How crowded WAS Presidents week?

[Muffy]

Anyone just back? We are planning next years trip and considering presidents week. DD has that week off from school so it would be very convienent to vist WDW at that time. We usually take her out of school and go right after Christmas but that is getting harder and harder to do. The great part about visiting right after Christmas is low crowds (at least after the NY) I am hearing that the parks are managable during Presidents week but how crowded is managable? We really want to avoid huge crowds. Thanks!

Muffy

 

[Big Disney Fan]

I'm just back. We visited the parks in the couple of weeks leading up to Presidents' W/end and never had to queue for more than 10 minutes!!! However, we visited MK on the Saturday of P.W. and what a difference!!!! The park was crowded, with queues of 1 hour plus for rides like Splash Mountain, B.T. Mountain, etc. We couldn't believe the difference.

 

[QuickGold]

I was down for presidents week and found crowd levels to be tolerable. At mid day waits for rides like RnR,ToT, or Splash Mtn were around 45-60 minutes but after 2pm or so they went down to 20-30 minutes.

 

[Cookie55]

I was down last week as well. Although the crowds were not what I would call unmanageable they were bigger than we are used to. We usually go the latter part of August and the lines are definitely shorter then. However there is no comparison as far as the weather is concerned. We had mid 70s all week with no rain whereas in August we are always battling the extremely high heat and humidity. So I guess it depends on how much of a crowd you are trying to avoid. It is definitely going to be more crowded than you are used to but if you use early entry and fast pass you should be ok. Just wish they would fast pass more of the rides in Fantasyland as the lines were always 45 minutes or more when we were there and I could not convince my family that it was worth the wait!!!

 

[Rneighh]

We were there the week before Pres Day and we had NO crowds. Everything was a walk on. I am use to not waiting. Any waits seems unbearable to me.

Renee

 

[Muffy]

I appreciate all the replys. Sounds like Presidents week has medium crowds. I would love to hear more remarks about presidents week if anyone else is just back! Thanks!

Muffy

 

[justhat]

We were there 2/13-2/20 and we found the crowds before 2/15 and after 2/17 (President's Day) to be very managable. We went to MK on 2/13 and waits were around 20 minutes. 2/14 we went to AK and Epcot and in both parks waits were under 20 minutes (except TT which had about a 45 minute wait). The weekend though was extremely crowded and at each park waits for most rides were 45-75 minutes. Even EE didn't help at MK as they were letting offsite guests in as well so the park was mobbed by 8:30am. The weekend mayhave been more crowded with Valentine's Day, the Daytona Races, and President's Day all at once, but since it's the first year we've been down at this time, it might be like that every year. But the CMs we spoke to seemed to think it was more crowded than normal as a result of all 3 events on the same weekend. 2/18-2/20, however, we never saw a line longer than 25 minutes. So definitely be sure to include some days before or after President's Weekend as it would be hard to get everything done with the crowds over the weekend.

 

[Momto2Minnies]

We were in Magic Kingdom on Wed, 2/19. We found that some rides had short lines and others were terribly long. DH and I considered doing Space Mountain w/o kids & Grandpa, but the wait was posted as 90 minutes so we didn't do it. We had to grab a spot on Main Street 45 minutes before the 3pm parade to have the curb seat. However, we arrived at Liberty Tree Tavern 1 hour before PS time as we were tired and hungry and were told no problem and they seated us (5 people) in about 5 minutes.
Our last trip was 2 years ago and we pulled the kids out of school and made MLK day into a week. The weather was similiar , but the crowds were much lighter!
We spent Thurs, 2/20 in Sea World. It was our first time there and we did not feel that crowds were a problem other than a long line to buy lunch!
Those were our only park days this trip. Hope it helps.

 

[olena]

My Brother was there and said the crowds drove him nuts. He asked several CM's and they said it was busy for that weel. Apparently people were stranded and couldn't fly home B/c of snow. There was also lots of families who fled the snow.....especially with school cancelled all week.

 

[Deluzy]

While we were at WDW, as said above, the days leading up to Saturday the 15th were glorious! No lines - maybe a few minutes here or there, but virtually no people at any park.

We went to both Epcot and MK on the 15th. Though, Epcot was busier, the park just didn't seem too crowded. We were able to do Test Track as single riders with minimal wait and strolled happily around WS. When we went to MK at about 5:30 - YIKES! It was a mad house. Lots of people EVERYWHERE! We only lasted about an hour or so and then left.

Sunday and Monday were definitely busier, but we just got to the park we wanted to play at early (opening) and rode the rides we liked. By the time the crowds got stiffer, we would just walk and shop, get fast passes and make the best of it.

 

[Mamu]

We also were there during Presidents Week 2/12-2/21. Not knowing what to expect during this week I was prepared for crowds.

We arrived on the Wednesday before Presidents Day. There were no crowds at all. Everything was just about walk-on. I did notice the crowds picked up during the weekend but nothing that wasn't manageable. We used fastpass and most of the return times were 1/2 hour.

This was our first February trip, we usually go during spring vacation time. We found the crowds much less during Presidents Week. I am already planning to vacation this time next year. While I agree the weather can be iffy during this time frame. We caught a great week 70's-80's. We never found the pools to be overcrowded, which they are during spring vacation week.

One of the good features about this week is the MK is open later over the weekend and you had a choice of nights to see SpectroMagic. Also Fantasmic had 2 showings a night over the weekend.

All and all I felt this week to be a great choice. We take our Grandchildren with us so vacations need to be planned during their vacation weeks. We found this vacation time to be the least crowded of their vacation weeks.