MLK weekend and days before? HELP!

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We are going to WDW January 12-16. Park days will be Wednesday - Saturday. Monday (1-17-05) is the MLK holiday. We are staying onsite (at Pop) and will have hopper passes. I need help planning which parks on which days.

My DS is almost 9 and I think MGM will be his absolute favorite. If we go to MGM on Thursday that will put us at AK on Saturday, which is now early entry day for them. That means AK will be crowded, right? Or maybe not?

Do you think MGM will be more crowded on Saturday, or AK will be more crowded?

Then there is the issue of MK. Do we go on Wednesday, which is EMH at night, or do we go on Friday, which is Early Entry? I know nobody has a really good idea about crowd levels with the ticket and evening hour changes, but we have never been to WDW so I need some input. I guess part of the MK decision will be whether or not we can get in! We won't arrive until around noon on Wednesday, so if it is really packed I understand it is possible that they might be filled to capacity, correct?

Someone mentioned the crowd levels being listed in the Unoffical Guide, but the dates weren't lining up properly with the days of the week so I was confused. I think the advice was to avoid MGM on 1/15. That is the Saturday. Is that accurate?

Please help! TIA!

 

[Harambe]

We were at WDW last MLK weekend. We arrived the Wednesday before, just as you're doing. NOBODY WAS THERE!!!!! The Wednesday and Thursday before were blissfully empty, with Friday beefing up, but not to capacity at all. Saturday started the crowds. We found the most crowded days to be Monday and Tuesday following MLK weekend.

Have fun!

 

[#1hockeymom]

Last year we were there Thursday through Monday of the MLK holiday. We were at MGM on Thursday and couldn't believe how empty it was! I know we were at AK on Saturday, because that was our concierge sunrise safari day. We left by 1:00ish but it was empty the entire time we were there. I am sure this will change with the new hours, but this was our experience last year. Every day we were there the crowds seemed to get bigger, but it was never anything like Easter or the summer. I loved going there last year at that time, and we're doing it again! Maybe we'll see you there!

Debbie

 

[aec]

I was curious to know if the MLK crowds are mostly for that weekend or do people stay all week. We are arriving on the Thursday after MLK day staying through Tuesday 1/25. I am hoping that the MLK "crowds" are gone.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Thanks!!

I was hoping Thursday at MGM would be pretty tame - I think we will stick with that plan.

I saw on another thread that the crowds from MLK were gone by Wednesday after the holiday. I think people tack on a day or two either before the holiday or after. The point was made that people just finished Christmas break and aren't taking kids out of school for vacation mid-January. Well, people other than me! Friday is actually a "no school" day for us, but we weren't able to get a flight out on Thursday or a flight home on Monday so we juggled our days a little.

I changed my PS's around earlier today, so I am hoping our bases are covered whether we do MK Wednesday (which now I am leaning towards) or Friday. If AK is packed on Saturday I can console myself with the knowledge that it probably isn't as crowded as MK on Saturday!!

 

[Harambe]

to pack warm layers. It was downright cold last year (although one year we had 80s the whole week!). Pick up a couple of pairs of those little stretchy gloves and stick them in your backpack along with hats. Even if you're just wearing a fleece, you'll feel so much warmer waiting for nighttime parades and such with the hats and gloves. We'd bring the jackets in the mornings, put them in the park lockers during the day then retrieve them for the evening.

Have fun!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Thanks for the tip!

Several folks have mentioned that it could be cold while we are there, so I will be packing all of our cold weather accessories. It gets cold here, but we don't tend to go stand outside for hours and hours in the winter. I am always cold, so even if the temperature is in the 50's I could easily be wearing a hat and gloves.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

BUMP!

I still need input!

 

[bizeemom4]

We are going to WDW January 12-16. Park days will be Wednesday - Saturday. Monday (1-17-05) is the MLK holiday. We are staying onsite (at Pop) and will have hopper passes. I need help planning which parks on which days.

Then there is the issue of MK. Do we go on Wednesday, which is EMH at night, or do we go on Friday, which is Early Entry? I know nobody has a really good idea about crowd levels with the ticket and evening hour changes, but we have never been to WDW so I need some input. I guess part of the MK decision will be whether or not we can get in! We won't arrive until around noon on Wednesday, so if it is really packed I understand it is possible that they might be filled to capacity, correct?

Someone mentioned the crowd levels being listed in the Unoffical Guide, but the dates weren't lining up properly with the days of the week so I was confused. I think the advice was to avoid MGM on 1/15. That is the Saturday. Is that accurate?

Please help! TIA!

I am in the EXACT same quandry!!!!!!!! We arrive Tuesday afternoon before the holiday and will be there til the following Tuesday. I have been trying desperately to figure this out too. We might go to AK on WednesDAY and MK Wed night for the extra hours. Then Thursday go to MK and see Spectro. I also read on the Unofficial website that MLK Saturday and Monday is recommended as a MK day. I'm a little confused by that - are most people leaving on the holiday Monday? That's our last park day so I really don't want to blow it and have it jam packed. We're going to MK Thursday, Saturday and Monday (which are all Spectro days).

I'm just so stinkin' confused! It was much easier to plan when we knew park trends...such as go the day after EE day.

Oh and I've done AK on an EE day. My recommendation - skip it. It was crazy. We went again on a Saturday (which was the day after EE day then) and it was much quieter.

 

[n2mm]

WE'll be there Jan. 15-22 for a week. With this being the first January with the new early and late hours, and on different days than in the past, this will be new. Patterns will change from the past years. No one can know how the new tickets will affect the crowds. Will people not hop? Will people stay at the park with the late hours ALL day? With the new perks and new tickets, history has not been written yet. Pack those extra and warm clothes. Last year it was in the 80s all week, but other years, more like the 50s. You just don't know until the week before, but weather is always subject to change.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I have decided to do MK on Wednesday, MGM Thursday, Epcot on Friday, and AK Saturday. If MK is a nightmare we will hop to Epcot and try it again on Friday, but I think MK will be better on Wednesday than it will on Friday. I think the holiday weekend crowds will be in full force Friday and Saturday, so I want to take advantage of the (HOPEFULLY) lighter crowds on Wed & Thurs.

I have already bought some long johns and hand warmer packets, and the whole family has hats, gloves, and scarves. We will be ready to brave the cold if necessary!

 

[aubriee]

We are going to WDW January 12-16. Park days will be Wednesday - Saturday. Monday (1-17-05) is the MLK holiday. We are staying onsite (at Pop) and will have hopper passes. I need help planning which parks on which days
Someone mentioned the crowd levels being listed in the Unoffical Guide, but the dates weren't lining up properly with the days of the week so I was confused. TIA![/QUOTE/]

Hey! I live about 20 miles east of Dallas and will be at WDW with my 27 y/o son and 8 y/o GD Jan 9th-15th staying at WL and AKL, so our trips will overlap somewhat. I also went with what the Unofficial Guide said and planned my Priority Seating accordingly. Consequently, we are doing Epcot on Monday, AK on Tuesday, MK on Wed, MGM on Thursday, and park hopping on Friday and Saturday morning. We may see part of Epcot on our arrival day on Sunday. I didn't change our plans when the new times came out and really for the most part they coincided with the plans we already had, i.e. Epcot opens early on Monday, AK is open late on Tuesday, MK is open late on Wednesday, so the only day that was off is Thursday, but Epcot is open late that night so we may just run over to Epcot after watching Fantasmic at MGM that night. If you do MK on Wed. you'll be doing the same thing we are and unfortunately will miss Spectromagic since it's not running Wed. The only other problem I had with the new hours was that I already had a PS at Whispering Canyon for 7:50pm on Tuesday which is when AK stays open late, but I think we can finish AK before then and will be fine as long as we leave by 6:30pm. I bought 5 day park hoppers for my son and GD, which I now plan to trade in for 7 day Magic My Way Passes with the park hopping option added. I can upgrade the tickets for less than 20.00 total and get two more days in the parks. Of course I'll lose the no expiration, but since we are using all the days anyway it won't matter. What kind of tickets are you buying, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We are buying the old version 4 Day hopper passes. This trip came about because my DS won an airline ticket in November right about the time my DH's Christmas Club check came. We decided to do a small Christmas and take the vacation in January. If I thought there was ANY way we would get back to WDW I would buy the new passes with hopper and no expiration, but I can't imagine pulling off another trip like this in the future. For our 4 days the old passes are cheaper.

I have now changed my itinerary AGAIN. The more I thought about AK the more I thought we shouldn't go Saturday. So now we are going to MK on Wed, MGM Thur, AK Fri, and Epcot Sat. The poor operators for PS's must be ready to throttle me! I suppose we could theoretically hop to Epcot Thursday night if we really wanted to after MGM closes. We can also hop to something else on Friday since AK closes at 5:00. I was looking at the updates on the Unofficial Guide site yesterday and they still rate the crowd levels at "3" Wed-Fri and "5" on Saturday, so maybe it will be manageable no matter which park you choose! Have fun!!