Need Reassurance for late May!

[dixielander]

We planned our next Disney trip for the week of May 22-29th.

Memorial Weekend starts on the 28th.

I cannot change my dates as we already have airline tickets, and we could not go at any other time except Easter because I am in nursing school and cannot miss a week of school to go off-season.

I thought this week in May would be pretty close crowd-wise to the first week in May, which is when we went last time. Now I'm hearing from a few sources that this is going to be a busy time!! Now I'm wondering if I made a mistake!

I am planning on being done with the parks on Thursday, right before Memorial weekend.

Can anyone help me feel better? In case you haven't figured it out, we are not into fighting crowds and having LONG lines. The heat, by the way, will not bother us.

I'd like to hear from someone who has been there the week prior to Memorial weekend.

Thanks!!

 

[AZKathy]

We have been there during that time and the crowds are moderate. Honestly, I found the crowds worse during October 1999 for the Millennium Celebration kick off. Get there when the parks open and take advantage of Fastpass if the lines seem too long; we always do it if the line is longer than 30 minutes.

Some schools are out during this time, but most schools still get out after that time period, including our schools which get out early compared to most of the nation. I would not sweat it too much and make your sad smilie into a happy smilie!!!!

By the way, good luck in nursing school! We need more nurses!!!!

 

[cleo]

I have been prior, during, and after. Over 12 years of May visits, the pattern seems to be that it gets busy on Friday afternoon, stays busy all weekend, is VERY busy on Memorial day, and starts to settle down on Tuesday. You will definitely notice larger crowds over the weekend.

That said, FastPass will help a lot, as will just knowing it's going to be crowded. If you're prepared for it, it's not so bad. Think of it as a 'festive' atmosphere.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

I agree with everyone else...utilize fastpass when lines are over 30 minutes and take advantage of Early Entry days. When DH and I did that on our last trip, I had almost forgotten that it was Memorial Day Weekend. We typically were out of the parks by 1pm or the latest 2, so we didn't catch the "big" crowds per se.
You'll be fine, May is a great time to visit no matter when you go!

 

[dixielander]

Thanks,

As I mentioned in my post, I will be done with the parks BY Memorial weekend, so I hope we get lucky!

 

[Simba's Mom]

We went last year the last week in May that included Memorial Day. DS did TT 3 times, RnR 3 times, and ToT once, yet he never had the need to use FP. Also, we got a decent spot to watch Illuminations twice that week, about 10 minutes before. Although there appeared to be alot of people, crowds for rides were minimal. This year we've already made ressies for 5/22-5/28.