*** New Official February 2013 Thread ***

[erin1715]

Iam reallu worried about the tour groupes do yall think they will still be there feb 25-1

We are there from 2/25 to 3/4 staying at the beach club and it looks like the only room left there is a 2 bedroom suite for $13,000!! I really hope it doesn't feel crowded!

 

[sommergirl25]

So strange. The Touring Plans crowd calendar had last week at 5's and 6's mostly which should be busy but not too bad if you're in the right parks.

We go every year in the last week of August. This past August was noticeably much busier. The numbers looked the same but there was NO way that it was 3's and 4's like they said it was going to be. Sure enough, the historical crowd numbers were adjusted after the fact and went up to 6's and higher. So you guys may see that those numbers jump after the fact to account for the crowds you felt this past week.

Are the tour groups still the South Americans? Or the dance and cheer groups? I was under the impression that the South American tour groups left at the end of January.

At ASMo, the South American your groups left today but a ton of cheer groups checked in. I'm hoping they are busy with competition this weekend so that the parks will not be as crowded.

 

[pigletto]

We are there from 2/25 to 3/4 staying at the beach club and it looks like the only room left there is a 2 bedroom suite for $13,000!! I really hope it doesn't feel crowded!

I am seeing Standard and GardenView available for my dates at the Beach Club but the promo rates aren't pulling up anything. Might be just a night here or there is full, or all the discounted rooms are gone.
POR (where we are staying) has something available in every category at full price, but nothing under the 30% off offer.

 

[AHullMN]

On our way to my sisters to spend the night than off early to the airport. our flight leaves at 811 and lands around 1215 Orlando time. Hope to be at the resort and checked in by 230-3. Feel like I could sleep for days right now but I'm sure by the time I get to bed tonight I won't be able to sleep at all.

 

[Canooknic]

We kept seeing all the Brazilian girls in pink with the pink 'Fifteen' backpacks.

We saw them around MK all day yesterday and only had 1 run-in with them when they almost trampled one of my boys waiting in line for Haunted Mansion. He was so upset that he didn't want to go on the ride any more, but we didn't see any bad behaviour from them.
The cheer groups have all been very pleasant from what I've seen too.
The weather is beautiful!!

 

[Kathy Z]

I hope everyone traveling from the northeast has safe travels. My sister who is flying down tonight from Chicago to join us has had her flight delayed but finally got out. We plan to go to Magic Kingdom tomorrow. We've already been there a few times, but it has been crowded in the new Fantasyland area and we haven't been able to do very much. But we were able to walk right on Barnstormer and Dumbo about 20 minutes before the castle preshow. Everyone clears out then.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Which castle preshow are you speaking of? Do you mean the show before MSEP or some other time? Thanks for the tips.

 

[ErinsMommy]

By the Grace of God we made it out of NJ at 7:05 a.m. and arrived in sunny beautiful WDW at 11:30 a.m.. Our room wasn't ready when we arrived (as suspected since we got in so early) so we headed over to HS and what a fantastic start -- not overly crowded, the cheerleaders we saw were not loud or a problem. We met a super sweet waitress Danielle at Mama Melrose, went to a few shows, finished it off watching Fantasmic! (which DD surprisingly LOVED) then made it back for the last 10 minutes of Wishes which we watched from our room balcony and we're just blown away by it all. Tomorrow morning is DH's big birthday and his surprise cake is coming 8;30 a.m. then onto Epcot

 

[MrToad1345]

Thankfully in a way we are lucky we don't leave until 2/23. In thick of the storm now and they just said expect 3"-6" an hour for the next while. Logan and Manchester are not expected to get flights going until Sunday. So for us 2 weeks from tomorrow is a good thing. Even more exciting is that we still haven't told our kids. Thinking of getting up that morning and telling them were heading to WDW. Thoughts?

 

[mom2princesses2]

Just got home from 9 awesome days in The World!

Low crowds except we were surprised by Super Bowl Sunday which seemed somewhat busier to us than what the crowd indicators would have you believe. We were at Epcot and MK.

Lots of BTGs but I think less than what are encountered in July and Jan. We had lots of dancers too. Both groups were equally annoying just by their size, tendency to stick all together and ability to create huge bottlenecks in crowds, like by standing in the center of Main Street after Wishes.

MK was very busy today when we left at 1 pm. We ate lunch at Peco Bill's and a CM even said "Where did all these people come from?" Lots of cheerleaders around today.

 

[meowmarie]

Here were the lines at the POP food court around 10pm Tuesday night (3 days ago). There were 4 open lines and they were all completely full, and even if you could get food there were hardly any places to sit.

 

[Kathymford]

Wow. I'm not gonna lie. Those lines at POP scare me. This is our first time staying value, and yikes!!!

 

[vacationer1954]

We've decided to get up at 3AM tomorrow morning, drive as hard as we can to get past the storm area (i.e., aiming to get south of the Raritan River in New Jersey by noonish). Wish us luck!

We made it! We hit a few flurries and a little wet snow toward the end, but made it to our overnight hotel dodging the 32" of snow that Connecticut got. Whew!

 

[Marblies]

Arriving tonight! Staying at POP, where my DD and her DH have been for a week. She reports that the tour group(s) have been everywhere in large masses. The ones at POP are from Argentina. Most annoying has been shouting and carrying on during the shows and films, probably because they can't understand English and are bored. Makes me happy to not have to travel with highschoolers any more! Those days are long gone.

Sorry about all the sicknesses and weather related flight problems, pixie dust for all

 

[Stasieki]

We made it! We hit a few flurries and a little wet snow toward the end, but made it to our overnight hotel dodging the 32" of snow that Connecticut got. Whew!

Great news. Have a great trip

 

[Stasieki]

Sadly arrived home last night. But, WOW, it was such a great trip. It was a bit more crowded than we expected (this was our 3rd Feb trip). We had a good plan though and used Fastpass so never waited more than 20 minutes. It was mainly the parades and shows that we're packed and also Fantasyland. The tour groups caused a few headaches for us but we took it in stride.

The CMs were all excellent. dH even commented a few times about how great they all were.

Poly was perfect. Can't complain about anything there.

We had so many magical moments for DD6 bday. Our favorite was the African drummers at AK stopping the show, pulling her up front and having everyone sing Happy Birthday to her. We have video of her at 18 months dancing with them so it was extra special. I also got to meet 2 dissers

 

[pigletto]

Wow. I'm not gonna lie. Those lines at POP scare me. This is our first time staying value, and yikes!!!

I agree. That's ridiculous

I was sure they I had read over and over that the tour groups were all gone by the end of February as their breaks were in January and July. But there they are
Maybe they'll be gone by the end of the month? We went the last week of February in 2011. We stayed at CSR and the Poly. I did not see one single tour group in the entire 10 days. Not at hotels, not in restaurants, not in the parks. So unless something has changed I think they are gone by the end of February.

I will say on one summer trip we stayed a night at a Value and it was during a football and volleyball championship of some sort. There were teens everywhere you looked. They held doors for us, smiled when you walked by and even gave up their seat for my obviously sick 8 year old while checking in for M.E. They couldn't have been nicer.
Just from a crowd perspective though I understand nobody wants to wait in lines like that for food etc.


ETA) I looked it up. Apparently Argentinians are off school for break until the beginning of March.

 

[Kathy Z]

We made it! We hit a few flurries and a little wet snow toward the end, but made it to our overnight hotel dodging the 32" of snow that Connecticut got. Whew!

That is such wonderful news. Have a safe and magical time at WDW!

 

[mom2princesses2]

I will say on one summer trip we stayed a night at a Value and it was during a football and volleyball championship of some sort. There were teens everywhere you looked. They held doors for us, smiled when you walked by and even gave up their seat for my obviously sick 8 year old while checking in for M.E. They couldn't have been nicer.

We found that they were only annoying in their size. Otherwise, the groups were very nice. And the chanting and singing made me smile.

 

[skater]

I agree. That's ridiculous

I was sure they I had read over and over that the tour groups were all gone by the end of February as their breaks were in January and July. But there they are
Maybe they'll be gone by the end of the month? We went the last week of February in 2011. We stayed at CSR and the Poly. I did not see one single tour group in the entire 10 days. Not at hotels, not in restaurants, not in the parks. So unless something has changed I think they are gone by the end of February.

I will say on one summer trip we stayed a night at a Value and it was during a football and volleyball championship of some sort. There were teens everywhere you looked. They held doors for us, smiled when you walked by and even gave up their seat for my obviously sick 8 year old while checking in for M.E. They couldn't have been nicer.
Just from a crowd perspective though I understand nobody wants to wait in lines like that for food etc.


ETA) I looked it up. Apparently Argentinians are off school for break until the beginning of March.

OH, I'm so nervous about this. This is my first trip to POP in years, and I've been excited for my 11 year old who has been wanting to go back to POP for a while. But I love the peacefulness of the food court at POR and I'm already grieving it (I feel like a brat since I'm lucky to be going back down at all ). I'm meeting family in the food court on our first night, and I'm thinking about telling them to meet us at POR .

 

[Kathymford]

I agree. That's ridiculous

I was sure they I had read over and over that the tour groups were all gone by the end of February as their breaks were in January and July. But there they are
Maybe they'll be gone by the end of the month? We went the last week of February in 2011. We stayed at CSR and the Poly. I did not see one single tour group in the entire 10 days. Not at hotels, not in restaurants, not in the parks. So unless something has changed I think they are gone by the end of February.

I will say on one summer trip we stayed a night at a Value and it was during a football and volleyball championship of some sort. There were teens everywhere you looked. They held doors for us, smiled when you walked by and even gave up their seat for my obviously sick 8 year old while checking in for M.E. They couldn't have been nicer.
Just from a crowd perspective though I understand nobody wants to wait in lines like that for food etc.

ETA) I looked it up. Apparently Argentinians are off school for break until the beginning of March.

Well, we MAY be ok then. I figure the new FL is pulling more people than ever. I can't watch TV right now without seeing an ad. It seems like every single commercial break!!! It will be fine....