Crowd levels right now

[rajahfan7]

We were there from the 22nd-27th and with the exception of our Epcot day the crowds were awful. It felt like peak summer to me. I know it’s technically spring break season but I thought the crowds would be pretty spread out over a month because everyone’s breaks are different.

In our 7 trips this was honestly the first time I felt like we left MK without riding everything I wanted to ride. The waits were so long even for rides that usually aren’t too bad even in busy times. And I was so bummed because I usually ride Haunted Mansion a min of 2-3 times. It’s my absolute favorite and I only road it once. The line was consistently at 80 or more all day - it was crazy!

All I can suggest is besides your FP rides, be there at rope drop and try to ride the highest wait rides first thing. We were able to get Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain and Pirates in pretty quick before he lines got ridiculous. After that besides our FP for Peter Pan, Mine Train and Space Mountain we were stuck on horrible lines all day. Even Small World was over an hour - which is really rare!

I will say the weather was AMAZING though! A thousand times better than summer. It was so gorgeous and no awful humidity!

I was there during that time too and I will never go then again. It was so crowded and even with fast passes and there was lots of stuff I didn't get to ride. Not to mention it was more expensive. Gross.

 

[LILJAN59]

How could Disney know they were off-site guests waiting in line?

I don’t know but that’s what the cast member told her!!!

 

[Pamela M]

Touring plans has next week being at 8 or 9 out of 10 all week. I think alot of kids have next week off.

How could Disney know they were off-site guests waiting in line?

Maybe by how full the parking lots were getting?

 

[cakebaker]

My daughter and her two sons are down there now, parks are very crowded
She was at Animal Kingdom at 8:59 am and the line for Avatar Flight of Passage was already two hours long!
A cast member told here there were so many people from off site in line at 7 am they opened at 7 am to avoid s big BKSCK FRIDAY LIKE STAMPEDE!!! The cast member mentioned that he/ she was not happy with what Disney is doing either!!!
But...what time do the parking lots open????

That CM could get themselves in big trouble for making comments like that to a guest.

 

[Brandilla]

Touring plans has next week being at 8 or 9 out of 10 all week. I think alot of kids have next week off.

Maybe by how full the parking lots were getting?

Lots of onsite guests have cars too though.

 

[SaintsManiac]

My daughter and her two sons are down there now, parks are very crowded
She was at Animal Kingdom at 8:59 am and the line for Avatar Flight of Passage was already two hours long!
A cast member told here there were so many people from off site in line at 7 am they opened at 7 am to avoid s big BKSCK FRIDAY LIKE STAMPEDE!!! The cast member mentioned that he/ she was not happy with what Disney is doing either!!!
But...what time do the parking lots open????

This doesn't make any sense. AK was set to open at 9am this morning. They opened 2 hours early?

And I agree with PP that the CM could get in big trouble for this. Maybe it was a misunderstanding?

 

[cakebaker]

This doesn't make any sense. AK was set to open at 9am this morning. They opened 2 hours early?

And I agree with PP that the CM could get in big trouble for this. Maybe it was a misunderstanding?

It has to be a misunderstanding. I can't believe these boards wouldn't be flooded with people complaining about showing up to rope drop only to find the park has been opened early without notice.

 

[SaintsManiac]

It has to be a misunderstanding. I can't believe these boards wouldn't be flooded with people complaining about showing up to rope drop only to find the park has been opened early without notice.

I was thinking the same thing. I don't see anything on Twitter or on here about it. You know people would be complaining!!

 

[Etch]

I’m sure it was just the standard “early opening” procedure that they’ve been doing at AK since Pandora opened.

The 7:00am was probably an exaggeration.

 

[LILJAN59]

I was thinking the same thing. I don't see anything on Twitter or on here about it. You know people would be complaining!!

Maybe my daughter was the only one who complained to guest relations, others thought it was just spring break!!!

 

[LILJAN59]

I’m sure it was just the standard “early opening” procedure that they’ve been doing at AK since Pandora opened.

The 7:00am was probably an exaggeration.

I did not know they were doing standard early openings for Pandora!!!!!!

 

[Gman76]

Great replies about what to expect on May 11th.

But - you know that attendance on April 3rd has very little to do with what happens a week later - right?

 

[WaterLinds]

I did not know they were doing standard early openings for Pandora!!!!!!

The usual advice here for rope dropping Pandora is to arrive quite early—it varies a bit, but an hour is often recommended to be near the front and at busier times it can be even earlier. They’ve been pretty consistent about leading the rope droppers back to Pandora early, although the exact timing can vary. People who stay to the front of the crowd are often able to get both rides done pretty close to actual park opening time.

By official park open the FOP line is frequently 1.5-2 hours long, that’s pretty typical even outside of spring break. Unfortunately arriving at 8:59 put your daughter way behind the crowd, some of whom probably were there at 7. (Maybe the CM was trying to tell her people were there that early, not that they opened the park that early?)

 

[LILJAN59]

I did not know they were doing standard early openings for Pandora!!!!!!

Well, my daughter was given 2 anytime FP’s for tomorrow!!!!

 

[mamapenguin]

Here now. It is for sure crowded, but I’ve been checking wait times leading up to our trip and knew to expect long waits for attractions. Tempering my expectations about what we can accomplish has helped me not get too frustrated. We tried the Play Disney app for the first time and found it to be really fun and it helped pass the time for my family while waiting in line (including 2 elementary school aged kids). I was hoping for 4th FPs, but have found DHS and AK to be “sold out” of anything other than shows as early as 11 or 12. I tried the refresh method and no dice.

Just know walkways will be crowded and lines will be long, but you can still have a great trip!

I did 8 on 3/28 between HS and MK, refresh is your friend. Even when MDE says they are all gone, try again.

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

Crowds? Let me tell you about crowds lol. We did Christmas week this past December and it was packed! But we had the best trip ever. For some strange reason, we love the crowds! All 4 of us! We were at Disney 3 days before and the week after Irma (see link in signature) and it was empty. Completely empty but .... we had a better time when it was crowded. I know, I bumped my head. Anyway, we have a trip booked for this month, April 20th - 28th. It's our very first Spring Break trip and I have a feeling it wont be as crowded as most spring break crowds. For some strange reason, our school district has our spring break really late. After the kids return they will go back to school for a whopping 18 days then it's summer break. really! I have no idea who did the calendar but they really need their head examined. OP, I wouldn't worry about the crowds so much because if you have your FP+, ADR's and a good touring plan you will be fine.

Here's something to help your stress lol Christmas week 2018. Dec. 27th to be exact in frontier land MK.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

I’ve been here this week and the crowds have been super light and manageable... again you can never tell because it’s each persons snap shot and what park their at.

Animal kingdom was awesome today.

I did:

Dinosaur
Flight of passage
Navi River
(Snacks at Pandora)
Tough to be a bug
Launch pad meet
Scrooge meet
Mickey meet
(Lunch at Harambe)
Expedition Everest x2
Kilimanjaro Safari x 3
Up show
Nemo show
Lion king show
Rivers of light

I couldn’t believe I got all of that done today it was my best day ever at AK

 

[melk]

I’ve been here this week and the crowds have been super light and manageable... again you can never tell because it’s each persons snap shot and what park their at.

Animal kingdom was awesome today.

I did:

Dinosaur
Flight of passage
Navi River
(Snacks at Pandora)
Tough to be a bug
Launch pad meet
Scrooge meet
Mickey meet
(Lunch at Harambe)
Expedition Everest x2
Kilimanjaro Safari x 3
Up show
Nemo show
Lion king show
Rivers of light

I couldn’t believe I got all of that done today it was my best day ever at AK

You picked the right park. MK was packed, absolutely brutal. However Epcot last night was very manageable.

 

[Darklord77]

We were there from the 22nd-27th and with the exception of our Epcot day the crowds were awful. It felt like peak summer to me. I know it’s technically spring break season but I thought the crowds would be pretty spread out over a month because everyone’s breaks are different.

Summer is the new Fall when it comes to Disney crowds. Since 2010 the least busy time in my opinion has been mid-July.

 

[serenitynow]

How could Disney know they were off-site guests waiting in line?

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