Flower & Garden 2018- best time for weekend visit?

[adelaster]

We've never been, and can only do a Friday -Sunday trip.

Booked a flight out before realizing it overlapped with the star wars marathon, and am wondering if we should change.

Wanted to avoid spring break crowds as much as possible, and due to work obligations we cannot do the first three weekends of May, leaving only Memorial day weekend, which seems like it would be worse than the marathon.

So, those of you with F&G experience, any insight? Thanks in advance!

 

[kniquy]

Spring break is different for many states and can encompass from march until late April. If it were me i would probably pick the last week of April until the first or second week of May. Unfortunately when you are talking weekends i think weekends bring in more travelers, so if arriving Friday try to make Friday your Epcot day (get the earliest flight possible or even consider a late flight on Thursday so you have a full day) and then maybe Sunday another Epcot day before you leave.

Just saw you mention most of May is out -- I would pick the weekend of April 28th -- avoids most spring breaks and marathon weekend.

I went this year for my first year -- went on the Tuesday after Easter (so a very busy week) and the crowds were manageable.

 

[adelaster]

Spring break is different for many states and can encompass from march until late April. If it were me i would probably pick the last week of April until the first or second week of May. Unfortunately when you are talking weekends i think weekends bring in more travelers, so if arriving Friday try to make Friday your Epcot day (get the earliest flight possible or even consider a late flight on Thursday so you have a full day) and then maybe Sunday another Epcot day before you leave.

Just saw you mention most of May is out -- I would pick the weekend of April 28th -- avoids most spring breaks and marathon weekend.

I went this year for my first year -- went on the Tuesday after Easter (so a very busy week) and the crowds were manageable.

Thanks for your insight! Some of the crowd calendars have the 27-29 as heavier than 20-22. We are only really interested in Epcot for this visit, although we might pop into another park. I've always wanted to see the flowers, and our time will mostly be spent there or at Disney Springs. It's difficult to find a source that focuses solely on Epcot crowds.

Wish I could get a few more opinions from recent visitors before switching the flights! Worth noting there's a big work event the week of May 7th so I was trying to stay in town the two weeks prior.

 

[kniquy]

crowd calendars have the 27-29 as heavier than 20-22

then you might be better with the weekend of 4/14 -- marathon weekend is the 20th so i would think it would be slightly busier. The nice thing about Epcot is that it is so spread out that even when it is busy it isn't as packed at Mk would be.

From my experience when i went this year the Tuesday after Easter it was a crowd of 7/10 (based on touring plans). This coming April 14th - the crowds are predicted to be a 6. (that can always change), but even at a 7 the crowds were very manageable. No real long waits for the food carts and we were able to do our FP and some other rides with minimal waits or snagging other FP's. Unfortunately there are no slow times at WDW, so you have to just try and get the best time for you.

 

[Mr. Drauer]

There is no appreciable increase in park crowds with runDisney races. Having run the Star Wars half marathon this April, it only enters the park briefly at the end of the race and everything is wrapped up by late morning before World Showcase even opens. The races on Saturday and Sunday begin at 5:30 AM. There are some minor early morning traffic-related issues on the roads due to some one-lane closures, but that doesn't effect much. If this is the best weekend for you to go, don't base any changes on the races.

 

[adelaster]

There is no appreciable increase in park crowds with runDisney races. Having run the Star Wars half marathon this April, it only enters the park briefly at the end of the race and everything is wrapped up by late morning before World Showcase even opens. The races on Saturday and Sunday begin at 5:30 AM. There are some minor early morning traffic-related issues on the roads due to some one-lane closures, but that doesn't effect much. If this is the best weekend for you to go, don't base any changes on the races.

This is great information - thank you!

 

[bcarey2k]

There is no appreciable increase in park crowds with runDisney races. Having run the Star Wars half marathon this April, it only enters the park briefly at the end of the race and everything is wrapped up by late morning before World Showcase even opens. The races on Saturday and Sunday begin at 5:30 AM. There are some minor early morning traffic-related issues on the roads due to some one-lane closures, but that doesn't effect much. If this is the best weekend for you to go, don't base any changes on the races.

I agree. I’ve run this race twice now and I don’t recall any larger crowds than usually on weekends. There will be lines at the kiosks and they will get longer later, but that’s going to be true of any weekend during the festivals.

Brian

 

[duketennisgal]

There is no appreciable increase in park crowds with runDisney races. Having run the Star Wars half marathon this April, it only enters the park briefly at the end of the race and everything is wrapped up by late morning before World Showcase even opens. The races on Saturday and Sunday begin at 5:30 AM. There are some minor early morning traffic-related issues on the roads due to some one-lane closures, but that doesn't effect much. If this is the best weekend for you to go, don't base any changes on the races.

Maybe not typically but the Princess Weekend this past February made the crowds almost unbearable! I've been at the same time of year before and the crowds have been low but this year I couldn't believe how crazy it was! I'm sure it was something on top of the Princess races that made it so crazy though.

 

[Colleen27]

We have gone for Memorial Day (also happens to be my birthday weekend) and didn't find the crowds to be bad. I don't know how it compares to race weekends because I've never been there for one, but overall I'd put the holiday weekend as pretty moderate crowd-wise.

I prefer going earlier in the spring, just because it is easier to fit a lot into our days when the weather isn't as hot as it gets in late May. We're going to be there for the first week of the festival next year, which will make our 3rd trip in early March. It is a nice time to see the F&G displays - usually warm but not hot, though we did have two pretty cold nights on our 2013 trip, and before the spring/Easter break crowds start arriving. The only downside is that sometimes not everything is out in the first days of the festival; on one of our visits, a couple of the new/relocated topiaries weren't installed until after our trip.