Crowds on a Sat with midnight closure at MK

[disneycountrygirl]

I am looking at Dec 9th - a non-party, Saturday night. I know that means that day will likely be crowded at the MK (Touring Plans puts that day at a 7), but do the crowds last all the way into the evening hours?

How crowded can I expect the MK to be past 9? TIA!

 

[AnneK]

To give you an idea, this past Saturday they were closing off the hub area about 30 minutes before HEA because it was at capacity. I booked a dessert party for that night, we'll be there too. I expect it to be crazy packed.

 

[Tormania]

To give you an idea, this past Saturday they were closing off the hub area about 30 minutes before HEA because it was at capacity. I booked a dessert party for that night, we'll be there too. I expect it to be crazy packed.

Crazy....but that is why we decide to go to MK on MVMCP days and get our stuff done and then park hop at 6pm. Less crowds that way, not no crowds, just less. LOL!!

 

[AnneK]

Crazy....but that is why we decide to go to MK on MVMCP days and get our stuff done and then park hop at 6pm. Less crowds that way, not no crowds, just less. LOL!!

We are doing the same thing, lol. We are rope dropping MK the day before (Friday) and staying until 2 or 3pm. Weather is supposed to be crappy so hoping for low crowds. Then we are only going back to MK on Saturday specifically for the HEA Dessert Party.

 

[disneycountrygirl]

Crazy....but that is why we decide to go to MK on MVMCP days and get our stuff done and then park hop at 6pm. Less crowds that way, not no crowds, just less. LOL!!

That is what we have planned too - planned our MK days for the 10th and 14th on party days with park hopping planned...but we have on Ohana (a must do for us) on the 10th at 3:40, which means we can't even get in a "full day" (till 6) at the MK....and then will only have 6 measly, crowded hours of MK time in whole the first 5 days of our trip. :-(. Our next MK day wouldn't be till our 2nd to last day. I don't like that!!! But we also have an Ohana on the 9th - we could leave Epcot early, do Ohana, and then MK after dinner for more MK time, but that would mean facing impossible crowds. Yikes. Trying to fit it all in perfectly is near impossible!

 

[sharonabe]

I am looking at Dec 9th - a non-party, Saturday night. I know that means that day will likely be crowded at the MK (Touring Plans puts that day at a 7), but do the crowds last all the way into the evening hours?

How crowded can I expect the MK to be past 9? TIA!

A midnight closure is really not that late. You'll see a slight drop from 11 - midnight, and there will be a good deal of people who leave after HEA at 9.

So let's say the 7 crowd level holds for the day (I doubt that), from 9:30-11:00 it'll be more like a 6, and then from 11-12 a 5 heading to a 3 by the very end of the night. BUT if my doubts come true, and you're more like a 10 all day, then you'll only see a 7-8 from 9:30 and it'll still be a 5-6 up til midnight.

 

[Klayfish]

To give you an idea, this past Saturday they were closing off the hub area about 30 minutes before HEA because it was at capacity. I booked a dessert party for that night, we'll be there too. I expect it to be crazy packed.

Yes, but that's just the hub. Everyone wants to see the fireworks, and during holiday season, it's even busier. But the rest of MK, outside the hub, isn't awful around 9pm. Busy...yes, but not a disaster, at least not to us. Heck, during the week of Thanksgiving this year, we literally walked right onto Splash Mountain during the time that fireworks were happening. It was almost creepy. The CMs were just waiting for guests to show up and load into the boats. If I remember, we rode Haunted Mansion just before that, and it wasn't very crowded either.

So to answer the question, after 9pm, it will be crowded, but not horrible if you stay out of the hub. I can't give you numbers on a crowd calendar scale, let's just say I'm not a believer in them...but just going from experience.

 

[disneycountrygirl]

I think I have it figured out. MK is just going to have to be done in snippets over several days. Totally taking advantage of the fireworks on Monday, 11th by staying away from the hub at that time to get in rides. Watching the fireworks on a Wed. night for hopefully lowest FW crowds of the week. Holy cow, strategizing an optimal trip during the holidays these days is not easy! Just planning around ADRs was hard enough, but now with FP+, ADRs, parties, and crowds, it's crazy!!