Crowd levels right now?

[CindyPA]

We were at Epcot today and it was not busy at all... weather was really nice too! A good day for us!

 

[cakebaker]

I’m happy for everyone who had good luck. I can’t explain why ours wasn’t better. MK today was busy but crowds were well distributed - we had less than 20 minute wait on most rides and FP for mine train, PP, and BTMRR. Weather is great today - hot and humid of course but first day of the past 7 with no rain.

We were there the 2nd thru the 6th and found the parks to be fairly crowded in general, but the weather put a huge damper on our trip. We had been in May and my biggest disappointment was Fantasmic being cancelled due to rain. We had a dessert pkg booked then and rebooked for this trip. We were scheduled for Sunday and got rained out again. This trip allowed us to book again for Friday, and yup, that one got rained out as well. It rained nearly every day, mostly the evenings when we had events scheduled, so we were constantly dealing with cancelled events and rides closed due to storms. Nothing they can do about the weather and they were quick to refund with no issues, but it still had a huge impact on our experience. Like you, not our best trip.

 

[Toolulu22]

Was starting to get scared by some of the reports. Good to read these last few posts

I was there Saturday 7/27 through Thursday 8/1 and am on the side of that it was not that bad, light even at times. The times we went over to Epcot and DHS were very low crowds. MK and AK (and Typhoon Lagoon) were busy, but nothing like what I’ve seen during peak periods like this past February during President’s week when you couldn’t move around. We were able to get 4th FP when we tried.

What I realized is that WDW will never be how it was in the past. My husband and I discussed this several times in this trip- how we remember the times we could do rides over and over at the end of the day (Kali and BTMR) to name two because there was no one there and the CM wouldn’t make you do the whole queue. Now, the rides have lines up until the end of the day- even if the lines get shorter- there are more and more people in the parks. So, maybe in comparison to how the park crowds have been historically they feel much more crowded, but it is the new normal. We realized it this trip especially because it was relatively quiet and yet the ride lines remained fairly steady. Maybe they just need more rides.

 

[nerdyone]

We are in AK right now. Did FoP, everrest 3 times and now on Safari

 

[Kyhome]

I think it’s a lot of perspective and planning. We just left a four night stay, about our 15th visit in 12 years. We had a blast. Yes it was crowded but we planned and we know how to work the crowds. We have been at all times of the year-it is always crowded in our opinions. No real “low crowd” times anymore.

We did VAH Thursday night-having that with three FP prior was key for getting in all the big rides. Then we hit MK EMH Friday am (yes, minimal sleep but we love the MK EMH) and rode all of the mountains before 1pm. Hit Epcot for three hours in the evening and rode everything except TT (closed for rain) and Frozen. It was pouring rain so that had cleared out the crowds. Back to MK that night and got in Big Thunder, Splash and Pirates as walk on.

Saturday EMH at AK were great-we had a FP for FOP so rode everything else (some multiple times) in three hours.

Had great luck at the waterparks-TL one afternoon, again it rained and no crowds. All slides were a walk on. BB more crowded for a morning visit but it was sunny and perfect weather. Sunday night we went to HS from 6:00-9:00pm and got in all rides one time each (obviously three with FP).

We clearly focus on the rides and not the shows or characters (sad)-but we did Meet Mickey in MK with a FP. My point is that yes it’s crowded but we got in all we wanted to do. Plan, know you will get little sleep and possibly really wet if it rains to get the most productivity, and go with the flow. My boys are almost teens now and told us at the very end that this was the best Disney trip yet. Disney is still magical-if you allow it to be!

 

[HookPan]

usually the last week in August is pretty good with crowds. I have noticed that touring plans keeps creeping up their predictions. What was a week of 2/3 crowds is now 4/5.

 

[wgeo]

Just did a quick 3 day trip. Did Epcot on Sat 8/3 thought crowds were relatively light. Got in all the rides, managed to get a 4th FP for FEA and then moved it to an earlier time after about 15 minutes of refreshing. No real waits for any stores/food etc. Rain off and on was a slight annoyance but not too horrible. Incredibly easy to walk up 5 mins before Illuminations and find a spot.

Sunday 8/4 we did MK - were there from rope drop to close. We did get delayed going to MK because our bus broke down so we only showed up 5 mins before rope drop which was definitely not the plan but we were fine. Rode so many rides, managed to get a large number of extra FP - prob used 10 during the day. Thought HEA show was crowded but it didn't seem oppressive at all. Just one small afternoon rain shower that was very easy to wait out.

Did AK on Monday 8/5. It "seemed" more crowded than our other days but I always feel like that at AK. We showed up at 7:15 (pull into parking lot) for EMH. We were thru security and at the back of the Pandora line at 7:35. It moved continously and we were heading into preshow around 8:10ish. We had to leave early today so didn't try for extra FP, but I did move my FOP FP to a much earlier time slot after maybe 20 mins of refreshing. No real waits for food, weather was great.

 

[lacy1101]

Just did a quick 3 day trip. Did Epcot on Sat 8/3 thought crowds were relatively light. Got in all the rides, managed to get a 4th FP for FEA and then moved it to an earlier time after about 15 minutes of refreshing. No real waits for any stores/food etc. Rain off and on was a slight annoyance but not too horrible. Incredibly easy to walk up 5 mins before Illuminations and find a spot.

Sunday 8/4 we did MK - were there from rope drop to close. We did get delayed going to MK because our bus broke down so we only showed up 5 mins before rope drop which was definitely not the plan but we were fine. Rode so many rides, managed to get a large number of extra FP - prob used 10 during the day. Thought HEA show was crowded but it didn't seem oppressive at all. Just one small afternoon rain shower that was very easy to wait out.

Did AK on Monday 8/5. It "seemed" more crowded than our other days but I always feel like that at AK. We showed up at 7:15 (pull into parking lot) for EMH. We were thru security and at the back of the Pandora line at 7:35. It moved continously and we were heading into preshow around 8:10ish. We had to leave early today so didn't try for extra FP, but I did move my FOP FP to a much earlier time slot after maybe 20 mins of refreshing. No real waits for food, weather was great.

My daughter and I will be heading down for a quick 3-day trip on August 17th and our park plan mirrors your's lol! I really hadn't planned on trying to do FOP (no FP), but hearing your experience is making me wonder if we should. Do you happen to recall what the stand-by wait time was when you got in line, or when you finished the ride? A popular planning site says to expect a wait time of 103 min at 8:10 a.m.!

 

[wgeo]

My daughter and I will be heading down for a quick 3-day trip on August 17th and our park plan mirrors your's lol! I really hadn't planned on trying to do FOP (no FP), but hearing your experience is making me wonder if we should. Do you happen to recall what the stand-by wait time was when you got in line, or when you finished the ride? A popular planning site says to expect a wait time of 103 min at 8:10 a.m.!

I wanna say that when I last could see the sign when I was walking the que it said 75 min wait, and I think maybe when we got off it was 95 mins? This was for the early morning magic hours. Roughly we were off around 8:20ish give or take I think. If I had to do it again I'd make sure to be there a little closer to 7:00 for the 8 start.

 

[osufeth24]

After seeing some pics of HS and hearing about some ride times at MK, I was trying to figure why it seemed to crowded. Just saw on SportsCenter that the NBA junior global championships are going on at Disney. So that could explain some the crowds

 

[dachsie]

I found crowds to be very light at EP. AK and HS didn’t seem too bad either. Monday at MK was insane in Fantasyland. I left the park. I went over after EMM at TSL did my 7DMT FP and then left. I forego my other FPs. Yesterday at MK was fine tho. Biggest issue this trip was rain from that Tropical disturbance. I never got to see the Star Wars fireworks or Illuminations because of rain - I wasn’t going to stand in rain to watch as I was already wet and miserable. But then last nite I stopped into Banana Cabana and could see the fireworks from both going on so that helped.

 

[mco65]

I'm not sure if its an early versus late thing--we usually always go late July or early August--it was just insanely packed this year compared to previous trips we've taken--and the park hours just were on par for the crowd levels. During times this crowded, MK can be open from 7AM-11pm normally--sometimes even until midnight. This year it was 9-10 most days. Last summer Hollywood at longer evening hours on Friday--they closed about 9pm this year (and Hollywood was packed!), the summer before that Animal Kingdom had later evening hours--but they also closed by 9 or 10pm most nights too...

Hum... maybe early to mid July was better this year than late July. We were there 7/5-7/12 and it was crowded but not the kind of crowded you described.

 

[lacy1101]

I wanna say that when I last could see the sign when I was walking the que it said 75 min wait, and I think maybe when we got off it was 95 mins? This was for the early morning magic hours. Roughly we were off around 8:20ish give or take I think. If I had to do it again I'd make sure to be there a little closer to 7:00 for the 8 start.

Just to make sure I understand, were you there for EMH or EMM? If it was EMM, then my experience wouldn't be the same as your's I'm sure as I will be there for EMH.

 

[kydisneyfans]

Our son and daughter in law are there now.
They reported DHS to be fairly quiet upon arrival right after a storm yesterday, with crowds picking up as the day went on. They are at AK now and report it is swamped-they just sent a photo of a 4 hour wait at Pandora. I think they are pivoting away from AK and will be trying another park the rest of the day.

 

[ls1222]

Our son and daughter in law are there now.
They reported DHS to be fairly quiet upon arrival right after a storm yesterday, with crowds picking up as the day went on. They are at AK now and report it is swamped-they just sent a photo of a 4 hour wait at Pandora. I think they are pivoting away from AK and will be trying another park the rest of the day.

I was just looking at wait times (we leave for Disney on Saturday) all the parks look busy today

 

[radev104]

I was just looking at wait times (we leave for Disney on Saturday) all the parks look busy today

We arrive on Saturday but don't go to the parks until Monday. I keep checking wait times. I believe school starts down there next week so I'm guessing that's why the times are a little longer right now.

 

[ls1222]

We arrive on Saturday but don't go to the parks until Monday. I keep checking wait times. I believe school starts down there next week so I'm guessing that's why the times are a little longer right now.

Let’s hope!!! We start our park days on Sunday. That would make sense as to why the wait times are looking high.

 

[123SA]

Well the fast pass line for TSM right now is at least30 minutes according to CM. And my boys had to find a different men’s room because the line was too long on sunset Blvd at 11am. I would say that means it’s pretty crowded. More than I am used to anyway.

 

[nerdyone]

We did Blizzard Beach today and it was normal if not light crowds. Hardly waited for any slide more than 10 minutes.

It's currently raining at 3:40 pm but it should blow out in the next hour or so. We are going to Ohana at 5 and then to the MK at 7 for EMH. We have fast passes for the headliners so it should be a fun night.

I do have to say that my last trip in February, 2013 was completely different. Everything was a walk on during EMH and people were less rude. I will never understand people who take video of rides when you are told directly to not do it

 

[Bjkandma]

Schools start Monday August 12th. Last trips before school!!