Late Feb/early March or late April/early May?

[SpaceMtnGirl]

As the title says for those that have been at both of these times, which is your preference? This is for 2018. Thanks!

 

[jlnten17]

We really enjoyed May and it didn't seem much more crowded than February when we were there. Flower and Garden festival is great but so is Festival of the Arts. May or September is probably my favorite time to go all year. However, going in February is great because we get away from the cold/snow around here so we usually go January or February because that break from winter is the biggest factor in planning our vacations and it is the easiest time to get off work.

 

[kathy884]

These are two of my favorite times to go. Both are pretty nice weather wise (one just before and one just after the busy spring break season) Like the earlier poster said, I tend to go more in the Feb/Mar period because it's not as nice back home - still cold there and usually great touring weather in Orlando then. Starting in May, we have some pretty great weather at home. Also, we usually take a summer trip somewhere out west, That means a Feb/Mar timeframe coupled with an August trip spreads our vacations out more, which I like to do. And I do like a winter break and Orlando is one of the least expensive / appealing options for me and DS for a mini trip. We are doing a Florida vacation in that Feb/Mar timeframe this year too -- Doing Key West which will appeal to DH more than Orlando. But OMG, Orlando is so much less expensive.

All that said though the one trip I took in early May was one probably my all time favorite. There were other factors besides weather though -- freebie stay at the Contemporary (DH had a conference there) and we got upgraded to a Tower View room. On my own dime, I usually stay in lovely offsite condos (much better bang for the buck, but the freebie switch up was fun - we only paid for one extra night an DH's company paid the rest). If swimming is a big part of your vacation, not just park touring your average temperatures will be a little better for that in May. You'll have longer days with maybe two or more hours of sunshine than during Feb/Mar still winter. We found the May weather to be wonderful and the crowds to be light. It's a really lovely time there before the oppressive hot/humid summer weather. I actually find September and October in Orlando too humid for my taste too.

Nov. - May to me is the nice time to come. And both choices you are considering are really good ones.

 

[DisneyHomework]

We go Feb/March because of carryover vacation timing and children’s birthdays. If not for those factors I would choose late April. Our pool weather is always close enough but I’d prefer guaranteed warm pool days and that’s hit or miss for us in the late February trips (to get in and swim with children- of course lounging without being wet is fine.

 

[Shanti]

As the title says for those that have been at both of these times, which is your preference? This is for 2018. Thanks!

I'd do late spring so that we could fully enjoy the wet rides, pools & water parks.

 

[disneyseniors]

I'm interested in this too, as we have booked Feb 27 thru March 7th, 2018. We have never stayed at this time of year. However, we stayed Feb 7 to 17th last year and really liked that time of year. We only had one or two small BGT's that were no problem. There were a lot of cheerleaders, but no problem with them at all. You just had to adjust your ride/attractions to avoid the huge amounts of teenagers. The weather was good too, 70's, but I think we just got lucky
I always wanted to go late April and early May. So am really interested in this!

 

[katallo]

Both are great times. I would say the biggest difference is the temps. When we go in February it's more Springlike. We were there late April and first two weeks of May and it's definitely more Summerlike.

 

[Micca]

Did late April/early May this year and it worked out well. We did hit a couple of heavy rains but that's something to expect in Disney's neck of the woods.

 

[JennyDrake]

EARLY MAY by far--have done each time frame mentioned more than once. I was unpleasantly surprised at the crowd levels late February/early March. Late April is this dreadful cheer summit and lots of school trips. Early May is fabulous weather and relatively low crowds.

 

[SpaceMtnGirl]

Thanks for the responses!

We aren’t too interested in pool time or water parks. We like park touring. Sounds like early March might be better for us?

 

[SpaceMtnGirl]

EARLY MAY by far--have done each time frame mentioned more than once. I was unpleasantly surprised at the crowd levels late February/early March. Late April is this dreadful cheer summit and lots of school trips. Early May is fabulous weather and relatively low crowds.

It would have to be late April for me, I would have to be back at work May 4th. I didn’t realize there were cheer groups etc in late April so thanks for pointing that out.

 

[SpaceMtnGirl]

I'm interested in this too, as we have booked Feb 27 thru March 7th, 2018. We have never stayed at this time of year. However, we stayed Feb 7 to 17th last year and really liked that time of year. We only had one or two small BGT's that were no problem. There were a lot of cheerleaders, but no problem with them at all. You just had to adjust your ride/attractions to avoid the huge amounts of teenagers. The weather was good too, 70's, but I think we just got lucky
I always wanted to go late April and early May. So am really interested in this!

I am looking at similar dates. Maybe feb 27-mar 5.

 

[mkla2015]

We’ve enjoyed going the last week of February/ 1st week of March. Crowds aren’t bad. The weather is usually nice- warm days, chilly mornings and nights, not much rain.

 

[dreiwhit]

We went at the end of February - first week of March in 2016 and loved it. The weather was good and the crowds seemed to be lower.

Be sure to check when Mardi Gras falls, though. In 2019, it will be March 5. Mardi Gras will cause the crowd level to jump up.

 

[kniquy]

Early May for flower and garden - early may would be perfect - it avoids the spring breakers, I believe FL schools are still in session and of course the weather is warm but very enjoyable.

 

[SinCityMMAFan]

We were there in late April/early May this past year and the crowds weren't actually too bad. This seems like a decent time because it's after spring break and right before some schools get out for summer break.

 

[sachilles]

Having done both, I think the big difference for me is the park hours. I prefer the weather in late Feb/early March, but it's dark earlier and the parks close earlier.
In general I think you can see more in April/early May, but it's a bit hotter, and the mid afternoon showers seems more common.
Truth is both times are low crowd times. So I think you won't find either a bad choice, it's more along the lines of which one works better for your schedule.

 

[SpaceMtnGirl]

Appreciate all the responses! I’m at work so can’t reply in depth right now. But I just learned Pirates will be closed over my proposed early March dates! Dealbreaker for my DS! So I guess we are looking at late April/early May after all ... seems to be what most prefer anyway!

 

[SpaceMtnGirl]

Also looked at April 8-14, Kenny the pirate lists this as moderate crowds (even light on April 11) but other sources list this as a heavy crowd time. Thoughts?? Again this is for 2018. I know Easter placement changes the situation year to year.

 

[sponica]

Also looked at April 8-14, Kenny the pirate lists this as moderate crowds (even light on April 11) but other sources list this as a heavy crowd time. Thoughts?? Again this is for 2018. I know Easter placement changes the situation year to year.

Easter is April 1 2018. Orthodox Easter is April 8. The opening weekend for april break in some northeast k-12 schools (MA, CT and maybe a couple others) is Friday April 13.