January or February trip??

[sksjasams]

I am in the very hopeful pre-planning stages. I haven't actually talked my DH into a trip yet...

I am looking at possibly January 19-26 or February 23-March 2. Any opinions on which week would be better?

We are looking at doing 2 days at Disney, 2 days at Universal, 1 day at Legoland, and 1 day at DTD/DisneyQuest.

How busy is MLK weekend? Is that a big deal?

Particularly wondering if one week will be less crowded, and also if one week will be less expensive regarding hotel, flights, car rental.

Thank you in advance!!

 

[alyssa810]

IMO, the week in January would be better. Late February-early March gets into vacation times when the parks could be busier and prices might be higher. I would also check to see when Mardi Gras is because that can sometimes affect crowd levels.
We've all over the month of January (except around new year's), and have found it to be decent as far as crowds go; the weather can be iffy though, sometimes it's downright cold, and other years it's been shorts and t-shirts....

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

I would vote for January

As I recall around mid- February (President's Day timeframe) the prices go up for hotels (I think it's basically the whole 2nd half of Feb that has significantly higher prices). So pricewise- January is better (even with slightly higher fees for MLK weekend)

In my mind the higher the hotel rooms the more crowded they're expecting it to be.

 

[carebee21]

I would go in Feb. The brazilian tour groups are out in full force in January and they're not the most pleasant to be around. Also, when we were there this past Martin Luther King day, there was a very noticeable increase in the crowd level on Sat, Sun & Mon.

 

[pigletto]

Our next trip will be that last week of February. The crowd calendars look good. Dh has that week off so it's then or no trip and we'd like to squeeze one more trip out of our AP's.
It's just before March craziness and after Presidents Day week craziness. And like a pp said, you can avoid the tour groups.

 

[sherry7]

I would go in Feb. The brazilian tour groups are out in full force in January and they're not the most pleasant to be around. Also, when we were there this past Martin Luther King day, there was a very noticeable increase in the crowd level on Sat, Sun & Mon.

Ditto on what the quoted poster said about the Brazilian tour groups in January. Imagine a group of approximately 200 teenagers, escorted by only 2 or 3 adults. Then multiply that by several dozen of these groups, which equals thousands and thousands and thousands of unruly, rude, line skipping, annoying teenagers. I will never go in January again.

I hope I'm not being politically incorrect by saying this, but some cultures just don't understand the concept of standing in line and waiting their turn. I was pushed several times by teenagers skipping line, and almost knocked down another time. I complained to a cast member, who simply shrugged his shoulders and said the large tour groups like that were hard to control.

 

[sksjasams]

Thanks for the replies!
Gosh, pretty much split down the middle.

I have never heard about the Brasilian tour groups. I was sort of leaning toward January because DS would only miss 3 days of school instead of 4, and we prefer temps in the 70's (80's are too hot for us Wisconsinites). February would be ok too though...

Anyone else have any experiences at these times?

Thank you!!

 

[churchpilot]

Thanks for the replies!
Gosh, pretty much split down the middle.

I have never heard about the Brasilian tour groups. I was sort of leaning toward January because DS would only miss 3 days of school instead of 4, and we prefer temps in the 70's (80's are too hot for us Wisconsinites). February would be ok too though...

Anyone else have any experiences at these times?

Thank you!!

We go almost every February during President's week and the weather is usually mild. We went during January this year and the South American tour groups were out in full force, but we never experienced any problems with them. We wore light jackets in the AM and Evenings, and capris, very light weight pants and mostly shorts during the entire trip. The crowds were medium, but if you get there early you practically had the parks to yourself. We got off and on Expedition Everest 8 times before calling it quits and left to use our fastpass for Safari. Hope this helps.

 

[mrsklamc]

We like to go in January and we find the Brazilian tour groups less annoying than many Americans we run into. Def. do the parks the unofficial guide says to do on the day it says to do them!

 

[LovinPooh]

What do you guys think between last week of Feb, or 1st week of March. Purely pricing wise... not a crowd or weather issue. I have been during mardi gras and pres week. Mardi gras is early next year I believe.
Anyways.. I am leaning towards 1st week of March as to maybe it has the likelyhood of FD.
Any input would be super!