MLK Weekend...truly not that crowded?

[Lawshark]

After going to WDW for the first time with our DS4 (then 3) and our DS3months last February...it looks like we're going to take the plunge again already and head to WDW in January or February...this time for 7 days instead of 5.

We're trying to figure out when to go. Our initial inclination was to head back close to the same time as last year...which would be January 28 to February 3. This would put us a little deeper into winter to break up the season for us up here in Maine. BUT...this would mean that DS4 would miss a full 5 days of preschool (he goes every morning).

The alternative would be going Friday January 13th and returning on Thursday the 19th. DS4 has no school on either the 13th or 16th...so he'd only miss 3 days.

The UG update on crowd size shows only one 7 and then 6's and 5's...what is everyones' experience? Any strong recommendations?

 

[MScott1851]

I'm going to shamelessly follow and tag along on your thread...I want to go in February, but know to avoid President's weekend and MLK. We're thinking about the last weekend in Feb/first of March. Want to miss the Spring Breakers, as well!

 

[Lawshark]

So...you had heard that MLK was a no-go? That was my concern and I was a bit surprised to see the UG list the days as follows:

Friday, January 13, 2006........6
Saturday, January 14, 2006....7
Sunday, January 15, 2006......5
Monday, January 16, 2006......6
Tuesday, January 17, 2006.....5
Wednesday, January 18, 2006.5
Thursday, January 19, 2006....5

If that's right...then Saturday looks like the only pain in the rear day...but that's just not what I would expect.

 

[jann1033]

we were there over mlk weekend last yr( well on sat and left sun)it was noticeably busier in mk( we left in fact, fantasyland was pretty close to impassable ) and the food court was a zoo at pop ( had been empty the rest of the week). i think it was that sat we tried for brkfst at Kona and waited an hr. to be seated... we had done what we wanted to do in the parks so like idiots after mk we went to dtd instead for dq( nope that was not doable either) and just spent the day shopping and stuff like that which was busy but not awful.

so if i was planning a trip for then i would skip mk on the weekend for sure. i think we went to ak friday and it was fine so i think the crowds get there friday night.

we always go off season so maybe that was why we were shocked. i would compare it to the first day of christmas season as once we stayed over an extra day and it was like people came out of the woodwork then too

 

[Karibeth19]

We were there over MLK weekend in 2004, and didn't think it was too bad. We drove in on Saturday, checked in and unloaded everything into our room, and then went to the MK. It was about 5:00 or so. It was crowded that evening, and Fantasyland was almost impossible to navigate, but we just rode whatever we could get on without waiting too long, and then browsed the shops. We also didn't watch Spectro or Wishes that night; we took advantage of that time to ride rides because we knew we'd be seeing those shows later in the week. It wasn't that bad, and gave us a chance to "soak up" the Disney atmosphere on our first night there. That was also the last time we saw any big crowds the whole week. Sunday through Friday was not crowded at all, especially towards weeks' end. I think wait times were 5 to 10 minutes on all the major rides on Thursday and Friday.

So, we have scheduled our Jan. 2006 trip to arrive on the 14th and leave on the 21st. We will do the same thing this year; go to the MK on Saturday eve. as soon as we check in (we have an ADR at the Crystal Palace that wasn't hard to get). I'm anticipating it will be the same as two years ago. We definitely go into it with the thought that we will do whatever we can depending on the crowds, and what we can't do that first night, no big deal because we'll do it later in the week.

 

[Lawshark]

Thanks...so it does seem like Saturday would be a bit of a clusterbleep. I think if we can swing it, early February might be better.