Presidents Weekend 23 Thoughts

[njcoach24]

We are going 2/17-2/21. This will be our first Presidents Day weekend trip, but we went 12/27-1/2 just recently. I would assume that crowds can’t be worse than that week, so i am expecting crowds equal or slightly better. Over New Years trip we got 8-9 LL at MK and on our Epcot/HS combo days we used our first LL at Epcot in the morning then would stack LLs at HS for the evening—we would arrive with 4-5 LLs at HS for the evening. We also were 3/3 for Guardians VQ.

I can’t wait to hear about the comparison after your trip NYE.

 

[Mango7100]

I can’t wait to hear about the comparison after your trip NYE.

it will be interesting. We tend to go on the crowded times—Spring Break, Easter, July 4, New Years, Labor Day (though that isn’t very crowded in my opinion), so I guess we are used to it. I would rather have crowds and a bit cooler weather than it be lower crowds but 95 degrees with 80% humidity and daily monsoons. We do plan to buy Genie Plus except if we go to AK—it was $29 per person over New Years, so I am budgeting for that but will be happy if it’s a bit less.

 

[kylenne]

Up in New England most of us had that week off for mid-winter break and believe me by the end of February we were ready to leave the area for a few days. In Vermont we also had Town Meeting day the first Tuesday of March so the schools closed the Friday before Pres. Week and didn't open again until the first Wednesday in March so counting the two weekends it was 11 days that gave us time to drive down there and back plus do other touristy things as well as WDW. It was a dream for us and like you said it was always busy on the weekends but we could plan other things and use the weekends for travel and the weekdays for the parks and other things.

And to think, Presidents week was once the slow season back when my kids were young, in the 80's. Most kids were in school at that time except the northern states and most of the northeast. That's when driving down to Florida I-95 was a sea of license plates from NY, Vermont, NH, Maine, Mass., Conn, RI, Delaware, Penn, and NJ. We practically had the place to ourselves. Now it's the busy season.

Yeah, growing up in NYC in the 80s/90s having Midwinter break was really only a thing in this part of the country (tri-state area/NE Corridor and New England), my cousins down south never had that week off and were always jealous lol. You probably saw our NY plates on 95! Our family trips were always that week in Feb or sometimes spring break if we didn't go in late August. But slowly Midwinter break started spreading to the rest of the country in the 2000s.

I will say that I've done a few holiday weekend trips in recent years, though not Presidents, and although crowds are nuts there are actually some pros to it, mainly the longer park hours. With a little planning and smart touring strategies I find you can actually get a lot done.

 

[sponica]

Just also wanted to point out that Mardi Gras is Tuesday 2/21. That week is generally known for a large portion of the Louisiana population relocating to WDW for the week. The intersection of President’s Day weekend, Mardi Gras week, and Princess Half Marathon weekend the following weekend definitely adds to resort and theme park demand.

It's also school vacation week for a chunk of the northeast where the people who don't ski, flee south.

 

[DVC Special]

going to be busy but enjoy and have fun