Crowd Levels Marathon Week and MLK Week

[LVE_HBRDN]

Has anyone here gone either marathon week or MLK week? How were the crowds? Which week is better? I'm trying to plan a WDW vacation for one of those weeks. Any tips would be helpful. Thanks!

 

[KathyRN137]

Has anyone here gone either marathon week or MLK week? How were the crowds? Which week is better? I'm trying to plan a WDW vacation for one of those weeks. Any tips would be helpful. Thanks!

Well, it wasn't the entire week, but DH and I took a 3-day trip to WDW this past Jan. on Martin Luther King Weekend. I thought the crowds were moderate; we have previously vacationed in mid-Sept, 1st wk of Feb, and 1st week of Dec. I would rank the crowd level (from lightest to moderate) as:
(1) Sept, (2) Feb, (3) Jan, (4) Dec.

Hope this helps a little!

 

[Nala56]

We were there for marathan week a couple of years ago. It really didn't impact crowds much at all. We were staying at AKL, there were some runners staying there, but hotel was not full. The day of the race it's best to wait to go to parks a little later, around 10-11:00, as the roads are crowded.

One year we were leaving Saturday of MLK weekend and the parks were very crowded on the friday so imagine the weekend was very crowded.

If I had to choose I would say marathon weekend best choice for crowds.

 

[Nancyg56]

We stayed at AKL last January thru the marathon. I don't know if the hotel was full because of the marathon or because schools vacation into January, but it was crowded until the end of the week. The parks thinned out on Friday.

 

[dixiedizfan]

The first week of January is going to be very crowded regardless of the marathon weekend. This is because so many schools in the south have Christmas break until January 9 or 10. The marathoners only add to it. Expect VERY large crowds next January 1st week, as New Years Day falls on a Monday.

 

[LVE_HBRDN]

Sorry, guess I should have been more specific. When I said marathon week I meant starting our vacation duirng the half marathon (Saturday January 6th and ending it January 14th. Also how were the crowds during the EMH evenings during those dates and how crowded were the parks during the marathons? Were their long lines for any of the rides? Were the resorts crowded? Please help me! We have visited WDW twice before during the third week of January both times were off site. If we go this will be our first time onsite. Thankyou

 

[dydrmr81]

We were there January 6th through January 13th last year and while it was a little more crowded than I expected, it wasn't bad at all. I think the longest line was about 20 minutes and that was for Peter Pan. Most rides were walk-ons, but average wait time was 5-10 minutes, even for the biggies like Tower of Terror, Rock N Roller Coaster and Space Mountain. We rode Splash Mountain 3 times in a row one evening without getting off because there was no-one in line

We stayed at All Star Music and it wasn't crowded at all. The Food Court was practically empty every time we went, except for breakfast time but then it was only about half full. The busses were only full at night on the way back.

I would go back in January in a heartbeat! It was wonderful!

 

[monica31671]

We were there Jan 5-10, 2006 and found it pretty easy to do what we wanted without much of a wait for anything.
We went to AK on the day of the full marathon. The park was roped off in spots for the runners. It made it a little difficult, but not too bad.
We had to wait an hour to bus back to POFQ at 1:00. That was the only rough patch we had that could have been due to the marathon.
One problem we weren't expecting was the COLD! We had coats, hats, and gloves, but it was still cold in the mornings and at night. I almost bought a blanket one day at noon and I had a coat on!

 

[LVE_HBRDN]

Thanks for all the awnsers. Cold weather in January is a very minimal problem for me if it keeps the crowds away. I live in Minnesota so I'm used to the cold and even 40 or 50 degrees in Florida is a nice break. In fact when we left for Florida last year I believe it was about 20 or 30 degrees below zero windchill. If you don't know what that feels like let me explain. With any sort of breeze at this temperature your skin gets so cold it burns if it's not covered.

Anyway's can anyone tell me what I can expect for EMH evening crowds this time of year and has anyone been to WDW during the entire MLK week?

Thankyou

 

[jann1033]

no problems to speak of when we went for a trip that covered both those times although i would skip emh am if it's at ak the actual marathon days . they changed it from mk to ak and it happened the runners happened to hit ak the same time it opened for emh and it was a mess . lots of attractions( shows)were closed for much of the early morning till 11 or so...don't know if they were trying an experiment that failed that yr but it sure failed if they were

i don't know that the mlk weekend crowds stick around...it was the end of our trip but i know our resort was completley booked for just those couple days. we really didn't see much difference except mk was awful in the afternoon( weekend) and the food court was bad and people actually were on the buses with us we were at pop and although it was booked full those few days it was pretty empty the rest of the time( our trip was basically the same time as yours) there also was a long wait for breakfst that Sat. at Kona so if you want a sit down breakfast for mkl weekend i'd make adrs and maybe get any you want for dinner that might be busy( like Ohana) for earlier in the trip( not during mlk weekend)/ other than that it's smooth sailing!

 

[dydrmr81]

Keep in mind that the weather can also be warm or even HOT in January! When we were there the 2nd week in 2005 we were wearing shorts and T-shirts and spending plenty of time in the pool. A couple days we needed sweatshirts in the mornings or evenings but never for the whole day. It felt like Spring!

 

[ShuisFan584]

We went this year January 8 - January 14 and it was great! The first day was a Sunday which was the last day of the marathon. We went to MGM that day and the crowds weren't that bad, and they got smaller as the week went on. The one thing I would warn you is DO NOT go to MK on the Saturday of MLK weekend!!!!! We usually go in August (which isn't as crowded as June but still a little crowded) and it was A LOT worse than any time I've been in August. Space Mountain had a 90 minute wait by 10 or 11 am. We even had about a 15 minute wait for Pirates! We had a great time with low crowds Sunday through Friday, but we just wish we would have gone somewhere else on our last day. Actually here's a picture of the crowds we took that day (taken before noon):

 

[Luv2Roam]

I don't know there really is a slow season any more. I think it is now down to two days in January.
But January is still not as crowded as other months.
The marathon grows with each year, with this year being the first Goofy Challenge. A half marathon on Saturday and full marathon on Sunday. And 2007 will be the same.
The participation numbers were increased. So the number of runners has drastically increased.
It is still a good time to go. You may run into some issues. But not many and they are short lived.

And ANY holiday weekend is a busier weekend than usual.