May trip prices?

[mykidsand_i]

Is Mid-May a good time to go? Or are most schools out by then, so its packed and more expensive? We've never been to the world in May...but our girls get out of school very early this year, so we thought we might start checking on it. I know that it's the beg. of summer for most people, but how bad are the crowds?

We've gone a few times over Presidents Day/weekend, but don't think those crowds are too bad. We were there last time (09) durring Pres. Day weekend and had little to no problem with wait times, higher prices on hotels or anything. Is the mid to end of may time similar, less or more worse than presidents day weekend?

When does the busy season start for summer at Disney? I've been told before that it's the first week of June, but I don't know how true that really is.

 

[Swimnoid]

We go every May; sometimes around 12-15 and sometimes around the 24th, hitting either my or DD's birthdays. There are a lot more local kids around because of school trips but it doesnt seem to really effect the crowds that much. Last May they had the 7 for 4 deal so that was great. Usually we have an annual pass and the prices have been good in May.

 

[sritter78]

We went last May. It unfortunately was record high temps. Other than that, it wasn't too crowded. We are teachers and usually go in July, so it was a lot less crowded. We are aiming for late May this coming year!!

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

If you managed through President's Weekend, then May should be no problem. The Southern schools finish in May and there may be a couple of Grad Nights while you are there, so the MK will close early on those nights. Temperatures can vary from pleasantly warm to hot but the humidity is not intolerable like it is in July & August.

As for prices, tickets & food cost the same regardless of when you go. The difference in price will be due to your accommodations. President's Weekend in 2010 has its own premium pricing rates. May is considered to be "regular" season. While not the cheapest rates, regular season is pretty affordable.

 

[mommymeg]

We have visitied Disney twice in the last 10 years. Both were over Mother's Day weekend and I don't think that we could have picked a better time to go! They ran a great deal last year with th 7 nights for 4 promotion. Airfare was ridiculously cheap, (but we went from Wednesday to Wednesday). Crowds were more than manageable on most days, weather was absolutely perfect and the Flower and Garden festival was in full swing. I would think that the later in May you get, the more crowded it would be since southern schools start to let out.

One thing about a successful trip to Disney World. You HAVE to pick the right time of year or you will be highly disappointed with the over crowdedness. Although it must be absolutely beautiful, I would stay far away from the World during Christmas. October would be another great time to go...

Sadly, my family has voted for our next big vacation to be to the islands, so it looks like we won't be heading back for at least 5 years... unless I convince them that there is no other vacation worth taking!

 

[branv]

One of our trips was at the end of April, beginning of May and there wasn't much in the way of crowds. And a January trip (during the marathon) was AMAZING for low crowds. So I'll be up front that we've only traveled during pretty low crowd times, so what I think of as crowded may be skewed But our last trip we went over Mother's Day as well, in 2008, and perhaps we just had bad luck with our timing, but we found lots of people were there. Everyone said it was a good time to go, but for instance, I was honestly frightened after the fireworks when I was caught up in a huge mass of bodies making an exodus, and I've never felt that way before. We're the types who skip mid-day: we're rope-droppers and after 4:00 people. We showed up at Epcot at 4 pm and I remember thinking, "oooooh crud." Though, again, I'm so used to small crowds, that I've NEVER seen a line at Spaceship Earth that filled up the entire queue area, and multi-line deep along the side. And oy, the wait for Soarin' was 150 minutes.

That being said, I also realized I wasn't having any issues with fast-passes being out in the parks. Some were pushed too far out for me to take one, but at least they were there. So what I think was going on was that there were just a lot of school/tour groups. We saw tons and tons of kids with matching t-shirts, flag toters, etc. And, for instance, so many people during regular hours, yet P&PP was crazy empty. At WL, the pool wasn't over-crowded and we never had to wait for a second boat/bus due to a line. So again, I think there were a lot of day-trippers. I also think the regular crowds were enhanced by a large portion of overseas travelers. I've never met so many British people over just a few days But this was 5/08, just at that point when the market hadn't emploded world-wide and we had so many int'l travelers due to the the low dollar.

BTW: it was also pretty hot during that time. And they were having the wild-fires in the everglades, so the air quality was less than stellar. To be fair, despite living in TX, including humid Houston, we aren't as tolerant of heat as you'd think we'd be

We are going back again over Mother's Day in 2011, so I am really hoping on that trip we experience it as the less-busy time others have. But I can say that my one experience wasn't low-crowds by any means. I do hope it was a fluke.