Crowds this week?

[olliesmom]

Non-party days are always bad. I learned long ago to avoid them.

Part of the reason we got park hoppers was because MVMCP coincides with our trip. We want to see Happily Ever After so are planning to spend one afternoon touring the monorail resort decorations and then watching the fireworks in the evening, then all our other days at MK will be on party mornings and then hop out of the park by lunchtime.

 

[sommergirl25]

Non-party days are always bad. I learned long ago to avoid them.

I would usually avoid non party days but unfortunately that was our only day to be there. We did 4 days at Universal this trip and I wanted my dad to experience Disney once in his life and I wanted to see HEA fireworks. In hindsight.... I wish we would have bought the 1 day hopper, started the day in Epcot and then hopped to MK for the night.

 

[DebbieB]

That’s what we usually do, do MK on a party day, leave mid afternoon for a break and then go somewhere else. Last December, we went to see HEA in the evening of a non-party day but I was able to snag 7 Dwarf Mine Train fastpasses last minute, then we went to Columbia Harbour House to eat. While we were eating, we heard an announcement that Main Street was at capacity. We ended up leaving. Saw it when we went in April.

 

[lisa cameron]

Non-party days are always bad. I learned long ago to avoid them.

What do you mean by “non-party days”?

 

[DebbieB]

What do you mean by “non-party days”?

Days when there is no Halloween or Christmas party. On party days,
MK closes at 6:00 for day guests. On non-party days it is open until at least 9:00 with Happily Ever After fireworks.

 

[lisa cameron]

Days when there is no Halloween or Christmas party. On party days,
MK closes at 6:00 for day guests. On non-party days it is open until at least 9:00 with Happily Ever After fireworks.

But most days are non-party days, correct? So pretty much, just assume MK is always busy.

 

[MulanMom]

Throughout the 90s, we used to visit a lot the week following Thanksgiving. Seemed a popular time for online communities to get together in person for meetups at WDW. Three years ago, we visited...DD participated in Dance the Magic. Definitely more crowded than the same time period used to be a few decades ago.

 

[bigbabyblues]

But most days are non-party days, correct? So pretty much, just assume MK is always busy.

According to UT, party dates 2018 are:

• November 8, 9, 12, 13, 15, 16, 25, 27, 29, 30
• December 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 21

If someone was there the week after Thanksgiving, say 11/25-12/2, most days of their trip ARE party days.

 

[mshanson3121]

But most days are non-party days, correct? So pretty much, just assume MK is always busy.

Most days are party days during the Christmas seasons (Nov/Dec). Crowds are pretty good on party days, and bad on non party days.

 

[V.I.N.CENT.]

So i was looking at week after Thanksgiving 2019, maybe second week in December now?

 

[mom2rtk]

Non-party days are always bad. I learned long ago to avoid them.

Exactly that. During party season, you can't discuss crowds in the MK without consideration of the effect of the hard ticket parties. So many try to avoid the early close days that it bunches up crowds on just a few nights a week.

Most days are party days during the Christmas seasons (Nov/Dec). Crowds are pretty good on party days, and bad on non party days.

But most days are non-party days, correct? So pretty much, just assume MK is always busy.

Parties are held 3 or 4 nights a week. That leaves only 3 or 4 nights a week with no early close and full entertainment. I generally choose to go on party days since lower crowds are important to my enjoyment of the parks.

 

[mom2rtk]

So i was looking at week after Thanksgiving 2019, maybe second week in December now?

Really hard to say without knowing for sure when Star Wars will open.

 

[mshanson3121]

So i was looking at week after Thanksgiving 2019, maybe second week in December now?

What Marie said. So much will depend on when Star Wars opens, but also, Thanksgiving is late next year, so I think you'll find that the week after may be busier than normal, since that first week of December the crowds always start picking up anyways.

 

[recmouse]

Has free dining been offered the week after Thanksgiving before? I wonder if that had something to do with it?

I think, though, that it seems to be busy year round now. There just are no slow times anymore.

Yes - sad but true... and building 3 new resorts! I can't even imagine how bad it's going to get.

 

[SarahC97]

What's funny to me is that we were there Thanksgiving week and it was the first time I've experienced level 10 crowds. And yes, it was packed, but moving through the parks I thought felt much the same as when we were there last January/February, where the wait times were lower but the parks felt just as packed to move through. It was an observation that has stuck with me. I guess that's how crowded I expect it to feel all the time, the real difference is how long you have to wait for rides, I guess.

 

[Elle23]

Non-party days are always bad. I learned long ago to avoid them.

Well we couldn’t avoid the non-party night if we wanted to see HEA, unfortunately. This will probably be our last trip this time of year (if we ever make it back) for that reason.

 

[DebbieB]

Well we couldn’t avoid the non-party night if we wanted to see HEA, unfortunately. This will probably be our last trip this time of year (if we ever make it back) for that reason.

Having a Park Hopper helps, you can do MK during the day on a party day, then go somewhere else. If you want to see HEA, do another park during the day and go to MK at night.

 

[OhDannyBoy]

We were at MK on Saturday and it was packed. I'm actually happy we had no intentions on riding any of the mountains or mine train because those waits were insane.

Food lines weren't terrible if you timed them right or used the mobile service that worked about 30% of the time.

This was around 8:45AM on Saturday morning.

 

[kniquy]

What were the crowds like this week?

This was predicted to be a quieter week compared to the rest of the year - touring plans predicting crowds of no higher than 3. We went in April during a school vacation week - so quite a bit busier (crowd levels of 5-7). Everyday at every park we kept saying to each other that crowds and wait times felt the same as when we were here in April. Certainly manageable with a plan but not the low crowds or shorter wait times that we expected.

 

[ForceIsStrongInMyFamily]

Did week after Thanksgiving in 2017 and 2018. This year felt much more crowded overall.

MK was actually fine for us - used FPs, mobile ordering and refresh for Sun 11/25 and Fri 11/30. Did everything we wanted and more.

HS was beyond crowded on Thurs 11/29 (my frustrations were not helped by a cancelled Indy and Fantasmic).

I agree with others that Future World was lighter than World Showcase on Mon 11/26 - didn’t have much fun with the crowds around the world that afternoon.

I’m somewhere between commando and relaxed, but put on a smile and just enjoyed in spite of crowds. There were some interesting folks throughout who were definitely not happy about the crowds - and I never wanted to come across as that!

Not sure we will be back for another post-Thanksgiving trip (and certainly not next year).