President's Day 2004

[RatherBeGolfing]

Anyone have an opinion on how busy it will be at WDW during the week of 2/15/04? What was 2003 like? Will BCV and SAB be crowded?

We went in early April this year and the crowds were light (at least it seemed so to me) - hardly anyone in SAB!

Thanks,
Larry
(new member as of June this year - thanks to Christine!)

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

We were at the BCV this last Presidents' week. It was less busy as the week went on. SAB was okay and we were even allowed to bring a couple of guests in with us who were staying at another WDW hotel to the pool for the afternoon. It is a great time to go to the BCV because it is nice to escape the theme park crowds during the day to go back to the pool.

HBC

 

[jel0511]

I was at WDW for Presidents Day week 2003, although at VWL. The parks were just as crowded as they are in the summer IMO. I just got back from a week, and didn't notice any significant difference in the crowdes from this Feb and last week. We were there for a couple days before Presidents Day, and did notice a difference on those couple of days, but once the weekend hit, WHOA!! It stayed pretty crowded until Thursday of that week. A lot of northern schools get that week off and a lot of them come down to WDW!!!! We're avoiding President's Week this year, and going the first week, hoping for low crowds!!

 

[FriendsOfEeyore]

GOOD QUESTION!!!

We are going Home for our first time, but checking out on the 15th. We wanted to come home and have one day to relax, before we went back to work.

When is the busiet time for President's Day? The Weekend, The Week Before... It sounds like the week after things slow down a little bit.

 

[jel0511]

For us, the craziest days were Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon, Tues and Wed of Presidents weekend and week. It seemed to me the few days before and after President's Day were the busiest. So basically count on high crowds from the Friday before President's Day(Thursday had building crowds) to the Tues or Wed after.

 

[jonesmatNY]

We have gone to WDW for Presidents Week in 2002 and 2003, 2003 seemed a little less crowded than 2002. We arrived on Saturday and stayed until the following Monday. There are lot of people that come down from the north as the schools are off, this year, we also had the big snow storm on the east coast that started saturday and might have prevented a lot of people from getting down to WDW. It is crowded, so we keep that in mind and take our time. We stayed at BCV and the SAB was not over crowded, just busy. We are going back in 2004 too!(BCV)

Matt-NY

 

[MikeBW]

I called last week trying to switch from 1 BR at BWV to BCV for Feb 13 - 18. They had the Fri, Sat and Sun, but Mon and Tue were totally booked for all rooms.

 

[ripleysmom]

I have friends that went down this year and they said it was crowded. We're going anyway and switched our ressies from 2BR BWV to 2BR WLV. I tried to get BCV but they didn't have any rooms available on the 15th and hubby didn't want to switch. We're currently on the waitlist for that week at BCV but I won't mind if it doesn't come through.

 

[DisneyHumbug]

I called last week to switch my 1BR from VWL to BCV but there was no availability. So I took PV at BWV and went on the waitlist for BCV, too!!! Must be some wait list, huh?

 

[threeprincesses]

Just curious, what is SAB? I've been trying to figure out but can't.

 

[ncligs]

Originally posted by threeprincesses
Just curious, what is SAB? I've been trying to figure out but can't.

SAB (Storm Along Bay) is the pool at the BCV's

. You have to be staying there or the Yacht and Beach Club to use that pool. It is one of the best pools on WDW property.

We have gone the last 4 years during Presidents week, and the pool at OKW has not been crowded.at all.We only did MGM this past year and it wasn't bad at all on Monday of President's week. The weather the last 3-4 years for this week has been beautifull every time.

 

[InstImpres]

How did I not run into any of you this past year?

We loved it that week enough we will be back next year. As others said, crowds went down by Wednesday and what could be better than watching Fantasmic in short sleeves and 80 degrees while back home they are digging out of 22" of snow

It is a great time to get away and nicely spaced to our summer trip - we know will be back in 6 months.

Sandy

 

[Doc and Family]

The key to President's week, believe it or not, is whether or not Mardi Gras falls during the same week. Half of New Orleans gets out of town and heads to Mickey Land to avoid the misery that is Mardi Gras. From experience, when President's week and Mardi Gras coincide, it is busier than the summer. Having said that, I will try to find out when Mardi Gras is in 2004 and get back to you.
Regardless, it's better than being at work!!!!

 

[Doc and Family]

Found it.
Mardi Gras is Feb. 24.
President's week, although always busy, shouldn't be as bad as 2002.
We'll have to tee it up sometime!

 

[RatherBeGolfing]

Thanks Doc and all for the experiences and advice. I would prefer to avoid the week and avoid the crowds, but DW will not consider pulling DD out of 5th grade for a week. So, we "have" to go Presidents week. Oh well, it will be nice to escape the snows even tho it will be with a bazillion others!
Larry

 

[ClarabelleCow]

This year Presidents week also has Valentines and the Daytona 500, not sure if there is any impact. We booked Vero for Saturday thru Thursday at the 7 month window with no problems. We have stayed in Vero and Orlando and done the races on Fourth of July weekend in the past and it was crazy (traffic), so not sure how many would start out at WDW then head to Daytona? The hard part was the airfare, from NYC it was already over 300, so we ended up flying in late on 2/12 and staying at the Hyatt in the airport and getting our car Saturday!

 

[beccasmom]

We've found many of the federal holidays that fall on Mondays to be a crowded time at the parks (not just Memorial Day and Labor Day). We were there a few years back during the Martin Luther King holiday weekend (also my birthday weekend) and it was really busy. But it slowed down as the week wore on, the weekend prior to the holiday being the most crowded. I don't remember it being particularly difficult to get reservations, though.

 

[Doc and Family]

Larry,
It will be a blast either way.
At least you won't have the Mardi Gras refugees clogging things up. And, they usually have a couple of E-ride nights during that time as well. If president's week is a regular trip time for you, we will probably see you there in a couple of years, because we escape Mardi Gras, and they're bound to coincide fairly soon. I think I'll go play some golf now.