How crazy is Memorial Day going to be? (and day before)

PhoenixWright

Magic Kingdom Cast Member - 2007
Joined
Feb 11, 2012
Messages
152
We have two possible days of going to IOA, that's the 29th or the 30th.

Are things going to be absolutely nuts that day? I figure Magic Kingdom is going to be the worst, but this probably next?

Would Sunday the 29th be at least a little less busy than that Monday? Trying to make the most of a short trip.

Thanks.
 
I'll be at IOA on the 29th. Touring Plans says it will be a moderate day at IOA. We'll be there at RD, leave at noon for lunch and a nap, and head back around 3. We like to skip the heat of the day.
 
Touring plans has universal 5/10 sunday and monday dropping to 4/10 later that week. So moderate. Disney is predicated busier 9/10 at MK sunday and 8/10 MK monday.

We check in 28th for a week at cabana bay
 

Based on express pass prices they expect Memorial Day Monday to be less busy than the weekend. Which is typical since Monday tends to be a travel day for those on 3 day weekends. Park hours are also shorter on Monday. Touringplans has been low balling numbers for all of May, and this May has been busier than previous years at Universal.

So I'd actually expect Monday to be the better day to go.
 
Agreed - just got back late last night. Touring Plans has been under estimating the numbers. Yesterday was extremely busy in both parks - busier than I have ever seen in May.
 
Probably the AP holders were not taken into account for going in May when TP gave out the info
 
This is us to a T lol we are going to be at USO the May 29th - June 5th
Twinsies! LOL We'll be at IOA on 5/29, SeaWorld on 5/30, USO on 6/1, and Gatorland on 6/2. 5/31 and 6/3 are down days, so I shall become one with a lounge chair near the pool.
 
This will be the line to IOA.

54408252.jpg
 
Twinsies! LOL We'll be at IOA on 5/29, SeaWorld on 5/30, USO on 6/1, and Gatorland on 6/2. 5/31 and 6/3 are down days, so I shall become one with a lounge chair near the pool.

Awesome! We were going to do a day a SW but opted out last minute :( We are trying to stay on a tight budget this week lol have APs and FIL time share for free, so other than food we don't have a lot to spend! I plan to lounge too, I am hoping for some nice weather!

This will be the line to IOA.

54408252.jpg

NOOOO! stop it lol We were there last June (8-12) and it honestly wasn't bad at all! Hoping for similar this time!
 
I' am here now. I have been coming to Universal this time of year every year for a number of years. Last year i noticed a definite increase in crowds and this year even more.

I' am glad I won't be here Memorial Day if what I have seen in last few days is going to be any indication of crowds. Good luck.
 
Boo. We are spoilt by our usual October crowds. Our plan is to use early entry (coming from UK time helps) and maybe do some evenings in the parks. We have 6 park days so if the line is too long one day will try again later.
 
It won't be busy like the grand opening of HP in the picture above. But I can tell you from my experience which is visits pretty much monthly is the parks have been getting increasingly more crowded.
 
We were there this past weekend (US on Sat, IOA on Sunday), and it was pretty crowded. I think at this point, you can throw Touring Pjans' crowd calendars out the window. They're just not close anymore. We did Disney Mon, Tue, and Wed, and they were way off on all 3 days there, too. Monday was supposed to be a 3 at Hollywood Studios...actual crowds were a 9. They used to be pretty accurate, but for our last 2 trips (Sept/Oct last fall and this past week), they've been terrible at predicting the crowds.
 
We will be arriving Wednesday next week and staying through Sunday -- hopefully the crowds will have died down a little from Memorial day and not had a chance to really ramp up with "summer" vacationers just yet?? Hopefully!!
 
We started the week at Disney on Saturday and moved over to Universal Wednesday. We've found all parks busier than I expected. You have to remember, schools in the South began ending last week. There are visitors, like us, from Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. There are also a lot of international visitors in both sets of parks. Ds has college friends who work at both sets of parks who say the crowds started rolling in late last week. All resorts seem to be hopping as well.

We've done most everything we've wanted, but we have waited in some lines. Have a plan, arrive early and be flexible. Fast Passes and Express Passes have helped, too.
 
Keep in mind that TP doesn't predict crowds, per se. They're predicting what the max wait times will be at a park's headliner attractions for a given day. So, while HS may only rate a 3 on a specific day, I think that can mean a 45+ min wait or more. I forget the exact translation but i think what they're doing is adjusting their scales and what they represent since the parks are definitely attracting bigger crowds.
 
Ok so we are here, went to the parks at 3 til 9 today and it was moderately busy, not horrible by any means in IOA. We saw 20 min to 60 min waits depending on the ride. We walked up to Margaritaville and got seated right away at 6:15. Looking forward to the rest of the week!
 















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