Anyone at the theme parks now -- Is Hurricane Dorian affecting crowds?

[JudyS]

I am in Orlando now (8/31), hoping to wait out the storm. I was on Epcot Thursday (8/29), and crowds were very light. A worker said he had heard even Galaxy's Edge had light crowds, with people staying away because of Hurricane Dorian. But, I didn't go to any parks on Friday (8/30), so I don't know how the crowds were then.

If anyone goes to the parks, it would be great if you posted what the crowds were like. Also, if there anywhere online to check current crowd sizes, or whether SWGE is at capacity?

 

[Christine]

If anyone goes to the parks, it would be great if you posted what the crowds were like. Also, if there anywhere online to check current crowd sizes, or whether SWGE is at capacity?

You could probably get a pretty good idea of lines using the MDE app.

 

[Dug720]

My friend says Batuu is pretty empty right now. She is currently there.

 

[ashleyann31]

Magic Kingdom was dead this morning. The walkway through Adventureland was actually pleasant.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Epcot FW was empty this AM

 

[freshmanjs]

DHS crowds were very light today. We didn't wait at all at Docking Bay 7 at noon. Walked in to Savi's with no reservation. Zero wait on TSMM, Star Tours. 10 min on TOT. MF:SR never got above 90 min that we saw.

 

[Tink9721]

Based on the wait times on MDE, the parks look pretty empty. Especially considering this is the Saturday of a holiday weekend, and Galaxy's Edge opened two days ago. I'd say the hurricane is definitely impacting crowds.

 

[mousefan73]

In MK crowds seem less than a week ago. Just now splash at 40 and BTMRR 30. In line for Btmrr. At least 20-25! So “ empty” no. Other rides so also normal wait times.

 

[DanInMN]

I’m at MK now, busy but not too bad for a holiday weekend

 

[rlk]

We were at Disney World in August 2011 when hurricane Irene was originally expected to hit southern Florida. It change course and hit further up the coast and really did a lot of damage in and around our hometown. We felt extremely fortunate to have missed the hurricane. A major side benefit were the almost non existent crowds for the next few days at Disney. We were the only ones on Dumbo (when there was only one) at 12:30.

 

[fiasco32]

I doubt Dorian is having an incredible impact on crowds. The storm is still three days away, and no watches or warnings have been issued yet.

Now I could end up being wrong about this, but what I actually think WDW is experiencing now is the same SWGE effect as DL saw when the land opened there. Everyone got gun shy about coming to the park because they expected massive crowds, and that drove turnout way low.

I think there were a ton of people who looked at their calendar, saw Labor Day weekend in the same breath as SWGE opening and said "no thanks."

 

[Dug720]

I doubt Dorian is having an incredible impact on crowds. The storm is still three days away, and no watches or warnings have been issued yet.

Now I could end up being wrong about this, but what I actually think WDW is experiencing now is the same SWGE effect as DL saw when the land opened there. Everyone got gun shy about coming to the park because they expected massive crowds, and that drove turnout way low.

I think there were a ton of people who looked at their calendar, saw Labor Day weekend in the same breath as SWGE opening and said "no thanks."

It is most likely a combination. Yes, there were some who changed their plans to avoid the opening. We knew that already.

But Dorian most likely has had some impact. Flights were being cancelled - and even if they were not, airlines were offering/encouraging free changes, the forecast was NOT looking good for getting out Monday - indeed word was out I believe yesterday that MCO was shutting down at 2am Monday. People who might have planned to take a long weekend may not have wanted to deal with the unknown about getting home - especially people who cannot just add days onto their vacation (ex: teachers who must be at school to teach or for start of year professional development on Tuesday) may well have cancelled or rescheduled their trips.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

I haven’t run into very many locals until today (mostly at Epcot for F&W). That’s probably the dip in attendance as they are doing precautionary storm prep.

 

[Mango7100]

We are here. On Thursday 8/29 MK was so empty for a large portion of the day. We walked up to the bridge for 7D at 7:53 for an 8 am opening. Even with the extra magic hours from 7-8, the standby wait was 10 min at opening—we rode twice in 25 min. Even the CM said this was crazy and we could thank SWGE for the empty park. Food and Wine this afternoon was pretty light—I have never been but had heard how crazy the crowds were on Saturdays.