Crowds at WDW/MLK Week!!!!!!!!!!

[Mad4Dizne]

We were in shock over how crowded the parks...especially MK was during the MLK Week...it was unbelievable!!!! Does anyone know if it is like this every year now????? We had gone for many trips during January and never had these crowds. We waited for 30-45 minutes for it's a small world!!!!!!!!!!

Just wanted to know if crowds are like this all the time now!!!!!!!!!!????????????

Flo

 

[luvsTink]

We were a bit surprised as well. However, the longest wait we ever had was probably 5-8 minutes and that was for Pirates on Saturday Night (which was very busy, but we wanted to see Spectro). We always got there before opening and we followed a couple different touring plans (including the Unofficial Guide...thanks Len!!) Also, we used fast pass for a few rides.

Our last day was Wed and we spent it in MK. About Noonish the crowd seemed to come out of nowhere, but they were concentrated in Fantasyland.

I think as more and more schools and businesses begin observing MLK day the effect will be seen on crowds at Disney.

Anne

 

[MsLefty]

May I ask which day(s) you visited MK? We were at Disney from the 17th thru the 22nd and had minimal waits on all rides except Rockin RollerCoaster and Test Track at the other parks. Other than those, our waits were no longer than 10 minutes on every ride. Small World, Pirates, Haunted Mansion were all less than 10 minutes. We used FastPass often and we ended up getting everything done at MK in one day (Tues), leaving Weds as a free day. I thought it was due to the low crowds and not to my weeks of park planning. This was our first trip in over 10 years and we plan on going back same time next year. Were the crowds larger than normal for this week? I just assumed they were low considering how much we got done.

 

[cindyfan]

The MLK holiday seems to have become another good chance for families with school age children to visit...
Along with MLK day off, most schools will have "in service" days for the teachers, meaning the students have an extra day off.
This adds up to either a very long weekend (the Friday before MLK day) with 2 4-day school weeks...
or a very short week (the Friday after) meaning a 3 day week for students.
Therefore......parents take advantage of it. We considered going at this time too.....but decided to just save the money for our June trip.

So knowing what it's like over Presidents week.....the MLK weekend crowd does not surprise me.

 

[MsLefty]

If the crowds are increasing during the MLK holiday, will the rates also increase from Value to Regular or more? We were really hoping to go back next year at this time.

 

[OldSchoolDisney]

It seems to me that any school year week where there is a day off (whether a Monday or Friday) the Parks are always going to be much more crowded regardless of the time of year.........I think the average parent feels that by going those weeks their kids are only missing 4 days of school instead of 5, so they feel some justification for going those weeks.......Personally I feel family time is worth more than 1 week of school at any age so I take my family at the quietest times of year to D-World regardless of school..........Everyone to their own opinion but I think that is why the parks are always packed the week of Columbus Day, Patriots Day, MLK day etc..............

 

[WDWisTheBest]

We were there on MLK holiday and there were no crowds that caused any delays. We walked onto Buzz Lightyear and Philharmagic, and Haunted Mansion. Space Mountain was a 15 minute wait in the standby line.

I would suggest that is a very good time to visit. There were no really long lines anywhere that we were.

 

[MickeyisanNDfan]

We were there MLK weekend and walked on to everything. Didn't even have to wait in line for lunch. I would go this weekend again. It was fine.

 

[Harambe]

I did notice the crowds on Tuesday at MK, but even that crowd wasn't too bad. I also noticed a lot of youth groups travelling around.

We also jumped on everything. Sunday at AK in the rain - it was pleasantly uncrowded! Ya gotta learn to zig when everyone else is zagging!

 

[2angelsinheaven]

We went Sunday to EPCOT and Monday to AK, we were able to book a room at the Florida Resident Rate at 8pm Sunday night... one had just opened up and we snagged it at the ASMusic. Otherwise they informed me that EVERY room on property was booked including even the very high priced suites. We had really hoped for POP but for the difference of $40 between the discounted at ASM and rack at POP (they did have a room in the early am when we first got there) we picked the FL Res Rate and will do POP another time. EPCOT was pretty busy, 40 mins for Mission Space at one point, 20 for JIYI, 45 for The Land boat tour, 60 for TT.... yikes! The next day at AK was not much better, an hour for the safari, 35 for PW and 30 I think for Dinosaur... and I thought we would have a nice not so crowded weekend.... anyone know what crowds will be like tomorrow (sunday) and Monday? We are going to take the godkids and were wondering...

 

[christianweecare]

This was our third year in a row being at WDW for the MLK weekend. We arrived late Thursday night and checked into PC. We headed back home midday Monday. I will have to say that this trip seemed to have bigger crowds than past years, however, we had no problems with seeing and doing everything that we wanted to do. We arrived at the parks early and did fast pass as necessary. We even got to do a few things that we had not done in years. DH & I were at WDW Dec. 6-13 and could definately see a difference in the crowds. Yes, if you wait until noon to get started, you will have a difficult time. We always start early and make the most of our day!

 

[Karibeth19]

We arrived late Saturday evening, and of course MK was very crowded. Most fastpasses were unavailable, and we didn't watch Spectro or Wishes that night so we could hop on a few more rides. Sunday and Monday were also more crowded than I would have liked, especially with the rain. Tuesday at MK was also more crowded than I expected, I think because it was a Spectro night. AK on Wed. was WAY more crowded than I expected. However, on Thursday and Friday, the crowds thinned to what I figured Jan. shoud be and we walked on most rides with little or no wait. I realize it wasn't summer crowded, but I was a little disappointed that the crowds that were there for the weekend didn't thin out on Tues. like I thought they would.