crowds than later in the summer. We wouldn't arrive until the evening of May 27, which is Saturday. I imagine the parks would be packed Sunday and Monday, but we could work around that for the most part. DS and DH are both HUGE Star Wars fans so we would want to go to MGM at some point on the weekend, but we could also pick up another MGM day during the week when the Star Wars stuff isn't happening.

Anyone else have thoughts about this time of year? Right now it is pure speculation until DH gets his vacation schedule, but I can't stand not planning at all!

 

[Mcmouse]

We'll be there May 27-June 3. We will plan a non park day and if the crowds are going to be horrible on Memorial Day, then that will be the day.

We like you really need to wait until schools out. We have been there that time of year before and it wasn't that bad. (maybe it's gotten worse)

Mike

 

[mattsdragon]

We're planning on going the first weekend that STar Wars weekend is scheduled, but the dates haven't been announced yet. I'm hoping they do it soon so we can make our reservations.

What the hell is Gay Day?

 

[psumomluvswdw]

My DH and I went May 25-30 a few years ago for our honeymoon and it was crowded! And alot hotter than when we usually go in the fall which I really did not think about before we went down! But if this is not your first or last trip and you aren't worried about seeing everything then NO WORRIES!, take a break in the afternoon and relax and head back to the parks at night. I mean it's DISNEY, we had so much fun my DH wanted to move there as soon as we got home! I wish I was going again (even in May)! Have a wonderful time!

 

[dbenlee]

We have gone the last 2 years on the week after Memorial Day and both times it was pretty crowded but no unmanagable with a little planning and Fast Passes. This year was pretty wasn't to bad on temperature because it was cloudy all day and rained a little each day except for the last day we were there. The last day was bright and sunny and between the heat and week of park hopping we got zapped pretty quick. I say if you can handle a little heat, this is a real bad time to go.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

"Gay Day" is an unofficial gathering the first weekend in June. Same concept as gay day at the State Fair or gay day at Six Flags. More gay folks at Disney than usual. Which doesn't bother me a bit, except I don't want to be caught in the crowds!

Their website says they have chosen June 3 as MK day. Their 2005 calendar had a ton of stuff - Pleasure Island, the Universal parks, water parks, etc. so if you know the schedule you can choose a different park.

Our biggest problem is that I am a huge park commando, and if the parks are open I want to be there. DH and DS are perfectly happy to be napping in the room, playing at the arcade, etc. Poor DS has never been swimming at Disney. He would really like to do that. I realize in higher crowd conditions and heat that flexibility will be mandatory. We'll see how that goes!

 

[lisamomof3]

Everyone has pretty much answered your question, but I just wanted to add that in '04 we were there the Sat. before Memorial day for a week. It was very HOT. Of course we're from Iowa so after snow and ice all winter it was nice, but some days we just melted. Those spray fans and water kept us going. It was very crowded the first three days, we were in MGM for Star Wars and Epcot for the Flower Festival, and of course Memorial Day. By Tues, the Crowds seemed to lessen up a bit. By the time Fri. rolled around it was beginning to get busy again. We followed the iteneraries from the Unofficial Guide book and used Fast passes a lot. Of course I had spent the whole year before planning to which my family thanked me often when we got to see and do a lot. By the way, we are going again this June 3-18. We'll be splitting our time between WDW, Universal and the beach. We can't wait. So, keep planning and have a great time! Since you don't leave until the 5th maybe we'll cross paths.