MAY TRIP PLANNING, HELP PLEASE!!!

[jessieroo]

For the first time ever my family is planning a trip for May. We always have gone in the fall so we have a few questions.
We plan on arriving May 10th 2016. How are the crowds at that time? Whats the weather like? Will we be ahead of Grad Nights and in time for Star Wars weekend? I know about the Epcot Flower & Garden Show. Are there any other special things we should know about? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

 

[vicb]

My family went in early May 2014... the weather was awesome! Hot but not humid. Most of our previous trips had been in Feb when weather was dicey so this was great for us. The parks were not overly crowded. We were there Mon-Sat so did not experience Mother's Day or Star Wars (it started the weekend we left). We opted out of our AK day to hit TL instead, such a fun day. We did use our hoppers to make a quick trip to AK late one afternoon for EE. We had ADR's for lunch every day... never underestimate the restorative power of being off your feet one hour at mid day in the ac, rehydrating and eating. Made our warm days much more pleasant. We enjoy the extra floral stuff from Flower and Garden but did not participate in any events per say. We did eve emh at HS our arrival night which was really great, love the nighttime atmosphere in that park. We also did eve emh at Epcot, that was nice but not as "ride productive" as HS, we missed eve emh at MK but it was open till 11pm the same day we did TL so we had a dinner ADR at Plaza for 6:30 and our 3 FP+ after dinner. We got to see both Wishes and parade but did not stake out spots, we just grabbed what we could at the start. Our "kids" were 18 and 21 on that trip so we didn't need curbside viewing, same when we did Illuminations.

Have a great trip!

 

[JennyDrake]

Crowds will be moderate, weather will be PEREFCT! As always, you can get a lot done with RD. Expect hoards of middle school groups at F&G on Fridays and Saturdays; there will be the school groups during your visit with senior trips, band trips, etc., but I have never encountered anyone unruly or obnoxious.

 

[Hootch]

I don't think grad night is offered anymore. I believe 2011 was the last time it was done.

Over the years, SWW has shifted dates. I don't think the 2016 dates have not been announced yet. Generally they start the second weekend of May. I have seen guesses from people that go every year. The best guess is for starting on the 13th but possibly not starting until the 20th.

The weather will be hot. How hot? I don't know. We were there at the end of May this year and it started in the low 90s but dropped to the mid 80s later in the week. There will be rain but it will be less probability than later in the summer.

Crowds will be moderate during weekdays.

This site will have a crowd estimate and suggested parks in three months or so. There is a wealth of information here too.

www.easywdw.com

 

[Brenda Kim]

Been there in May several times. Crowds will be a non issue. Weather is great, but I am in a warm southern climate, so anything below 90 is good weather to me. May averages in the 80s.

Star Wars weekends starts in the middle of May, they usually over lap the last weekend of F&G.
Grad Nites are only at Disneyland, WDW stopped them after 2011, where they were April 29 & 30th and May 6 & 67th. there is talk of them coming back

 

[jessieroo]

Thanks everyone!!! Very helpful info

 

[momimouse27]

Until this year, we hadn't been in early May for several years, so I also didn't know what to expect. We were there this year end of April/first week of May. The weather is hot, of course, but not nearly as hot as June-September. I found the weather to be actually pleasant. Most our week it was mid 80's to low 90's. We had a little rain but it cooled things down.

There will be senior groups there, but I don't think that will be much of an issue, as far as crowds are concerned. If you stay away from DHS during the SWW times, then you should be fine, just plan to go on other days. I found it to be a very pleasant time to go. I would actually go back again during that time. Still not as awesome as mid September or week before Thanksgiving, but I'd put it in my top 5 weeks.