Is May as slow as Sept at WDW?

[JimFitz]

I was happy with the crowd levels in Mid September earlier this year, but was wondering what MAY is like? Crowded?

 

[spiceycat]

definitely more crowded - but then again hardly any hurricane either

the garden/flower festavial bring in some people.

mother day brings in crowds.

and the last week is also crowded - I think some schools are off that week.

so the earlier the better - unlike Sept where the later is better.

 

[DebbieB]

I've gone the first or second week of May the past 5 years and it wasn't bad. The 50th anniversary of Disneyland celebration starts 05/05/05, so that week may be crowded. Weather is usually around 90 but not real humid. Little rain.

 

[idratherbeinwdw]

I was happy with the crowd levels in Mid September earlier this year, but was wondering what MAY is like? Crowded?

The parks, are less crowded in September than May but not dramatically so. I have been there both times on many occasions, and that has been my experience. Have a look here for average crowds:

http://www.allearsnet.com/pl/attend.htm

HTH!

 

[spiceycat]

Food and Wine festavial doesn't start until Oct.

I would love it to start in Sept!!!! (I think...)

 

[Candace]

Early May is preferable, because the humidity and heat in September are almost unbearable. Also May is not yet hurricane season.

 

[idratherbeinwdw]

Early May is preferable, because the humidity and heat in September are almost unbearable. Also May is not yet hurricane season.

I agree about May having no hurricane problems, but heat/humidity wise I have had the opposite experience. For instance this year I visited WDW May 2-7 and September 12-17, and May was definitely worse heat/humidity wise. And this is not the first time I have had that happen, I have always found May to be hotter and more humid than September during my visits. I think it depends on the year and luck. Speaking of luck, during September I was there between Frances and Jeanne, and Ivan was due to hit but changed direction at the last minute. Had I been there a week earlier or a week later, or if Ivan didn't change course my family would have had to deal with a hurricane. So certainly that has to be a consideration, although this year was unusual, having one hurricane after the other, that hadn't happened in quite some time.

 

[n2mm]

May is more comparable in terms of crowds to October. So much going on in May. Locals come out in droves, especially before they go into the black out season. Schools take end of year trips. Flower and Garden is a big hit. Lots of conferences. It will not be quiet, but it is no where the crowd levels of the holidays or summer, but the next level below. Of course, as mentioned, the kick off of DL's 50th birthday will be celebrated at ALL Disney parks. WDW will be openning the stunt show at MGM, Soarin at EPCOT, new stage shows at MK, and the new animatronic dinosaur at AK, with the openning of Mt. Everest planned for later during the celebration, early 2006. The first week of May will be BUSY! With the VIPs, sponsors of the many rides, and just the locals wanting to see the new stuff, not to mention lots of "private parties and events". I believe resorts will be at capacity the first week of May, and are probably getting pretty full as we speak. As CMs we have been getting lots of information about the celebration already, but am sure the public will start hearing and seeing all the new things coming, probably sometime during the new year. I have suggested that anyone planning on going early May, make those ressies for the resort you can AFFORD to stay at at rack rate, because the discounted rooms will be limited during that busier time. I think mid-May things will calm down and go back to normal, just in time for the Memorial Day crowds. You can see by my countdown where I'll be on 05/05/05.....I made my ressies in July 2004 and getting a CM discount was difficult then.

 

[n2mm]

bumping back up

 

[lllovell]

Also, the Star Wars weekends make MGM a bit more crouded that time of year as well. If you go the first couple of weeks, you wont hit that either though.

 

[OKW Lover]

We've done both for several years. In general, May is busy-er than September. Especially avoid Memorial Day weekend. Early May is actually pretty nice in terms of crowds. Late September is pretty empty. Labor Day weekend can be busy, but still not as bad as Memorial Day.

 

[dcmbshafe]

We've done September, October & May and we thought that May was the most crowded of the 3. In fact, I'd go as far to say that May was much more crowded than we expected based on what we had read on these boards prior to our trip. It still wasn't anywhere near "packed". I didn't really notice a huge difference weather-wise.

 

[kar313]

May was much more crowded in our experiences. Weather was about the same.