How are crowds and weather in May?

[CuteAsMinnie]

It has yet to rain on our May trips, not nearly as humid and temps in early morning and evening are down right delightful. We are typically in WDW somewhere between May 9-24.

 

[DisneyChris2016]

We were there for Mother's Day back in 2014 (our first trip). It was hot, but the humidity was not as bad as August. Rained a couple of times, but nothing too bad. Crowds were very manageable, but this was in the relatively early days of FP+ so wait times then are probably not a good indication of what to expect now. Overall, it was a decent time to go.

We didn't see any lovebugs, by the way, but I'm sure their exact timing varies from year to year.

 

[Remy is Up]

Weather here is funny. Saturday we were at MK and it was sunny and 75 or so. Sunday we were on the beach shelling and it was Sunny and 82. Yesterday it hit 85 or so.
May can vary a ton. In the past living out of state we did a lot of early may trips to WDW and it can get warm but not awful, unless its just one of those springs where summer starts early.

 

[AnnaS]

We have been in May two or three times the last few years. Rain, rain, rain and hot. Can you say rain. One trip we had only one dry day.

I would still take a chance in May and not let it stop me.

 

[Farro]

It has yet to rain on our May trips, not nearly as humid and temps in early morning and evening are down right delightful. We are typically in WDW somewhere between May 9-24. ☺

We have been in May two or three times the last few years. Rain, rain, rain and hot. Can you say rain. One trip we had only one dry day.

I would still take a chance in May and not let it stop me.

We're all screwed!

 

[Duck143]

We have been in May two or three times the last few years. Rain, rain, rain and hot. Can you say rain. One trip we had only one dry day.

I would still take a chance in May and not let it stop me.

We were there the same time. We had 10 days and only the first was dry and sunny. The rest was constant rain. That being said, we keep going back the beginning of May.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

We were there the same time. We had 10 days and only the first was dry and sunny. The rest was constant rain. That being said, we keep going back the beginning of May.

That epic week (2 weeks?) of rain started the last Sat of our trip so we got just the very start of it.

One thing to know is that when it rains in May it is more often an all day rain than it seems to be the rest of the summer. We bring disposable ponchos but have also bought the heavier Disney ones because the disposable types don’t last all day.

 

[Duck143]

That epic week (2 weeks?) of rain started the last Sat of our trip so we got just the very start of it.

One thing to know is that when it rains in May it is more often an all day rain than it seems to be the rest of the summer. We bring disposable ponchos but have also bought the heavier Disney ones because the disposable types don’t last all day.

That was it! We arrived on a Friday, which was the ONLY day of sun and then the rest was straight rain for 9 days. We made the best out of it and had a great trip, but we had cancelled shows, fireworks and less Photopass opportunities, but it was still a memorable family trip!
We went again this past May and had great weather, but we still brought raincoats and ponchos with us.

 

[wvjules]

We went May 18-23 last year. It was HOT. So HOT. Full on sun. No clouds and NO RAIN! I was expecting cooler and some rain. Got neither! I don't think we spent more than 7 hours in a park the entire time. (DGS was 20 months old). We went to the pool a lot.

 

[Orionreplay]

We have been in May in 2009. It was around Mother's Day. Though my memory is not great, looking at the photos right now, my shirt is always wet from sweating and my daughter's hair was stuck to her forehead. I have many photos of rainy weather and ponchos and puddles.

At the same time, I have pictures of amazing Flower displays at Epcot. The space between people in the photos is vast. In AK my daughter had Eeyore, Tigger, and Pooh all to herself. Not another soul. We had lunch at the Crystal Palace and there are empty tables all around us.

So no memory, but the photos show heat, rain, and low crowds.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Yep it gets into the 90s in May. The only reason I am even considering that time of year is because of the F&G festival and it's before hurricane season.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

We have been in May in 2009. It was around Mother's Day. Though my memory is not great, looking at the photos right now, my shirt is always wet from sweating and my daughter's hair was stuck to her forehead. I have many photos of rainy weather and ponchos and puddles.

At the same time, I have pictures of amazing Flower displays at Epcot. The space between people in the photos is vast. In AK my daughter had Eeyore, Tigger, and Pooh all to herself. Not another soul. We had lunch at the Crystal Palace and there are empty tables all around us.

So no memory, but the photos show heat, rain, and low crowds.

Yes but that’s over a decade ago for the crowds. You won’t have empty tables at CP or get characters all to yourself currently. Crowds are definitely more low to moderate than other times but they are not slow by 2009 standards. Just don’t want anyone to have that expectation and be disappointed.

 

[kiford]

We were there last year in mid-May. I hadn't expected it to be so hot. The parks weren't too bad but we bailed on the parks for the pool and time in our air-conditioned room in mid-day. I thought it was incredibly hot until we went in the beginning of September which made May seem like reasonable weather. We did enjoy F&G at Epcot. Perhaps in future we'll go a week or so earlier.

 

[rpb718]

I think it was 2 or 3 years ago we went late April/early May. Yes there was rain, enough so that we decided to save one or our non-expiring ticket allotment and stayed at the resort on a Saturday rather that run the gauntlet of a weekend day at a park in the rain with the crowds.

 

[Orionreplay]

Yes but that’s over a decade ago for the crowds. You won’t have empty tables at CP or get characters all to yourself currently. Crowds are definitely more low to moderate than other times but they are not slow by 2009 standards. Just don’t want anyone to have that expectation and be disappointed.

Yes unfortunately you are correct. I was simply reminiscing looking through my cloud photos as I typed that yesterday. I do believe we were using Touring Plans way back then and we randomly chose the week due to the low-to-moderate days.

 

[Farro]

Hey OP, I like this site for historic weather data.

https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/usa/orlando/historic?month=5&year=2019
I looked at the last two years for the dates we plan to go. Seems most days w/out rain and the rain was mostly for a few hours during afternoon. Seems to me that would make for some great afternoon cocktail time!

I know this isn't scientific by any means, but it's still fun.

 

[myjourney]

We will be there 5/10-5/23. We've been many times during May and it can be hot or rainy or just wonderful. Be prepared with ponchos or rain jackets

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We arrived on Mother's Day in 2018 and came home on Mother's Day last year to get 2 trips on the same annual pass. It rained A LOT in 2018 - like we had maybe 2 hours without rain the whole week. It was not pleasant. DH is a golfer so his rounds got rained out. I loathe rain. Spending the week huddled under an umbrella made me angry.
Last year I don't think it was quite as rainy but those freaking love bugs were everywhere. Hundreds and hundreds of them. Trying to sit on the balcony or at the pool was an exercise in futility. Not quite as bad as being rained on the whole week, but really annoying and unpleasant. The crowds were not terrible that I recall, but maybe the rain and the bugs made me forget the crowds.

 

[Lindsey17]

Hey OP, I like this site for historic weather data.

https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/usa/orlando/historic?month=5&year=2019
I looked at the last two years for the dates we plan to go. Seems most days w/out rain and the rain was mostly for a few hours during afternoon. Seems to me that would make for some great afternoon cocktail time!

I know this isn't scientific by any means, but it's still fun.

Thanks I'll have to check it out.

 

[Lindsey17]

We arrived on Mother's Day in 2018 and came home on Mother's Day last year to get 2 trips on the same annual pass. It rained A LOT in 2018 - like we had maybe 2 hours without rain the whole week. It was not pleasant. DH is a golfer so his rounds got rained out. I loathe rain. Spending the week huddled under an umbrella made me angry.
Last year I don't think it was quite as rainy but those freaking love bugs were everywhere. Hundreds and hundreds of them. Trying to sit on the balcony or at the pool was an exercise in futility. Not quite as bad as being rained on the whole week, but really annoying and unpleasant. The crowds were not terrible that I recall, but maybe the rain and the bugs made me forget the crowds.

I've heard about the love bugs and it sounds like the exact situation we had with spotted lantern flies a few years back. You couldn't walk 10 ft outside with out one landing on you.