Best/worst park on Saturdays?

[DeeSee]

It looks like we won't be able to avoid a Saturday park day on our trip. We are thinking of doing AK. Which parks would you suggest are the best and worst to go to on a Saturday?

 

[Her Dotness]

Even Epcot can be pretty crowded on a Saturday because of special weekend events there that draw locals.

It can get lemme-outta-here-NOW during the festivals for the same reason--locals. Given how big it is, there's plenty of space to spread out if you slip around to the WS pavilions and hang around those, for instance. It's the "liquidly enhanced" that can be annoying during festivals.

I don't know about AK because we aren't fans. The others will all be pretty busy on Saturdays, one reason why we leave on Saturday.

 

[nursejackie]

We have one Saturday and two Sundays in the parks mid to end of August. MK for one Saturday and one Sunday, with the other Sunday being Epcot. Not great planning, but we're trying to avoid party nights, private events when MK closes at 6pm or 7pm, deluxe evening magic hours nights, so doesn't leave many options.

 

[jcemom]

Personally, I'd rather go to MK on a night with evening hours than a Saturday. We went once on a Saturday and swore never again. We usually end up at the Studios on Saturday, not because it isn't crowded, but because it's crowded EVERY day.

 

[nursejackie]

Personally, I'd rather go to MK on a night with evening hours than a Saturday. We went once on a Saturday and swore never again. We usually end up at the Studios on Saturday, not because it isn't crowded, but because it's crowded EVERY day.

I may review our park reservations for the Saturday!

 

[jcemom]

I don't have any experience yet with the extra hours since they changed it to deluxe only, but from reports I've read it doesn't seem to have the effect on park crowds that the old EMH did. Even if crowds were slightly higher, I still think it would be better than a Saturday. We've not had bad experiences on Sundays in the past. We aim for Tuesday and Wednesday, usually, but Sunday is my third choice of MK days.

 

[KSR0330]

We always do AK on Saturdays! My next Saturday choice would be HS then Epcot.

 

[ktlm]

Depends on what time of year. If it is during Food & Wine don't pick EPCOT. It is crazy crowded on F&W Saturdays. We typically go to AK or sometimes DHS on fall Saturdays.

 

[WedWayPilot]

I look at relative crowd levels when deciding on where to visit on Saturdays. During the weekends and weekdays Hollywood studios is very busy and often has no park pass availability. So going there on a Saturday makes sense because there is no increase in crowd level. Animal kingdom on the other hand has an increase on the weekends, so it is busier on Saturday and Sunday compared to weekdays due to increased Florida Resident traffic. Using this pattern you are better off visiting Hollywood studios on a Saturday and Animal Kingdom on the weekday to enjoy the lower weekday crowds.

Epcot is tricky because it tends to have increased weekend crowds during festivals. So I like to visit Epcot on weekdays during festivals and weekends when there isn’t a festival (this is getting rare).

Magic Kingdom is traditionally very busy on Mondays because guests with a Sunday arrival tend to go to MK first out of tradition. If it fits into your plans MK often has low crowds on party days because fewer resort guests visit the day of the party because of the perceived shorter operating hours. For most people 9am-6pm is more than enough time to get what they want done, so you might as well enjoy the lower crowd levels.

Otherwise I plan the trip based on our restaurant reservations to limit the need to hop.

 

[parasail_of_congress]

For our August trip, we are visiting AK on a Saturday. I wish we could avoid Saturday altogether, but it doesn't work for our schedule. I also considered Epcot and and HS - I doubt there's a substantial difference between those three (maybe a bit more crowded at Epcot in the evening though). I definitely would avoid MK.

 

[Christina-B-Na]

We are in the same boat. Our parks days are Sat, Mon, Wed, Fri… we chose AK for Sat since MK will close early for holiday parties and the F&W festival will be happening.

 

[Christina-B-Na]

Sorry duplicate

 

[nursejackie]

Personally, I'd rather go to MK on a night with evening hours than a Saturday. We went once on a Saturday and swore never again. We usually end up at the Studios on Saturday, not because it isn't crowded, but because it's crowded EVERY day.

I've changed MK from Saturday (20th) to Monday (22nd) and reserved AK instead. It does mean visiting AK twice in 4 days, but I'd rather do that than have an MK day ruined. So now it's MK on our first day (Sunday), AK following Saturday, and Epcot on 2nd Sunday (which can't be changed as we have Space 220 Lounge lunch reservation).

 

[DeeSee]

During the weekends and weekdays Hollywood studios is very busy and often has no park pass availability. So going there on a Saturday makes sense because there is no increase in crowd level. Animal kingdom on the other hand has an increase on the weekends, so it is busier on Saturday and Sunday compared to weekdays due to increased Florida Resident traffic. Using this pattern you are better off visiting Hollywood studios on a Saturday and Animal Kingdom on the weekday to enjoy the lower weekday crowds.

This is an interesting take re: DHS is always busy and sold out anyway. I hadn't thought of it like that!

 

[DeeSee]

This is really helpful everyone, thank you. We will stick with AK. Our trip is not until next spring, so of course a million things could change between then and now. But it sounds as though this is an historically solid plan.