Crowds during MLK weekend?

[WallE]

Just gauging the crowd for a typical MLK weekend. Is it crazy busy? What is like compared to a spring break?

 

[MelissathePooh]

I'm curious too. We're arriving late Friday, but staying at RPH so I'm not too concerned really. Just looking forward to a weekend getaway!

 

[mycutiepatooties]

I'd like to know also. We'll be there starting Friday-Tuesday. I hope it's not too horrible. We're also on-site at RPH so that should help.

 

[WallE]

I was actually planning on next year so when you come back this year, update this thread.

 

[macraven]

do a search and pull up past threads from last year to read how the crowds were during MLK period.

that is what i ususally do when i need to get an idea of what to expect.


i have not been during that time period so i am of no help with your question.
sorry.
but by posting in your thread, it will push it up to the top of the page for others to see.

 

[acewashere]

Since I was planning on making a trip to universal and booking a hotel for Saturday night (right now) and found out all the hotels were booked, I'm concluding tomorrow is going to be a very busy day especially with the longer hours. I ended up getting a hotel for Sunday night and spending Monday there. BUT it a much shorter day as far as universal operating hours.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

Just gauging the crowd for a typical MLK weekend. Is it crazy busy? What is like compared to a spring break?

We are at IOA now, and we were at the Studios this morning. Brazilian tour groups are everywhere. Despicable Me had a 70 minute wait at 10 am. HP and the Forbidden Journey has a 75 minute wait, and the wait at Flight of the Hippogriff is currently 80 minutes. We waited 45 minutes for HRRR, but we have used the express line for everything else. We might wait a bit for Forbidden Journey. We were not able to be here for early entry, so we knew there would be a wait.

 

[macraven]

We are at IOA now, and we were at the Studios this morning. Brazilian tour groups are everywhere. Despicable Me had a 70 minute wait at 10 am. HP and the Forbidden Journey has a 75 minute wait, and the wait at Flight of the Hippogriff is currently 80 minutes. We waited 45 minutes for HRRR, but we have used the express line for everything else. We might wait a bit for Forbidden Journey. We were not able to be here for early entry, so we knew there would be a wait.

sounds like the parks are busy for this holiday weekend.

 

[Metro West]

Brazilian tour groups are everywhere.

 

[deva]

We are at IOA now, and we were at the Studios this morning. Brazilian tour groups are everywhere.

I was there this weekend too, and yes, there were Brazilian tour groups everywhere. I heard more non-English conversations than English conversations & felt like a minority as an English-speaker most of the weekend.

But here's my question/comment...

And please don't take this as a superficial pc perfunctory windbag, I am genuinely curious. What problems have people had with the tour groups? We saw umpteen different tour groups, of many different sizes and shapes, and I cannot site one single instance where they were rude or bothersome. Not one. As far as I could tell they were just like me, looking to have a good time while playing by our norms as best they could. I've read about them several times on the boards, about how they chant and cut lines and a few other things, but I was not even mildly put off by any of their behaviors at all, not nary one single instance. I spent a lot of time over the weekend thinking about this, trying to witness an example of their rudeness, and I never did. Again, I am not Mr. PC and I'm not trying to stand on Mount Pious, I am just curious how this perception came to be and what real negative experiences people have had with the Brazilian Tour Groups...

 

[Metro West]

But here's my question/comment...

And please don't take this as a superficial pc perfunctory windbag, I am genuinely curious. What problems have people had with the tour groups? We saw umpteen different tour groups, of many different sizes and shapes, and I cannot site one single instance where they were rude or bothersome. Not one. As far as I could tell they were just like me, looking to have a good time while playing by our norms as best they could. I've read about them several times on the boards, about how they chant and cut lines and a few other things, but I was not even mildly put off by any of their behaviors at all, not nary one single instance. I spent a lot of time over the weekend thinking about this, trying to witness an example of their rudeness, and I never did. Again, I am not Mr. PC and I'm not trying to stand on Mount Pious, I am just curious how this perception came to be and what real negative experiences people have had with the Brazilian Tour Groups...

Nothing wrong with your question/comment. I've seen more threads about bad behavior by the BTGs on the Disney side than on the Universal board. Maybe we just get the nice groups.

I don't know if Disney holds some special place in their hearts and they are just excited to be there for the first time but if what the posters on the Disney side say is true, then Disney can keep them. You can read all about the chanting, singing, cutting in lines, running over people...especially small children and other antics over there. There's no shortage of BTG threads on the Theme Park Planning board.

My experience with the BTGs at Universal has been very limited...usually I'm coming through CityWalk and they are leaving or resting but I don't see them in the parks that much. It's been several years since I've run into a group but you're right...they were well behaved and seemed to be having a good time.

I think the main thing with these groups is mob mentality. If a smaller group of teens decides to start acting up, then they all do because they think its OK. I might have done that too when I was a teen...all those years ago. As long as the ill behaved groups keep their distance from me, I don't have a problem with them.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

I was there this weekend too, and yes, there were Brazilian tour groups everywhere. I heard more non-English conversations than English conversations & felt like a minority as an English-speaker most of the weekend.

But here's my question/comment...

And please don't take this as a superficial pc perfunctory windbag, I am genuinely curious. What problems have people had with the tour groups? We saw umpteen different tour groups, of many different sizes and shapes, and I cannot site one single instance where they were rude or bothersome. Not one. As far as I could tell they were just like me, looking to have a good time while playing by our norms as best they could. I've read about them several times on the boards, about how they chant and cut lines and a few other things, but I was not even mildly put off by any of their behaviors at all, not nary one single instance. I spent a lot of time over the weekend thinking about this, trying to witness an example of their rudeness, and I never did. Again, I am not Mr. PC and I'm not trying to stand on Mount Pious, I am just curious how this perception came to be and what real negative experiences people have had with the Brazilian Tour Groups...

The only problem I had with a tour group this weekend was the boy (not a teenager, but elementary age) by Revenge of the Mummy who kept chasing the pigeons with the tour group flag and trying to hit them. The tour leaders kept laughing as he tried to smack them. That seemed to be a group of families instead of teenagers. Other than that, it was just the sheer number of them. We stay onsite and use the Express lines, but we can't do that for HRRR and HPatFJ. We just had to watch to make sure we didn't get in line behind 100 people traveling in a pack.

We have experienced the BTG at WDW, and they are usually loud and chanting and tend to cut in line. They also have one person stand in line for hundreds of fastpasses, so it is very bad luck if you happen to be in line behind that person (not that there is anything wrong with what they are doing, but by the time your turn at the machine comes, you might have spent a lot of time in line). We did not see the same issues at Universal, although we used the express line and they generally don't have express access, so I don't know if they cut in line or not.

 

[Panagiota]

It was pretty crowded on Saturday when I went for the day. You can pretty much count on any three day weekend translating into crowded days at the park on those days.

 

[mycutiepatooties]

I completely agree with everything posted thus far. We just got back yesterday. It was much more crowded than I expected. 60 min. waits were typical for rides. Sometimes longer. The Harry Potter area was super crowded after the 1 hr. early entry and by 10:00am it was packed. Saturday inside Honeydukes and Zonkos was wall to wall--you can't even move--and my hubby got really grumpy and claustrophobic.

Using the express pass we were not impacted too much by the waits. We had to wait about 20 mins. for most rides. LOTS of tour groups and foreigners. None were rude or line jumping, but it was more of a traffic flow issue/congestion. If we didn't have the Express Pass, I think it would've been a difficult weekend. But we still got to go on everything we wanted multiple times during our 3 days.

We thought that Tuesday would be a ghosttown...after the weekenders went home. It was less crowded for the early entry period, but after that 1 hr. I think the crowds were just the same as during the weekend.