Arriving ON MLK Day and staying for 6 nights

[Suze10860]

This is a basic question, but every time I search, most of the information seems to be about MLK weekend itself, not so much the days following it.

We are arriving and checking in (Yacht Club) on Monday, January 19, 2026, Martin Luther King Day. We're staying 6 nights, and I've purchased 5-day Park Hopper Passes.

The plan is to use those 5 days from Tuesday through Saturday, not going to the parks on arrival or departure day.

Our party consists of my husband and me, our daughter, SIL, and 2 littles (2 and 4 at the time of travel). This trip is all about Nonna and Granddad providing a great vacation for everyone. What that means is that Mom & Dad probably wouldn't pick WDW as their first choice, but they're totally up for it because they're sure the kids will love it, especially their 4-year-old. And we want desperately to bring them all!

Thrill Data crowd calendars for WDW in general show "average" for every single day in January, starting with January 7, including MLK weekend. The MK shows as "average" all our week except on Saturday, 1/24, which is "higher." Epcot is "higher" on 1/19 and 1/24. Hollywood Studios is "average" all days with "lower" on 1/29, and AK is "higher" on 1/20 and "lower" on 1/21 and 1/22. Whew - that's a lot of info.

But, with all that being said, I know that crowd calendars are a strange animal.

I don't think the dates of the Festival of the Arts for 2026 have been announced, so that can't be factored in yet, and I'm pretty sure there are NOT any competitions scheduled for that week. The College National Cheer competition is 1/16-18.

Anyone out there want to speak from personal knowledge or experience about the week starting on MLK Day itself? Thanks in advance.

NOTE: Our original trip was going to be in September of 2026 for the better price and lower crowds, but after much conversation, we decided that avoiding heat and humidity was by far the most important issue for our daughter and family. They are from Colorado, and dealing with bigger crowds and/or cold weather in January is more appealing than dealing with the possible Florida heat and humidity to get the lower crowds of September.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

I think you'll find you've selected a pretty decent time to visit. We've often arrived on or just after MLK Monday to avoid the entire weekend. I expect the Festival of the Arts will begin that week while you're there - it's without a doubt, our favorite (and most expensive!!) of the festivals. We have found the crowds ease up a tad as the week goes on, so using MLK Monday as a travel/arrival day has worked well for us.

I wouldn't get too crazy reading projected crowd levels!! Sounds like a memorable trip - enjoy!

 

[Suze10860]

Thank you so much for the reply.

We were there in February 2025 and were lucky enough to experience the Festival of the Arts for the first time. We loved it! I'm hoping it does start that weekend so that our family can experience the wonderful food and other special offerings.

 

[Suze10860]

Maybe this isn't the correct place to ask this, but is there an "Official January 2026 Thread" started yet? I couldn't find one...

 

[disneydreamer1980]

We were there for 2 weeks starting the week before and for the week after MLK day this year. The crowds the week before were much lighter than the week after but the crowds the week after MLK day weren’t horrible. It was however the worst weather we’ve ever experienced at Disney, with highs in the low 40s and constant rain. Hopefully it’ll be better next year because we’ll be there the same two weeks again. Epcot was crowded due to FEstival of arts and DHS is always crowded but the other two parks were good for the most part.

 

[NSDisneyGirl]

Maybe this isn't the correct place to ask this, but is there an "Official January 2026 Thread" started yet? I couldn't find one...

I've been looking for an Official January 2026 thread too but haven't found one yet

 

[scrappinginontario]

Maybe this isn't the correct place to ask this, but is there an "Official January 2026 Thread" started yet? I couldn't find one...

I've been looking for an Official January 2026 thread too but haven't found one yet

There does not appear to be one started yet. Either of you are welcome to start one in the, ‘Doing the Happy Dance!’ subforum..

 

[muppets3d]

Having been at WDW the past 3 years for the week of MLK I will not go back - weather is too unpredictable. First year was great, a little nippy in the AM (light jacket) to comfortable in the afternoons and back to the jacket in the evenings. Last year and this year were both cold and rainy. This year many flower beds were covered up due to frost warnings.

 

[Suze10860]

We realize that cold is a possibility, but when weighed against all other factors, it's one we're willing to go with.

Speaking as someone who lives in coastal Mississippi and got 7" of snow and multiple below-freezing days last January, I'm going to hope that the Southern US is due for better weather this winter.

Our daughter and her family live in Colorado, and they made the final choice between September and January. The heat and hurricane concerns of September made it a no-brainer. They'd prefer Disney in winter parkas rather than Disney drenched in sweat.

 

[muppets3d]

We realize that cold is a possibility, but when weighed against all other factors, it's one we're willing to go with.

Speaking as someone who lives in coastal Mississippi and got 7" of snow and multiple below-freezing days last January, I'm going to hope that the Southern US is due for better weather this winter.

Our daughter and her family live in Colorado, and they made the final choice between September and January. The heat and hurricane concerns of September made it a no-brainer. They'd prefer Disney in winter parkas rather than Disney drenched in sweat.

Hey as long as you're prepared for the possibility of cold and rainy weather, enjoy! It is a good time to travel, weather unpredictability notwithstanding.

I will also mention that this is often the time of year that Disney likes to take the Skyliner down for it's refurbishment.

 

[Suze10860]

Yeah, I'm hoping to get those littles on the Skyliner, and did find this online:

The Disney Skyliner is scheduled to be down for routine maintenance from January 25 through January 31, 2026.

I'm trying (trying!) to be relatively chill about this trip, although it's not always easy when spending this much money. If I had one wish, it would be for manageable crowds in the parks.

Again, when taking everything into consideration (bounce-back date availability and pricing, weather, crowds) we felt that this was our best choice of time periods.

Personally, my husband and I loved being there the first week in February this year. The weather was perfect, and the crowds were not bad.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

We realize that cold is a possibility, but when weighed against all other factors, it's one we're willing to go with.

Speaking as someone who lives in coastal Mississippi and got 7" of snow and multiple below-freezing days last January, I'm going to hope that the Southern US is due for better weather this winter.

Our daughter and her family live in Colorado, and they made the final choice between September and January. The heat and hurricane concerns of September made it a no-brainer. They'd prefer Disney in winter parkas rather than Disney drenched in sweat.

Hello fellow Mississippian! We've been to Orlando twice at the end of January, arriving after MLK weekend.

The first time (2015) was wet, but not freezing. It was much more crowded than our prior September trip (2012). They also seemed to be short staffed and operating a lot of rides at lower capacities. Buses to Boardwalk were few and far between that trip. However, getting to Epcot and HS was SO EASY!

The second trip (2020) was record colds, birds literally dropping dead out of trees, and many rides down for much of the day due to extreme cold. Crowds were easily manageable at Universal. The water parks were all shut down. We did not visit Disney on that trip.