How busy is Presidents Week?

[krybandt]

Just booked 4 nights at VWL during the latter half of Presidents Day week and then read that a lot of schools in the northeast apparently get that whole week off from school. Here I was thinking it would be a quieter time of year to go, but has anyone gone during this time? Is it really crowded, kinda crowded? If we get to the parks early and use fastpass, will we survive, lol? We will be travelling with a baby and an 8 year old, who will be celebrating her birthday that week, so I was really hoping to make it special for her. But not too wild about the thought of massive crowds, parks meeting capacity, that sort of thing. Any guidance is much appreciated. And we really can't do earlier in Feb for a variety of reasons.

 

[twinklebug]

We went down the wed. before the feb vacation week this year and stayed through to Thursday. You'll find a lot of EMH to take advantage of. Some observations from our trip:

Wed - arrived late. We were sick (only ones coughing on the plane)
Thur - hit MK. Lots of very nice Europeans. Park was so empty.
Fri - The crowds from the north started... noticing more New England folk.
Sat/Sun. - Yup - seems home moved to Disney for the week. LOL. Lines were considerably longer. Walk ons became rides you grab a FP for and go do something else. (Hint - with young kids you'll want to do Dumbo: hit it first thing in the AM!)

For the rest of the week the crowds remained moderate. We slept in VERY late every day and took advantage of every evening EMH (5 in all - the lines dissipated fast - even got to see the lunar eclipse from the top of Everest!)

It really caught me how much coughing was going on that I distinctly didn't notice late the previous week. Smart Europeans left for home before we all arrived. Not saying it will go like this for you, but when one person has something around here, it seems the whole school (or workplace) gets it and then they bring it with them on vacation. Be prepared.

 

[dgaston]

I am not aware of Park closures during President's week. As an experienced Christmas to NY week person, I find the President's week crowds very manageable. Get up early, use FP, etc. If you want some extra advice, I strongly recommend TGM. I feel it's worth the $20 just for the Best Parks, Best Days charts. I do also admit the site is hard to navigate and takes getting used to.

I think you'll have a great time. We'll be at Vero, mostly because our APs will have expired, and I'm not ready to start new ones.

 

[drusba]

President's week is very crowded, decreasing slowly as you get toward end of week. Won't get "capacity" closings (that has generally happened only during Easter time, Christmas time, or July 4, all of which times are worse than Presidents' week). However, standby lines of popular rides can get to two hours. Fast pass of course helps but sometimes your fast pass return time can be very long for popular rides (e.g., get one at noon for 6 return). Streets at MK and AKV can be packed several hours of the day particularly between 11 and 4, making navigation somewhat of a chore. Early mornings are often good. Take advantage of early entry at designated park even though it may be quite cool in the morning.

 

[krybandt]

Thank you for the responses (quick ones too!). Your advice has been comforting. My DH just told me to "take a chill pill" lol. We are early risers and by midday can be found relaxing back at the resort, so I think we'll be okay. I saw on touringplans that some of the days we're there are "8"s on the crowd scale so I guess that is why. Other days are only "5"s, go figure. I think I will try TGM this time.

Twinklebug, I'd say we'll try not to bring any illnesses down with us, but knowing my family that's very unlikely, haha.

 

[TiszBear]

I dont' find President's week bad. Yes it is crowded that first weekend but most people are checking out on Tuesday (the day after Presidents Day) or Wednesday. Go and enjoy.

 

[Tracy0729]

I will be there feb 14 thur the 20th I just got animal kingdom 1 bedroom standard view and bwv 1 bedroom standard view split stay last week when I called I guess I was lucky knowing how busy that week is.