How bad is the week of President's day?

[meggles]

I know President's day weekEND will be very busy, but does anyone have advice about later that week? We have an opportunity to go down for a couple of days (likely Wed 2/22 and Thurs 2/23). We've never been in February before as we usually visit in the fall. Is it packed is saying it will be "packed" all week but I imagine mid-week should be better than the holiday weekend. I've seen some talk of ski week for LA/Orange county that week but after checking the 2017 calendar thread it doesn't look like the local schools have the whole week off. Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[SMD]

They've announced AP appreciation month, which could prove to be popular. This is also one of the times of the year you see breaks in other states and Nor Cal that brings crowds. It's not going to be summer crowded, but there are more refurbs and less entertainment than during the summer, which makes touring a little different. You're not going to walk on rides or wait until 10 minutes for headliners.

 

[Imdboss]

Following along to see opinions on this. We'll be in the parks Mon-Sat (thurs is a rest day). We went last July, Aug 2015, and prior to that it was always in Oct. As long as the entire week isn't like Oct (which is the worse out of all of these) we will be happy! Now we do expect Mon to be very busy since it's a holiday but at least the park hours are long which gives us time for a break.

 

[heybets30]

We've been there those same days the last few years. The Wed is always the lightest crowds. Of course, the AP days is now a gamble. The Thu hasn't been horrible, but the Fri has always been packed. We choose that week from Chicago as our kids have Pres day & the Tue off for teacher day.

 

[Steven G]

Considering that I went on days that touringplans had the day as a 2, and it actually was a 10 and an 8 in reality(last Sunday and morning), I feel it's safe to say that no one can give you reliable advice on this.

As others told me, just assume it's going to be packed, and if it's not, count your blessings.

 

[CaliAdventurer]

We are in the Seattle area and have the whole week off. We have gone every year the last few but this is the first time to stay on property from Fri-Sun. That weekend will be crazy. Otherwise it will be regular crowded if you don't factor in the AP Days and the ELP, which I think is drawing a lot of nostalgic locals in too. You cannot even view the parade unless you line up at 4 pm or book one of the meals with reservations for viewing per my local friend who wasn't able to see it last week. He said they always have gone to Its a Small World Area where the parade begins because no one goes there. Well, Disney turned that into a viewing area for the Aladdin's Oasis meals.

 

[lalasmama]

As others have said, lots of schools are out that whole week. The local term is "Ski Week" for that week. Pretty popular time to head to the parks. But, there are many times it's a lot worse.

For the previous poster re: touringplans, they are often off. Like predicting minuscule crowds on the opening day of Cars Land. They largely function off historical data, and don't look at the local things that will increase park attendance (like school breaks, new parades, nearby conventions, etc). Their program works well for a destination park like WDW, but not nearly as well at a "locals" park where attendance is often a spur-of-the-moment idea for a lot of attendees.

 

[meggles]

Considering that I went on days that touringplans had the day as a 2, and it actually was a 10 and an 8 in reality(last Sunday and morning), I feel it's safe to say that no one can give you reliable advice on this.

As others told me, just assume it's going to be packed, and if it's not, count your blessings.

Right?! We're pretty good at managing our expectations. My kiddos aren't into most of the bigger rides so we'll likely hit up the smaller ones and shows/parades.

 

[Whistlebee]

I like Is It Packed more than Touring Plans for crowd predictions. It seems to be more accurate. I feel like Touring Plans doesn't even try at Disneyland. I've looked at dates in February from 2016 that they predicted as a 2 or 3 but ended up being a 6 or 7. Those same dates for 2017 they are predicting as a 2 or 3. It seems like their predictions are on auto pilot and they don't update them.

 

[starshine514]

I know that Disneyland is a popular destination for Tucsonans at the end of that week (oddly enough, our schools don't even give President's Day as a holiday), as the schools have "Rodeo" days off Feb 23-24. We are actually planning a trip that weekend with my BIL (who is a school teacher).

 

[Steven G]

I like Is It Packed more than Touring Plans for crowd predictions. It seems to be more accurate. I feel like Touring Plans doesn't even try at Disneyland. I've looked at dates in February from 2016 that they predicted as a 2 or 3 but ended up being a 6 or 7. Those same dates for 2017 they are predicting as a 2 or 3. It seems like their predictions are on auto pilot and they don't update them.

Isitpacked said it was going to be a ghost town on Monday this week, but it turned out to be an 8. So really, no you can't trust any source. For whatever reason, probably the weather plus other reasons,, the last weekend including onday was really really busy.

 

[Whistlebee]

I agree. It seems the crowds are getting harder and harder to predict.

 

[ellamama]

All the school districts near us (Northern California) have the entire week off.

 

[mlnbabies]

We will be in the parks on Tuesday and Wednesday the 21 and 22. It's my 20 wedding anniversary so my husband and I will get as much done as possible but if it's too crowded, we will be happy just to be there and be together.

 

[MommyLove]

We're in northern CA and my 3rd grader has the whole week off. Many of the hotels I looked at were booked (2 queen rooms) for the weekends on both ends. Even the Disneyland hotel! So I think that says a lot. We ended up deciding on just a 3-night trip from the 20th-23rd (Mon-Thur). I can't wait to see the MSEP!

 

[jeninef]

We were there last year, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of President's Day week and loved the low crowds so much that we scheduled our trip for the same week this year. After the increased ride closures as well as the chatter on here, I'm a bit concerned that it will be more crowded than last year. However, I'd rather be at Disney dealing with the crowds than at home so it's ok with me!

 

[jaloopi]

We are taking a last minute trip this week also (Thurs-Sun in the parks). I am just going to hope for the best! We fly in Wed, and I'm debating heading to the park on Wed in the evening since it "should" be the lightest crowd level that day.

 

[Gisele]

I agree. It seems the crowds are getting harder and harder to predict.

Exactly. Even a measles out break did not deter large park attendance. Lol
There could be a zombie apocalypse, and there would still be huge numbers in attendance. Of course all of them will be park crashers, but still.....bodies taking up space is just that.

 

[tarheelalum]

Exactly. Even a measles out break did not deter large park attendance. Lol .

True. Even a deadly disease did not stop the crowds. Its going to be crowded every day but some days are worse than others. Expect every day to be crowded, and on the off chance its not, consider yourself lucky. And any crowd predictor website tells you its going to be a ghost town, that website is not worth your time.

 

[heybets30]

We're in northern CA and my 3rd grader has the whole week off. Many of the hotels I looked at were booked (2 queen rooms) for the weekends on both ends. Even the Disneyland hotel! So I think that says a lot. We ended up deciding on just a 3-night trip from the 20th-23rd (Mon-Thur). I can't wait to see the MSEP!

MommyLove - just wanted to say I LOVE your scrapbook pages in your signature! I've got 15+ trips of the kids that I keep saying ... "I should put together a scrapbook for at least one of them ..." instead, I quickly throw together pics & get a shutterfly book printed as we get freebie offers all the time. Not quite the same. I think I own 500 different Disney scrapbook things, but in a corner they sit. Our Joann's had lots of Disney papers on sale this past week, I think I bought like 40 more sheets ... "just in case", and for $0.25 instead of $1.99 - you just have to! If not, kids'll have a blast using all the paper & stickers for some other project!