Which park on which day of the week??

[ClaraOswald]

Are there certain days of the week that tend to be more or less crowded at a particular park? We are going in late January and I'm trying to decide where we will want to start/end each day. But I don't have enough park experience at WDW to know if there are certain days that may be better or worse than others.

Also, is it best to avoid the park that has a "special ticketed event" that night?
Should we avoid parks with extended hours?

Any advice is appreciated! Thanks!

 

[kellyjeanie]

We’re going the end of January too! I’m sure people who have gone more will chime in. General wisdom says don’t go to MK on Monday because people tend to start their week there. EPCOT tends to be crowded on weekends with locals, especially if there’s a festival. If there’s extra evening hours that could mean busier during the day but if you hop in later the hours themselves shouldn’t be too crazy.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Interesting about Monday. I would assume people start their vacations on a weekend.

We arrive on Saturday the 25th. Sunday will be our first day in the park. We have 6-day hoppers. I was just looking at park hours and they are mostly the same each day. Except for these....

Monday 27th - MK ticketed event at night, Epcot Extended Evening hours
Wednesday 29th - HS ticketed event at night, Animal Kingdom Extended Evening hours
Thursday 30th - MK closes early at 4:30pm

I'm wondering MK on Monday might be a GOOD idea, if people not going to the ticketed event avoid MK? Or maybe it's actually more crowded due to ticketed event people??

I'm also wondering if Thursday would be less crowded at MK because people without park hoppers would likely avoid going there that day because of the early closure?

 

[kes601]

I'm wondering MK on Monday might be a GOOD idea, if people not going to the ticketed event avoid MK? Or maybe it's actually more crowded due to ticketed event people??

The time this makes sense is if there is a party (Christmas or Halloween) because that means an earlier closing and the mornings and afternoons tend to be dead at MK. However, in January, this means an After Hours event, the park won't close early so shouldn't cause lesser crowds.

 

[ClaraOswald]

The time this makes sense is if there is a party (Christmas or Halloween) because that means an earlier closing and the mornings and afternoons tend to be dead at MK. However, in January, this means an After Hours event, the park won't close early so shouldn't cause lesser crowds.

Yeah, I wasn't really sure what the "ticketed event" was for those dates.

The only day anything closes early is that 4:30 one on the 30th, which I think is because of a cast member party or something maybe?

 

[kes601]

Yeah, I wasn't really sure what the "ticketed event" was for those dates.

The only day anything closes early is that 4:30 one on the 30th, which I think is because of a cast member party or something maybe?

That is probably what the event is and I would think would lead to very low crowds.

 

[Pyxie]

Yeah, I wasn't really sure what the "ticketed event" was for those dates.

The only day anything closes early is that 4:30 one on the 30th, which I think is because of a cast member party or something maybe?

The special ticked events are likely after hours parties that time of year and those don't really affect crowd levels since the park does not close early for them. The 30th will be different as you said since it does close early.

 

[kellyjeanie]

We’re going that same week!! In the January trip thread they were saying that Thursday is for a cast party and in the past it meant very low crowds. I plan to go that day and then we’ll go to Disney springs after. I don’t know if AK might be crowded that day with the EEH but I’m super excited to see Pandora after dark so we’re going to give it a shot.

 

[kellyjeanie]

Interesting about Monday. I would assume people start their vacations on a weekend.

We arrive on Saturday the 25th. Sunday will be our first day in the park. We have 6-day hoppers. I was just looking at park hours and they are mostly the same each day. Except for these....

Monday 27th - MK ticketed event at night, Epcot Extended Evening hours
Wednesday 29th - HS ticketed event at night, Animal Kingdom Extended Evening hours
Thursday 30th - MK closes early at 4:30pm

I'm wondering MK on Monday might be a GOOD idea, if people not going to the ticketed event avoid MK? Or maybe it's actually more crowded due to ticketed event people??

I'm also wondering if Thursday would be less crowded at MK because people without park hoppers would likely avoid going there that day because of the early closure?

I know it sounds weird but avoiding MK on Monday (unless it closes early) has been a thing as long as I’ve been going. But if you have hoppers you can always try it out and then if it’s crowded just go somewhere else.

 

[ClaraOswald]

We’re going that same week!! In the January trip thread they were saying that Thursday is for a cast party and in the past it meant very low crowds. I plan to go that day and then we’ll go to Disney springs after. I don’t know if AK might be crowded that day with the EEH but I’m super excited to see Pandora after dark so we’re going to give it a shot.

Hmm....am I in the January thread?! I'll have to go look for it because I haven't gotten any notifications on it.

Yeah, our son wasn't super into Animal Kingdom on our last trip so we haven't been sure if we even want to go there or not. But seeing things at night would be kind of nice so maybe I can convince my husband. Those extra hours are for Disney hotel guests, right? I hope that includes DVC bookings.

 

[kellyjeanie]

Hmm....am I in the January thread?! I'll have to go look for it because I haven't gotten any notifications on it.

Yeah, our son wasn't super into Animal Kingdom on our last trip so we haven't been sure if we even want to go there or not. But seeing things at night would be kind of nice so maybe I can convince my husband. Those extra hours are for Disney hotel guests, right? I hope that includes DVC bookings.

The extra evening hours are for deluxe hotels and it says deluxe villas? Is that DVC?

 

[ClaraOswald]

Yeah, DVC would be deluxe villas. So maybe we will try to do AK that night.