In this post, we discuss visiting Disney World in February. We cover weather, crowds, holidays, events, refurbishments, and anything else you’d like to know if you were planning a visit to Walt Disney World Resort in this once-quiet but now-complicated month! Read on to learn all about visiting Walt Disney World in February!
RELATED POSTS
If you’re considering a visit in the next two years, our Disney World Two-Year Outlook focuses on when to time your visit in light of major changes around the resort. It’s less focused on details like prices, crowds, and weather and more about the can’t-miss things like new attractions. Our Disney World Planning Guide and 80+ Tips for Planning Your Walt Disney World vacation discuss all aspects of planning your Disney World vacation.
If you’re primarily interested in starting your analysis with price, you’ll want read our post on the cheapest times to visit Disney World, though that topic gets a lot of discussion here, too.
Here are the other month-by-month posts:
Disney World in February (you are here)
If you’ve read our other month-by-month posts, you might notice similarities between this post and some of those. For example, the weather in July and August is basically the same, so our weather sections in those posts are basically the same.
Quick Thoughts on February 2025
We’ll start with quick thoughts on February 2025 before we dive into details like pricing, holidays, events, weather, and so on.
Lowest prices of the year. Disney hotel prices for the calendar year tend to bottom in January / early February before spiking in the lead up to Presidents’ Day. Ticket prices are around their lowest during this time, too.
2025 February NOTABLE DATES IN DISNEY WORLD
We’ll talk more specifically about crowds and events below, but we like to start with some dates to flag. If you’re thinking about these dates for your visit, keep in mind that normal rules might not apply.
February 14 - February 18, 2025. This is the weekend of Presidents’ Day with the holiday itself being Monday, February 17 in 2025. Due to crowds, it’s usually a holiday worth avoiding.
(2024 date) February 19 will be the last day of Epcot International Festival of the Arts
February 20 to 24, 2025 - This is RunDisney Princess Weekend.
(2024 date) February 28 - This is the first day of the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival
Disney World Crowds In February
Our position on Walt Disney World crowd calendars is that people often put too much weight into them, but that’s it’s still good to know general trends as well as specific events that impact crowds.
While February was at one time low-crowd season, those days seem behind us, and the last few years it’s actually been one of the busier months of the year. But there’s little to explain why this change happened (and thus it’s hard to forecast going forward).
February is relatively simple, with one holiday—Presidents’ Day. Because it’s situated nicely between winter and spring breaks, Presidents’ Day is a popular weekend for vacations, and one of the busiest weekends of the year. We don’t recommend visiting this weekend.
Otherwise, February is sort of “almost-spring” season. It seems we’re seeing crowds bump a little earlier than in the past, but they’re still not rising to the level of the sustained March / April Spring Break and Easter crowds.
Prices, discussed a bit below, pretty clearly reflect the increased popularity of late February.
If you must see a crowd calendar, the one we trust most is over at WDW Prep School.
Disney World Events In February
ESPN Wide World of Sports hosts several athletic events in February. This could at least partly explain the surge of crowd in recent years. The 2024 calendar included events the weekends of February 2, 9, and 16th.
Generally, these events bring increased crowds to the value resorts, particularly All Star Sports.
At Epcot, the bulk of February is spent celebrating Epcot International Festival of the Arts. This is a newer festival, but a tremendously fun one with a variety of artistic activities available. The 2024 festival was held Jan. 12, 2024 to Feb. 19, 2024. Dates for 2025 have not yet been announced. You can view the Epcot Festival Calendar here.
The Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival began on February 28 in 2024. 2025 dates have not yet been announced.
Near the middle of the month is Presidents’ Day (Feb. 17, 2025), this Monday holiday will bring increased crowds Friday through Tuesday (but mostly Saturday through Monday). Presidents’ Day is basically a major holiday at Walt Disney World in terms of crowds (the resort does nothing special to celebrate), and we advise avoiding this weekend.
The 2025 edition of the Disney Princess Half Marathon will be held February 20 - 24, 2025. As discussed in the January post, race weekends tend to bring crowds down a bit. The half marathon weekends also shouldn’t significantly impact touring, though we admittedly have never paid much attention when we’ve visited during these weekends.
Disney World Prices In February [2024 Data]
Disney World’s hotel and ticket prices vary throughout the year. For a more comprehensive look for pricing throughout the year, check out our post on the cheapest time of the calendar year to visit Walt Disney World. You can also visit the 2024 hotel rate table at MouseSavers. Here’s a table showing how hotel prices at All Star Movies, Port Orleans Riverside, Wilderness Lodge, and Yacht Club fluctuate throughout the year:
Overall February prices are average for the year, but that’s not at all the entire story. February has become a popular month in recent years, and you can see that as soon as the month starts, prices go up heading into Presidents Day weekend and then Spring Break season.
While prices briefly drop after Presidents Day, the bottom line is that earlier is better when it comes to booking in February. Here’s a graph of pricing within the month at All Star Movies, Port Orleans Riverside, Wilderness Lodge, and Yacht Club:
Disney World February Deals and Discounts
Sometime around October, a discount is usually announced that includes February, usually with few blackout dates.
Discounts will vary by hotel, room type, and availability. You can see current Disney World offers here. If nothing is available yet, you might also want to check out historical Disney World discount information here.
Refurbishments & New Constructions
February continues winter refurbishment season, and you will want to check our Walt Disney World construction / refurbishment calendar for the latest.
Stormalong Bay, the feature pool at Yacht Club and Beach Club will be closed “from January 2025 through June 2025” (specific dates not yet available). During this time we recommend staying at BoardWalk Inn rather than either of these two hotels.
Kali River Rapids (Animal Kingdom) typically closes in early January through mid-March, but nothing has been announced for 2025.
Water Park Operations
Disney World has two water parks, Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach, neither of which is open the entire year. After some years of uncertainty, the schedule has seemingly settled down so that each year we have:
Typhoon Lagoon opens / Blizzard Beach closes mid-March
Blizzard Beach opens / Typhoon Lagoon closes early November
This schedule is subject to change (and Disney only announces specific dates about a month in advance, in any case). Most recently, Disney confirmed that Typhoon Lagoon will reopen on March 17, 2024. Blizzard Beach will begin its annual refurbishment closure on that same day. This means Blizzard Beach will be the only water park open for the entirety of February.
In February, it is common for the open water park to close due to cold temperatures. Altogether, there’s no reason to rely on a visit to the water park during February. You should at least have a backup plan (read about things to do at Disney World outside the parks).
Disney World Weather In February
December through February is the colder season at Walt Disney World. The average February high is 74F (23C) and the average low is 51F (11C).
Rain is relatively rare in this season, with only around six days of rain in the month (comparable to the rest of the year, outside summer). Hurricane season is not at all in play. We have a post that talks more broadly about weather at Walt Disney World.
Cold, Heat, and Rain
February is one of the few months you’ll encounter actual cold in Florida. And we think (and we’ve heard agreement from others) that Florida cold is a different type of cold.
We’re from Chicago and routinely (and happily) spend bulks of our winters in sub-zero temperatures. But something about the cold in Florida just bites a different way. Maybe it’s because we’re used to warmer temps during the day, so night feels colder. Maybe it’s the humidity. Maybe it’s just that you’ll be standing around so much (in lines, watching shows, waiting for fireworks).
In any case, if the forecast looks “cool” for your trip, pack an extra layer or two in case it gets “cold.” I can’t tell you how often I’ve been in Walt Disney World in November through February and been so glad I flew from Chicago and had some hardcore warming layers available.
Heat isn’t much of a risk in February, but if you’d like to prepare for it just in case you can hop back to October and read about our heat tips.
We don’t let rain forecasts bother us at Disney World anymore. We prepare for rain—bringing the right shoes and maybe a poncho—but we don’t plan trips around it. Even in months with less rain, you’ll see short spurts of it, and the occasional downpour.
We were at Fort Wilderness during a severe thunderstorm that kept us inside all day (though people who braved the parks got tremendously short waits). This was the relatively dry month of February. And in November 2019, we also were on hand for the first Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, which had almost every show rained out.
January / February / March
As a closing note, let’s compare February to its neighboring months.
Should I Visit Walt Disney World In January or February?
There isn’t a huge difference between these months. Late February has higher crowds and higher prices, so you’re best to try and avoid that time.
Otherwise, this choice just comes down to which month you can time better. Look at these two months as a whole with the combined major events—New Year’s, Marathon, MLK Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day—and visit whenever you can put yourself most clear of any obstacles.
Should I visit Walt Disney World in February or March?
February.
Okay, fine. There’s more to it. March has high crowds, but it also has a lot going for it. Flower & Garden Festival typically starts early March (Feb 28 in 2024), and the weather is more temperate and less cold in March compared to February.
And while March crowds are bad…February hasn’t been great recently, either. This is sort of “devil you know…” territory. If you (and Disney) go into March expecting high crowds, rather than dealing with the unpredictable nature of February, it might make for an overall better experience.
Should I visit Walt Disney World In February?
We don’t see a ton of appeal in February visits, if you have flexibility. If your trip has to be in February there’s not much to worry about, but if you can plan a different date you have better options.
The recent history of February has been that it’s one of the busier months of the year. While the weather might be appealing, it’s much easier to time a cool-weather visit with moderate crowds in basically any other cool month (October through January).
The only reason to pick a visit in February is if you’d like to try and gamble on catching low February crowds before March spring break crowds arrive…but that’s a risk.
Have you visiting Walt Disney World in February? What did you think?
All Your Other Disney World Planning Questions Answered
Don't be overwhelmed by Disney World planning! Take a second to check out our most important content and you'll not only be an expert, but you'll save big $$$ along the way.
Just starting out? Check out our Walt Disney World planning guide! If you're still picking dates, we've got everything you need to know about Disney World crowd calendars. For picking your hotel, check out our Walt Disney World hotels guide.
When it comes time to book we’ll help you find discount Disney World tickets. Decide whether you need a dining plan in our Complete Guide to Disney World Dining Plans! And don't forget to book those Disney World Advance Dining Reservations!
Don't forget to master your Disney World Genie+ and Lightning Lane strategy a few months in advance. We'll keep you out of long lines so you can maximize the magical time in the parks! We've got park-specific guides as well: Magic Kingdom Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, Epcot Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, Animal Kingdom Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, and Hollywood Studios Genie+ and Lightning Lanes.
Know what to ride with our guides to: Magic Kingdom rides, Hollywood Studios rides, Epcot rides, and Animal Kingdom rides! Plus learn about the water parks with our guide to Blizzard Beach and our guide to Typhoon Lagoon! And for some some fun prep, check out our Ranking of Every Ride at Walt Disney World.
Finally, before you head out, be sure to check out our to-the-point packing list, 10 essentials you forget to pack for every Disney trip. And if you're interested in saving, there's no better list than our 53 Ways to Save on your Disney trip from start to finish.