Memorial Day and/or Gay Days 2017

[AZMermaid]

Hello! Bear with the advance planning, but I know you guys get it! We are looking at taking our first visit to the World in early June 2017. My kiddos will be 5 and 6.5 at the time of travel. We are likely going Friday-Sunday, 9 nights but coming from AZ travel days are long. 6 park days and 2 "break/resort/DTD days" following a two days on, one day off schedule. Due to school schedules (theirs and mine, I am a teacher) and DVC point dates- we are looking at the following scenarios:

Fri May 26- Sun June 4, this starts our trip on Memorial Day weekend and ends it on Gay Days weekend. Gay Days is only an issue for us from a crowd perspective.

Pros- We won't be there during the entire TiW blockout period so we can use that 20% discount in the first few days for CRT and Chef Mickey's or 1900 Park Faire. The discount is blocked out after May 31ish so we would eat there early in the trip to maximize this. We are frontloading our MK and Epcot time while we stay at a Monorail DVC (likely BLT, assuming we can get it obviously)- this scenario does not have Gay Day crowds impacting those parks.

Cons- Potentially two very crowded weekends with a more crowded week in between? Not sure about this- looking for input. Leaves right after school gets out, potentially I may stop teaching that year and need to move my classroom out... but that is not for sure.
OR
Friday June 2-Sun June 11
Pros- Only one "holiday" weekend, maybe the weekdays following will be less crowded? Not so tight with school ending
Cons- We would likely not do TiW if we went this week, without CRT and the character meal counting, we would likely be right at the break even point. It looks like Sat is traditionally Gay Days at MK. This would change our touring to Epcot/MK/off/MK (basically switching the first two days). There is a slightly anticlimactic feel to starting at Epcot given my kids' ages. The final night is when the DVC points increase for the summer season. It's only one night so not a deal breaker, but a slight factor.

Any thoughts or insight you can give me? Thanks in advance!!

 

[Alesia]

Those were the exact dates we went in 2014 and we thought it was absolutely perfect! The weather was beautiful and the crowds were very manageable. We had a good touring plan and used easywdw.com to choose our days and we never waited more than 20 minutes for anything.

 

[mzsarah10]

We went the first part of June in 2013. Gay days is not an issue if you just go to a different park. We wanted to avoid for crowd purposes and I looked up their itinerary online and avoided that park. We went this past June and couldnot go until June 11th. It was amazing how much more crowded June 11th was versus June 1st.

 

[SnipsNSnails]

The crowds will continue to build the later you get into summer. In places (like here in MI) where school doesn't start until after Labor Day schools will likely start letting out during the week before the 11th. That week after Memorial Day they will still be in session and heading towards final exams and end of the year activities. Most people do not pull their kids out of school at that time for a trip, they will wait until school ends or take their vacation earlier when pulling them out of school won't be so difficult. And though some schools are already out, there are many who are not making the crowds smaller despite having a holiday and the Gay Days during your trip.

 

[sunflare]

I would go with the May/June combo as well. The first part of the trip will be lighter, and you'll probably have a chance to go to Star Wars weekends and maybe even a 24 hour event, if they have one again. That's the weekend we're planning for as well, for those reasons (oh, and we're AZ too...HI!)

 

[Indio]

We went this year from May 23rd to May 31st. Memorial Day was Monday 25th. It was absolutely perfect. Weather was great - no rain and the crowds were very manageable. I would definitely do Memorial Day week again. Best trip weather and crowd-wise that we've had in a long time (except for November).

 

[AZMermaid]

Those were the exact dates we went in 2014 and we thought it was absolutely perfect! The weather was beautiful and the crowds were very manageable. We had a good touring plan and used easywdw.com to choose our days and we never waited more than 20 minutes for anything.

Just to clarify... You went starting Memorial Day weekend or the following weekend?

Thanks everyone. It sounds like earlier is better. I'm glad I asked! That wasn't the way I was leaning!

 

[Alesia]

Just to clarify... You went starting Memorial Day weekend or the following weekend?

Thanks everyone. It sounds like earlier is better. I'm glad I asked! That wasn't the way I was leaning!

We arrived on Memorial Day.

 

[maryj11]

We arrived on Memorial day last year and expected big crowds. We went to Epcot on Memorial day and it was not bad at all. Crowds were not heavy but average. The only park that seemed crowded that week was MK. It is pretty much always crowded though. It did rain a couple afternoons but was pretty nice. In the afternoons it did get pretty hot at the parks but plan some indoor air conditioned rides or restaurants for a break would be good. We did use easywdw crowd calendar to decide what parks to visit.

 

[supersnoop]

Gay days don't affect crowd levels. Your main problem will be Star Wars Weekends.

 

[gtpoohbear]

We've gone during that week twice, and they were the lowest crowds we've ever had. In fairness, we otherwise go at spring break or Christmas... But late May/early June felt almost empty by comparison. It's HOT though! I finally decided I would take the crowds over the heat so we haven't been at that time in a few years.

 

[disnut8]

Just to note - most schools here in the Southeast get out sometime during the week before Memorial Day (just about all school districts in the Atlanta area do). Most families do not rush off to a major family vacation that soon. The only problem we ever had with Memorial Day weekend was getting out of the Atlanta area but the OP won't have that problem since they are flying.

 

[disnut8]

Also, OP, I would recommend you look at posts for the Memorial Day/Gay Days weekends for 2016 and ask questions based on those peoples experiences. Then ask those who go later.

 

[Spork24]

We went this year from May 23rd to May 31st. Memorial Day was Monday 25th. It was absolutely perfect. Weather was great - no rain and the crowds were very manageable. I would definitely do Memorial Day week again. Best trip weather and crowd-wise that we've had in a long time (except for November).

We went that week as well and it was very enjoyable.

 

[ttintagel]

I was there during Gay Days in 2011, and the crowds weren't bad even when we were in the MK on the designated MK Saturday.

 

[dkrauss]

Another thing to keep in mind is.....if Friday before Memorial Day is your arrival day..........that's been the 24 hour MK day for the past few years.....and I wouldn't expect that to change. You need to know that MK could be a bear that day. Otherwise you're probably ok......based on what others have said.

Doug

 

[AZMermaid]

Is the park open all night Friday night? Or Sat? We would likely be going to MK on Sat, but don't have to necessarily. It's like 7 hours of flight time, so we won't be going to a park on arrival day.

Maybe we should go Sat of Memorial Day weekend- Monday after gay days instead....

 

[roydavid7771]

We're looking on going the following week, primarily for DVC point purposes. I too was concerned about crowd levels during Gay Days, but we're planning on heading down on Friday June 2 and departing the following Saturday, the 10th. We usually don't hit the parks right away as we like to relax and enjoy whatever resort we're staying at before we move to our DVC resort. Just want to make sure I'm not stepping into a major crowd...

 

[DebbieB]

Zombie thread!

 

[AZMermaid]

That's all right! If anyone has more feedback about these weeks from this year, I'd love to hear it!