How Busy is WDW during Martin Luther King weekend?

[boucheresq]

We are intending to go then and I just want to be prepared. Thanks!

 

[NCRedding]

We're going to be there for that weekend too. I've heard that the crowds can be heavy--I plan on avoiding MK on Saturday

 

[tinkerbee]

Went were there this year and it was soooooooo crowded I won't be doing that again. It really didn't clear out until Wendsday. You couldn't even walk around MK on Saturday.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Oh, dear. We are arriving the Wednesday before MLK weekend and we are going home EARLY on Sunday morning. We're NOT planning to be at MK on Saturday. We are actually thinking of MGM on Saturday. Does anyone know how bad it is in the days leading up to the weekend? Is it packed beforehand, or does it get crowded the Saturday-Monday of the holiday? Our park plans were sort of in line with our PS's, but maybe I need to re-think things!

 

[gymmom]

The Unofficial Guide gives the following ratings for crowd levels:

Wed, 1/13---3 (out of possible 10)
Thurs, 1/14---3
Fri, 1/15---3
Sat, 1/16---5
Sun, 1/17---5
Mon, 1/18---3

The rest of the week is 3 every day.

Parks to avoid:
1/15---MGM
1/16---MK
1/17---AK
1/18---MGM

Best parks:
1/15---AK
1/16---EP, AK
1/17---EP
1/18---AK

Take this for what it's worth!

Lisa

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

January 15 is a Saturday. Is that the day we're supposed to avoid MGM? I know it is EE, but that's life! I want our day at MGM to be good because I actually think that will be DS (age 9) absolute favorite park. Maybe I should trade out MGM and AK? MGM Thursday and AK Saturday, then hop somewhere else Saturday night? IF I can change my PS's! Or maybe I should just leave it alone...

 

[Ever_After]

Bump! Thanks gymmom for those ratings. Anymore trip reports during MLK weekend? We will get there late Weds night and plan on doing the majority of the parks on Thurs and Fri.

 

[BETTYDISNEY]

I am sorry to say we were there on mlk day in 2003 and the wait for sm was 2 hours. mk was PACKED. the other parks were okay but still crowded. Good luck!!!

 

[okapi]

We've been ther during MLK and it is VERY busy.
Advice: 1. Stay at a WDW property if you can that way you can make use of EE and EMH (extra magic hour).
2. Make use of the FP.
3. Make PS for lunch and dinner plans - as early as possible.
4. Realize that the first and second shows of the day are usually the most family-crowded and that by 3rd and 4th shows the wait isn't so long.
5. If you're intent on seeing Fantasmic while you're there, I would definitely do a dinner package at MGM.
This will go a long way in diminishing the wave of crowd discomfort you may experience and you might not mind as much.
P.S. By staying on property you can also pop back to your room in the middle of the day - do pool time, rest your feet and be revved for the parks later in the day -- when everyone else has run out of steam.
Good luck!

 

[dj2]

hope this helps someone....

i was there last year with dd7. used a rental car and an ecv which i didn't want to assemble/reassemble more than needed, so we didn't park hop. here's what we found:

friday before MLK we were at epcot. was a very light crowd level. walked onto maelstrom couple of times in a row. jasmine and aladdin were w/o guests when we found them and we spent lots of time with them. the character bus almost had more characters than kids around to meet them. often walked right up to a waiting character or even two together who would interact. was like heaven.

saturday was at mk. very crowded, similar to early june. still had lots of fun, but many more bodies (also because it's not as spacious as epcot)

sunday was mgm. less crowds than mk, but maybe because there was intermittant rain.

monday was ak. similar to mgm on sunday. more crowds than epcot, but not as bad as MK on sunday. not quite as full as when we were there once in early june.

i remember thinking that if i'd known there would be such a difference in the crowd levels, i'd have pulled dd out of school a few days and shifted the dates of the vacation.

i think the crowd level estimates in the unofficial guide are probably accurate. but now that there are different days for EMH and now that people will have to pay extra to park hop, i think their advice for which parks to avoid will have to be adjusted.

i noticed a fairly high correlation between their "best parks" for a particular day of the week (winter) and the new EMH days. disney's probably trying to even out the distribution of people amongst the parks. it might be wise to avoid the EMH park if you can't hop.

JMHO

dj

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I have now juggled our days (and our PS's) around 4 or 5 times. My current plan is based on the info on www.touringplans.com which has been updated to reflect the new EE and EMH. There isn't anything I can do about the crowds, but I DO have hopper passes so maybe I can run away from them!

 

[bizeemom4]

I have now juggled our days (and our PS's) around 4 or 5 times. My current plan is based on the info on www.touringplans.com which has been updated to reflect the new EE and EMH.

I have been looking on the touringplans website but I can't find the updated calendar. Can anyone help?

 

[dj2]

I have been looking on the touringplans website but I can't find the updated calendar. Can anyone help?

the link was a little buried in the text. try

http://www.touringplans.com/BestDays.htm

it is basically an update of the 365 day calendar in the 2005 book to reflect the new EMHs, with the rules/constraints they used to derive their recommendations.

-dj

 

[Ever_After]

Thank you for the link DJ that will be very helpful! We have AP's so we will park hop accordingly

 

[NCRedding]

Just remember that the EMHs have been revised for part of the time theat we'll be there. For example, the evening hour on Sunday of MLK weekend will actually be AK, not MGM, so I don't know if the toruingplan factored that in when they made their recommendations. There are also changes for later the week after--they got even more creative with the hours/parks

 

[dj2]

Just remember that the EMHs have been revised for part of the time theat we'll be there. For example, the evening hour on Sunday of MLK weekend will actually be AK, not MGM, so I don't know if the toruingplan factored that in when they made their recommendations. There are also changes for later the week after--they got even more creative with the hours/parks

HELP! What revised emh's? when did they change for january? are they posted somewhere. ugh--i thought i was on top of things. -dj

 

[NCRedding]

Go to the Dis home page and they have a quick link to the early entry. Ak will be evening on Sunday, 1/16; MK will have evening hours on 1/18.

I thought I had planned, and was excited about doing MGM on 1/16--then got this curve ball.

 

[dj2]

Go to the Dis home page and they have a quick link to the early entry. Ak will be evening on Sunday, 1/16; MK will have evening hours on 1/18.

I thought I had planned, and was excited about doing MGM on 1/16--then got this curve ball.

i did that after i posted. the "early park" listed for january 15-23 (our dartes) is the OLD extra magic hour. do you think DIS just hasn't updated yet, or do you think that jan. 2 is not the real start date for the new hours? note that it doesn't distinguish between early and late extra hours. i'm inclined to believe that the web page might not reflect the way things are supposed to be yet. what do you think? -dj

p.s., why do you think the studios are open until 8:30 on Wed. 1/19? typo? special event? it's not scheduled for EE or EMH under any plan, new or old....

 

[NCRedding]

OK: Your post now has me confused. I don't know when the hours will start--I am just concerned about the changes for 1/12-1/17 when I will be there. Originally, on Sunday 1/16, MGM was the evening park, now it is AK.

I don't understand your question about MGM on the 19th--I didn't write anything in my post about MGM on the 19th.

I don't think what you are looking at is what I am looking at. Are you looking at the disneyworld site or wdwinfo? What I saw on the DIS (wdwinof.com) page listed what dates each park would have either early entry or evening entry, and what rides/shows would be available. It seems to go along with the posts I've seen earlier by some CMs regarding changes during Jan. and Feb.

here is what wdwinfo has for your trip: 1/15 AK-am; 1/16 AK-pm; 1/17 Epcot-am; 1/18 MK pm; 1/19 Epcot pm; 1/20 MGM pm; 1/21 MK am; 1/22 AK am; 1/23 MGM pm. Allearsnet matches this almost exactly.

 

[dj2]

yep, i was looking at a different link. at

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/hours.htm

you could link to see

1) all january hours
2) the extra magic hours
3) type in specific dates

under all january hours, i saw mgm going to 8:30 on 1/19. (it's that way for specific dates, too.)

and when you type in specific dates, that's where it shows "early park" with the old schedule.

i definitely see what you're talking about about the change in EMH's for the week, and i think you're right.

it sure sounds like it's going to be crowded over the weekend. i hope it levels off quickly!

enjoy your trip!

dj