Help with strategy needed! First timer WDW visitors need you advice

[mysh]

Our options to visit the MK are Friday, May 26; Sat, May 27; Sun, May 28.

I heard that Saturdays are very crowded always so I'm choosing between Friday and Sunday. I was reading that Sundays are less crowded than Fridays but Monday, 29 is the Memorial Day so that's the Memorial day weekend and I'm thinking we should better go on Friday.

Correct me if I'm wrong please!! Thanks!

Also we want to visit the Blizzard Beach, the options are the same days I mentioned above plus Thurs, May 25. So if we go to the MK on Friday, I guess the best day for the waterpark would be Thursday right? Which is my least favorite option because we won't have the full day on this date (we are arriving on this day). Are Saturdays & Sundays really much worse in the waterparks than weekdays?

 

[C-CMom]

We have been at WDW the past 2 summers for the week after Memorial Day. We started our park visits on Tuesday or Wednesday, but arrived 1-2 days before. We did notice less crowds AFTER monday, Memorial day itself. Others may be able to speak better for the entire weekend, but I would bet you will have substantial crowds everyday.

One suggestion may be to either work "with" or "around" extra magic hours. If you are staying onsite, go to your park of choice VERY early, especially if it is a day that resort guests are allowed in early. Alternatively, since many resort guests are likely to go to the park that has extra hours, you could avoid going to MK on an EMH day (whether or not you are onsite, but especially if you are at an offdite hotel). EMH's should be posted on Disney's website calendar.

Learn all of the Fastpass facts from this or other websites before you go, because crowds or not, if you have command of this system, you can have a fantastic time whether there are crowds or not! No kidding. Those little passes are like little paper pixie dust.

Depending on what time you arrive on Thursday, you may have enough time to do the water park. You will hit the ground running if you do it immediately, but maybe you can relax a bit more on another day to make up for it. If you are at an on site resort they can store your luggage or take it to your room while you proceed to the water park. Just have your swim gear on the top of your luggage for easy access. If the weather's bad on Thursday, you can go back to whatever other day you had planned. Flexibility helps so you won't be too stressed.

Have a fun time!

 

[mysh]

thanks!
are you saying that it will be very crowded on Friday (May 26) too because Memorial day crowds have already arrived, or Friday should be better than the following days?

 

[C-CMom]

My guess was that you'd have a bigger crowd because of the Holiday weekend, but you're probably right that Friday could be potentially better since people may not be off work until Saturday. We were not actually there on Friday, so I'm afraid I can't say for sure. It's worth a shot, anyway. You can hope for a light rain which can be fantastic to cool the day and scare away at least a few people (have pancho, will travel).

Many people have different strategies for seeing the most sights in the least time (and stress-free ). These work for maximizing your time in a crowded situation, too. Our favs: we made a list of our top sights, mastered the fastpass (again, not kidding about this modern miracle), arrived early, started in the back of the park (can buzz around by train if you are on the first leaving the station after opening, get off in Frontierland to start on the opposite end of the park than most visitors). By knowing what we really wanted to see, we could allow ourselves to skip some of the things we were less interested in and even take a hotel break mid-day (pool, nap, chill, etc.) to get refreshed so we could enjoy more with less heat of the day (and the fireworks which are NOT to be missed). None of these may be right for you and your style, but you can decide. At least by having a plan, you'll do what is important to YOU!

Maybe someone else who has been there on Friday will answer about their experiences with the crowd. Good luck!

 

[dizagain]

Hi...we were in WDW last year from the Wednesday before to the Tuesday after Mem. Day. We found the crowds to be not as bad as expected up to Sunday-Monday. I looked back and we did MGM/MK on that Friday but I don't know where we were in the a.m. Saturday we did a lot of hopping and Sunday we took the day off and did Downtown Disney. Monday we did BB. I think Friday would be your best bet! Have a great time, plan your visit, start early, and just have fun! Oh...we would definitely go at this time again.

 

[cajunfan]

I have never been on this particular weekend....but, I checked the WDW website, and EMH are for the evening of that Friday(MK). That being said, I would go to MK on Saturday....get there at opening...the thought here is that most people will have stayed late at MK the night before and will not want to go there early the next day (and they will want to sleep in)

The only caution I would give about BB on Thrusday is beware that it sometimes closes early due to reaching capacity. I do not know if this would be a problem at that time of the year. But, if you plan on going Thrusday, at least if you can't make it there for some reason, you can go another day...like a previous poster mentioned...it gives you more flexiblity.

Have FUN!

Lynn