Here Now Report - MLK Weekend

[DisneyDoc1895]

Ok, its Sunday and we are trying something crazy - 3 parks in 1 day! We planned it yesterday. DHS, then Epcot then MK. We think we can do it based on the late hours at MK - 2am today.

We got up early and were at DHS at 9. Wait at TSM was already 45 min so FP for 11am. I actually got free ones (still eligible for more) because there was a tour guide in front of me so the CM was just giving them out to our line so we didn't have to wait. Then to RnRC and TT. TT short, rode it, RnR longer - FP. Saw HSM3 and plan to head to epcot for a food and beverage tour at 1pm.

More soon. Nice day, high of 72 forecast. Crowds about normal.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Your reports are really great. The pics are especially cool. Thanks!

 

[SuperTink]

This is one of the weekends we're considering next year.

Thanks for posting the wait times, it is very helpful.

 

[Erica]

Thank you for your detailed reports. I will be there this week with my family. Your posts make me wish that I had a blackberry so I can do the same!


Regards,

-Erica

 

[inkkognito]

Yesterday at DHS was crowded in terms of people walking around but lines for some things weren't bad. We went in the evening to see American Idol (6 p.m. show), and had ressies at Prime Time prior to that. We also saw the Bolt characters (Mittens is gone now), and waited about half an hour but part of that was arriving when they were on break. We made the ressies an hour before we got there...plenty of availability. After the show, we walked onto the Great Movie Ride with almost no wait, and Star Tours was 5 mins. TT was 50 mins. but I think that's because RnR was shut down.

 

[DisneyDoc1895]

FP for TSM were gone at 1130. Wait time was 80min at that time.

The only problem I had with the BB was finding my post since yesterday - the 'subscribed thread' link doesn't work so had to scroll thru. Other than that not too bad.
Seems like a DHS disconnect on the hours today. I saw a sign that said 9am-9pm, but the times guide says 7pm and FP for TSM stopped at 7pm. Well, were hopping so no big deal. Because of the prior free FP I mentioned we actually were holding FPs for TSM, RnR and TT at the same time!

 

[DisneyDoc1895]

OK, 3 parks yesterday went well, just not that busy this weekend. Ended at MK and walked on most. At 10-11am, 20min waits at SM and PP. Walkon for everything else.

Some pics:

Animal Kingdom on Saturday - looks busy and was a little

Crowds at DHS Sunday:

At about 2pm, as we left DHS for Epcot - hardly anyone entering:

3 FPs at one time at DHS!

Our last full day today - plan to do AK and then DHS for EMH tonight.

 

[Sawx04]

3 FPs at one time at DHS!

Our last full day today - plan to do AK and then DHS for EMH tonight.

Ahhhhhh....the look and smell of fresh fast passes....enjoy you're last day, Ken!

 

[Mular]

Great reports, Hope you had a great trip!!

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

Thanks for the great reviews! I am really enjoying them, looks like you are having a great time!

 

[BrerRabbit_fan]

I love your efficient fastpass getting. Enjoy! Last year, it was crowded this week. That's why I'm going next week. Hope the crowds are light for me too.

 

[aviva5675]

I was also there last week Wed/Thu for a quick trip and it was COLD! Ok I know, not cold like it was up in Chicago where I'm from but-- walking out to go to RD at EPCOT on Thurs was freezing! It stayed pretty chilly til about lunch then was pleasant with a layer or two til about 3pm when it started to get a little chilly. It's all relative. While it isn't Midwest or East Coast cold, it's still cold, especially at night.

EPCOT was pretty empty till after lunch, then it got more so. But still able to walk around with no trouble, no waits for things generally. We did get there early and the longest line I saw was a 45 minute line for Soarin. Not so bad.

 

[ShannonMB]

BUMP!

I'd like to hear from others about MLK weekend crowds. Anyone else go/just back?

 

[SiClone]

Been here since Saturday night, but haven't made it to the parks yet. We went to St. Pete's yesterday afternoon to watch the sun set. Had 11AM ressie at Chef Mickey's this morning and it was a little over half full only at that time. We'll got to DHS tomorrow...

BTW, it was 70 yesterday, no clouds, little wind. Today, 70 again, but cloudy and a windy. We even jumped into the pool, which was a whopping 65 degrees yesterday and 70 today. The pool guy said the heater froze up on Saturday night, and I assumed it started working again, but will take a while...

Will report on DHS tomorrow evening...

 

[ScottwPA]

My fiancee and I just returned from a 3-day trip to Orlando over the MLK weekend. We had an AWESOME time and the crowds did not seem all that bad to us. Of course, we had a strategy to the weekend that worked tremendously to our advantage. Friday night we actually stayed at Portofino Bay and went to Universal/IOA on Saturday - the stay at Portofino included the unlimited express pass entrance so no worries of lines at those parks. Saturday night we had dinner reservations at Ohana's, so went over to the Polynesian. We waited about 10 minutes for our table and it seemed fairly busy (the waiting area was a madhouse). However, our server said that was actually a slow night! After dinner, we checked in for our 2 night stay at the Wilderness Lodge.

Sunday morning we took the boat from the WL over to the MK, and got there right at 9 AM. We always follow the same strategy - walk (fast) to Fantasyland and knock out Peter Pan and WTP. I ran to Space Mountain to get 2 FP tickets while my fiancee rode Snow White. When I returned, she was exiting the ride and we proceeded to Haunted Mansion and Pirates. I had read that the Splash Mtn. refurb was to extend through Sunday, but I saw boats cycling so went over to check it out. There was a line of about 10 people formed and the ride op said that it would open soon (this was around 10:30 AM). 5 minutes later it did open and we walked right on. I would say the lines were very reasonable until around 1 PM, and then we headed over to EPCOT.

EPCOT was busy, and Test Track did have a 90 min wait time and Soarin reached as high as 120 mins with our time over there. Other attractions had reasonable/short waits. It didn't seem particularly crowded walking around World Showcase in the evening. When EPCOT closed, we headed back over to MK. It was busy over there, but the EMH (11 PM to 2 AM) were incredible!!! The last 2 hours of the EMH it was like you had the park to yourself. I figured it would be packed with the MLK holiday being the next day but the place really emptied out. It appeared that Peter Pan had a steady line until about 12:30 - 1:00 AM, but everything else you could pretty much walk right on. We had our own boat on Pirates of the Caribbean, and 2 other people in the stretching room with us at the Haunted Mansion. By 1:00 AM the place was a ghost town!! We walked through Fantasyland and saw just a few other people - Peter Pan, Snow White, etc. were running completely empty and just waiting for riders. It was a magical evening, but I am still recooperating after being in the parks from 9 AM to 2:15 AM (we closed down Haunted Mansion at 2 AM) and then going to bed at the WL around 3:00 AM.

Monday morning we got up for the Dolphins in Depth program at EPCOT at 7:30 AM. This was a fantastic program, and we really enjoyed it. We did not go into any parks this day, so can't comment on the actual MLK day crowds. We headed over to Poly for lunch at Kona Cafe, and then to Downtown Disney for a few hours in the afternoon. Our flight back to Philly was delayed an hour due to weather problems in Philly, and we got home around 11:30 PM last night. I need toothpicks to prop my eyes open, but it was WELL worth it!!

We will definitely return to Disney over MLK weekend. You can do very well with a wise strategy!!!

 

[harriettb]

We just got home this afternoon after time in the parks Saturday through yesterday. We went to MK on Saturday, DHS on Sunday and Epcot yesterday. I thought MK was horrible on Saturday....the press of people in Fantasyland was so bad that we were afraid of losing one of the children in the crowd. DHS wasn't too bad on Sunday, but fastpasses were gone by 11:30 so we missed it completely. We did do ToT twice and RnRC with fastpasses went very quickly.

Soarin' took the longest time of all yesterday. DH and I stayed out with the baby while the rest of the group went in on fastpasses and it still took them about an hour so we didn't even try to use ours. Mission Space and TT both went quickly though and last night right before we left, part of the group went on Mission Space again and it only took 5 minutes.

Personally, I won't choose a holiday weekend again unless it is absolutely necessary. I just don't like the crowds. The tour groups were there, but they didn't pose any problems other than the long lines of people walking around together.

As for the weather, it was much colder on Saturday than Sunday, and yesterday was chillier than I expected. I threw in my Cuddleduds thermal shirt right before we left and wearing it under a turtleneck shirt with a quilted vest over it was fine for Saturday. I got too warm with it on Saturday and had to take it off....wished I had it on yesterday. I would recommend something like that for people heading down in January or February. The morning and evening hours are pretty cool, but during the day it can get downright hot.

 

[mom2febgirls]

My family got back today from a 1/13-1/20 trip. We made efficient use of fastpasses and made it to park opening or very close to it every day. I'd say it was pretty crowded Saturday, but Sunday didn't seem so bad to me.

 

[Fabinva]

We got here over the weekend and still here, the crowds sunday and monday were not as bad as we were expected, the most we waited for a ride was 30min and that was for Space mountain. We've seen a few Brazilian Tour groups but none too loud or out of control. The only thing today that was a big downer for our trip was the weather, it was on the 40's this morning but so windy and feeling more like 30's and tomorrow does not look much warmer but at least winds will not be as bad, we just heard on the news that this is the lowest two day strech of cold weather in this area in the last 8 years!!!
I do not see us coming back in January as the kids love pool time and been missing it so much this trip.

 

[DisneyDoc1895]

Well today was cold! How cold you ask? We woke up at 7am and found that Bay Lake had completely frozen over. All boats were stuck in the ice. Disney Transportation took about 20 minutes to put their Ice plan in place and had over 20 sleds with sled dogs to transport guests. Security switched to skis and snowmobiles. After an hour all roads were clear of the 1 foot of snow that had fallen overnight because Disney has 150 snow plows and salt trucks. Interestingly they have 5 times as many as the whole state of Florida. Go figure.

OK, kidding. But it was cold.

We finished up our trip and flew back to Philly. Boo.

Final picks:

Looks like they covered some plants due to cold:

Crowd Picks - Tues after MLK - 10am or so:

110 minute wait at POC today: (OK, an error but pretty cool):

 

[HayGan]

Got back very early this morning. We had a great time but found the World to be much more crowded and COLDER than we expected. We saw quite a few of the tour groups but did not have any problems with them at all. Never heard them cheering or yelling. The only issue with them is that the tend to move in large packs and move kind of slowly often times causing a back-up behind them especially in narrower areas. Even the cheer groups that were there over the weekend were (for the most part) problem free.

It was DS#2's b-day trip. He was sprinkled with lots of pixie dust over the course of the trip. So many of the CMs made it super special for him. It will really be a birthday for him to remember (plus the fact he actually got on BTMRR at the age of 6 and off of it at the age of 7! Too cool to be on the roller coaster at the strike of midnight on your birthday!)

Here is a quick run down of our experience.

Saturday: Got in at 7pm checked in quickly and went over to MK. We were able to do a number of things but did have significiant wait times (30 - 60 min) Splash was down which I think moved many more people over to BTMRR. Crowds did not seem any more significant than the rest of our trip.

Sunday: Nicest and warmest day fo the trip. Went to DHS in the morning. Got there about 45 min after rope drop and got TSM fastpasses for later in the afternoon. Waited 30 min for RNR, 20 min for ST. Went back to our grand villa at SSR for a rest. Walked from the last buiding in SSR Grandstands to T-Rex cafe in DTD. Very long walk but nice. Did not eat there as the line was 50 deep just to put your name onthe list. Went to EMH evening hours at MK. Crowded at first bu then thinned out. Stayed until almost 2am and was able to do a ton of stuff.

Monday: Went to Epcot. Found crowds to be a bit heavier. Got Soarin' fastpasses around 10:30am that were valid for 2pm which we used later in the evening (7:30pm) but did not need becuase stand by line was 20 minutes (but listed as 60!) Walked on to Maelstrom at noon and walked on to Mission Space (green) at about 2pm and 6pm. Found bus service from Epcot to SSR to be terrible (30 - 40 minute waits everytime!) We did 2 of the Kim Possible missions and they were alot of fun. Can't wait to do more in June!

Tuesday: Went to AK first. Did not stay long - DS wanted to go back to MK. Thought lines at AK were somewhat long for an off/cold day. 30 min plus for Dinosaur and PW. Lines at MK were manageable. Waited less than 20 min for most everything excpt Space and BTMRR. Worst part of the day were the sea gulls who attacked us 3 times in the efforts to get french fries!!!

Overall, it was a good trip but I commented to my DH that I do not think we would go back in January or over a minor holiday again.