FEBRUARY Never Again!!!!!!!!!

Momof3Prncs

New Member
Original Poster
WHAT IS GOING ON WITH DISNEY THIS WEEK? My husband, myself and our three DD's are here at what was SUPPOSED TO BE the happiest place on earth. We arrived Tuesday 2/21 and stay thru this Wednesday 3/01. THE CROWDS ARE INSANE CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!! Kids everywhere lines have been TERRIBLE!!! It feels like something out of a bad dream that you think will be over the next day........but NOOOOOOO!. Since when did schools start having Spring Break in FEBRUARY??? This is FEBRUARY!!!!! We took this vacation at the spur of the moment knowing we would be arriving during a SLOW time of year, if this is even a thing any more??? Do people not let their precious little angels go to school any more? Oh of course not, they have to crowd up the parks in the middle of WINTER! I am sorry to sound this upset but we were not expecting the crowds we have encountered so far during the dead of winter season. I understand why February 20 would be busy as it is a holiday. I can understand why the weekend days before would be busy, as those attach on to a 3 day weekend for many schools. So guess what? We avoided those days because of that. But the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday AFTER????? THIS IS NOT SPRING BREAK YET. We planned on purpose to arrive AFTER the holiday weekend so we could actually, you know, ENJOY THE PARKS WITHOUT IT FEELING LIKE SUMMER OR NEW YEAR. Well you can guess how this has paid us back so far. I will tell you never again. Never EVER again. I am beyond PO'd. Even our DD's are over it. No we are not wanting to cut the trip short or anything but would be nice if people would get their brats back in SCHOOL WHEN IT IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE SPRING BREAK YET SO MAYBE THOSE OF US WHO AVOID RUSH TIMES CAN ENJOY THE PARKS WE PAY OVER 100.00 A DAY FOR WITHOUT BEING BUMPED PUSHED AND HAVING TO WAIT BEHIND EVERY OTHER FAMILY IN THE USA. Is that too much to ask? To take a vacation in FEBRUARY and actually it feel like February? We also knew that by going now we would avoid the opening of Avatar and have most of DHS under construction. Guess what? PACKED! Parks are packed. What are people flooding into DHS to look at? Construction walls???? It was a mess and a zoo there yet people packed in like sardines like their life depended on it this week. GO BACK TO SCHOOL AND LET THOSE OF US WHO FOR YEARS TREASURED A LITTLE OFF SEASON HAVE IT BACK AGAIN! You can clog up the parks during the summer or spring break or winter holidays. I work as a middle school counselor so I KNOW those are times to avoid when everyone is free to travel. So what do we do? We stay HOME during those times, and plan accordingly when we KNOW or thought we knew the parks would be slow. I am sitting here in our POP room at 3 in the morning just shaking thinking about how everything we thought this week would be has backfired on us. Shorter lines in middle of February? WRONG! Not having to feel like you're walking through Manhattan just to find a seat at quick service? WRONG! Will be visiting the parks again in the month of February? WRONG!!! Thank you for a lovely week but no thanks. This woman is ready for some peace and quiet after this is all said and done. A tip to all you wanting to go this time of year........... BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE!!
 
Last edited:

sxeensweet

Love a little Disney every day!! ;)
You must have not noticed that this weekend was going to be a marathon weekend AND Mardi Gras is 2/28 this year (changes every year) so that also brings in large crowds. Many southern states (Louisiana, parts of Mississippi and Alabama) have a break for Mardi Gras this coming week but arrive the weekend prior. Those 2 things combined bring large crowds. And some schools besides these things do have breaks starting this early too in late February. Sorry not being rude but February is no guarantee of low crowds or frankly any month depending what's going on. Things change every year. I wouldn't let that ruin my trip. I don't care for crowds but hey if it happens so be it we would make due and have before. I know many there right now that are having a blast (wish I could be in WDW right now with them) and I'm sorry that is not the case for you. ;)
 

Momof3Prncs

New Member
Original Poster
You must have not noticed that this weekend was going to be a marathon weekend AND Mardi Gras is 2/28 this year (changes every year) so that also brings in large crowds. Many southern states (Louisiana, parts of Mississippi and Alabama) have a break for Mardi Gras this coming week but arrive the weekend prior. Those 2 things combined bring large crowds. And some schools besides these things do have breaks starting this early too in late February. Sorry not being rude but February is no guarantee of low crowds or frankly any month depending what's going on. Things change every year. I wouldn't let that ruin my trip. I don't care for crowds but hey if it happens so be it we would make due and have before. I know many there right now that are having a blast (wish I could be in WDW right now with them) and I'm sorry that is not the case for you. ;)
Thank you for your kind words and yes we didn't know about the marathon until we got here. Nobody's fault for that one. The mardi gras thing does not affect us, as the school system I work at is in the Rockville Maryland area, and we only got last Monday February 20 off as a holiday. It was all just a frustrating surprise for us all that nobody was expecting or felt that we deserved given the time of year we decided to travel. We will try to make the most of our last day and a half here.
 

sxeensweet

Love a little Disney every day!! ;)
Thank you for your kind words and yes we didn't know about the marathon until we got here. Nobody's fault for that one. The mardi gras thing does not affect us, as the school system I work at is in the Rockville Maryland area, and we only got last Monday February 20 off as a holiday. It was all just a frustrating surprise for us all that nobody was expecting. We will try to make the most of our last day and a half here.

You're very welcome! I really hope you can enjoy your last days. I had mentioned Mardi Gras because that is what also brought in the influx of people currently there. A lot of them arrived Friday 2/24 or Sat 2/25 and stay through the end if the week. They may have not been at the very beginning of your trip but they are there now. Really WDW has very few "slow" periods now and it's just the nature of the beast unfortunately. :oops:
 

Andrew Appleby

Active Member
Soo let me get this straight: Your ticked off that parents other than yourself decided to do the same thing as you??? And for you to be at DHS and ask what everyone is there for, you were there also so guess you should know the answer to that.

I also wondered the same thing! WDW is busy, why should you get it quiet. If you hadn't gone it would be quieter for others! Just get down to some serious fun and stop worrying.
 

G00fyDad

Well-Known Member
WHAT IS GOING ON WITH DISNEY THIS WEEK? My husband, myself and our three DD's are here at what was SUPPOSED TO BE the happiest place on earth.

It is only as happy as you allow it to be. If you are going to be upset over crowds then maybe a theme park is not the place for you. Just sayin...

Since when did schools start having Spring Break in FEBRUARY??? This is FEBRUARY!!!!! We took this vacation at the spur of the moment knowing we would be arriving during a SLOW time of year, if this is even a thing any more???

There are fewer and fewer slow times of the year now that a lot of schools have adopted the year round school model. Heck, some are set as 45 days of school 15 days off, 45 days of school 15 days off, etc.

Do people not let their precious little angels go to school any more? Oh of course not, they have to crowd up the parks in the middle of WINTER!

Do you mean the way you and your husband did?

I will tell you never again. Never EVER again. I am beyond PO'd. Even our DD's are over it. No we are not wanting to cut the trip short or anything but would be nice if people would get their brats back in SCHOOL WHEN IT IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE SPRING BREAK YET SO MAYBE THOSE OF US WHO AVOID RUSH TIMES CAN ENJOY THE PARKS WE PAY OVER 100.00 A DAY FOR WITHOUT BEING BUMPED PUSHED AND HAVING TO WAIT BEHIND EVERY OTHER FAMILY IN THE USA.

Do you understand the irony of coming into a Disney forum full of people that attempt to go during the "slow times" and screaming at those people like a brat while calling their children brats? (Oh, and the other people that were there paid the same amount you did. ;) )

Is that too much to ask? To take a vacation in FEBRUARY and actually it feel like February? We also knew that by going now we would avoid the opening of Avatar and have most of DHS under construction. Guess what? PACKED! Parks are packed.

Welcome to the new Disney parks.

What are people flooding into DHS to look at? Construction walls????

The same thing you are there to look at I guess.

GO BACK TO SCHOOL AND LET THOSE OF US WHO FOR YEARS TREASURED A LITTLE OFF SEASON HAVE IT BACK AGAIN! You can clog up the parks during the summer or spring break or winter holidays.

Entitlement-Internet.jpg



I work as a middle school counselor so I KNOW those are times to avoid when everyone is free to travel.

You are a school counselor and you get upset this easy? I work as a counselor as well (Substance Abuse Counselor) and I promise you that you are not exhibiting the necessary calm demeanor to effectively perform your job. I really hope you do not flip out on a student that doesn't perform to your expectations.

So what do we do? We stay HOME during those times, and plan accordingly when we KNOW or thought we knew the parks would be slow.

Plan better maybe? Oh, I know! Expect large crowds no matter when you go so you're not disappointed.

I am sitting here in our POP room at 3 in the morning just shaking thinking about how everything we thought this week would be has backfired on us. Shorter lines in middle of February? WRONG! Not having to feel like you're walking through Manhattan just to find a seat at quick service? WRONG! Will be visiting the parks again in the month of February? WRONG!!!

I can't help but think of another person that sits up at 3am tweeting and posting to social media about how upset they are. Not much sympathy there either. At least SNL is not making fun of you. Try lowering your expectations for a Disney trip when it comes to crowds and lines then maybe you'll have a much more pleasant trip.

Thank you for a lovely week but no thanks. This woman is ready for some peace and quiet after this is all said and done. A tip to all you wanting to go this time of year........... BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE!!

Lovely week? I'd say you had a disaster of a week so far. Or at least you've allowed your week to become a disaster. You don't need to warn us. We are all aware that the crowds have been increasing steadily over the past 15 or so years.
 

networkpro

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
WHAT IS GOING ON WITH DISNEY THIS WEEK?

Business, that's it plain and simple. Its a global destination and your inability to identify and consult calendars for any potential impacts is inexcusable. As you found out not everyone follows the exact same schedule as your municipality in Maryland, a bad presumption. The Lenten season actually began on the 18th, with Tuesday the 28th being Shrove Tuesday (Shrovetide,Fat Tuesday, Carnivale, or Mardi Gras). Its observance is based on a lunar calendar so the dates change every year... next year Easter is 15 days earlier on the first of April and Fat Tuesday is on Feb 20th which will push crowds to the earlier week.
 
Also keep in mind that winter months are peak for snowbirds down here. As a 22 yr veteran of the sunshine state, I have come to loathe the term Snowbird Season or Silverhead Season and all that comes with it. Yet it is an annual occurrence from early December lasting thru middle of March or longer, which is known to take unsuspecting tourists who associate winter with lower crowd levels by unfortunate surprise..
 

MickeyMomV

Well-Known Member
Not sure why you were expecting it to be empty? As others have said there are no slow times anymore. You may find a day here or there but a whole week? Not going to happen. Over the past 5 years or so things have been getting busier and busier. We were there for the princess race in 2015 and it was busy, nothing compared to Christmas but busy just the same. Up in Michigan a lot of schools had mid winter break last week. So people take an extra couple of days and go down for the week. As the parent of a Jr High student we can't just pull our student out of school for 5 days but if he already has 2 1/2 to 3 days off we may be able justify taking him out for 2 days for a week long trip.

As you still have a couple of days left in the parks I encourage you all to take a little time, take a deep breath, and just relax a little. Your DD's are "over it" because you are over it. If you relax and enjoy your time there they will also enjoy their time. Hit the parks at open and close, that is when they are the slowest. Relax at the pool or take an afternoon nap to refresh in the afternoon when the parks are the busiest. If you don't want to relax at the hotel then go resort hopping or check out ESPN WWoS they have spring training going on and have different events going on that are cool to watch. Don't obsess over what you can't control and just make the best memories you can while you are there. After all your DD's are only young once!
 

Jeff456

Well-Known Member
I understand you must be very disappointed if you were expecting low crowds but were met with anything but, that would take the shine off anyone's holiday. However I think you'll enjoy it more if you accept it for what it is and try to enjoy it regardless, you'll only regret it when you get home if you didn't make the most of it.
The tone of your post is going to make it difficult to get a lot of sympathy from people as well, the people you are complaining about may well have been hoping for the same low crowds you were.
 

xdan0920

Think for yourselfer
WHAT IS GOING ON WITH DISNEY THIS WEEK? My husband, myself and our three DD's are here at what was SUPPOSED TO BE the happiest place on earth. We arrived Tuesday 2/21 and stay thru this Wednesday 3/01. THE CROWDS ARE INSANE CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!! Kids everywhere lines have been TERRIBLE!!! It feels like something out of a bad dream that you think will be over the next day........but NOOOOOOO!. Since when did schools start having Spring Break in FEBRUARY??? This is FEBRUARY!!!!! We took this vacation at the spur of the moment knowing we would be arriving during a SLOW time of year, if this is even a thing any more??? Do people not let their precious little angels go to school any more? Oh of course not, they have to crowd up the parks in the middle of WINTER! I am sorry to sound this upset but we were not expecting the crowds we have encountered so far during the dead of winter season. I understand why February 20 would be busy as it is a holiday. I can understand why the weekend days before would be busy, as those attach on to a 3 day weekend for many schools. So guess what? We avoided those days because of that. But the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday AFTER????? THIS IS NOT SPRING BREAK YET. We planned on purpose to arrive AFTER the holiday weekend so we could actually, you know, ENJOY THE PARKS WITHOUT IT FEELING LIKE SUMMER OR NEW YEAR. Well you can guess how this has paid us back so far. I will tell you never again. Never EVER again. I am beyond PO'd. Even our DD's are over it. No we are not wanting to cut the trip short or anything but would be nice if people would get their brats back in SCHOOL WHEN IT IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE SPRING BREAK YET SO MAYBE THOSE OF US WHO AVOID RUSH TIMES CAN ENJOY THE PARKS WE PAY OVER 100.00 A DAY FOR WITHOUT BEING BUMPED PUSHED AND HAVING TO WAIT BEHIND EVERY OTHER FAMILY IN THE USA. Is that too much to ask? To take a vacation in FEBRUARY and actually it feel like February? We also knew that by going now we would avoid the opening of Avatar and have most of DHS under construction. Guess what? PACKED! Parks are packed. What are people flooding into DHS to look at? Construction walls???? It was a mess and a zoo there yet people packed in like sardines like their life depended on it this week. GO BACK TO SCHOOL AND LET THOSE OF US WHO FOR YEARS TREASURED A LITTLE OFF SEASON HAVE IT BACK AGAIN! You can clog up the parks during the summer or spring break or winter holidays. I work as a middle school counselor so I KNOW those are times to avoid when everyone is free to travel. So what do we do? We stay HOME during those times, and plan accordingly when we KNOW or thought we knew the parks would be slow. I am sitting here in our POP room at 3 in the morning just shaking thinking about how everything we thought this week would be has backfired on us. Shorter lines in middle of February? WRONG! Not having to feel like you're walking through Manhattan just to find a seat at quick service? WRONG! Will be visiting the parks again in the month of February? WRONG!!! Thank you for a lovely week but no thanks. This woman is ready for some peace and quiet after this is all said and done. A tip to all you wanting to go this time of year........... BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE!!

Bravo! This post is a work of art.

My favorite part, is that you edited it. You went back to reread it, and came away saying "nailed it!"

Outstanding work.
 

Tony the Tigger

Well-Known Member
Sometimes you can just type out a venting rant and then not click send.

It can be therapeutic and get all your feelings out without publicly embarrassing yourself.

I'm sure, as a counselor, that's something you share with your students? Along with managing expectations, acknowledging that planning is helpful but there are no guarantees in life, keeping things in perspective, etc.
 

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