MLK Weekend Crowds?

SSE_King

SSE_King

Member
Original Poster
I am visiting WDW right now, and based on stats I've seen online and posts on various forums I always thought January, for the most part, is one of the best months to go in terms of crowds. But just about every day I've been here so far (since Wednesday) every park has been jam packed, with wait times for almost every ride consistently being 40 to 150 minutes. I've been to WDW about 20 times in my life and I've never seen the parks this crowded, not even in the summer months.

I've asked various people I've seen in the parks and they say they've never seen crowds this bad during MLK weekend. Does anyone have any idea why the parks are so crowded this year?
 
Condorman

Condorman

Active Member
What sort of crowds are you seeing? Is it primarily South American tour groups? Is it at rope drop as well as at the end of each day? WDW's discounts weren't any different this year than last, though I can't say what promotions were being offered in other countries. There is no slow time anymore, only less expensive times to go. And since January was one of the cheapest, it was only a matter of time before it drew in larger crowds.
 
MattC

MattC

Well-Known Member
At MK now. I've seen it worse, but lots of groups of young people and lots of foreign visitors. Hearing a lot of Spanish, or other languages similar to it, tonight. So may be tour groups.
 
rsoxguy

rsoxguy

Well-Known Member
I was at EPCOT yesterday. The crowds were certainly not light, but I also did not find them oppressively thick. Fastpass use and good timing allowed for a decent amount of attractions, although I did find the crowds growing as the day progressed. I saw several Brazilian tour groups, but every one of them consisted of well behaved kids. The only strange thing was a line at Spaceship Earth a half hour before closing, which is a little unusual. We called for an ADR at Via Napoli at 8:30 a.m. and received a 4:30 seating without a problem. In short, it did seem quite busy, but far from crazy busy.
 
S

smethbet

New Member
There is no slow time anymore, only less expensive times to go.
a16
k3
 
CP_alum08

CP_alum08

Well-Known Member
I thought MLK weekend was always a pretty busy weekend, no? We were there last weekend for the marathon and it was pretty crazy. Obviously there are thousands of people there for the marathon but LOTS of tour groups. I'm not condoning the tour groups, most of them are pretty respectful of others around them, but I think the people planning the tours have realized that if they go off-season it's a lot cheaper.
 
BigRedDad

BigRedDad

Well-Known Member
Its MLK Weekend and there are a lot of tournaments there this time of year as well. In general, yes. However, anything with a National Day off is going to be a BUSY time. Many northern schools have a Winter Break around MLK weekend as well.
 
l4dybu6

l4dybu6

Active Member
I was there this weekend also... It seems to be mostly tour groups and dance teams haha
The lines were insane, though! Peoplemover actually had a line that stretched to COP. I've never seen it that bad, and I've been on NYE and Christmas eve!
 
PhotoDave219

PhotoDave219

Well-Known Member
SSE_King said:
I've asked various people I've seen in the parks and they say they've never seen crowds this bad during MLK weekend. Does anyone have any idea why the parks are so crowded this year?
Click to expand...

It is a holiday weekend. It is always THIS BAD on a holiday weekend.

If you feel the parks are overcrowded, please email or write guest relations and convey your opinion.
 
N

nickymwc@yahoo.cpom

New Member
Our family of 4 were just there over the MLk weekend and were surprised by the crowd. We had expected a much lighter crowd as we have been to DW over MLK weekends a couple times and were never this bad. It's one of the long weekends that supposed to be a bit more busier but lighter than say summer time. I was wondering about the same thing. I over heard some other guests discussing it and said more people showed up to see the new fantasyland, but still that would not make up such a huge crowd that reminded me of Xmas holiday and thanksgiving time.
 
Britt

Britt

Well-Known Member
I think most/any holiday weekends are going to be pretty bad! Hopefully it clears up for you the rest of the week ; )

ENJOY!
 
MattC

MattC

Well-Known Member
We did DHS and AK today. DHS wasn't bad this morning. Managed to do TSMM twice, Aerosmith, ToT, ST, GMR, watch Muppets and Mulch, Sweat and Shears before 1pm. Lunch in there too. So the morning wasn't bad, but the afternoon picked up a lot. Went over to AK and it was pretty busy. Didn't help the EE was down for a few hours. All in all about on par with what I expect from a holiday weekend.

Side note: When did the bridge on Kilamanjaro start working again? Took me by surprise when it shook today.
 
openendedsky

openendedsky

Well-Known Member
MattC said:
We did DHS and AK today. DHS wasn't bad this morning. Managed to do TSMM twice, Aerosmith, ToT, ST, GMR, watch Muppets and Mulch, Sweat and Shears before 1pm. Lunch in there too. So the morning wasn't bad, but the afternoon picked up a lot. Went over to AK and it was pretty busy. Didn't help the EE was down for a few hours. All in all about on par with what I expect from a holiday weekend.

Side note: When did the bridge on Kilamanjaro start working again? Took me by surprise when it shook today.
Click to expand...
I didn't go, but I did notice this trend with all of the parks from my wait times app. Everything seemed reasonable until about 1.
 
bethymouse

bethymouse

Well-Known Member
Don't go President's Day weekend in February and don't even think about Spring Break time!:eek: Like another poster said, there are just no "slow" times anymore due to discounts and such.:( I found September to still be quite crowded: certainly not insanely crowded like Christmas or other holidays and even Summer! But for the most part, extra magic morning hours are very nice to take advantage of. Most attractions have a 5-10 minute wait or walk-on. Get everything done before 11 am and go back to the pool to relax. Come back later at night to see fireworks/parades. If you have older kids and "night owls" then late night extra magic hours are OK. Although not at DHS: Toy Story Mania was still 90 minute wait!:eek:
 
DDuckFan130

DDuckFan130

Well-Known Member
I definitely found it very crowded but somewhat manageable. At 9:15 on Sunday morning TSM had a wait time of 60 minutes. All FP's were gone by 11. We really only waited half an hour and got to ride again with FP's so oh well.

I definitely noticed a lot of groups, from tour groups to cheer groups. The cheer groups were college-aged and obnoxious at Epcot...well duh lol

The bright side it was not like NYE lol
 
S

Susan Savia

Well-Known Member
Just returned home from two weeks at WDW. Had no problems with crowds at all. Did notice the days we were in MK that most of the crowds head for Fantasyland. We rode Ariel's ride once to try it and then on other visits to MK skipped it. Other parts of the park were of normal capacity in that we rode Buzz 3 times in a row with no wait as well as Pirates, Jungle Cruise, COP, Monsters Inc etc. Coming around that side of the park and passing the entrance to Fantasyland, people were sworming out of there.
 

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