How bad is MLK weekend?

[eskimopie]

My daughter's school is closed the Friday before and the Monday after. We were thinking about adding a couple days on and going that weekend. We have only ever gone during downtimes, and Touring Plans is saying that Sat through Monday are a 9. Would it be total madness?

 

[Lucius Best]

We went MLK weekend two years ago, before FP+. It was moderately busy, and quieter during the following week, but it certainly wasn't a 9. However, I wouldn't be surprised if the weekend was the busiest time between New Year's and Presidents Day.

 

[ach222]

we got there Sun this year (and we are going back the same week next year) - Sunday and Monday were nuts but manageable, the rest of the week was fine - you can see how much we got done on those days in the TR in my sig if you are interested. I'd prefer the next week, but the extra day off of school is worth the crowds for us.

 

[MomofKatie]

The actual weekend of MLK is pretty busy (I wouldn't say a 9, but definitely more than moderate crowds), but the week after is really great. It gets less and less busy each day.

 

[AngieInOH]

I'm pretty sure TP recently changed from 8 to 9 for that weekend. I've been sort of watching as we are also going that weekend and the following week. Let's hope it's manageable!

 

[eskimopie]

Thank you. I am thinking now maybe we fly in Sunday or Monday of the holiday weekend and stay through the following week. It will mean pulling her from a couple extra days of school, but I don't want our entire trip to be craziness.

 

[pens4821]

We went in 2014. We didn't go to a park on Saturday, went to Epcot Sunday. Don't know what the crowd level said, but it wasn't bad. Waits were a little bit bigger for major attractions, but overall crowded feel walking through wasn't bad at all. They just started FP+ so we had those planned for what we wanted. We weren't there for rope drop, but maybe about a half hour later and the wait for TT was about 45 minutes. Things like Nemo and turtle talk were very little wait the whole day, spaceship earth wasn't too long. TT and Soarin both were near or over and hour and a half most the day.

MLK day we went to HS and it wasn't bad crowd feeling wise either. About a half hour after rope drop TSM was about an hour, RNR was about 40. Throughout the day though they were also near an hour to hour and a half. TOT about 40 minutes most the time, others not bad.

Tuesday (MK) wasn't bad, but Thursday and Friday (HS then MK) after MLK day got quite crowded. Both those days the crowds felt heavier. Seemed much more crowded walking through the parks. We thought it was odd that it was more crowded after the holiday weekend. Although, I didn't look at crowd calendars/recommended parks so maybe we just went to the right parks at first and wrong ones later (although, we weren't at anyone from EMH that I remember)

 

[tinkerbell731]

My family is planning a trip for next January. The time frame we can book is between December 31st and January 18th. Between the end of Christmas/New Years crowds and the marathon the following weekend along with MLK weekend, we aren't sure when we should book. Any suggestions for which weekend is better to be there for?

 

[KrazeeK120]

I've been there on both the front end (Fri-Sun in 2013) and back end (Sun-following Friday in 2014) of MLK. The reason I went at those times was to celebrate my birthday, which is always cold here in Illinois and always falls near (or on) the MLK holiday. My other trips to the World have been 2x in March, once in August, and this year for Memorial day. It was definitely less crowded than those times. I also think my stamina was a lot better when the temperature was between 55-70 than it is when it's 100. We thought the crowds were plenty manageable around MLK day.