Presidents' week vs. August --Poll

[bethbuchall]

We are planning a trip for the first 2 weeks in August 2006. My kids will have the week of Presidents' Day off for the first time this year (February 20-24). Will the crowds be a lot lighter that week than they would be in August? (We're used to the beginning-mid May crowd levels.)

What is the weather like in February? Can you swim/go to the water parks comfortably?

We'd be able to go a little longer in August, but we'd be able to go for 10 days in February, which I guess is long enough.

I worry about snow, etc. here in February making travel difficult, but I guess I have hurricane worries if we go in August.

Which would you do if you had the choice?

Beth

 

[bobbiwoz]

I've never had "luck" with real nice (warm) weather in Florida in February, and I understand that there are crowds in WDW over Presidents week, but still, I think that I would give February a try, August may be too hot/muggy to be enjoyable, this is our first August WDW vacation coming up.

WDW resort pools are nicely heated, I'm not sure about the water parks.

Bobbi

 

[Hanover]

We went this past February on a land/sea vacation. Although we didn't go over President's Day, we went right beforehand. We spent a couple days at Sea world and Universal and then February 10-12 we were at Disney parks and then did the cruise the 13-17th. The parks were not crowded except for the morning EMH at Animal Kingdom (the only EMH we attended) and MGM was loaded with cheerleaders for a big competition. We managed to see all the shows we wanted to see and ride everything we wanted to ride with minimal wait times. The weather was great...in the high 60's to mid 70's...much better than the snow we left at home. We were very comfortable in pants/capris and short sleeves. A couple days we could even wear shorts. We took wind breakers to wear in the morning and evenings when the weather was a bit cooler. We did not go to any of the water parks. We did go the end of July/early August of 2003 and swore we'd never go back that time of year due to the heat and crowds. Then free dining came around and we reconsidered. We leave a week from today. Because the parks closed a lot earlier in February than in the summer months, we basically got to do the same amount on each of those trips.
How are the crowds in Mid May? We will be going on the 7 day cruise next year and spending a few days at the parks beforehand. (One son's birthday is in February, one in May so that is why we chose those dates). It's one month we have never been, so I'd be interested in hearing about the crowd level.

 

[kbkids]

I would vote for February - HOWEVER!!! - I wouldn't go near the parks until the 21st. The parks are going to be mobbed that weekend. February is my favorite time of the year to go, and we made the mistake of being there one year on the Friday and Saturday before President's Day. It was a nightmare!! A friend of mine went last year - tried to talk her out of it - but she came back and swore she would never do it again. She said it ranked right up there with mid July. It really is one of the busiest weekends of the year.

But, I love the weather! It's pretty nice during the day - maybe wear jeans, but we've usually had on shorts - but the nights can be pretty cold. We just usually take a sweatshirt along with us and slip it on at nightfall.

The crowds really will die back to down to pretty low on that Tuesday though. Go and just spend the weekend at Downtown Disney, play miniature golf, check out the resorts. Depending on your tickets, perhaps try out EMH hours in the mornings at the parks and then get out of the parks around 11:00 and do something else in the afternoons and evenings. You can still see the fireworks from several of the resorts at night. Then once Tuesday hits, the parks will empty back out.

 

[bethbuchall]

The poll results are now 50/50. Maybe there is no bad time. I am so torn on this!

Hanover--we went in mid-May in 2002 and 2004. I think it was a great time to go. We had beautiful weather both times. The parks definitely weren't deserted, but the waits were reasonable (especially if you use fast pass for the rides that do build lines). We didn't have outrageous lines to get food. We went to Fantasmic early, but I noticed that you could still get fairly decent seats 15 minutes before show time. I wish we could do May again, but I have a ds heading into high school and dd is going to be in 7th grade. Last time we went ds was in 7th grade, and that's the trip that I decided we really shouldn't take them out any more.

Beth

 

[disneyjunkie]

I voted for August.

My son's school always gives homework during school breaks. It's a pain to get him to complete homework when he's trying to break his TOT drop record.

 

[bethbuchall]

I voted for August.

My son's school always gives homework during school breaks. It's a pain to get him to complete homework when he's trying to break his TOT drop record.

Good point! That was something I didn't even think about, but you're right. Often times it's a big project, too, that would be very difficult to do while traveling. I think that's why I'm leaning toward August...it just seems a more "care-free" time. Of course, dh is really bothered by the heat, so that's a consideration for February. Too bad I can't do both!!!

Beth

 

[DizBelle]

I voted for Feb. Florida in August heat..... YUCK!

 

[gigi1313]

we always go late august and do not find the heat to be horribly oppressive (dh jokes that we just have to walk on the shady side of the street!) i would take fourteen days over ten days anytime of year... i also agree w/the homework project issue that you may have to contend with... and i would bet that wdw will be less crowded in august than during presidents' week... this year florida schools were back in session on the 10th of august, so that helps slow down the crowds quite a bit!

 

[bethbuchall]

Almost even numbers...guess I'll flip a coin. I'll drive myself crazy until I make the decision. I'm still leaning toward August, though I don't know if it's really for practical reasons...

Thanks for the input!

Beth

 

[tigerfan2201]

I am scheduled for Feb 11-18. I hope I won't run into Pres. Day crowds!!

 

[justKim]

I was excited to see a week in February as a school vacation this year. Our school has always had president's day off, but it didn't occur to me that this week in Feb. was president's week. The proposed school calendar had been changed several times, and once there was a week off in October. I was rooting for that schedule, but when the official version had this Feb. week, I booked a trip. I figured, how busy could Feb. be at WDW? Geez, I just looked at the info at touringplans.com and now I am really worried. We get into SSR on Sunday. Should we stay out of the parks Sunday and Monday altogether? We are there until Friday.

We have gone over the summer, but I don't like the heat. The Orlando temps aren't usually much different than here in Atlanta, but I don't go outside in the summer in Atlanta. I was looking forward to a Feb. trip, but I am concerned about the crowds.

 

[tigerfan2201]

Kim,
What dates are you going?

 

[EsmeraldaX]

I've been at both times, and I thought crowds were about the same but it is much hotter in August. So I picked Feb. Although, when I went in Feb, it rained a lot. But it's statistically more liklely to rain in August.

 

[bscs]

I've been presidents week before and am going back presidents week
(Feb21-March3) next year. Beth, You mentioned maybe snowy weather in Feb. where you are from. Well even the more reson to go in Feb. to get away from the cold. Being from Northern Maine that is one of the biggest resons for going to Florida . It's great to get away from that horrible