Memorial Day Crowds? Locals?

#1

So I just shortened my June trip plans by a day and a half. Previously, I was generous with my HS and EP park time, but now have 3 days to split between them. I’m unwilling to cut MK (2 days) and AK (1 day). I have non-hopper tickets.

My thought is to do HS-HS-EP, with the idea that if we do ROTR the first day, I would just swap the 2nd day to EP. Without the shows in HS I think I’d rather have 2 days in EP. But if we don’t get ROTR the first day, we can try again the second morning and then make a call on going to HS with hopes of one last ROTR chance that afternoon or just swapping to EP. Or maybe we decide that we actually do want 2 days in HS anyways.

This middle “flex” day described above will be Memorial Day, and Touring Plans shows decreased crowds that day. I have a hard time believing this:

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Also, I’m sure that some percentage of locals with that day off will come to WDW. I’m thinking those doing this would most likely go to Epcot for shopping/dining. But maybe not. Maybe this number is so small it shouldn’t matter to me anyways.

Soooooo… I’d like some predictions from my Liner friends:

  1. Will Memorial Day really be a “good” crowd day, relatively speaking?
  2. Do you think locals will bump crowds at HS or EP more than other parks?
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#2

That’s a great plan!

Historically, Memorial Day is comparable to around the Easter Holiday as far as crowds go. Not near as busy as spring break in March. I would guess a CL 5 for EP and CL 3/4 for HS on Monday. But really, there is not big difference between a 5 and a 3 at EP.

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#3

Are HS APRs still selling out most days? If so, crowds in HS shouldn’t fluctuate much day to day even on a holiday right?

I can’t speak to Memorial Day with any personal experience. My only memory of Disney on a holiday was arrival day on our first ever trip and it was MLK weekend at AK and it felt like a zoo.

That’s a tough decision for sure. This past December I took my kids to HS for the first time since GE opened and HS was the unanimous fave park for all four kids. They also loved exploring WS though and that’s so hard to enjoy fully if you’re trying to fit EP into one day. If you’re waffling I’d definitely book the HS APR as it’ll likely be sold out and unable to flip to last minute.

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#4

I suspect the reason they decreased crowd levels is to get them in line with the new COVID baseline, rather than pre-COVID equivalent. Even on a busy day (like in actual March Spring Break dates for 2021 below), we’re only getting up to 4-5, maybe 6. This is because crowd levels are based on wait times, and in COVID times, the average wait is lower even though a Liner will probably wait in line a bit more due to lack of FPP.

I think the averages are being favored by lower waits at the super headliners. In pre-COVID times, the biggest ride in each park would often have 2-3 hour waits (SDD, 7DMT, FoP). During COVID, the longest waits are just over an hour.

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P.S. I also agree with @bebe80 that in the past, Memorial Day has not been the busiest of holidays. A lot of folks are still in school, particularly in Florida, the following week or two. So it’s not really a travel week.

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#5

I think it’ll be pretty crowded. But either way I think you’d be better off making as many Hollywood studios park reservations as you think you might want. I don’t expect with the size of Epcot that it’s going to sell out very often. It has only sold out In these last couple of weeks with the surge of spring breakers but before that I don’t believe had sold out at all. So it should be relatively easy to switch from Hollywood Studios to Epcot if you decide that’s what you wanna do but I expect it will be near impossible to switch from Epcot to Hollywood Studios.

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#6

FYI… FL-res-discovery ticket is blocked out for Memorial weekend :wink:

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