What are crowds like in Jan/Feb?

[gkon021]

My family just got the Fla Resident 3-day Wild Hopper Pass and will be going very soon to the parks (combinations of all 4)

My question is how crowded are parks on weekends in January/February? Since we have between now and mid May to use 3 days (avoiding blackout periods). Wanted to know what the parks were like this time of year.

Usually we go to the parks in summer/early Fall,so I'm not familiar with this time of year. Thanks!

 

[Monty]

With the exception of holiday weekends, the parks are generally less crowded. Locals do go on weekends, so it's busier than weekdays, but still not too bad.

There are no really quiet times any more, just quieter.... :shrug:

 

[Pan]

Avoid the weekend before President's Day and that whole next week as many states in the Northeast and elsewhere have winter break and everyone heads to Orlando. I would also stay away from Mardi Gras week which is on Feb 21 this year. The whole state of Louisiana was there the time we went several years ago.

 

[JillC LI]

Other than holiday weekends, we've found the crowd level rather low in late January.

 

[Master Yoda]

Depends on when in January and February. Marathon weekend will spike crowds in January as will MLK weekend. Mid to late February is considered peak season due to holidays and school vacations.

 

[HopLow]

There are no really quiet times any more, just quieter.... :shrug:

This makes me cry. ADRs are now a must regardless of what time of year you go and be prepared for Brazilians. However, we were able to walk on a lot of popular rides, but get there early anyway!

 

[EvilQueen-T]

i just did a 3 night 4 day stay jan 19-22 and was shocked at how crowded it was. i've gone at the end of january several times (around my granddaughters birthday on the 28th) and it wasn't crowded then so i thought it would be the same this past week as well...SHOCK. 70-95 minute waits on many of the big rides and tons of tour groups. we were also there for a single day on jan 8th (at mk during marathon weekend) and it was pretty crowded then as well but less than this past weekend. everything was more crowded than when we were there the week after thanksgiving. the ONLY exception was during emh at epcot on thursday (the day pres obama was at mk) the park was a ghost town. in fact, there was only 5-10 min wait times for sorin...that felt like the january's of disney past. i really think the days of off season light park crowds is going away fast.

 

[EvilQueen-T]

i agree with the above...this is the second time we've run into a bunch of tour groups and it wasn't pretty. one instance of a mass of people pushing so bad on haunted mansion that the cm finally had to take them outside. the 2 women in front of us holding very young children had a very scary moment of being so pushed the children were in danger. it was awful. we also had a large group singing at the TOP OF THEIR LUNGS at 230 AM at all star music in the parking lot and wouldn't stop when asked, when security asked them to stop they did until they left then we heard them laugh and just start again. it's amazing how poorly some people behave.

 

[pcarathers]

We just got back 2 days ago. The parks "looked" crowded, but really weren't. We walked right on most rides, the longest line was 25 mins at Test Track..but it moved quickly. The tour groups were everywhere and some were 100+ strong! They DO NOT move out of the way either. We never had any major issues with any of them other than walking across the whole pathway and not moving for oncoming traffic, especially for people with strollers or in wheelchairs! we did not notice much chanting, but sure did notice that there were a ton of groups!

my sister and her son were in line for a ride ( i can't remember which) and a couple of teenagers tried pushing their way thru the line and then others showed up claiming that they were all together. a cast member came and made them all go to the end of the line! I don't think they were with a tour group though....

all in all...we enjoyed our first trip in January. weather was great, crowds seemed low.