Presidents Week

[smithmac]

Is Presidents week busier than Thanksgiving time at Disney World?

 

[TheRustyScupper]

The busiest weeks at WDW, in order
. . . Christmas-to-NewYear Week
. . . Thanksgiving Week
. . . President's Week

NOTE: For any given year, Thanksgiving Week and President's Week can tie. In
any case, both weeks are MOBBED and shoulder-to-shoulder.

 

[anniemae]

There is another thread on this topic, I think it will be busy since it overlaps with Mardi Gras.

 

[prudence64]

I've gotten mixed messages about presidents week vs. Easter. Which one is busier?

 

[davkata]

The busiest weeks at WDW, in order
. . . Christmas-to-NewYear Week
. . . Thanksgiving Week
. . . President's Week

NOTE: For any given year, Thanksgiving Week and President's Week can tie. In
any case, both weeks are MOBBED and shoulder-to-shoulder.

I do not do crowds! We were there last year during President's week/Princess half marathon and crowds were very manageable. Granted, we planned ahead, used RD and EMH am and then FP+ in the later afternoon/evening at another park. Rode and saw everything we wanted mostly headliners multiple times during our 5 days. Did I mention I hate crowds!!?? Worst crowds we encountered were our own poor planning/stupidity as we were entering MK during the line up for Fireworks. Lesson learned there, but wait times were worth it! Going again this year same week, so will let you know...Would LOVE to go Thanksgiving week, so if it is true the crowds are same/similar to President's week, it's good to know, because I can deal with those crowds with planning ahead hopefully!

 

[anniemae]

I've gotten mixed messages about presidents week vs. Easter. Which one is busier?

Who knows, they are probably about the same. So much depends on factors like When Easter falls, will it be early or late? Will it coincide with spring break in the public schools? will colleges be out etc. And with Pres day, things like Mardi Gras can influence it, Feb break for Northerners etc. Either week will be very crowded, 6 in one half dozen in the other.

 

[staceyrhood]

Our local schools are out feb20-22 for break so that will add to the crowds also that week. (Osceola county)

 

[troof]

I don't know about the comparison but we were there Tues-Sun before President's Day two years ago. The Tues/Wed were light, Thursday started to pick up, Friday was crowded, and they did staged closings of MK (by ticket level) on Saturday. Sunday was also super crowded. Flew out on Monday. It was our first time and if I had shown up on that Saturday, I would have probably never gone back. Luckily we had already done a lot of the rides earlier in the week.

 

[erin1715]

I have an uneasy feeling that Presidents week this year is going to set a record for crowds, with presidents day, northerners having that week off (thats us), mardi gras, and the princess half. We are booked to go that week and most of the resorts are sold out. I am trying to mentally prepare for the crowds and we will hit rope drop and utilize FP+ the best we can, and try to make the best of it. At least we will see some sunshine and palm trees!

 

[42krunner]

How about the week after President's week? We were there that week last year and it was not bad at all. We are going again this year. Of course half-marathon Sunday is busy.

 

[davkata]

As I posted above, we were there last year, same week; President's week and Princess half marathon. While it was not Mardi Gras last year, from researching on these boards, there are no special events for that in particular, so I am hoping that doesn't increase the crowd levels too much this year. We used EMH, RD and FP+ in the late afternoon and it worked great for us! Never booked any ADR until day before and got into a few of those as well last year. Like another poster said, being from the Northeast, we will just be glad for palm trees and warmer weather!

 

[Brian Noble]

I've gotten mixed messages about presidents week vs. Easter. Which one is busier?

Usually, Easter hours are longer than P-Week hours, though this year's 8AM openings for the first half of P-Week are a first that I can recall.

Having done most of the "busy" weeks by now---including Christmas, P-Week+Mardi Gras, and peak summer---but also some much less crowded times, I've concluded that it doesn't matter all that much. I was surprised by how long the mornings took to get busy over Christmas during 8AM opens at Studios and MK. There were several hours each day of fairly easy touring with a sensible plan to stay ahead of the wave.