Does Gay Week really increase crowds much?

[kandmwedding]

I'm trying to plan a early June trip to celebrate my sister graduating from college and really want to be able to see the tail end of the Flower & Garden Festival, which will put us there smack dab during the middle of Gay Week. Do the crowds really increase because of this, or is it similar to any other June week? Are the crowds central to any one location, or are they spread out amongst all the parks? I don't want to make it a point to go then to see the F & G festival, just to find that we can't see much of anything cause there's so many people.

 

[Ilovestitch]

I would just avoid the particular days that they will be at a park. For example if they will be at MK on Saturday, go to Epcot that day. A lot of people say its not that big of a deal though, you just notice a lot of people wearing red shirts.

 

[my3boys]

We were there this June, and we did what KandMwedding suggested. A quick search on www.gaydays.com will give you the agenda of what parks on what days they are planning on visiting. Just go the other direction to avoid the crowds, especially the Magic Kingdom on Saturday.

 

[Nickunited]

I was there during this week and they sent a note out telling all guests that the MK was expected to be more crowded than usual and to try going to other parks. I would avoid the MK on that saturday. They do have a large group that attends!

 

[Chuck S]

As posted by others, the only park that actually sees a big increase in crowds is Saturday at the MK...but the MK is normally pretty crowded on Saturdays during that time of year anyway because of limited showing of Spectromagic. The other parks that are "designated" during that week see normal seasonal crowds, and sometimes feel less crowded than the other parks because of people avoiding the "park of the day".

 

[kandmwedding]

Thanks for all the info... you've helped a bunch!!!

 

[SomeSayImGoofy]

In my experience.... these types of events here in CA tend to increase wait times in some instances, but the parks don't usually seem crowded, as the red-shirted attendees are practically occupying the same 2 sq. feet of paving stones throughout the day.

 

[mmccoy]

We went for a week on both sides of Memorial Day this year. We took the advice of others and avoided MK on Saturday, and went to MGM instead. MGM got crowded by mid-afternoon.

The only day we felt the parks were really bad was on Memorial Day, when we went to Animal Kingdom. The place was a...well...a zoo.

But, I don't know if the crowding had anything to do with Gay Pride week. I suspect it was due more to the number of people taking advantage of the holiday weekend.

A couple of tips:

1) If e-night is available when you go, do it. We went, and the park was nearly empty. It was awesome.

2) Really take your time to enjoy the Flower and Garden show at Epcot. They have butterfly and ladybug releases. Make sure you spend some time at the outdoor train set-up next to Germany. Its incredible.