Last week of February 2020 - Did I make a mistake?

[DisneyMom2000000]

I booked one of our trips during the last week of February 2020 - was this a mistake? Most crowd calendars seem to point to moderate crowds, but TouringPlans.com has things at a 10 - I guess due to the Mardi Gras week? Ash Wednesday is the 26th. Our schools don't get out for that week but I guess some do?

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

Nah, not a mistake. Disney is always crowded...go and enjoy!

 

[lanejudy]

Yes, Mardi Gras will impact that week more than usual. I think Louisiana schools get time off for Mardi Gras, maybe some other southern states. Some northeastern states get that week off for a winter break, though most are the week prior. We’ve been that week and it wasn’t excessively crowded, just “usual” crowded.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[DisneyMom2000000]

Thanks, I was so surprised to see the spike on TouringPlans!

 

[unrequited23]

Try not to stress too much about the crowd predictions, they will continue to change up until the week of your trip. I would keep an eye on changes to park hours and emh days, as those will have a greater impact on your trip than any site's predictions.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I don’t mean this to be alarmist, but Mardi Gras week is a material influence.

BUT, it’s hard to chase weeks that aren’t influenced by something, so you just have to do what works best for your schedule, make a plan, and truck on. Heck, all of Feb has influences from “Winter Breaks” of some sort from school systems all over the country.

Also FYI if not on your radar, the Princess Half Marathon runDisney weekend is 2/21-2/23.

 

[Tattylou]

Nah, not a mistake. Disney is always crowded...go and enjoy!

This ^^^^^

 

[mamaofsix]

To be honest, I don't think tp's recent hike to a 10 crowd prediction has as much to do with Mardi Gras as it does with Galaxy's Edge. It appears, from booking rumours, that many fans are delaying their 1st visit to SWGE into 2020. I'd imagine January - May 2020 could be far busier at The World than Sept- Dec. 2019...

But, go anyway! Enjoy it

 

[DisneyMom2000000]

To be honest, I don't think tp's recent hike to a 10 crowd prediction has as much to do with Mardi Gras as it does with Galaxy's Edge. It appears, from booking rumours, that many fans are delaying their 1st visit to SWGE into 2020. I'd imagine January - May 2020 could be far busier at The World than Sept- Dec. 2019...

But, go anyway! Enjoy it

That makes sense! I know it will affect outside of HS, but we don't care to do the GE thing yet!

 

[WIll C]

We went this year at the end of Feb/start of Mar and TP upped it to 10s on a lot of days and then dropped it down. It was crowded some days but not horrible. That was a partial Mardi Gras week as well but I didn't see it as bad as some photos that people posted of what I'd consider 10 days. Just go have fun and prepare for people as I doubt there will be a time without crowds.

 

[igrsod]

We have gone multiple times during the peaks in February.... and YES it's busy. But with a good plan and a good attitude, it will still be a fantastic vacation. There are crowds, there are lineups, just come to terms with it, budget lots of time for everything, use FP+ as best as possible and don't sweat what you might not get done, and embrace what you do get to do. ENJOY!!!!

 

[SaintsManiac]

Mardi Gras = packed parks.

 

[skippytx]

Half of Louisiana will be there that week, but they're good people. I married one, and lived there for a decade or so growing up. Just wear some purple or gold clothing and yell Geaux Tigers once in a while and you'll fit right in.

It will be busier, but in my experience the last 3 years the parks are ALWAYS busy. Our 2015 trip before my kids were in school was the last time we really got to the parks during a slower time. BUT! don't despair, with bigger crowds comes longer park hours. I'm at the point that I don't care about the crowds, I care more about the hours. I hate it when MK closes as early at 8PM during the "slower" months. I much prefer, due to our touring style, of longer park hours. I get more done with longer hours regardless of the crowds.

Also don't forget that WDW dynamically staffs and reduces ride capacity based on crowd levels. They might only run 2 BTM trains if the park crowds are light instead of 4 or 5. You end up waiting 30 minutes if the crowds are a 5 or a 10 that day.

We plan our trips now around the weather, and operating hours. We just assume the parks are going to be very crowded at all times. TouringPlans is a great tool for a lot of things, especially the Lines app which in my experience is dead on to the minute. Just ignore the crowd calendars though and go have fun.

 

[Sandy Mouse]

We go over Mardi Gras a lot because my grandkids are out of school that week. I have never thought the crowds were bad. This year, though, with SWGE opening, I expect it to be just about what TP predicts. I’m booked that week in 2020 and will have plans in place.

 

[SaintsManiac]

We go over Mardi Gras a lot because my grandkids are out of school that week. I have never thought the crowds were bad. This year, though, with SWGE opening, I expect it to be just about what TP predicts. I’m booked that week in 2020 and will have plans in place.

MK was chaos the weekend before MG this year. We always have a good plan and had no trouble doing what we wanted to do. People who worry about crowds need to be prepared, though.

 

[Minniemoo15]

We go end of Feb/early March every year. This year with MG I noticed a lot of purple and LSU gear, but otherwise it didn’t seem exceptionally crowded compared to other non MG years.

 

[disneyseniors]

We have been to WDW the last of Feb and first of March several times. The only time it was really crowded was right after the Princess half marathon. It seems the racers like to stay after the races, so would expect high crowds after the 23rd for the week following. That was our experience. We have never noticed a big increase in Mardi Gras crowds though.

 

[chelynnah]

We went Mardi Gras week in 2017 and I have to say it didn’t feel overly different to the exact same dates we just went this year which weren’t Mardi Gras. And I didn’t feel like we were at what I would view as a level 10 crowd. I wouldn’t stress. Personally I think it’s a good time weather-wise and there is no actual low season.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I guess I was at a different Disney World this year.

 

[PrincessVi]

My family and I were at Disney this year February 26th till March 6th. It was just after the Festival of the Arts and the Princess half Marathon. The last day of the trip was the first day of Flower and Garden and Mardi Gras fell in there as well. Talk about your perfect storms. The begining of the week was low crowds as the crowd calendars predicted and the level swelled later in the week as predicted, but forewarned is forearmed. We hit the parks at least 30 minutes prior to rope drop most days and did whatever headliners we didn't have fast passes for. Our fast passes were generally scheduled for the afternoons. I checked out wait times using the My Disney
Experience app to get an idea of attractions with low wait times in the PM. On the day that had the highest crowd prediction we went to EPCOT, which handles crowds better than the other parks. We felt the impact of crowds most at Mk. There were many guests, mainly families, with Mardi Gras attire, they were pleasant, upbeat, but not overly boisterous. It was a nice atmosphere. It was difficult to tell if the increased crowds we're due to that or if it was guests arriving early for the Flower Garden Festival. We had fun and I wouldn't be opposed to going at that time again. I would try and select days with park hours that extend beyond the night time shows if you wish to view them. It makes getting out of there a lot easier.