Does MLK holiday affect attendance that much?

[HuggaBaloo]

Hello all! I'm trying to plan a trip for Jan. 14-19 (Wed. through Mon.) and was wondering if the MLK holiday (Jan 19) noticeably increases attendance at the parks/resorts? If so, should it be less noticeable the week before the holiday (when we're planning for) versus the week OF the holiday?

What do you think? Thanks for any info and/or advice!

 

[SPAM]

I really don't think that MLK affects the attendance that much. Actually the 2nd week of January through the first week of February is one of the least crowded times of the year at Disney World. I should think that you should have no problems with lines or waits.

 

[webprinter]

We are also planning to be there the week of MLK and to avoid doing parks 4 days in a row will need to do a park on Sat., Sun, or Monday. Which day and which park would be our best bet? TIA. Debby

 

[SPAM]

While I can't tell you what parks to go on which day I can tell you that certain parks are more crowded on certain days. Something to factor in is the early entry days.

It's worth remembering that whatever park is designated for early entry is usually more crowded on that day than the other three. The early entry days are Monday and Thursday at the Magic Kingdom; Tuesday and Friday at Epcot; Wednesday and Sunday at Disney-MGM Studios. The Animal Kingdom has no early entry day.

http://familyfun.go.com/travel/disney/expert/dony1200wdwatt_tp/dony1200wdwatt_tp.html This webite has some good info on early entry days.

It is just good to know when the parks are the busiest such as
Magic Kingdom- mon, thur, sat
Epcot- tues, fri
MGM- sun, wed
AK- mon, tues, wed
(This info came from http://www.kingdom-travel.com/Planning/BestTimesToGo.html )

 

[fangritter]

I was looking under the "resort" discussion. Since we are staying at Pop Century, I've been reading a lot about that resort. One of the Pop Crew members (Tyler) said that the Friday before (16) is suppose to be a record breaking day for number of check ins. Thats a real bummer. I'm not sure if he meant just for that resort (which wuld make sense, since its new??), or all resorts, or a record breaker for MLK weekends.

We've gone in January before and its never busy. I only hope that holds true! Since MK does have late hours for Sat, I would assume they are expecting crowds.

Expect the worst, and hopefully we'll be pleasantly surprised!
We plan to do the "hit the parks the day after their EE" strategy.

Have fun!

Feedback from anyone who was there over MLK last year would be nice!!

 

[HuggaBaloo]

Thanks for the input fangritter. Which thread did you see that on about the record-breaking check in? I've been reading some Pop-related threads but don't remember seeing that. I don't want to miss anything!

Thanks!

 

[wdwrich]

We visited in Jan 2003 and our 9-day stay spanned the MLK weekend. The parks were definitely much busier during that weekend. During the rest of the trip, crowds were very low.

 

[Harambe]

Yes - the parks get more crowded - but we're not talking Christmas week crowded - or summer crowded! Both the weeks before and after will be low crowds.

WEBPRINTER - do the EMH on Sat. at MGM, then leave at noon. Do EMH at MK Sunday morning (since Saturday night is the only night for Spectro, hopefully the crowdes will be here, and not want to come back to MK Sun. morning) and leave at noon. On Monday, you could try either AK or Epcot.


HuggaBaloo - see you there!

 

[fangritter]

Here's what Opening Team CM wrote on 12/12 about check-ins (Thread is called "Who booked Pop Century?", in the Resort Forum)

"Apparently, there will be a lot of you coming down on the 16th for the extended weekend. So many, in fact... that we will be breaking Disney Resort records. That Friday will be the largest check-in ever in Disney history."

Yuck.

 

[#1hockeymom]

I'll be there! Boy, am I ever glad that my cheap tickets disappeared for Friday-Tuesday and I ended up changing our dates to arrive on Thursday, instead! Even if it is crowded, I am usually only in Disney during Easter and the summer, I am sure it wont come close to being that crowded. Being in Disney is better than being ANYWHERE, crowded or not!

Debbie