When Should I Visit This Spring to Avoid Crowds?

[Tigger&Belle]

My husband and I are bringing our 4 children to Universal for a few days over spring break. I know that I won't be avoiding crowds then! I am thinking about bringing our 4yo down another time this spring to spend a couple of days at Universal and a few at WDW.

I can be very flexible with when I go--pretty much any time in February-May. I know the week before and after spring break is out, along with President's Day weekend. When else should I avoid. Some schools have spring break in March. Is that usually the third week of March or does it vary?

Also, I want the weather to be warm without being hot. So I guess that would mean not too early in Feb or too late in May. What do you all think?

T&B

 

[Grumpy92]

I would suggest the first three weeks of May. Spring break for wdw runs March-April, as it varies through the country on specific dates.

 

[kevind65]

ditto....last week of April/first couple of weeks in May are perfect for the world....great weather, lower crowds....

 

[shelly3girls]

We have traveled twice during the first week of May. May'01 there were very few lines and the restaurants were close to what I consider almost empty. We stayed at the GF which was sold out while we were there but it never felt crowded. We also went to WDW for the first week of May'03. We expected the crowds to be light, they were not. It seemed that because the crowds were expected to be light, there were less CM's working and the rides were not open to full capacity. By lunchtime many of the popular rides had waits of over an hour. We were able to hit many rides before then though. We waited over an hour for a bus back to BCV after the fireworks at MK one night. My SIL said the lines were much longer than when she traveled in July'02. I did hear that during our trip it was really unusually crowded because of everyone who had rescheduled from early spring because of the war with Iraq.
Universal was not crowded at all. The only really long line was for the Jimmy Neutron ride.
All said, the weather was beautiful and we still had a fabulous time, just spent more time in line than we expected.

 

[DaddythePooh]

We've been thinking about a late April/Early May trip to WDW as well. I vaguely recall visiting WDW a couple of times during that time fram and being pleasantly surprised with the manageable crowds.
Is anybody out there privvy to any hard data re: attendance norms from say 4/20 to maybe 5/20 each year? I'd be curious how they compare to the ghost-town windows of September/October and January/early Feb.

And please, if you've been to WDW during the past couple of Aprils and/or Mays, lemme know what you found. I'm also guessing that the weather's lovely?

Thanks a lot - I love the fact that there's so many of you big-brained fellow Disney-kooks in here

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Oops, I need to regroup. I just realized that my annual passes for Universal expire in April (duh, what was I thinking???lol), so if I do want to also go there, my trip needs to be before the spring break crowds start arriving.

Hmmm, I guess some time in February or early March.

Geez, I feel so stupid... At least I figured it out before arriving.

T&B

 

[momx2]

I would go the last week of April if your passes permit. It is well past Easter. We went that week last year and the lines were minimal. We had some waits, but now very long. Have a great trip!

 

[wdwphanatic]

... to recommend late Feb! I've been in early and mid Feb, and I think it's a great time of the year. It's usually not hot and the crowds after Presidents' Day are pretty manageable. I'm guessing that the first week in March would be ok, too. Not that you can go in May (given your annual pass situation), but to me it's waaaayyyyy too hot and more crowded than in Feb anyway.

Have a great time,
Sarah

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Hmmm, maybe I will try to shoot for the end of Feb or early March, depending on when I can get decent hotel rates. I think peak season for hotel rates start on Feb 11 or so and I'm wondering if I can get any good discounts the end of Feb/early March. A value resort would be fine since there are only 2 of us.


T&B