***The Official May 2025 Thread!***

[Willows909]

76 days! Wilderness Lodge, Club Level! May 12th - 18th. Yay! Not getting any younger, lol...wondering how many benches/resting spots walking the Mararajah Trek at Animal Kindgdom?

 

[kylenne]

Not sure if you guys are following the thread elsewhere but Flower and Garden menus just came out today! Lots of returning favorites but sadly it looks like my beloved cheesecake from Honey Bee-stro is still MIA.

https://disneyparksblog.com/wdw/disney-eats-epcot-flower-garden-festival-foodie-guide-2025/

 

[disneydreamer781]

May 8-11 New Poly Tower Theme Park View Studio
May 11-15 BRV 1 BDRM
May 15-18 AKL-Kidani 1 BDRM

to the thread! You're on the list!

 

[mickey916]

Looking for advice:
Our sons are meeting up with us 5/9-5/18. Originally our plan was:
5/10 Disney Springs
5/11 Universal (staying that night at Portofino)
5/12 AK (staying the rest of the week at the Swan)
5/13 EP
5/14 HS (and DS-28 was supposed to leave that night)
5/15 MK
5/16 Kennedy Space Center
5/17 Resort day
5/18 Boma breakfast, Disney Springs then DS-26 flies home at night.

Now DS-28 is planning on staying the whole time and simply working from the hotel on 5/15 and 5/16. I'm now thinking of spending 2 days at Universal, since we will have the Express passes (5/11 and 5/12) which means moving AK to 5/17. For the following reasons:

1. DS-28 loves Universal
2. It would make use of day 2 of our Express Passes
3. We wouldn't have to get up super early to make our way from Portofino all the way to AK on 5/12

I mentioned it to DH though and he thinks AK will be much more crowded on Saturday the 17th so he's not in favor. He feels like AK always feels crowded as is. Undercover Tourist though recommends AK as the "best park" for that Saturday. Touring Plans has it as a 7 as opposed to a 5 for the Monday.

I will probably propose it to our sons to get their thoughts but was looking for any input others may have. We've never gone to AK on a weekend so I'm just not sure....I don't want to propose it to them if it's not a good idea.

 

[Terry H]

April 30- May 6 AOA

 

[disneydreamer781]

April 30- May 6 AOA

to the thread! You're on the list!

 

[kylenne]

I mentioned it to DH though and he thinks AK will be much more crowded on Saturday the 17th so he's not in favor. He feels like AK always feels crowded as is. Undercover Tourist though recommends AK as the "best park" for that Saturday. Touring Plans has it as a 7 as opposed to a 5 for the Monday.

I will probably propose it to our sons to get their thoughts but was looking for any input others may have. We've never gone to AK on a weekend so I'm just not sure....I don't want to propose it to them if it's not a good idea.

Gonna be totally honest with you, agonizing over which day to go to a park never really made sense to me with the exception of avoiding Epcot on festival weekends and planning around the MK party season dynamics. I have a lot of disdain for crowd calendars in general esp since covid but the number ones especially, bc I have yet to hear a logical explanation for what goes into the difference between these numbers. What is really the difference between "5" and "7"? It all seems very arbitrary to me. I've been to all of these parks pretty much every day of the week and with the exceptions I mentioned, I have not especially noticed any real difference in crowd levels on one specific day of the week versus others. Special events, holidays, and people being out of work/school have more impact imo.

You're going during the middle of shoulder season, I cannot imagine it will make that big of a difference going one day vs another. I would just go whenever your schedule best allows for it (like when it's the most convenient for you) and just have a good plan of attack for touring. Regardless of what day you go, AK is always busiest in the morning because it opens earliest and most people rope drop it and then hop out elsewhere. If you plan around that you'll be fine imo.

 

[Sarahh1027]

May 10-17th at Shades of Green! My first trip since I was pregnant with my first, currently pregnant with my third! It’ll be my 2 and 1 year old toddlers first trip

 

[mickey916]

Gonna be totally honest with you, agonizing over which day to go to a park never really made sense to me with the exception of avoiding Epcot on festival weekends and planning around the MK party season dynamics. I have a lot of disdain for crowd calendars in general esp since covid but the number ones especially, bc I have yet to hear a logical explanation for what goes into the difference between these numbers. What is really the difference between "5" and "7"? It all seems very arbitrary to me. I've been to all of these parks pretty much every day of the week and with the exceptions I mentioned, I have not especially noticed any real difference in crowd levels on one specific day of the week versus others. Special events, holidays, and people being out of work/school have more impact imo.

You're going during the middle of shoulder season, I cannot imagine it will make that big of a difference going one day vs another. I would just go whenever your schedule best allows for it (like when it's the most convenient for you) and just have a good plan of attack for touring. Regardless of what day you go, AK is always busiest in the morning because it opens earliest and most people rope drop it and then hop out elsewhere. If you plan around that you'll be fine imo.

Thanks for the feedback! I'm also thinking it's not going to be a big difference either way.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We also don’t follow crowd calendars. We go where we want and mix it up. With a good plan the crowds don’t matter too much when it comes to ride times.

We do avoid Epcot after 12 pm on the weekends during a festival. We don’t mind rope dropping and avoiding WS on the weekend. Although in 2022 we walked through WS to get to guardians on a weekend and it was just as busy as a weekday. We are still avoiding Epcot in the weekend this next trip with the exception of rope drop on a Saturday.

 

[kylenne]

We also don’t follow crowd calendars. We go where we want and mix it up. With a good plan the crowds don’t matter too much when it comes to ride times.

We do avoid Epcot after 12 pm on the weekends during a festival. We don’t mind rope dropping and avoiding WS on the weekend. Although in 2022 we walked through WS to get to guardians on a weekend and it was just as busy as a weekday. We are still avoiding Epcot in the weekend this next trip with the exception of rope drop on a Saturday.

That's exactly it. I kinda feel like if you prepare for Defcon Armageddon crowds then you're okay no matter what when they turn out to be a lot lower.

The one time I've done Epcot on a Saturday night during festivals since I've known better was on our last trip. It was a double whammy of Sept. 21st bringing tons of people to do Cosmic Rewind (including us LOL but we had a LLSP), and Sheila E doing Eat to the Beat. I wanted to see her very very badly so we hopped over from AK. The weather was atrocious on top of it, torrential downpour. WS was a crawl to get through. So it was horrendous but we still had a fantastic time and it was definitely worth it--the show was amazing. Would I do it on purpose again? I'm not sure lol but even with the terrible weather and the heinous crowds we still had a blast. We met some great people too. I try to remember that day when I worry about crowds.

I have noticed that if you want to do a weekend at Epcot anyway, Sunday night is an optimal time to go vs. Saturday night during festivals. There's a night and day difference in crowds. I think you get a lot of locals clearing out and going home because they have work on Monday.

 

[disneydreamer781]

May 10-17th at Shades of Green! My first trip since I was pregnant with my first, currently pregnant with my third! It’ll be my 2 and 1 year old toddlers first trip

to the thread! You're on this list!

 

[kylenne]

Is anyone else antsy to see the first Flower and Garden videos come out? The new Moana topiaries look so gorgeous! (But a massive spoiler if you haven't seen the second one)

 

[Marrila]

Is anyone else antsy to see the first Flower and Garden videos come out? The new Moana topiaries look so gorgeous! (But a massive spoiler if you haven't seen the second one)

The vloggers were out filming and posting yesterday. Beautiful!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I've been stalking my IG and there's been a good amount of videos coming out. Mostly of the new stuff on day 1. Beach and Yacht grub booths look very good. The topiaries are gorgeous.

 

[kylenne]

I've been stalking my IG and there's been a good amount of videos coming out. Mostly of the new stuff on day 1. Beach and Yacht grub booths look very good. The topiaries are gorgeous.

Beach and Yacht Grub look so fun and I'm glad to see them repping resorts in the parks tbh! I don't like seafood but I may need to brave Beach Grub because they moved the elotes there and those are always so good.

Also my beloved Honey Bee-stro cheesecake IS back but a bit odd and at another booth? I hope they didn't mess with it too much but it seems to be getting rave reviews from the tiny sample size I've seen.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Beach and Yacht Grub look so fun and I'm glad to see them repping resorts in the parks tbh! I don't like seafood but I may need to brave Beach Grub because they moved the elotes there and those are always so good.

Also my beloved Honey Bee-stro cheesecake IS back but a bit odd and at another booth? I hope they didn't mess with it too much but it seems to be getting rave reviews from the tiny sample size I've seen.

This is my first F&G festival so it’s all new to me. We’re very excited!

I also don’t like seafood but I do want to try the elote! I will also try the cheesecake as it’s one of my fave foods.

 

[kylenne]

This is my first F&G festival so it’s all new to me. We’re very excited!

I also don’t like seafood but I do want to try the elote! I will also try the cheesecake as it’s one of my fave foods.

Aaaa I'm so happy for you! F&G is my fave festival and I actually like the food way better than F&W. There's less booths but the quality seems to be much higher and the food is fresh and not quite as heavy. I find F&W menus are very same-y meat and potatoes stuff nowadays. F&G is just more interesting. I only wish they'd stop shoehorning the frankenmeat everywhere and have plant-based items that are actually veggie based, but that's a minor gripe.

Definitely check out Brunchcot, the avocado toast and cinnamon roll bites look just as good as they always are. That booth, Honey Bee-stro and France are always bangers.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Aaaa I'm so happy for you! F&G is my fave festival and I actually like the food way better than F&W. There's less booths but the quality seems to be much higher and the food is fresh and not quite as heavy. I find F&W menus are very same-y meat and potatoes stuff nowadays. F&G is just more interesting. I only wish they'd stop shoehorning the frankenmeat everywhere and have plant-based items that are actually veggie based, but that's a minor gripe.

Definitely check out Brunchcot, the avocado toast and cinnamon roll bites look just as good as they always are. That booth, Honey Bee-stro and France are always bangers.

Everything sounds amazing! I swear I must have almost everything marked on the app. Lol. Luckily I have DD to help me share things so we can try even more goodies.

This trip is even more special as she just found out this morning that she was accepted into the DCP. It’ll be nice to have this mother daughter trip before she goes off for 6-7 months. So our trip is in May and two weeks later I go back to leave her for the program. She returns home in January.

 

[hsmamainva]

It’s my ADR morning!! 30 minutes to go.