February-Week before President's Day

elephant rider · #1 07-21-2010, 10:58 PM

I am officially pumped!! It looks like we will be making our first trip to WDW since October of 2003.

My wife and I were going almost yearly before we had kids, but we were been holding out until the boys were a bit older and would be able to appreciate the parks more. They are now 7 and 4. It seemed we had waited too long and due to school would have to go in the summer - and deal with the crowds and heat.

Well I am officially planning a trip for the week before Presidents Day in February.

We would arrive on Sat 12 and leave Sun 20.If the school calendar follows last years he would only miss 3 days of school - which were half days last year due to parent/teacher conferences.

My only question would be - how do you think the crowds would be that week? I realize it would probably be full at the end of the trip, but was hoping for at least 4 or 5 light days so we could show the boys as much as possible.

magicofdisney · #2 07-21-2010, 11:06 PM

In the past, President's Day Weekend began the upswing in attendance. In fact, for the last several years, we planned our winter trips, just before this holiday. The only downside I've experienced is some sort of sport competition (cheerleading, dance or both) that fills up the value resorts. Otherwise, it's a great time to be in the World.

elephant rider · #3 07-21-2010, 11:40 PM

Thanks for the quick repsonse.

That's exactly what I was hoping for. If the crowds don't pick up until our last full day there I would be thrilled. I'm not happy to hear that the values might be full, although we don't mind a little noise and I doubt we will get any pool time in February anyway.

We're hoping to stay in ASM in the Toy Story section. As you can imagine with DS7 and DS4 - Toy Story and Cars are their favorites.

faline · #4 07-22-2010, 08:04 AM

The beginning of your trip should find mostly low crowds. Crowds will begin picking up by Thursdayish and will be quite high by time you leave on the 20th. If you're flying, keep in mind that airfares will be higher the weekend of the 20th due to the holiday weekend and the school vacations that often occur during Presidents' Day week.

That weekend is also the Daytona 500 so you'll see quite a lot of folks who combine the races with a Disney trip.

elephant rider · #5 07-22-2010, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by faline

The beginning of your trip should find mostly low crowds. Crowds will begin picking up by Thursdayish and will be quite high by time you leave on the 20th. If you're flying, keep in mind that airfares will be higher the weekend of the 20th due to the holiday weekend and the school vacations that often occur during Presidents' Day week.

That weekend is also the Daytona 500 so you'll see quite a lot of folks who combine the races with a Disney trip.

I hadn't even thought about the cost of flights increasing as we will be driving down. We're leaving after work/school on Friday 11th and going straight through to get there by midday Saturday. Hoping to hit DTD or maybe a park for a few hours and then catch up on sleep.

We will be leaving first thing in the morning on Sunday 20th, so hopefully we will only be dealing with the real crowds on Friday and Saturday. That would give us 5 days of low volumes.

faline · #6 07-22-2010, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elephant rider

I hadn't even thought about the cost of flights increasing as we will be driving down. We're leaving after work/school on Friday 11th and going straight through to get there by midday Saturday. Hoping to hit DTD or maybe a park for a few hours and then catch up on sleep.

We will be leaving first thing in the morning on Sunday 20th, so hopefully we will only be dealing with the real crowds on Friday and Saturday. That would give us 5 days of low volumes.

Guess you don't have to worry about airfares then! However, at that time of year, you could hit some pretty bad weather - at least until you've gotten a few states south of where you start!

Robyn · #7 08-02-2010, 08:16 PM

Every year we go to WDW the week before Presidents' week, and it's always fabulous. The crowds are small-- especially if you get there when the park opens-- we feel like we have the place to ourselves. Usually we notice by Thursday of that week that it's getting busier, and by Friday we're ready to escape the 'crowds'.

We're in for a big surprise this year, as we're going down at the end of August-- I'm not looking forward to the heat or the crowds.

You picked a great week!