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Florida in February

Gavin

Gavin

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I really need to get my arse to Florida soon, preferably next year some time, but I've got no intention of doing it during a summer holiday period. Apparently, Christmas can be horrendous, too, and I'd imagine that Easter isn't much better.

I get a couple of weeks off in February for Chinese New Year though, which obviously isn't a holiday in the USA or Europe, so I'm thinking it would be an ideal time to go.

Obviously, I can check out individual park websites closer to the time, if I decide to go, but I'm just wanting a general overview from anyone who's been around that time before.

A few questions then, preferably from people who've been around the same time of year, before I bother to look into it more seriously. Florida from Hong Kong is a right ballache, so I need to make sure I'd still get the "full experience" as much as possible to justify the costs and horrendous travel time.

1. Are all the parks open as usual - Orlando (including those little Fun Spot type places) and Busch - given that Florida doesn't have a cold season?

2. Assuming the parks are open, do they run at reduced opening hours, ride operations etc.? I'm not bothered if the parks close earlier at that time of year as long as they're not on any serious downtime with regards to coasters etc.

3. Am I right to assume that crowds will be low to non-existent in February?

4. Will hotel prices be generally lower than other times of the year?

Cheers in advance.
 
You may find a few rides shut as they tend to do work on them in Feb.

It's low season so you can expect walk on upto 30 min queues. You will be able to use the new fast pass thing anyway to book ride times.

Yes hotel prices will be lower than other times of the year. Feb or September are the least busy times of the year. Early December was not busy but it was bloody cold, I would totally avoid Xmas, Easter and any other holidays.

Disney tend to give 6 months notice on planned ride work, it's a bit early to look at the moment.

I look at this link but you can also find info on disney website.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/rehab.htm

Also if possible order your park tickets when you visit the UK as we tend to get then cheaper, plus there is a deal on at the moment 10 days for the price of 7.
 
^Cheers.

I'd only do a day in each Disney park anyway, especially if it's quiet. Unless those tickets you mentioned include the non-Disney parks as well, then there'd be no need for me to get anything more than 4/5 days depending on prices. Not interested in water parks.

I'd rather spend the extra few days heading down to Miami or something, maybe even head up to Atlanta for Six Flags or whatever. It's just not my thing to stick myself in a theme park resort for the whole time.
 
You can get a 10 day ticket that includes all the Disney, universal and sea World parks.

It will be cheaper than buying tickets each day as I think Disney charge something like $70 a day, it's probably even more now.
 
^Thanks. I'll look into prices closer to the time to see if it's worth it as I'll only really need 7 days' worth.

I'm just wanting to check if February is a decent time to go before I start planning anything properly. I won't be doing any proper sorting out until after the summer anyway. I'm just trying to get rough ideas of what I want to do with next year's holidays.

Chinese New Year was the perfect time to visit Australia this year, so I'm looking at another long-haul trip for the same time next year and Florida seems to make sense as it's the only time I'd ever be able to go out of season.
 
gavin said:
I really need to get my arse to Florida soon, preferably next year some time, but I've got no intention of doing it during a summer holiday period. Apparently, Christmas can be horrendous, too, and I'd imagine that Easter isn't much better.

I get a couple of weeks off in February for Chinese New Year though, which obviously isn't a holiday in the USA or Europe, so I'm thinking it would be an ideal time to go.

Obviously, I can check out individual park websites closer to the time, if I decide to go, but I'm just wanting a general overview from anyone who's been around that time before.

A few questions then, preferably from people who've been around the same time of year, before I bother to look into it more seriously. Florida from Hong Kong is a right ballache, so I need to make sure I'd still get the "full experience" as much as possible to justify the costs and horrendous travel time.

1. Are all the parks open as usual - Orlando (including those little Fun Spot type places) and Busch - given that Florida doesn't have a cold season?

2. Assuming the parks are open, do they run at reduced opening hours, ride operations etc.? I'm not bothered if the parks close earlier at that time of year as long as they're not on any serious downtime with regards to coasters etc.

3. Am I right to assume that crowds will be low to non-existent in February?

4. Will hotel prices be generally lower than other times of the year?

Cheers in advance.
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1: All of the parks are open, including both Fun Spots. The only one I cant confirm off top of head is Old Town (has 2 credzzz)
2: Yes. For the most part all parks will open at 9 but will close by 6 or 7. Fun Spot typically opens around 3 or 4 in the offseason and closes around 10. Most parks do their ride annuals at that time. Universal rarely closes coasters but you could see some spite at SeaWorld, Busch, or Disney. Almost all of the parks post ride closures 4-6 months in advance.
3: Yes, the crowds will be smaller but I wouldn't call them non-existent. 50 million people visit Orlando a year so even in "offseason" it can be busy. As Marc said expect smaller waits, but don't be surprised if you hit the wrong ride at the wrong time and see a 45-60 min wait. I wouldn't pay for any virtual queues but never hurts to utilize Disney Fast Pass if going.
4: Most hotels will be in non-peak pricing. You could probably pick up a cheap motel on 192 for $30-40 a night. Groupon runs half a dozen offers for Orlando hotels year round so there should be some good pickups there. They post a lot of vacation homes/condos.

While Florida is not known for its winters, I would be prepared with a jacket if you do come in February. I am looking at the weather table I keep for work and the first week of Feb saw a high of 29.44 C and the second week of Feb saw a high of 15.55 C. It is usually a dry month but you may see some rain and even a rare thunderstorm that time of year.
 
^ Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks a lot. I'll check out ride closures after the summer and decide where to go from there.
 
If you want to pretty much 100% avoid ride closures, may I suggest going in May. My family always go at this time of year, and I can't say anything for hotel prices because I don't tend to book it but crowd-wise it's fantastic, never queued longer than 20 mins for anything and you've got the added bonus of warm weather and longer park hours, including night time shows and all that good stuff.
 
^You can suggest whatever you like, toots, but I don't get a choice when I can take my holidays.

Out of Summer, Christmas, Easter or Chinese New Year, CNY has to be the best option with regards to the parks not being swamped. I'll have a look at any ride closures later in the year and make a decision whether to go or not based on what's closed and when and see if I can play around with dates at various parks to get the most done possible.

If something major like Kumba or Montu is down for maintenance, I'd have to seriously consider whether I'd want to miss out on those, but if it's something like a spinner at Animal Kingdom then I couldn't give a **** really.
 
gavin said:
^You can suggest whatever you like, toots, but I don't get a choice when I can take my holidays.

Out of Summer, Christmas, Easter or Chinese New Year, CNY has to be the best option with regards to the parks not being swamped. I'll have a look at any ride closures later in the year and make a decision whether to go or not based on what's closed and when and see if I can play around with dates at various parks to get the most done possible.

If something major like Kumba or Montu is down for maintenance, I'd have to seriously consider whether I'd want to miss out on those, but if it's something like a spinner at Animal Kingdom then I couldn't give a **** really.
Click to expand...

Ahh yh I forget you have to go during school hols <//3 Then yh, I'd definitely go in Feb and risk a few things being down for maintenance than go during the dreaded school holidays. Definitely the lesser of two evils.
 
gavin said:
I'd rather spend the extra few days heading down to Miami or something, maybe even head up to Atlanta for Six Flags or whatever. It's just not my thing to stick myself in a theme park resort for the whole time.
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Check out cruises if you're looking for something non-theme park related to do. They're pretty cheap out of Florida.
 
^Thanks, I may have a look, but the idea has never really appealed. I'd much rather head to some cities with stuff to do (thinking Miami as a definite) than sit on a boat full of orange, leathery people who are just waiting to die.

jj23w said:
Water rides won`t be open because they`ll have seasonal maintenance if that helps.
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No, it doesn't since it's not true. I know you're just trying to be helpful, and thanks for that, but unless you've been to the parks during the same time I've asked about, you're not really going to be able to.
 
Old Town will be open daily as well but the rides there dont tend to open until after 2pm in the off seasons.
Fun Spots will either be 10am-10pm..... 10am-12am... or 12pm-10pm but both will be open. All of the local waterparks stay open as well but Adventure Island, the Busch Gardens waterpark in Tampa. (and one of the Disney waterparks *may* be closed for refurbishment but the other will be open)
 
^Cheers. I've got zero interest in the water parks to be honest, so not at all bothered what, if anything is open in that regard, but thanks for the info.
 
gavin said:
^Thanks, I may have a look, but the idea has never really appealed. I'd much rather head to some cities with stuff to do (thinking Miami as a definite) than sit on a boat full of orange, leathery people who are just waiting to die.
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Ports = plenty to do. Last cruise I went on was Key West, Grand Cayman, and Jamaica.

Cruises were not something I really considered but my girlfriend convinced me to go on one and I really liked it. All inclusive food and seeing a couple new places. I'm not sure if you're traveling with anyone though so keep in mind that all cruise rates are per person based on double occupancy in the room.

Miami has good night life but not a whole lot else. I was excited to go the first time and was really let down to be honest. I wouldn't plan to spend more than a day or two there.
 
I went to Universal in February in 2010. My day at Universal was not crowded at all, and the longest I waited was 20 minutes for Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit. Everything else was about 5 or 10. Islands of Adventure was a cloudy and slightly rainy day so every ride was a walk-on. When I was younger, I would go to Disney every February. I remember there would be practically no lines. As far as I know, it seems like the best time to go to Orlando.

I am currently planning a trip to Universal also for a July trip. What I can tell you is that both Harry Potter sections will probably have very large lines (especially Gringotts) on any day at Universal. My suggestion is take advantage of Single Rider. It is on nearly every ride in the park and will greatly reduce your wait. I was at IOA in July of 2010, and while most lines were around 90 minutes or more. I used Single Rider and got on most in about 5 or 10.
 
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