what day to start a trip on, weekend crowds?

[Raya]

Hi there! I'm one of the out-of-state folks who has been waiting to hear we can come visit again! When planning my August trip I can leave after work on Friday afternoon and start my Disney fun on Saturday /or/ fly from the East Coast on Sunday, and start my Disney fun on Monday. Normally I would say 2 extra days of Disney vacation is worth it, even if Saturday & Sunday are busy, but given everything I'm not sure....

So would you tell an out of state visitor to start their visit on Saturday (longer trip) or Monday (shorter trip)? ETA: we're talking about a mid-August trip.

 

[avalon451]

It depends on when you will be here. Right now, so much is up in the air as far as entertainment, fireworks, and night time shows. In the *before* times, DLR often ran on a full schedule during the summer with fireworks, parades, Fantasmic, and World of Color every day. When it's not high season, fireworks and shows are usually only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. So even though they are busy days, it was worth it to go "off-season" (there's not really an off-season any more) on the weekends to see those events.

Now, however, all bets are off. Those events aren't yet back. We don't have much of an inkling when they will be. Also, it's harder to plan busy park days when we don't know when MaxPass/FastPass will be back.

If you're looking to book farther out, i.e. next fall or later, it might be worth it to sit tight for awhile to see which way the wind blows.

 

[dieumeye]

I’d always vote for a longer trip regardless of any potential crowds. More time is the most effective way to beat crowds.

Also, historically, Mondays were often more crowded than weekends for some reason. Of course, that may no longer be the case.

Regardless, it’s really hard for anyone to say what crowd patterns are going to be like any day into future for the time being (probably the rest of the year at least) since things are different now, always changing, and Disney seems to be adjusting by the day.

So, I’d book the longest vacation you are comfortable with and use that extra time to be flexible so you can adjust to whatever the crowd situation is when you visit.