*** New Official February 2013 Thread ***

[apentney]

What crowd calendar would you say is the best to follow. We are going to be in Disney 1-9. And I just looked up Tourist Plans and another one and their prediction went from a 3-4 to a 6 and 7. Does this mean hour wait times?

 

[GinChicago]

What crowd calendar would you say is the best to follow. We are going to be in Disney 1-9. And I just looked up Tourist Plans and another one and their prediction went from a 3-4 to a 6 and 7. Does this mean hour wait times?

Not a 1:1 wait time but a crowd level estimate. 1 is low crowds and 10 is max crowds. The smaller the number, the better!

 

[wvasweetness]

Hello All-
We are going to be staying in the cabins at Ft. Wilderness Feb. 3-6 and Art of Animation 7-10. We are so excited and cannot wait for all of our planned events. Regardless, I would love any hints from people who have been to Disney in Feb in the past. What kind of clothes do you pack? How thick of a jacket do you bring? We are in Cleveland, Ohio so needless to day, it is snowy and cold here now and should be when we leave too. We are driving so we have room. Thanks in advance-mj

We're in central WV - not too far! We're struggling with clothing choices too - light coat or heavy? Hat and gloves or none? Shorts or only pants?

Oh, the choices!!

 

[apentney]

But a 6-7 in February is not good right? I know I have to stop worrying about crowds and waits an stuff but. When we went in 2010. We were there 6 days and didn't do or see 50%or more of all of Disney. And I don't want to go through that again.

 

[mollyjean99]

We're in central WV - not too far! We're struggling with clothing choices too - light coat or heavy? Hat and gloves or none? Shorts or only pants?

Oh, the choices!!

Are you guys driving or flying? Part of me thinks we will be wearing jeans and t-shirts with various layers. I don't know though. I am very excited and have been busy working on making t-shirts for the family each day we are there. I know it is silly but my kids are young enough that they want to do it. We have a princess and pirate day (complete with matching tutus for the girls) finished as well as our peace, love and mickey mouse (that glows in the dark) finished.
Thank goodness for the Cricut and freezer paper!

 

[melissarose]

But a 6-7 in February is not good right? I know I have to stop worrying about crowds and waits an stuff but. When we went in 2010. We were there 6 days and didn't do or see 50%or more of all of Disney. And I don't want to go through that again.

i feel like a 6 or 7 doesn't sound very good for february and i am also curious about wait times! part of the reason i am so excited to go in february is low wait times, but now i'm not so sure!!

 

[AshleyD1983]

i feel like a 6 or 7 doesn't sound very good for february and i am also curious about wait times! part of the reason i am so excited to go in february is low wait times, but now i'm not so sure!!

I downloaded an app on my iPhone called WDW Waits. It is free and has excellent reviews. I plan on checking it out until we leave. The wait times haven't been bad today.... They were worse yesterday. I think February will be good.

 

[Sparkly]

Inspired by someone on another forum, I made a 30 days countdown calendar! Can't wait until I get to use it.

 

[kkayluvsdis]

Silly me. I finally decided to try to pull up my resort and dining reservations on the new "My Disney Experience" website even though I have "heard" nothing but negative things about it. Low and behold it didn't work for me either! It does seem unbelievable that such a well run company would not have a website representative of that! Hope you all have a great weekend! I took a shift working tomorrow. Saving all the pennies I can for the big trip!


Kelly

 

[aaarcher86]

Are you guys driving or flying? Part of me thinks we will be wearing jeans and t-shirts with various layers. I don't know though. I am very excited and have been busy working on making t-shirts for the family each day we are there. I know it is silly but my kids are young enough that they want to do it. We have a princess and pirate day (complete with matching tutus for the girls) finished as well as our peace, love and mickey mouse (that glows in the dark) finished.
Thank goodness for the Cricut and freezer paper!

We are in Columbus. We wore tshirts and jeans during the day and just needed sweatshirts in the morning or at night. I have one day of pics where I wore a tank top!

 

[LucyBC80]

What crowd calendar would you say is the best to follow. We are going to be in Disney 1-9. And I just looked up Tourist Plans and another one and their prediction went from a 3-4 to a 6 and 7. Does this mean hour wait times?

I'm a huge advocate of easyWDW and Josh. He has solid explanations for why he's recc'ing a specific park and he goes on both recommend and not recommended days to show you the difference.

Our touring plan follow his prediction except for two days we're going EMH (am for Animal Kingdom and pm for a Sunday on Magical Kingdom) and I feel very confident we will get to do everything we want at least twice!

Posted from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[Wood Nymph]

From the easywdw website: http://www.easywdw.com/disneybest/disney-world-calendar-of-crowds-cost-weather-events/#more-935

February Cost:

February 1  13 is Value 1, the cheapest season.
February 14 is Peak, the second most expensive of the major seasons.
February 15  17 is Presidents Day Weekend, which is the same price as a weekend night during the rest of Peak Season.
February 18  23 is Peak, the second most expensive of the major seasons.
February 24  28 is Regular, which has prices that are about in the middle of Value and Peak Seasons. For example, a resort that is $100 during Value Season and $150 during Peak Season would be about $125 during Regular Season

February Weather: The average high in February is 72 degrees and the average low is 53. Highs do occasionally get into the low 80s. Precipitation is relatively low, but it does rain on about 23% of days.

February Crowds: Crowds are below average to average through February 13th, which is the Wednesday before Presidents Day Weekend. Presidents Day Weekend will be very busy, as will the week following it until February 24th due to some schools getting that whole week off. February 26th through March 7th has below average to average size crowds.

February Park Hours and Entertainment: The current February operating schedule is available here: http://media.disneywebcontent.com/S.../pdf/ParkHours/WDW_Operating_Calendar_feb.pdf. Expect Disney to update the schedule on January 14th or 18th. See the final February 2012 schedule here to compare.

Best Week to Visit Disney World in February 2013: The first two weeks in February are the best weeks to visit. Crowds will be the lowest of the month and it is still Value season, the cheapest season to book a Disney resort. Crowds pick up February 14th and continue to be large through the 23rd. February 24th through the first week in March is a decent time to visit, but after that were getting into spring break territory.

Closures and Openings:

Continuing Refurbishments:

The Spa at the Grand Floridian Resort closed September 19th 2011 for about 18 months, until at least June 2013. The Fitness Center remains open and guests will be shuttled to Saratoga Springs for spa services.
Character Spot at Epcot has moved behind its original location during a refurbishment that is expected to last through the middle of February. Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto continue greeting guests during the refurbishment.
Splash Mountain will be closed for refurbishment from January 2nd through March 19th, reopening on March 20th.
Main Street Bakery will be closed for refurbishment from January 6th through May 17th, reopening on May 18th. The new location will serve Starbucks coffee, pastries, and other items in addition to Disney favorites.
Kali River Rapids will be closed for refurbishment from January 6th through February 15th, reopening on February 16th.
Blizzard Beach will be closed from January 6th through March 16th for its annual refurbishment.
BoardWalk Bakery will be closed for refurbishment from January 6th through April 26th, reopening on the 27th.
Mad Tea Party will be closed for refurbishment from January 7th through February 18th, reopening on the 19th.
Disney Jr. Live on Stage will be closed for refurbishment from January 14th through February 13th, reopening on the 14th.

New Refurbishments:

Liberty Square Riverboat will be closed for refurbishment from February 1st through February 8th, reopening on the 9th.
California Grill at the Contemporary Resort will be closed from February 2nd through at least the end of July.
Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage will be closed for refurbishment from February 7th through the 12th, reopening on February 13th.

Notes:

Some of the refurbishments from January will inevitably run into February. Pool refurbishments are also common throughout the month as temperatures are lower and fewer people are in the pool. Most refurbishments will be completed by mid-February to make way for the heavier crowds and higher resort prices.

February Special Events That May Affect Crowds or Your Stay:

Mardis Gras/Fat Tuesday is February 12th this year. Most of the state of Louisiana gets the entire week off. While not everyone in Louisiana visits Disney World, it does have an effect similar to Jersey Week in November and is the reason for the elevated crowd level leading up to Presidents Day Weekend. Expect to see a lot more LSU Tiger hats than usual.

The Princess Half Marathon Weekend is scheduled for February 22  24. It is a much smaller event than the January Marathon, but still brings people to the area. With heavier crowds already in town for a weeklong vacation beginnign over Presidents Day Weekend, the Friday and Saturday leading up to the Marathon are quite busy. Beginning Monday February 25th, crowds return to below average. For more information on the Marathon, including the schedule and pricing, visit http://espnwwos.disney.go.com/events/endurance/princess-half-marathon/

Superbowl Sunday is February 3rd. Sunday during the Super Bowl is usually one of the best times of the year to tour the Parks due to all the people who will be home watching the Big Game. Hollywood Studios is particularly light on crowds.

Valentines Day (February 14th) is going to be busier than usual with Mardis Gras crowds in full force. Valentines Day itself does not have an appreciable effect on crowds, though you may notice more couples in the upscale restaurants.

The Atlanta Braves MLB baseball team returns to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in mid-February for spring training. For the schedule and ticket information, visit: www.espnwwos.com/atlantabraves.

Anyone going to WDW from Feb 1 to 13th should have low crowds.

According to this, Beauty and the Beast will be closed the day we plan to go to DHS. We may need to adjust our plans a little. It is a good thing we always buy park hoppers.

 

[melissarose]

I downloaded an app on my iPhone called WDW Waits. It is free and has excellent reviews. I plan on checking it out until we leave. The wait times haven't been bad today.... They were worse yesterday. I think February will be good.

I have so many apps but I hadn't seen that one! I just downloaded it and its awesome, tells you exactly what you need to know in a simple way! Thanks!

 

[LucyBC80]

To the planners: if you don't like taking paper or want to have a backup on your phone I advice you to download NOTE'D. It's similar to the iOS notes app but you can separate them in their individual notebooks and keep everything organized. It's a lovely and very helpful app.

Posted from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[artemis908]

To the planners: if you don't like taking paper or want to have a backup on your phone I advice you to download NOTE'D. It's similar to the iOS notes app but you can separate them in their individual notebooks and keep everything organized. It's a lovely and very helpful app.

Posted from my iPhone using DISBoards

To add to that, I highly recommend using Drop Box. It's for your computer, tablets, and phones, I have it on all my electronics. It's online free storage that lets me open any document on any device. So I start my lists and so on in word and then I can look at them on my phone whenever I want.

 

[BeBeCee]

We're in central WV - not too far! We're struggling with clothing choices too - light coat or heavy? Hat and gloves or none? Shorts or only pants?

Oh, the choices!!

We went in January last year and the mornings and evenings could be cool, but by mid-day we were down to just our t-shirts. One evening it was really cold and we were wearing coats and hats, but for the most part, dressing in layers was effective. The only negative to that is once you start taking off the layers, you have to carry them around or store them in some way. We used our stroller and most days we had our jackets smushed in the cargo of the stroller. I wore flip flops one day. Ha.

 

[wendiloveswalt]

We just found out over Christmas that we're going to the World from 2-23 through 2-28 staying at CSR, followed by a 3 day cruise on the Dream from 2-28 to 3-3!

Subscribing to this thread to hear all the great tips for February at Disney.

We've been there in November and March, but never February. I hope it's a good time to go.

 

[skater]

When I go in early Feb., I usually pack long pants, shorts, and capris as well as short sleeve shirts and jackets. I check the weather obsessively up to the day before we go and adjust my packing accordingly. If its predicted to be cold, I add an extra pair of long pants and add an extra pair of shorts if we're lucky enough to get very warm weather. I have a very nice thin (but warm) coat I'll wear on the plane. If we're very unlucky and have cold weather, I know that its there if I need it.

This year, I'm going during the last week of Feb. It looks like the avg. temps are warmer, so I'm hoping for more shorts and capris .

 

[LucyBC80]

To add to that, I highly recommend using Drop Box. It's for your computer, tablets, and phones, I have it on all my electronics. It's online free storage that lets me open any document on any device. So I start my lists and so on in word and then I can look at them on my phone whenever I want.

Good reminder! I also use Dropbox, it's very convenient to sync all of your documents with all of your devices and computer.

 

[katt789]

Trip officially booked!! Best friend and I headed down:
Feb 24-March 2nd
Staying at Pop!