Least busy weekday? Trying to plan HS day

[CyndiLooWho]

We have a Dec 13-18 2020 trip planned, and will be splitting time between WDW and Universal. 3 of my 5 peeps are super interested in GE, and I want to pick the least busy day there, knowing that all days in HS are busy bc everyone wants to see GE and MMRR. My brain has Tue pegged as a least busy day. It's the day we take off work to go to the local amusement parks, and it works well for that. But I saw a recent thread where the poster had been to HS on both Tue and Thu, and said Thu was less crowded. We arrive Sun and leave Fri. Tentative plan is:

Sun - drive / half day Uni
Mon - MK
Tue - HS
Wed - Uni
Thu - EP
Fri - half day Uni / drive

I realize there is no crystal ball, but I know for a fact this is the only time BIL will have to come to FL. And my SW geek son may not be back for several years, so I want both of them to have the best shot at RotR.

Penny for your thoughts...

 

[DeeBee3]

I think Monday or Tues strikes me as least busy for both those parks listed in your schedule. That's what we are planning to do in November. Avoiding weekends. However, i"m just going off video and blog reports.

 

[wilkydelts]

There is no least busy day for HS. It reaches reservation capacity nearly everyday. Many sites are actually telling you the difference between wait times on the weekend and weekdays is minimal so go on the weekend and the others parks on the weekdays.

 

[Tormania]

For our upcoming trip we are doing DHS on Mon (12/1) and Wed (12/3). Not sure how that will compare to other days but we for sure were not gonna do it on the weekend after Thanksgiving, lol!!

 

[DisneyandBeerLover]

There is no least busy day for HS. It reaches reservation capacity nearly everyday. Many sites are actually telling you the difference between wait times on the weekend and weekdays is minimal so go on the weekend and the others parks on the weekdays.

This. If capacity is the same regardless of the day and is nearly always reaching capacity, it doesn't matter what day. I can see this being especially true late November-all of December. Just go with what fits your schedule best.

 

[Took]

There is no least busy day for HS. It reaches reservation capacity nearly everyday. Many sites are actually telling you the difference between wait times on the weekend and weekdays is minimal so go on the weekend and the others parks on the weekdays.

My thoughts exactly. The park is insane compared to the other parks.

 

[CyndiLooWho]

Thanks for the comments. I know it's going to be insane at HS, was just hoping for a little less cuckoo. Regardless of the crowds, we'll have fun.

 

[wilkydelts]

Take this as you will: We just recently changed our park order for late October and moved HS to Saturday and EPCOT to Thursday instead of the other way. I just got an email from TouringPlans updating crowd levels and they have EPCOT as a 7 on Saturday and Sunday an a 1 weekdays. While HS is the same every day.

 

[HikingFam]

We were at HS yesterday. I’ll be honest that it’s just a stressful experience in the morning. We got a BG at 10:00 then went back to the hotel for a swim. We returned to HS around 2:00 and it was so much better than the morning. For example, Aliens was 35 min wait when we left around 11:00 and only 10 min when we returned. Same for Mania.

 

[DeeBee3]

We were at HS yesterday. I’ll be honest that it’s just a stressful experience in the morning. We got a BG at 10:00 then went back to the hotel for a swim. We returned to HS around 2:00 and it was so much better than the morning. For example, Aliens was 35 min wait when we left around 11:00 and only 10 min when we returned. Same for Mania.

I have seen this on people's vlogs. People experience an easier crowd level in the afternoon after the morning rush to get in and get the boarding pass, etc.

 

[HikingFam]

I have seen this on people's vlogs. People experience an easier crowd level in the afternoon after the morning rush to get in and get the boarding pass, etc.

Exactly! At 9:30-10:00, everyone is clamoring to be first in line for MMRR and get a boarding group. Lots of aggressive stroller driving and run-walking to the attractions. I think a lot of people leave after their BG goes on ROTR (or they don’t get a BG and bail after doing a few things), so it gets less crowded as the day goes on.

 

[Tormania]

Exactly! At 9:30-10:00, everyone is clamoring to be first in line for MMRR and get a boarding group. Lots of aggressive stroller driving and run-walking to the attractions. I think a lot of people leave after their BG goes on ROTR (or they don’t get a BG and bail after doing a few things), so it gets less crowded as the day goes on.

I have to imagine that the "ROTR and done" crowd are all locals. Those of us that are flying in for an actual vacation will be there from open to close.

 

[CyndiLooWho]

Good observation on the early morning v afternoon. Since we only have one day at HS, my guess is we'll get there early to get our BG and then plan accordingly. We're off site (WBC - LOVE that place), so in and out not really an option for us. If it were just me an hubby, we'd skip HS altogether, bc we rode ROTR back in January. None of the kids or BIL have ridden it though, so we'll be all day park warriors, I think. We're not there on the weekend really, arriving mid-day Sun and leaving Fri afternoon...

 

[HikingFam]

Good observation on the early morning v afternoon. Since we only have one day at HS, my guess is we'll get there early to get our BG and then plan accordingly. We're off site (WBC - LOVE that place), so in and out not really an option for us. If it were just me an hubby, we'd skip HS altogether, bc we rode ROTR back in January. None of the kids or BIL have ridden it though, so we'll be all day park warriors, I think. We're not there on the weekend really, arriving mid-day Sun and leaving Fri afternoon...

“All day park warriors” reminded me that there were people literally laying down and sleeping on the pavement, scattered around in GE. That’s some dedication!

 

[Tormania]

“All day park warriors” reminded me that there were people literally laying down and sleeping on the pavement, scattered around in GE. That’s some dedication!

Give WDW a chance and they could rent nap pods in GE for those folks, say $50/hr/person. Get those "homeless" folks off the streets. LOL!!!

 

[erinch]

My young adult kids are there at DHS today, Friday Oct 2. They took a Lyft and were in the parking line at 9:10. But they opened at 9. An hour early. By the time they got in the park, MMRR was up to nearly 2 hours. TT down. By park open, even Mania was backed up to Brown Derby, and Slinky was down past BD. We were there before on Wednesday, took a Lyft, got in at 9:15 and walked on to MMRR and Smugglers Run before 10. Later in day rode Mania 10 times in a row without having to go through queue. We found a huge difference between Tues-Thurs and Fri-Mon at DHS. And Epcot and MK. . In contrast, , my DH and I are at AK today, which is relatively empty. It opened at 8. I took a Lyft and arrived at 7:30. I walked on to FoP twice, River Journey once, and Everest 3 times before 10:30. Still leisurely at 2 pm.