Predictions for a 24 hour day and crowds over Memorial Day?

[BlueFairy]

Memorial Day is 5/25, which seems early to me. The last 2 years that puts a 24 hour day falling the Friday before (5/22). Turns out my kids are dismissed from school on 5/21.

TP has 4 crowds until 5/22, when they jump to 6 and then 7 for Sunday and Monday. EasyWDW (which many seem to prefer) isn't as optimistic.

Kids want to go back for a resort weekend with Epcot and maybe 1 other park. I would love to do a 24 hour day. But I also see the logic in zigging while everyone is zagging. Heading to Epcot on Friday (with my kids who have no stamina) and saving MK for Sat. We'd likely stick to the resort on Thursday evening, Sunday, and Monday morning. Flying out late Monday.

Can someone with experience last year suggest a prediction or share a plan for this year? I remember hearing "here now - not as bad as expected" and "Epcot is deserted" and the like. Problem is I can't remember which park/which day. And as far as I can tell there's been no announcement for a 24 hour day this year.

For comparison, our only park day in 2014 was 8/4 in MK which was a 7. Rope drop was a breeze, kids were wiped out by the heat and crowds by 1pm. We returned at 8pm for the shows, but they were really unhappy with the crowds.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I think it's going to go by what you personally consider crowded. I have gone almost every Memorial Day and I have never considered it particularly crowded in any park outside of the extra attendance drawn by Star Wars Weekend at DHS and on and off at MK (not counting the 24 hour event if they have it which draws guests for the novelty)

 

[Wendybird55]

We are going May 20 - 25 in hopes of being there for the 24hr event. We've been to Disney many times, but not during this time frame. We also hope to experience some Star Wars Weekend activities. I already got ADRS for Hollywood & Vine and Sci Fi Diner Star Was character meals.

I am expecting it to be crowded and/or hectic during this time. I would think MK will be very busy if they have 24 hr event...I was then thinking it might be a good day to visit other parks as they may not be as crowded (we have APs).

I am looking forward to experiencing Disney this time of year and some events I haven't been able to attend. I'm not expecting to be able to do all we want, but I'm sure we will have fun. Also, we have our big annual trip planned and booked our August (11 days) so that takes a lot of pressure off the May trip to go on certain rides and attractions as we know we will be back in August. So our May trip will be focused on Star Wars Weekend and the 24hr event. I am hoping and assuming both will happen during that time based on past years.

It sounds like you can be flexible and change plans based on crowds and if you have PH that will make it easier. That's basically what we plan to do...if MK s too crowded on 24 hr day, there are 3 other parks to visit. Maybe Star Wars at DHS won't be as bad that Friday due to 24 hr. Who knows? It's going to be an adventure and we're looking forward to it. Aside from a few ADRS that DS wants, we plan to go with the flow on this trip and see where the crowds take us.

 

[Missyrose]

Last year's 24 hour event was fun! The attractions were basically walk on until lunchtime. It got super, SUPER crowded in the late afternoon and evening, but things thinned out again after midnight. The evening villains character meets were a joke, the lines were four and five hours long in some cases, so we didn't even bother. But we'd definitely do it again.

I was also worried about how crowded SWW would feel on a holiday weekend and we also had a blast at that. Met lots of characters, did the character meals and saw a couple of fantastic SW shows.