President's Day - Can You Help Me I'm a Brit. ?

jdybnsn

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jun 27, 2005
Messages
1,708
Hi

Could any of you helpful Americans out there please tell me how busy Presidents Day is going to be (20th Feb 2006 - I believe) ? Scale of 1 to 10 please (where 10 is :earseek: )

Will it be busy all that weekend ? just on the Monday ?....or all week ????

:banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

Are the kids off school that week ?

Will KSC be just as busy ?

Any suggestions as to what to do for this day, if we don't venture out to the Parks ??

Any help you can give would be really appreciated. :wave2:
 
I would say it will probably be busy on the weekend, with Sunday being busier that usual because people have Monday off to travel. But Monday is the only "bank holiday" so everyone should go back to school and work on Tuesday. But because its a long weekend some people will take more days off.

While its busier than the week before or after, I don't know that I would label it as crowded. Much of the country expects snow that tiem of year and its not as easy to travel for a long weekend as others throughout the year.

Not sure what KSC stands for.

Go. Enjoy.
 
i noticed the weekend hrs for this yr (05) at mk were till midnight which makes me think busy! we were there Martin Luther King day a few yrs ago and it was lots busier than the few days before . a big increase in Mk that Sat( no room to move in fantasyland), tons of people at pop food court that friday night on( we left Sunday am) . i probably would skip mk that Sat , sun and mon if you can( going by mlk day which is the same type of long weekend holiday) as that would be the worst i think, second would be ak cause of the smaller paths.
 
I was there in February during President's Week this year, and it was rather crowded. A lot of schools in the northeast have off for President's day, and some even have off the whole week. Towards the middle of the week, the crowds seemed to be less, but it was still crowded. Wait times for the better rides were over 60 minutes....we definetely had to utilize fastpass or we wouldn't have seen as much as we did.
 

In the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2005 - the crowd level calendar shows the crowds increasing from 3's and 4's to a level of 7 over President's day weekend.
( this is based on a scale of 1 being the lowest to 10 being the highest) They indicate the crowds drop back down to a 3 or 4 for the rest of the week following the Holiday. Hope this helps
 
Big thanks to the above Dis Boarders

Any more opinions please ? :confused3

(KSC = Kennedy Space Centre)

:listen: :listen: :listen: :listen: :listen:
 
Many of New York school districts are switching their "spring break" to the week of President's Day. I'm not sure how many other Northeastern states are doing so, but I"m sure this will boast crowds there throughout the week. Last time I checked on tripplanning.com (i think thats the page) the whole week was a 9 (out of 10) for crowds. I'm assuming it not be as bad as Spring Breaks around Easter, but will be pretty crowded.
 
That week (beginning the Friday before Presidents' Day and continuing to the Friday after) is very crowded, comparable to if not worse than a mid-summer week although quite a bit less than Christmas, the two Easter weeks or the week July 4 falls in. In other words, do not assume Presidents' Day itself is the one to worry about because that day isn't any better or worse than the other days. That week has simply become a key vacation week for WDW (and not just a weekend). You usually get some extended hours which alleviates the crowd somewhat but during peak times of day (10 to 4) you are going to see lines at popular attractions of 75 minutes and longer and it does not drop much into the evening.

You really need to consider strategies and not just head out to wherever you might desire on any given day at any given time. For example: (a) going early, including when a park opens early to resort guests if you are a resort guest, is advisble because during the early morning you can get on a lot without large crowds; (b) going very late when a park is open three extra hours to resort guests although those are usually crowded until about the last extra hour; (c) if the park has that extra hour in the morning, go to some other park in the late morning to afternoon because the early morning park has a lot showing up simply because it opens an hour earlier than normal and then the "normal" crowd comes later to compound the issue; (d) sometimes between 4 and 8 at MK you can get on things, like Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, or other secondary attractions with small lines though they have long lines from 10 to 3; (e) likewise at Epcot, almost everything becomes a walk-on after 3 or 4 except Test track, Mission Space, and California Soarin -- in other words that 50 minute line you see at Spaceship Earth at 10 is non-existent at 3; (d) at MGM after 4 you can get relief at a lot of the attractions other than Mermaid, Tower of Terror or Rock n Rollercoaster; (e) if they have two Fantasmics at night, either get the dinner package for the first one or go to the second one -- the first one is always packed to the gills and people are rejected, the second one never fills; (f) make dinner (evening meal) reservations for any park restaurants well in advance and for resort restaurants make them by about a week in advance although those can often be had by day before ressies; (g) use fastpass as much as possible; (h) consider some other activities rather than just the parks like Hoop Dee Doo, Cirque Du Soleil, the Polynesian Luau for which you will get in if you make the ressie and will feel relieved from a hectic park day besides seeing a good show.

As to KSC, I would not think it would be hugely crowded since that usually occurs only during launch times.
 
I am in agreement that it is quite a busy week. I wanted to add that many Michigan school districts are adopting President's Week as a winter holiday break.
 
We will be there also, as DH teaches and here in New England that's our February vacation. We use the strategy of NOT going to the EMH parks, going at park opening, and find we do pretty well.
 
Just a quick note: The Guide's predictions for Presidents Week 2006 are based in part on the wait times we recorded during the same time in 2005.

Len
 
Hello to the Brit!

We vacationed over Presidents Day/Week this past Feb (2005).

Here is how we managed:

We arrived on Saturday, did Seaworld on Sunday. We did Discovery Cove on Monday - President's Day. Reason - DC limits the number of guests to 1,000. Therefore even on a day when most everyone has off, it will be no more crowded than the next day. By the way, Discovery Cove was amazing. We lucked out with fine weather and felt like we were on an island. The dolphin swim well worth it.

We did Tuesday - Friday at MK, Epcot, MGM, and then back to MK.

This was our first trip in February, as we usually went in May, but I have to say that I found the crowds to be quite managable. Use the fastpass system and study the park maps before you go, so you have a basic plan of attack. I would also advise to plan your meals with priority seatings (or whatever the "reservation" system is being called these days).

I am sure you will have a wonderful trip.

Best regards.

Pam
 
Hi everyone -


Many thanks for all your replies and useful tips /information which I will print out and study.

I booked for late Feb for 2006, instead of our usual early Feb trip, on the basis that the weather would be better for our Cruise - too bad that I did not find this site, and learn about Presidents Day until after I booked.

Nevermind, I will know for next time, and whatever the crowds we WILL have a good time !!!
Thank you all again :love:

:banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:
 
I went there to MK a couple years ago and it was packed!
It might not be so bad this years, but for myself I wouldnt go. But I guess thats when fastpass comes in handy.
 
We were there Prez week last year - crowds were heavy, but getting there at opening and avoiding EMH parks it was quite manageable. We gave the FP machines a workout though!

The weather was awesome! And we missed 2 snowstorms in Philadelphia which made it even better.
 




New Posts





Receive up to $1,000 in Onboard Credit and a Gift Basket!
That’s right — when you book your Disney Cruise with Dreams Unlimited Travel, you’ll receive incredible shipboard credits to spend during your vacation!
CLICK HERE








DIS Facebook DIS youtube DIS Instagram DIS Pinterest DIS Tiktok DIS Twitter DIS Bluesky

Back
Top Bottom