Feburary

[mummabear]

So we normally visit Sept/Oct but are looking to come for DDs 5th bday on Feb 20th.

The other thought is to wait until May.

So from what I can see pros for Feb are that it is her birthday, the crowds should be quiet and as such the hotels should be a good price. Valentines day and Luna New Year celebrations giving more rare character chances?

The cons colder and higher chance of rain, shorter hours (but dont seem to be worse than Sept/Oct), presidents weekend (is the busy period likely to be more than just the Saturday-Monday, more refurbs (I see Splash was down for the whole month this year is that normal?)
I see this year there was no fireworks the whole month! Is it normally a Fri/Sat/Sun schedule for Fireworks? F!?

Anything else I should be aware of good or bad?
Do you think it is better to wait until May?

 

[theluckyrabbit]

This past Feb. wasn't so quiet, if I recall the complaints about how surprisingly crowded the parks were. I think the shorter hours and refurbs/construction contributed to the feeling that crowds were higher -- along with the fact that many people weren't expecting any crowds and got caught off guard. F! and fireworks are normally weekends only during non-peak/low season. For May, if DLR runs the SoCal resident ticket promotion again next year, make sure to avoid the last weekend and last week of the special. (This year and last it was the weekend and week just before Memorial Day Weekend.) That is a heavy crowd time in the parks as locals rush to use up the last days of their special tickets before the end date.

 

[tnzzz]

I believe the entire week following president’s weekend can be pretty busy. Check out last years crowd calendar at www.isitpacked.com for an idea of what crowds were like.

We did go this last feb, I believe 2/27-3/2 and crowds were great, probably the best I had seen out of 5 trips in 2017-2018. However, we did get some rain. The first day it rained for a very short 30 minutes or so, but our last day it rained for a few hours on and off. I prepared for that with ponchos and we still had a great time. Also it really cleared out the park both times, which was awesome.

 

[to be tink]

I believe the entire week following president’s weekend can be pretty busy. Check out last years crowd calendar at www.isitpacked.com for an idea of what crowds were like.

We did go this last feb, I believe 2/27-3/2 and crowds were great, probably the best I had seen out of 5 trips in 2017-2018. However, we did get some rain. The first day it rained for a very short 30 minutes or so, but our last day it rained for a few hours on and off. I prepared for that with ponchos and we still had a great time. Also it really cleared out the park both times, which was awesome.

We are planning a trip during this time for 2019. Good to hear the crowds were low!

 

[figment_jii]

Lunar New Year is on February 16th (Fri) next year and assuming the same pattern holds, the celebration may end on Sunday, February 19th (Sun). The celebrations aren't very big, but there might be a few additional characters (e.g., Mulan and Mushu, and Mickey in a Lunar New Year outfit). Valentine's Day is mostly special food offerings and maybe a few characters (e.g., Rapunzel & Flynn, Ariel & Eric, Aladdin & Jasmine, etc.).

In terms of crowds, the week after Presidents Day can see elevated crowds because there are some school districts that take the entire week off. I recall reading about fairly high crowds that week this year and would guess a similar trend will likely continue. It might mean extended hours, but probably not extra nighttime entertainment.

As PPs have said, fireworks and F! are usually on weekend only (Fri, Sat, and Sun) (baring weather). WoC is normally nightly, unless it's down for a refurbishment. I'm not sure what's going to happen with the parades at this point. I think the fireworks were not presented this year because they were working on Main Street (repairing the street and re-doing the tracks).

For a May trip, no one really knows what is happen with Star Wars Land, but a June/July opening seems the most likely at this point (based on AP blockout calendars). I think there is a chance that the land might be doing previews, media events, coporate-publicity-type events for at least a month or more before the public opening. So while I don't think regular guests will have access to the land, I do think that the lands opening may impact the park in general for a few weeks/months.

Otherwise, as theluckyrabbit mentioned, any ticket offers that may be ending can really draw in the crowds. Last year, the SoCal Ticket Offer did expire in May (before Memorial Day) and there were pretty substantial crowds in the parks that last week (weekend for sure, but I feel like there were reports of high crowds all week long).

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

We went in early February 2017, arriving the day after Super Bowl Sunday and staying through the following Saturday.

The weather was fairly cool and overcast, with rain a couple of days. Our final park evening was super rainy. We also got one warm, sunny day for a dip in the pool. (We thought this weather was perfect, frankly.)

Crowd levels were very manageable, except the afternoon of that warm day. It was a Thursday, and I think some locals came out that afternoon/evening while the weather was nice!

There were a number of ride refurbishments going on (Mickey's Fun Wheel, Pirates, Matterhorn are three I can think of right now) and they were running both World of Color and Main Street Electrical Parades most nights. There were no fireworks at the time.

It should be noted that Lunar New Year was not being celebrated - that had ended by the time we arrived. Also, anything they do for Valentine's Day hadn't ramped up yet. That said, the lack of special events probably contributed to the low crowds. It's a trade-off, for sure.

 

[LizzyS]

I have visited at the end of February multiple times and there are a few drawbacks to consider, but overall we've had an excellent time and rain has only been a factor once in our trips. Refurbishments, nighttime entertainment only on the weekend, and reduced hours during the week are the main things.

The weather has been pretty agreeable to us overall save for the one trip where it rained a lot.