Checked out early - Parks too crowded.

[DisTXMom]

The crowd level posts from last week are making me freak out a little about upcoming thanksgiving week trip. We are mentally prepared for crowds, but not to the extent of wait times and ADR situations posted here.

 

[AngiTN]

The crowd level posts from last week are making me freak out a little about upcoming thanksgiving week trip. We are mentally prepared for crowds, but not to the extent of wait times and ADR situations posted here.

Will be interesting to follow this year and see how the trend goes. We did Thanksgiving last year and found it very manageable. ADRs we made that day or night before, just like always. 4th FP was harder to come by but we found waits for our first 3 reasonable. I'm making a 2nd trip in April the same week as last year so I'll have that to compare to, though with Easter jumping around it's tough to say year to year what you'll find in the March/April range. We are also going back in June the same time we've gone the past 3 years. After that we'll decide if we'll try Thanksgiving again, or not.

 

[Angel Ariel]

You don't go to WDW during spring break, and the week that all Orlando area schools are on spring break, expecting 60-90 minute lines. If you go that week, you expect 150+ minute lines on all headliners.

I don't expect most people outside of Orlando (OK, maybe Southern FL in general) know when Orlando area schools' spring break is. I've traveled to WDW in March, and I've never looked that information up. Heck, I don't know what week our neighboring school district has off for spring break. Our spring break isn't until mid-April. I expect *college* spring breaks happening in early-mid March, but I wouldn't expect K-12 school district breaks until the end of March (like this week) and then through mid-April.

We've been to Orlando in mid-March (2013). Our trip was, IIRC, appx March 12th-March 18th. We had nowhere near 150+ minute waits. And easter was March 31st that year, not April 16th as it is this year. So, yeah, I was surprised to see the waits last week and the week before too.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Then the other option is just to go home? Makes no sense.

If you're a FL resident and have a FL resident pass and can come back at any time (as the OP stated), then yes...going home is an option that makes sense. It wouldn't make sense for me, as we'd have to change flights (and incur that expense), etc....but for someone who lives within a relatively short drive to WDW? Why wouldn't going home be an option, especially when you're using a FL resident pass for tickets and can come back at any point during the period of the pass?

If I had a season pass to a park that was within even a 3 hr drive for me, and we went for a "vacation" (actually getting a hotel and staying multiple days, rather than just going for the day) - I'd have no hesitation at leaving early if it was as crowded as described and coming back again sometime later. That's part of the beauty (and freedom) of having a pass like that.

 

[Accident]

I spent most of saturday afternoon to early evening in the park.

This is just the school band, cheer and vocal groups that are filling up the place (and their visiting families that came along to see them). It happens this time of year all the time and I think there is still 4 more weeks but then I think a short week or two break before the collegic competitions for cheer and band start. Basically it's shaping up similar to last year with these groups and crowds..

It was also the first day you didn't need warmer coats which I know many of my neighbors hid at home or took the chance to get some yardwork and painting done before it was too hot and humid to do it on their own and come out nice. there was 3ish days it got pretty cold and you wanted a coat the entire day.

Also a lot of the immediate local school kids were on spring break and if they go back tomorrow, the rest have it next week so they are adding to the crowds.. I personally have a lot of neighbors where family came into town during the break and you can tell they are day tripping the area. It's just a busy time of year with many things..

Also nearby was a big multiday country music festival (hence the celebrity spotting). they should have pulled people away when I was there but I can see some of hte earlier in the week crowds being people who came into town earlier for it. (it was in kissimmee so very close by).

I started in epcot, but we went in for video and photos so we didn't get in any lines. I found it really empty for a weekend of a food festival after a few days of what a floridian calls winter cold. It wasn't as empty as a weekday with no locals but it was not a crowded time. I didn't look at ride times, it could have been everyone hiding in the rides and bad, we just didnt' care of look...

We spent mid afternoon until just before fireworks at MK. That was packed and packed with groups. It was a sea of school, band, cheer and similar matching shirts. It was miserable, I was there to test a new firmware in a camera that is having issue with the lights that disney uses for the manufacturer so we dealt with it. We didnt' bother with a ride, we got to see people standing on the big drop at BTMR when it broke. it was rough to walk around, rough to find a seat if you got food.. it was like mid deceber. It did thin out a little after the marching bands went through so again a lot of groups related to the school events going on. the hardest part is it wasn't a family of 4 or 2 or 8 going into the rides, it was groups of 20-40 and several of them so it took a nanosecond to go from reasonable wait to hell no that's too long. It wasn't crowded enough to have stitch open and we didnt' notice some overflow things.. they had that closed up already so it wasn't the height of crowds for the week..

Also a side note, my daughter who works at universal was called in for an additional day of work because of crowds so it's busy over there as well...

I personally hate the term manageable. Manageable means it was really crowded, even by someone who goes a lot standards... Just say it was crowded even to you and your right on the edge of going home early or wishing you didn't come....

In my opinion, this looks like spring every year when the school groups dominate the place. It'll last a little longer, then break for a few weeks and come back for 2 more when the college aged competitions start. crossing my fingers for this because right now I'd pay stupid money for an after hours right now.

 

[erc]

I monitored wait times quite a bit from my MDE app yesterday just because I was curious, and for the most part in the middle of the afternoon waits were under 60 minutes for most attractions. Except 7DMT which at one point hit 140 minutes but was down to 45 minutes around dinner time. So maybe the crowds thinned out by Sunday? I will monitor today to see what they are like.

 

[sweetmama17]

Disney also is currently offering a great Florida 3/4 day ticket deal. Those tickets and Florida APs are not blocked out (only blocked out around Easter). Typically Florida schools (including colleges) are spread out throughout March, however I think 60/70% had off last week (with the rest having off this current week).

Also, EVERYTHING was crowded this past week and weekend. I had to park in a parking lot that I didn't even know existed for Busch Gardens on Saturday. My parents took my 4 year old to Homosassa Springs on Friday and stated that it was also crowded. And there was a pretty decent line to get out to the beach yesterday by noon.

I had a friend post how she was going to surprise her kids by taking them to Disney the next day (this was Thursday), luckily she got enough responses about how it takes a little planning so she postponed her trip.

But most of my friends who tackled Disney this past week had a great time.

With schools getting out earlier this year in Florida, the week after Memorial Day could look the same.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

I monitored wait times quite a bit from my MDE app yesterday just because I was curious, and for the most part in the middle of the afternoon waits were under 60 minutes for most attractions. Except 7DMT which at one point hit 140 minutes but was down to 45 minutes around dinner time. So maybe the crowds thinned out by Sunday? I will monitor today to see what they are like.

I checked last night just for the hell of it around 8 p.m. est and many of the rides at MK weren't bad - Big Thunder and Splash were about 30 minutes and most of the other rides less, except 7 Dwarfs at 140 minutes and Space Mtn. at around 70. Animal Kingdom waits were all about 10 minutes or so. But to be clear, I probably would not wait 30 minutes for Thunder or Splash.

 

[SaintsManiac]

The crowd level posts from last week are making me freak out a little about upcoming thanksgiving week trip. We are mentally prepared for crowds, but not to the extent of wait times and ADR situations posted here.

We'll be there, too. Honestly it's what you make it. We arrive the Friday before and plan to RD every morning until Monday. Then we have things planned outside of the parks. I already told my family to pack their patience. I'm not one of those people who refuses to wait more than 20 minutes. One hour is our limit for certain things.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Spring break: 1 @scousegentleman : 0

 

[DisTXMom]

We'll be there, too. Honestly it's what you make it. We arrive the Friday before and plan to RD every morning until Monday. Then we have things planned outside of the parks. I already told my family to pack their patience. I'm not one of those people who refuses to wait more than 20 minutes. One hour is our limit for certain things.

Thanks the encouragement! We are coming in Friday before as well. Headed to Universal mid-week and will have express pass and avoid some lines there, so hopefully we can just take it like it comes and enjoy. We did DL last spring so got a good ride fix in there.

 

[ajc]

agree 100%

I would have explored Animal Kingdom Lodge and Wilderness resort or campground which offers horseback riding or horse drawn carriage rides for a fee; the boat ride from Disney Springs to Port Orleans is free and fun and there is a carriage ride at Port Orleans as well; Explore the monorail resorts & and enjoy the time away from home... or if you check out and are local you can always spend a day at Vero Beach and walk the beach if you are not a swimmer (no big crowds usually).

 

[mindeola]

I do not enjoy myself during huge crowds. I just leave and find another less crowded park or do some resort stuff.

 

[Madonna3]

We have encountered this at Christmas. However, we just hunkered down in our resort or went to do other things like mini-golf. I can completely understand how overwhelming the crowds can be in the parks. However, I agree with others that fall is not usually like that and you should go ahead with your plans and give it another chance. I find Spring Break to be crazier than Xmas and I have no idea why. I stayed away all this week and I am also a Florida Resident Annual Passholder.

 

[Beer Me]

We usually go in July and have learned to manage the crowds with little difficulty. The only time I left a park because of crowds was the one time we went during spring break. Oddly enough it was DHS one evening. We could barely move and lines everywhere were ridiculous. We felt defeated and ended up just having a quiet evening at our hotel.

Maybe spring crowds are more unpredictable?

 

[jakeybake]

To us, the parks are just a fraction of what we love about WDW. Because of that I'm just as happy to be sitting by the resort pool or eating at one of our favorite restaurants than I am going onto one of our favorite rides. I just like to be there present and taking in all that WDW has to offer. But of course to each their own!

 

[jaysmom4285]

To us, the parks are just a fraction of what we love about WDW. Because of that I'm just as happy to be sitting by the resort pool or eating at one of our favorite restaurants than I am going onto one of our favorite rides. I just like to be there present and taking in all that WDW has to offer. But of course to each their own!

Same here. Of course, we've been to WDW over two dozen times, so it isn't a tragedy if we miss some rides. we were in MK last March when it was a very hot jam-packed mass of humanity, and it was impossible to get near any place to eat lunch. We decided to decamp to the Grand Floridian, which was gloriously peaceful and calm. We walked around the place for a bit and checked out a display in the lobby, then we got some food in their cafe and took it outside and ate by the marina. A very nice break during the day and one we intend to keep in mind when things get crowded again at MK.

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

I'm curious as to how Touring Plans, EasyWDW etc create their forecasts. At least 4 weeks ago, there were no resort rooms available for our stay (at all.) I knew at that point that it was going to be crowded. Kept looking at the crowd calendars and they were saying 6,7,8 (Depending on the day). How did the crowd calendars miss it as much as they did?

For a while, EasyWDW stopped putting out crowd calendars because it's become much harder to predict wait times. And part of that is because of the way management manipulates ride capacity.

I have been at Disney during freezing temps twice. I get how unpleasant it is. It is not fun to walk around for hours outside when it's freezing. Even DH, who hates hot trips, prefers a warm day over a cold one. We did alter our park times during those cold trips. But we didn't head home early. That would have still be worse.


This thought has struck me several times. There were no reports of any park reaching even the first level of closure all week. That means the parks were not as crowded as they could be. So despite the reports of how busy they were, recent Christmas week trips would have been busier. I guess the difference is those guests were expecting that level of crowds and the guests last week were not. No sure, just had the thought that as bad as it sounds last week it could have been worse

If waits were that bad and the parks were never at capacity it makes me wonder if everything was running at full capacity. I had a friend who was at WDW last week and her FB posts from the parks showed how crazy busy it was.

I think the best advice...if you are going during a crowded time, do NOT buy tickets for every day you will be there (start with a 2 day pass)...after experiencing a day in the parks, upgrade them then to add days if you feel like you are actually enjoying your park and trip time. If you aren't, try a different area plan - the beaches, Universal, Legoland, Dinner Theaters, Seaworld and its parks, Busch Gardens Tampa, the 360 attractions, the other small attractions, etc...if you are a family of 4, you would save $800 minimum on your tickets if you think 2 days are all you can stomach, and you can use that money to make fun elsewhere...

But then you won't be able to make your FP+ choices in advance.

 

[AngiTN]

We usually go in July and have learned to manage the crowds with little difficulty. The only time I left a park because of crowds was the one time we went during spring break. Oddly enough it was DHS one evening. We could barely move and lines everywhere were ridiculous. We felt defeated and ended up just having a quiet evening at our hotel.

Maybe spring crowds are more unpredictable?

Very much so.
The reason is break dates jump all over the place.
It's not like Thanksgiving or Christmas, when everyone is on break at the same time.
And it's not just that Easter moves, which is part of it but in general Spring Breaks just vary a lot. Some follow Easter, some don't. Some are at the tail end of Winter, not even in Spring, others are at the start of Spring. Much of what directs when a school has break is based on when they started, where they are in their semester, etc.

 

[takethemoney]

Thought I'd share our experience last week. We hit the parks the 10th to the 18th. It was our second trip, our first being during an extremely low crowd time where we walked on every ride all day long.

It was busy compared to our last experience, but we rope-dropped the days we were at the parks, fast-passed from 11 am on, and picked which park to visit based on crowd calendars. We hit one wait that was an hour, but didn't wait more than 15 minutes for anything else and even managed to ride the big rides more than once. When the line-ups were huge and we didn't have fast passes we did things like Sorcerers of MK.

We really didn't find it overwhelming and enjoyed ourselves very much. I think it depends on your expectations going in and the planning you put in ahead of time.