Dealing with MLK crowds

[Gonzjj]

We will be heading down to Disney the weekend of MLK and staying through the next weekend. Does anyone have any idea how bad the crowds are? We expect MLK weekend to be busy, but what about the week after, is that typically a crowded week? Thanks for any help with these questions.

 

[bouncycat]

That weekend expect it to be wall to wall people. We went this year on that saturday to the MK, and it was BAD!! my birthday usually falls around that weekend, for 2009, we're going on the ACTUAL day, to take advantage of the 'perks' and that's the friday of the weekend, so I"m hoping it won't be that bad yet. I have heard the week after isn't as bad, but with the buy 4 get 3 deal, it might be a bit more crowded then normal. Basically, expect bad crowds, and if it's not, be pleasantly surprised!!

 

[marsrunner]

We are going to be arriving Tuesday, January 20th and leaving Tuesday, January 27th. My birthday is during our visit, too, on Sunday the 25th! Woo-hoo!
I may be way off on this, but even if every room on property is full because of the 4/3 deal (and I know that isn't the case, as resorts that show no availability for the 4/3 deal show availability for rooms without the deal), that 33,000 rooms times I'm guessing an average of 3 people per room? That would average out to about 25,000 per park, which still isn't that bad.
If I had to guess, I'd guess that it will be a little busier than a normal January, but not uncomfortably so.
Or maybe I'm just being naively optimistic!

 

[Gonzjj]

Thank you for the info, I will hope that it is not too bad....I hope!

 

[runswithscissors]

We live in DC and a number of private schools have extended the MLK holiday through Tuesday the 20th for the Inauguration. Millions of people will be in DC to attend such an historic event. At the same time, I'm sure there will be thousands of people taking advantage of the holiday and making their way to WDW.

 

[aurorafan]

We live in DC and a number of private schools have extended the MLK holiday through Tuesday the 20th for the Inauguration. Millions of people will be in DC to attend such an historic event. At the same time, I'm sure there will be thousands of people taking advantage of the holiday and making their way to WDW.

When I looked at our school calendar last year I tried to talk DH into going at this time--Fairfax county schools are also off the following Mon. & Tues. (26/27) for teacher workdays . We could have gone for a longer trip and they only would have missed 3 days of school! We already had the Dec. trip paid for and set though, so no dice . Maybe for the next inauguration .

 

[Pakey]

We are going to be arriving Tuesday, January 20th and leaving Tuesday, January 27th. My birthday is during our visit, too, on Sunday the 25th! Woo-hoo!
I may be way off on this, but even if every room on property is full because of the 4/3 deal (and I know that isn't the case, as resorts that show no availability for the 4/3 deal show availability for rooms without the deal), that 33,000 rooms times I'm guessing an average of 3 people per room? That would average out to about 25,000 per park, which still isn't that bad.
If I had to guess, I'd guess that it will be a little busier than a normal January, but not uncomfortably so.
Or maybe I'm just being naively optimistic!

We were there MLK weekend in 08, all rooms were sold out and the parks were so crowded that you could have picked up your feet and been carried by the crowds. We left on Monday, MLK day so can't speak for the crowds the week after but the Fri, Sat and Sun of MLK weekend were worse than when we had went on Easter week in 05.

 

[sdteacher]

After reading the MLK post and remembering reading others that talk about how busy it is - what does a person do to "beat" the crowds and see as many attractions as possible? We are morning people and will get to the parks at rope drop and use fast passes. Any other tips for surviving that super busy weekend?

 

[MomofKatie]

At any busier time in the parks, the best strategy is what you said- get to the parks before rope drop, and use FP when you can. Another tip is to research the attractions before you arrive, and decide on what you really don't want to miss at each park- once you do all of your "must-sees", anything else is a nice extra. Find park maps online, and familiarize yourself with each park's layout before you get there. You'll save lots of time if you know the general areas you want to head for.

We have always had great luck with the Unofficial Guide touring plans. They are a good way to hit the highlights on busy days with the minimum amount of waiting time. Tourguide Mike also has great park touring advice, although his isn't as specific as the UG plans- more of a "this is the way most people do it- here's why you should do it differently" guide. We've subscribed to each site, and they are both good resources.

 

[MomofKatie]

When I looked at our school calendar last year I tried to talk DH into going at this time--Fairfax county schools are also off the following Mon. & Tues. (26/27) for teacher workdays . We could have gone for a longer trip and they only would have missed 3 days of school! We already had the Dec. trip paid for and set though, so no dice . Maybe for the next inauguration .

DD's school calendar is similar- she has MLK day off, the Friday of that week, and the following Monday. We are going for a 10 night WDW trip, and she will miss only 3 instructional days of school. We figure that the 3 days of the MLK weekend might be busy, but we will have 7 more after that that will be less so. We have a lot of time, so we won't let the possibility of crowds for a few days worry us too much.

We have found that we are usually pleasantly surprised at crowd levels- we have taken several WDW trips where we heard, "Oh, it will be terrible at the parks because of (insert minor holiday here)! Don't go then!", and it has always been just fine. We've weathered Columbus Day weekend, Jersey Week, Mother's Day weekend, Marathon weekend, Halloween week, and the few days right after New Years Day, and never regretted going any of those times. So, I'm going into the MLK weekend with an optimistic attitude- after all, a crowded day at WDW is still much better than any day at home!!

 

[tinkbyday]

We arrived in 2007 the day after MLK for my DD's birthday and stayed until that weekend and it was terrific - we didn't experience large crowds at all. We are going back next month for the same week so hoping it's the same way again.

We are arriving on the Sunday before this time, so we are expecting it to be a bit busier, but the crowd calendar shows a 7 for Sunday, 6 Monday and 5 Tuesday. Those aren't bad compared to the 9's and 10's it showed during our April trip this year and we did fine.

If you go expecting it to be crazy, it's such a pleasant surprise when it isn't

 

[n2mm]

I work in Wash DC and have the long weekend off and will also be in WDW (I booked Feb 2008). I figured with 4 million people in DC, WDW will be a walk in the park. I'm expecting it to be busy, esp. that weekend, but am hoping for a little lighter crowds during the week. (I normally go late January, but couldn't pass up a 10 day break from work and only using 2 vacation days to get it). Thanks Uncle Sam!

 

[tinkbyday]

I work in Wash DC and have the long weekend off and will also be in WDW (I booked Feb 2008). I figured with 4 million people in DC, WDW will be a walk in the park. I'm expecting it to be busy, esp. that weekend, but am hoping for a little lighter crowds during the week. (I normally go late January, but couldn't pass up a 10 day break from work and only using 2 vacation days to get it). Thanks Uncle Sam!

I think you had a great idea - I would go away too!

 

[OKW Lover]

I'd agree that the standard "beat the crowd" advice will work just fine on MLK day.

Keep in mind that this really isn't that big a holiday and while park attendance may be up a bit as compared to the very low crowd levels the week before/after it's really not that busy then.

 

[CanadianGuy]

I've merged these two threads on the same topic.

 

[blessedby3]

We were there between Marathon weekend and MLK this year. I thought it was CRAZY busy. We were hoping for low crowds, and we didnt have that. The kids were out of school for 3 days during that time so we added another 7 and went. There were so many Brazilian tour groups there- EVERYWHERE- and a huge sports competition. I spoke with one mom whose college age son was there for the sports thing. She lived in FL and said she had never seen crowds that big at that time. I told here sorry, thats our luck, we must have brought them with our bad luck

 

[fla4fun]

After reading the MLK post and remembering reading others that talk about how busy it is - what does a person do to "beat" the crowds and see as many attractions as possible? We are morning people and will get to the parks at rope drop and use fast passes. Any other tips for surviving that super busy weekend?

I was there in '08 for both Marathon and MLK weekend. There were more people there MLK weekend, but I decided to avoid the parks and enjoy the resort and rest up a little. Of course, it makes a difference when you have an AP and can go any time. But it's nice to have a day or two to just be lazy so you don't go back to work more tired than when you left!

I agree with just following the usual crowd advice - go early, use Fastpass, make sure you have any ADR's made ahead of time, and remember to take a little patience in the parks. At least it's not hot and humid like summer time!

 

[sdteacher]

Here is how I am approaching it. My kids have never been to WDW and they are just excited to go. No matter how busy it is - it will be a fun, exciting week for them. We'll go in the mornings and if the weather is nice we'll spend some afternoons at the pool and enjoying all that our resort the AKL has to offer. It will still beat being home and at work!!! LOL!!

 

[Starr W.]

I was at WDW last yr for MLK weekend and will be there again in 09. We come in Thursday. I didn't think it was that crowded, Friday morning at Epcot we rode Soarin' 3x with FP's.

I just made my ADR's on Thursday afternoon for the trip and got everything I wanted at the times I wanted.


*My idea of crowds may differ from yours, as we are long time Thanksgiving visitors to WDW.

 

[SuperTink]

How does the MLK weekend compare to the period(s) considered Spring Break?