Just back - First week in Feb is GREAT!

[MinnieGi]

Hi everyone!
Just wanted to report the first week in Feb. is a wonderful time to visit the World! This was our first winter visit to WDW and we really enjoyed it. We truly had a winter thaw break as temps were in the mid to high 70's and we were wearing shorts and short -sleeved shirts everyday. We also were able to swim almost everyday, very cool!

Best of all the crowds were very low. We had a 5 min. wait for rides such as Rock 'N Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, MK Montains. You could arrive for a popular show such as Festival of Lion King or Beauty and the Beast just 10 minutes before show time and have fantastic seats. The weekends were of course a little more crowded but not bad at all. Even for the 9:00 pm SpectroMagic parade on Sat. we were able to easily find curb seating right in front of the train station just 10 minutes prior to the start of the parade.

As others have reported lots of characters out. We were able to meet and greet all the characters from the Epcot Character Bus with very little waiting. That bus contained Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald, Chip, Dale, Suzy, Perla, Gepetto, Rafiki, Terk, and a few others I didn't even know. Other characters we met with little or no wait at other parks included: Kermit, Miss Piggy, Snow White, Mulan, Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, Captain Hook, Buzz, Treasure Planet characters, Jasmine, Alladin.

We did have Cheerleading groups on both weekends but all groups seemed to have many adult chaperones with them and were all well behaved.

If you're thinking of a winter break next year, I definetly recommend first week in Feb!

Gi

 

[dansyr]

We are going soon and was wondering about the temps and swimming. So far it looks like the temps are in the low to mid 70's. If it trends this way, do you think we will be able to swim??
I'm really looking forward to the waterparks.

 

[MinnieGi]

I think it will depend on your tolerence for the air temp and the water temp. The pools are all heated and feel great, but when the air temp is low you definetly feel cold getting out of the pool. I'll tell you during our week people were swimming at all hours even at night when the temps were down in the 60's.

Also don't forget even if it's low 70's but very sunny, it will feel alot warmer or at least it does to us! We went swimming almost everyday, my 2yo DD is a little water bug. Most days it was in the high 70's and very sunny, but even when it was a little cooler the water is soooo nice and warm we didn't mind going in.

Have a great trip!!

Gi

 

[Alice28]

Sounds like you had a great trip!! Glad you had such a good time. I am hoping the weather stays warm, if not just a smidge warmer when we're there in 2 1/2 weeks. I must say Portland OR hasn't been as frigid as the East coast has been, but 75-80 degrees would be great after several weeks of a high of 51 degrees. I am looking forward to checking out Typhoon Lagoon and swimming in our pool. unfortunately the CR pool is down while we're there, but it will be fun to "pool hop" to the Poly, GF and WL. It looks like the Poly pool is awesome! And I hope we have low crowds like you did as well! Thanks for the info!

 

[Gary M]

We just returned from WDW. We stayed at the WL Feb. 1-8. As MinnieGi said, the weather was great and crowds were low, mainly during the week. The cheerleaders we saw, were well-behaved and no problem at all.

One morning the crowd was so small, we rode the TOT with only 7 people in our elevator. On another morning, the safari vehicle we were on, wasn't even full. When we went to the Muppet 3-D Show, the theatre was maybe 1/3 full. The 11 am WWTBAM was 1/2 empty. We have been to WDW 28 times since 1992 and these were some of the smallest crowds that we have seen. We always go during the off-season and stay at a WDW resort.

 

[jmkst58]

I was there too, and I 100% agree that the weather and crowds were wonderful!! We had done everything at MK that were 'must do's' in 2 hours at MK one day. SO NICE!!!! We swam in the mid afternoon temps and enjoyed every second. My DH rode Rock N Roller coaster 3 times in a row one day. I don't remember using Fast Pass more than once or twice..and you tell you the truth...we really didn't need to even then.

 

[KristaTX]

My mom and I were there, too, and had pretty much the same experience with lines. There was one exception - Fantasmic - we thought we could wait to get there later than usual since crowds were so light, but it was pretty packed by the time we got there (30 minutes or so early). We just left since there was no seating any where near the middle. We'll just have to do it twice next time!!

 

[Disney-Junkie]

Originally posted by MinnieGi

As others have reported lots of characters out. Treasure Planet characters, Jasmine, Alladin.

Who were the Treasure Planet characters and where did you see them? My son loves that movie.

Thanks

 

[MinnieGi]

We saw them twice, both at MK. Once they were standing near the entryway to Tomorrowland and the other they were near the standing by the cop entrance. COP was closed. The characters were the boy and some kind of creature. Sorry I can't be more specific. I've never seen the movie, just commercials so I don't know their names. They had quite a few fans.

 

[Blondie]

I agree! The first week of Feb. is an excellent time to go!

We went the 1st thru the 7th in 2002, and had one of our best trips yet in terms of weather and few crowds.

 

[oshun]

Hi MinnieGi! We were there the first week of February this year too. It was absolutely wonderful to walk up to rides with no wait. Besides my family being ill, it was a perfect time of the year to go. Swimming, even though a little cool, was nice too! We are from Delaware and while it was snowing in Wilmington, DE on 2/7/03 we were in WDW in FL with shorts on. Wasn't it Wonderful! I loved telling my friends that when we came back on 2/9. We saw a DE tags on a van at OKW the first week back on Turtle Pond Rd- was that you?

Definitely, would recommend the first week of February even though the evenings are a little cool. It's nice not to have the crowds and not have to wait for rides or shows.

The cheerleaders seemed nice and respectful; even though my 15 yr old son was a little intimidated by them because they were in big groups. LOL

 

[cinjam]

We were there too!!! I couldn't belive how emtpy everything was. It seemed to pick up on saturday 2/8 though. This is the 1st time we've ever gone in February (usually April or may) & I think I'll stick with February from here on out!!

 

[cms1174]

I am going in two weeks hope that this trend keeps up. Sounds like you all had lots of fun.

 

[figsy]

The Treasure Planet characters are Jim and B.E.N. There were small lines as they were off the beaten track. My son had 8-10 minutes playing with these charaters last week.

 

[DebbieB]

I was there Feb 6 to 9. The weather on Thurs Feb 6 was nice (arrived in WDW about 5:00), Friday morning it rained, the rest of the day was cloudy but warm. Saturday was cold! Didn't even reach 60! But at least no rain. Sunday morning was a steady rain, we went to the outlet and returned to the resort around 12:30 to catch our bus to the airport. Crowds were not bad at all. We walked on Splash on Friday morning and were the only 3 in the entire boat! We noticed alot more characters around the parks.

 

[MinnieGi]

Hi Oshun!

Nice to "see" another Delawarean on the boards!! This past trip we were at AKL, so no that was not us at OKW. We did drive however. It was our first time driving and it went very well. So we're thinking of driving in Oct. when we will be at OKW.

Yes, we were in the World on Friday, 2/7 when it was snowing back home too. Yes, we also told everyone that we were wearing shorts and tees in FL while they were having snow! But we came home and had to shovel that snow anyway and it has melted an inch and now we just had some more with another snow storm on the way...... sure wish we were heading back down to WDW!!!!

Stay warm!!

MinnieGi

 

[DznyMom]

We were at the world from the 8th through the 14th. Crowds were very small but picked up on Thursday the 13th and the 14th was crowded! The weather the first three or four days was cold, even coming from Wisconsin! We wore our winter coats. The mornings and evenings got pretty chilly. Of course the last day we were there it was beautiful. We went two years ago about a week earlier and hit the cold weather. We were hoping to have the warmer weather but you just never know. One cold front after another. Didn't stop my kids from swimming though. The water is very warm.

 

[Elaine Guidi]

Just back 7 Feb - 21 Feb. high temps 71 degrees, low evenings low 60's. didn't swim every day due to lack of sleep! but on the days when we did the hotel pools were heated and it wasn't really bad getting out either. We visited Typhoon Lagoon and Wet 'n ' Wild and had a good time, temperatures not an issue, i actually thought is would not be very good on a day that was much warmer from a skin protection point of view!