May is an interesting month to visit the Orlando theme parks. You’ll get all the perks of visiting during summer—warm, sunny days, long park hours and plenty of events—without the extreme heat and crowd levels. For many families, May is one of the best times to visit Disney World and Universal Orlando.
Visit Epcot’s Flower and Garden Festival when you visit in May. Photo courtesy the Walt Disney Company
Crowds: Expect to see low to moderate crowd levels when you visit the Orlando theme parks in May. Generally, the beginning of the month is less crowded, with the resorts and parks beginning to fill up as the month progresses and US schools begin summer vacations. Expect to see school groups from both the local area and throughout the US this month—May is a popular month for Senior trips.
Weather: While your calendar may still say “spring”, summer has arrived in Orlando this month. Expect hot days and slightly cooler nights and definitely bring your swimsuit and plenty of sunblock. Afternoon thunderstorms or showers are a common event this month, but are generally not large enough to impact your trip.
Events: Some of the year’s best events occur in the Orlando theme parks in May. Disney’s Star Wars Weekends is a huge draw for the Hollywood Studios theme park; avoid this park on the weekends if you are not attending.
Epcot’s Flower and Garden Festival concludes in mid-May, but you’ll still see remnants of the festival in the park as the character topiaries usually stick around for a while after the event closes.
Universal doesn’t have a lot of May events, aside from Gradventures, a celebration for middle schoolers from the surrounding areas.
