Memorial day weekend crowds

[pycees312]

Hello,
I'm sure this has been asked many of times with regards to the crowd. I was thinking of going during this Holiday due to the extra day we will have due to the Teacher furlough days. I also wanted to miss the WOC crowds. Anyone been during this time?

 

[HydroGuy]

Hello,
I'm sure this has been asked many of times with regards to the crowd. I was thinking of going during this Holiday due to the extra day we will have due to the Teacher furlough days. I also wanted to miss the WOC crowds. Anyone been during this time?

Not me, but Fantasmic does re-open on May 27 after 5 months being down and that will be an extra draw.

 

[DLovinFam]

I was there Memorial Day weekend of 2008 and had expected it to be packed. It wasn't bad at all! I know it can vary from year to year though. The weather may have played a part. It was cool and overcast most of the time. Maybe the threat of rain kept some people away.

 

[Dopey's MIL]

My normal trip with daycare kids has always been Memorial Day Weekend and it's always been enjoyable. The weather has been good and the crowds for the 13 years I've been there have been considerably doable. 20 minute line waits for most rides...that's a plus with 5 and 6 year olds! Labor Day Weekend for my second trip of the year is the same.

I love those two long weekends for Disneyland!

 

[bumbershoot]

Those two reports are definitely in opposition to more "in the moment" reports I've read the last 2 years! We've gone starting on the holiday Monday the last two years, and the crowds quiet down by then, but all reports until now have said that it is a mess leading up to the weekend and over the weekend. Because "everyone" has the weekend off and thinks the same thing! Monday clears b/c then everyone has to get back to their jobs on Tuesday.

This year is going to be different, I imagine, since it's later in the month and June starts right after...more schools will be totally out, etc etc.

It'll also be different because we won't be there, waaaaaaaah.

 

[wishwash01]

I've gone couple times during Memorial Day weekend and I thought it wasn't too bad, to me it was compare to Summer Crowds during the week. I'm going this year and planning on going early in the morning doing the rides I want and fastpass. If I don't do everything I want it's okay because I know I will go back. I just wanted to get out of town and I've haven't been in 1 1/2 yrs. I need my Dland fix.

 

[pycees312]

thanks for the feedback. since most days are blocked out for some ap holders i thought it may have a chance of being pretty light considering school is out ina few weeks parents may not want to take thier kids out early except me lol. I'll keep all suggestions in mind but im learning towards going.

 

[MVBowers111]

We were there a couple years ago over Memorial day and found the crowds were very manageable. We had expected it to be crazy busy but it wasn't. The only bad crowds we encountered were friday night and saturday night. We were pleasantly surprised.

 

[dragonflydoll2]

So how will the week leading up to Memorial weekend be. We will arrive Saturday, the 22nd and will be leaving Saturday, the 29th right before Memorial Day. I'm hopeful that it won't be super busy until that Friday when Fantasmic starts back up. Any thoughts?

 

[Mouse13]

We'll be there May 22 to May 30 and have enjoyed this time of year in the parks in years past. Because of Fantasmic reopening on the 28th, and because I think it's fun, I've been playing with Ridemax. According to their projections, each day closer to the holiday weekend will get a little busier but just a little. I think it's going to be fine.

 

[dragonflydoll2]

I really hope ridemax is correct. We usually do Memorial Day in WDW have the past two times we went. If I can survive there, I'm sure we'll survive DL. I hope so anyway!

 

[L2S2C]

Im glad to read its been tolerable, we are planning to go on Monday

 

[S'sMom]

We are going May 28-31 (the entire weekend). This will be our first time there (after many multiple times at DW and DCL). We have two children (ages 7 & 1). We would want to mostly see the shows and actually enjoy and looking around. We will def try to get on a few rides (if not, not a problem). We are also planning to get out early in the day and use the evenings for the pool and DTD.

We will also be doing the Welcome to Disney World Tour (just to be able see everything). Its supposed to give two FP I think so that will help.

Thanks for the information.

Now the biggest thing to decide is whether to stay at the DLH or GC.

 

[Raine88]

DH and I went memorial weekend last year, and it was fine. I was expecting it to be pretty bad, but it wasn't...at least in our opinion. The longest lines we waited in the whole three days were for IASW and Buzz Blasters, each about 30 mins. A lot of the rides we just walked right on. Only had to get fastpasses for Indy and Screamin. And even screamin we rode more than once, but only needed a pass the one time. I think the line for Indy w/out a pass was hovering around 90 minutes all weekend. Didn't really have to wait in line for food or merchandise.

The only thing I found bad, crowd wise, was that it was very hard to walk past the Nemo ride. To the point that people were just stopped. Half of them were in line for the ride, half just trying to get past. People in line thought the people moving past were trying to cut in line. People trying to move through didn't realize others were waiting in a line and that's why they weren't moving. But once we had a hang of the park layout, we just went around that area and didn't have any more problems.

We got seats for both parades (celebrate and pixar play) right on the curb and only had to sit down about 35/40 mins before they started. We also got seats for the fireworks right against the rope, dead center in front of the castle and only sat down about an hour prior.

We also saw some characters that we got to just walk right up and take a pic, and a few we waited in line for, but not more than 10 minutes. And that was just because of people that didn't seem to realize they weren't the only people in the park.

 

[chrissiecutie]

DH and I went memorial weekend last year, and it was fine. I was expecting it to be pretty bad, but it wasn't...at least in our opinion. The longest lines we waited in the whole three days were for IASW and Buzz Blasters, each about 30 mins. A lot of the rides we just walked right on. Only had to get fastpasses for Indy and Screamin. And even screamin we rode more than once, but only needed a pass the one time. I think the line for Indy w/out a pass was hovering around 90 minutes all weekend. Didn't really have to wait in line for food or merchandise.

The only thing I found bad, crowd wise, was that it was very hard to walk past the Nemo ride. To the point that people were just stopped. Half of them were in line for the ride, half just trying to get past. People in line thought the people moving past were trying to cut in line. People trying to move through didn't realize others were waiting in a line and that's why they weren't moving. But once we had a hang of the park layout, we just went around that area and didn't have any more problems.

We got seats for both parades (celebrate and pixar play) right on the curb and only had to sit down about 35/40 mins before they started. We also got seats for the fireworks right against the rope, dead center in front of the castle and only sat down about an hour prior.

We also saw some characters that we got to just walk right up and take a pic, and a few we waited in line for, but not more than 10 minutes. And that was just because of people that didn't seem to realize they weren't the only people in the park.

This is good news!

I've been a little nervous of the crowds, especially since DH is NOT a people person.

We will be at the parks from May 29th-June 2nd. I researched AP blockouts and past crowds and found that pretty much all types of AP's are blocked on the 29th & 30th. Some are also blocked on the 28th and 31st but not all. Based on that, I decided not to go into the parks on the 28th (I had trouble figuring out which days to go) and to take Memorial Day the 31st as a pool/rest day then go back in on the 1st and 2nd. I'm scared that Memorial Day itself will draw huge crowds! Any ideas on this day alone??

Since it seems that most AP's are blocked on the 29th & 30th, this should mean lighter crowds for the rest of us, right?

 

[mystic_path]

We went last year and left on MD, but had the day in the park till 3pm before we left to go to the airport. The crowds leading up the the holiday werent bad at all, and on MD the worst was probably Splash Mountains Fast pass was a 45 minute wait, but every other ride was totally manageable. We rode Indy twice, Space once, Soarin twice and Screamin' 3 times.

I cant predict what crowds are going to be like this year due to Fantasmic opening after a lengthy refurb, but I dont expect them to be that much worse then the lead up of last year.

 

[chrissiecutie]

Yay!

Good news! We are planning on being in the parks before and after and then taking Memorial Day off to rest and swim. So I'm happy to hear that it hasn't been too bad in previous years, I hope this year will be the same!