Least busy days in late January?

[candlestix]

Hi all! We'll be in FL later this month and want to drive over to the parks for one day, probably staying from opening to close time.

We could go on a fri, sat, or sun., so which day is likely to be the least busy in the parks?

Thanks for any advice

Janet

 

[jsmla]

If you're only going to one park I'd choose one that didn't have Extra Magic Hours for that day. If it were me and I wanted to do Magic Kingdom I'd go on Friday. On Saturday I'd go to Epcot and Sunday MGM. Magic Kingdom has a tendency to be busy on most Saturdays. The rest is just avoiding EMH days. On a side note, the parks have different hours with Epcot usually closing the latest (9:00). MK will be open til 9:00 on Saturdays but personally I'd stick with Friday at the Magic Kingdom. MGM usually closes at 7:00 and Animal Kingdom at 5:00.

Here's the latest on EMH from www.disneyworld.com:

January 2006
Morning Extra Magic Hours
Magic Kingdom® Park - January 5, 12, 19, 26
Epcot® - January 3, 10, 17, 24, 31
Disney-MGM Studios - January 7, 14, 21, 28
Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park - January 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
Disney's Blizzard Beach® Water Park - January 1 - 31

Evening Extra Magic Hours
Magic Kingdom® Park - January 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
Epcot® - January 6, 13, 20, 27
Disney-MGM Studios - January 2, 9, 17, 24, 30
Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park - January 4, 11, 18, 25

Have fun!

 

[outtonight]

Is it really that bad to go on EMH nights? I'm use to the crowds in June, so will the crowds be at all comparable?

 

[afc104]

There seems to be mixed feelings about EMH nights in January. Some say avoid it others say take advantage of extra hours and go. If it is truly a slow time it may be busier but will EMH nights really be that crowded in Jan. If you are used to June crowds I can't imagine it would be anyway near as crowded. A co-worker who went last March told me they took advantage of all EMH nights and never waited more than 5-10 minutes for anything at any park. BTW he did say that he thought MGM was probably most busy on the EMH nights and people at the CBR, where they were staying, told them it was because of Fantasmic show but even then he said they were able to do Twilight and Rock n Roll Coaster twice without much wait. He also said that for morning EMH they went to the park with EMH then left around noon and either went to another park or did other things in the resort and it seemed to work well for them.

 

[jsmla]

Is it really that bad to go on EMH nights? I'm use to the crowds in June, so will the crowds be at all comparable?

We like the morning EMHs but we leave the parks pretty early, say 11:00 am, after an EMH morning. I don't "do" late nights so I can't speak for the evenings except that DD went out with some friends to the MK Extra Magic Hour this past June when it lasted until 2:00 am and had an absolute blast! A late evening thunderstorm had cleared the parks and the crowds were very light that night. The OP doesn't appear to be staying on-site and wouldn't be able to take advantage of EMH, only experience the crowds that accompany it.

 

[QT Pooh]

It doesn't sound like you're staying on site so I would avoid any park on its EMH day. Friday will probably be the least crowded day since FL residents will more than likely be at work/school.