Some questions concerning a possible trip in May 2012

[ob1thx1138]

So I am sitting here at work on the night shift a little bored and started looking at my schedule for next year trying to figure out the best time to plan a trip to WDW. First a little info, I work a rotating swing shift so I work a crazy schedule. My wife is in college getting her teaching degree and we have two boys, one of which is a senior this year and the other is in 4th grade. So my planning came down to a window between May 24th and June 7th.

This will be our second trip to WDW, our first taking place last summer when we spent 8 wonderful days at POR Checking out on July 5th. On that trip we spent 8 days in the parks (added a day at a hotel in Kissimmee due to an unscheduled rest day in the middle). We were on the Deluxe Dining Plan and absolutely loved it.

So now for the questions:
How is the end of May first of June as far as crowd s are concerned?
Have they historically offered free dining during this period?
Can we expect to have more refurbs going on than usual?
What have the park hours been like this time of year?

I guess what I am really asking is how different will this time period be from our trip last summer.

Thanks for your help and hopefully I will find the time to start a pre-trip report and maybe even include a recap of our first trip.

 

[GoochDSA]

The crowds are lower the end of May-beginning of June compaired to what you probably dealt with in the beginning of July. You probably won't have as long of hours this time of year opposed to July, but also remember the crowds won't be as bad as it really all balances out.

Keep in mind that the first weekend in June are usually the "Gay Days". While most people don't notice and don't care, unfortunately some people are bothered by it. If you think you'll be bothered by it you might want to skip that week.

Besides the FLE, there is no way to be sure what will be down for a refurb at that time. It could be nothing else, it could be more. Just keep your ears open incase something comes up.

As for the "free dining" that time of year, you can never be certain. It seems like this past year has been the only year. There have been a few other discounts at that time. This should give you an idea of what to expect, but just because it has happened before doesn't mean it will happen again: http://www.mousesavers.com/historicalwdwdiscounts.html#codetrends

 

[ob1thx1138]

The crowds are lower the end of May-beginning of June compaired to what you probably dealt with in the beginning of July. You probably won't have as long of hours this time of year opposed to July, but also remember the crowds won't be as bad as it really all balances out.

Keep in mind that the first weekend in June are usually the "Gay Days". While most people don't notice and don't care, unfortunately some people are bothered by it. If you think you'll be bothered by it you might want to skip that week.

Besides the FLE, there is no way to be sure what will be down for a refurb at that time. It could be nothing else, it could be more. Just keep your ears open incase something comes up.

As for the "free dining" that time of year, you can never be certain. It seems like this past year has been the only year. There have been a few other discounts at that time. This should give you an idea of what to expect, but just because it has happened before doesn't mean it will happen again: http://www.mousesavers.com/historicalwdwdiscounts.html#codetrends

Thanks for the info.

I am sort of hoping they don't offer free dinning durring that time out of fear of not being able to get reservations, but I guess I could hope for free dining and just make sure I have everything ready to go 180 days out.... see I worry too much about things.

Gay days will not be a problem for us other than the ridicule I will probably get from the guys here at work, but I can deal with that. lol

I guess I was just curious if the historically scheduled more refurbs durring this time due to the lower crowd levels, but like you said I guess you can never know until it gets closer to the time.

I think we will be okay with shorter park hours, but I would like to experience a few late nights in the MK this trip (we were usually to tired to experience these on our last trip)

Thanks again for the info and for everyone else keep the tips coming.

 

[JiminyandTink]

How is the end of May first of June as far as crowd s are concerned?
I've generally had a great experience with lower crowd levels this time of year. That being said, Memorial Day Weekend is the exception... big crowds!

Can we expect to have more refurbs going on than usual?
Definately more refurbs than during the busier seasons, but nothing too bad at all. Keep checking the refurb lists just to see if one of your favorite attractions are being refurbed so at least you know and are not dissapointed (this was the case for me a couple of years ago with Space Mountain)

What have the park hours been like this time of year?
You can check the historical park hour online, but the park hours are still great this time of year in my opinion.