Help with planning trip in May

[TomHendricks]

Hi all,

We need a little help planning out next WDW trip. We're going in May, from the 15th to the 21st. We usually go in February or October/November time frame. We'll be there for the first weekend of Star Wars Weekend and was wondering in general about the crowds at all the parks but maybe some specific tips on navigating Hollywood Studios with Star Wars weekend happening. Already signed up for Magic Bands, only waiting to be 60 days out to make Fast Pass + selections.

 

[Weather_Lady]

As for overall crowd level, it ranges (according to touringplans) between 4 and 8 for your dates, with Saturday (as usual) being the highest crowd day. The crowd level at all of the resorts swells on the weekend of your visit, with every single park seeing a 2-3 crowd level increase (that would be an increase of 2 or 3 out of 10) each weekend day. If you want to visit HS during SWW, I might avoid Saturday. Also, if you get your Star Tours rides in at some other point during the week, you can avoid the unusually long lines for it that occur on SWW.

If you are a touringplans subscriber (and if you're not, you may want to consider it - It's less than $10 for a 1-year subscription), they have Star Wars weekend-specific touring plans. Here are some other tips I found through Google (YMMV): http://www.disneytouristblog.com/star-wars-weekends-tips-photos/

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

My husband and I were down there last year for the first two star wars weekends and memorial day from the 18th to the 28th. Honestly, I found the first weekend of Star Wars not bad at all, the crowds were light and the wait times were managable! Even star tours wait was only 10 minutes. and we went to the studios on Saturday. I think you will find it the perfect time to go! We're heading down again from the 10th to the 18th so we'll be down at the same time! memorial Day weekend was a different story, but you won't be there for that so it doesn't matter!

 

[Bethypoo]

I went last May for the first Star Wars weekend. We went on Friday and the crowd wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It was busy, though, and was happy I had made lunch reservations. By the afternoon the line to get in Darth Mall was way over an hour. I went back first thing Sunday(had park hopper) and walked right into the mall. I was there for the entire weekend and did not have any transportation problems. The bonus of going the first weekend was also being able to catch the final weekend of the Flower and Garden festival at Epcot. Many items were on sale and the Flower Power concert was great. It's one of the best weekends to go in my opinion. Wish I could go again this May but will probably have to wait until September. Have a wonderful time!!

 

[TomHendricks]

Thank you all for the replies. When planning this trip, I had no idea it was Star Wars weekend and I already scheduled us to be in Hollywood Studios on Saturday the 17th. If I would have known, I would have made Sunday the 18th our Hollywood Studios day. We have our dinning reservations for the whole week already and don't really want to go back and redo a bunch of reservations. Maybe I will, I have to talk to my wife about it and see what she thinks.

Thank you for those who suggested Touring Plans, I used to belong to them many, many years ago. However I completely forgot about them, so I renewed my membership with them. With us going at the same time year after year, you get to know exactly what to do. So going at this different time has thrown me off a little bit. I'm really looking forward to the Star Wars weekend, have always wanted to go.

 

[Ember]

We were there that time last year and it was so wonderful that we will back again this year 14-21st