Crowds are crazy !!!

[Ava]

Rosh Hashana & Yom Kippur are also moving holidays and a lot of people don't pay attention to them unless they are in a district that give them off. It is back to September this year but was in October last year so September crowds this year were pretty manageable at least from our 7 day experience with little crowds.

Oh yeah, the first two weeks of Oct last year were bonkers. We were closed on a Mon & Tues for Rosh Hashana, then the following week we were closed Mon for Columbus Day, open on Tues, then closed again on Wed for Yom Kippur. It was really tempting to take a vacation since we could've been gone for almost 2 weeks and only miss 4 school days.

 

[quhawk]

Yep...we just returned from a week trip, with 1 day for Universal. Wednesday was great after the MONSOON hit! Being from Seattle, it didn't bother us . But Monday and Tuesday we're supposedly 5's and 4's. Crazy! And yesterday MK's wi-fi went out, which shut down the FP+ app and kiosks.
But as someone mentioned above, there isn't really a quiet time at Disney anymore. We went into this trip with those expectations. But lumping our FP from 11-3, that let us go where a FP dictated, and we hit almost everthing, except for the days we didn't have a 7Dwarf one...

 

[eastendlights]

We've been here since Friday. We have been going these same two weeks for the last five years. I have never seen it this crowded during these weeks-not even close! It is as crowded as Easter week. We were supposed to have 3 and 4 level crowds with a few 5, 6 and 7 days. I am not going to lie, it has put a damper on our trip since we were not expecting it.

At least half if not more of the guests are Mardi Gras vacationers.

We are here another week so we are hoping crowds will lessen some. On the positive side, the food has been markedly better than the last couple of years everywhere so far. We had two really excellent dinners at BOG and CRT of all places! Since they are both more about the settings and atmosphere we always thought the meals were "good enough " but this trip they have really upped their game and it was a pleasant surprise.

 

[Accident]

We've been here since Friday. We have been going these same two weeks for the last five years. I have never seen it this crowded during these weeks-not even close! It is as crowded as Easter week. We were supposed to have 3 and 4 level crowds with a few 5, 6 and 7 days. I am not going to lie, it has put a damper on our trip since we were not expecting it.

At least half if not more of the guests are Mardi Gras vacationers.

it's also interesting what flower and garden opening week has become as well. I agree, it's been where is everyone coming from and why is there so many huge groups out so late that are competing/performing.

 

[anniemae]

Mardi Gras isn't a holiday for most of the country, but it's on most, if not all, Disney crowd calendars. If you don't look at them, which people don't, you may not be aware then, but it's not a big secret that people from that area head for WDW to escape from the Mardi Gras stuff.

I think people are aware of Mardi Gras but it just isn't in the front ofy mind, like Christmas, Thanksgiving or Easter.

FWIW, not ONLY Roman Catholics observe Lent. It is the term for the 40 days (minus Sundays) prior to Easter for the Christian calendar. I was raised United Methodist and am now Episcopalian and both denominations "do Lent".

That's wonderful. My religion does not and has never observed lent. My point was that not everyone is familiar with it. As I said, the only way I know it's lent is when folks start talking about it on FB.

 

[dreiwhit]

It's been a tad over a year since my last trip and I wouldn't mind being there for a few days!

Our last trip was three months ago. We all have the urge to go again, but its probably going to be a couple of years....

 

[SaintsManiac]

I go in expecting the highest crowds. I never expect anything less. We are going Thanksgiving week and you see people say it's the most INSANE week EVER and others say it's very manageable.

It's all subjective.

 

[tlmadden73]

I often wonder what people consider crowded?

If wait times are "long" (to them) . .is that crowded? That could just be a result of Disney not having the staff in the off-season and queues just getting longer. (Like, for example, do they always run ALL three tracks for TSMM or do they shut one down on what they consider a lower attendance day?). Lines at restaurants could be longer because less restaurants are open .. etc.

Or do people consider it crowded if it is hard to just walk to places? I find it crowded when the area around the carousel in Fantasyland is just wall-to-wall people.

Or do people consider it crowded if they can't get the Fast Passes they want?

 

[AZMermaid]

Or do people consider it crowded if it is hard to just walk to places? I find it crowded when the area around the carousel in Fantasyland is just wall-to-wall people.

For me it is this. We go to Disneyland every year and it is often wall to wall people- like squeezing through people to get places all day long. Even if the lines aren't awful- a few days of that is hard.

 

[DaisyJ]

ER, the area? Mardi Gras is the day before Ash Wednesday. It isn't a place. It's a splurge before the start of Lent.
Among the biggest celebrations worldwide: Rio; Cologne, Germany; Venice; Quebec City, Canada; and even Goa, India! Multiple cultures around the world celebrate more simply with a special donut, pancake or split pea soup. You can get donuts pretty much everywhere.

Where WDW is concerned, threads like this one pop up every year on Mardi Gras week.

I suspect crowd prediction sites overlook it ever year because the date varies year to year. The prediction sites use a flawed formula, which probably also explains why their Easter numbers are often low.

Crowds are also relative to cost. Many families are happy to make a trade off between cost/crowds, and how much school their kids will miss.

A February trip can easily cost $1,000's less than an Easter week trip. Folks on the DIS love to talk about search up low-crowd weeks, but that isn't good for WDW, the airlines, car rental companies, etc. All of these businesses prefer even crowds. Nowadays, all of the above are using better and better pricing algorithms to better accomplish that goal.

Mardi Gras is not a a blip on anyone's radar here, so I agree with the sentiment of you forget about it unless you're from the area where it is celebrated.

 

[rtbreneman]

All of these things mentioned above are why I do pay a little extra for a crowd calendar (among lots of other benefits) through a site like touring plans. They are not always 100% accurate, but they are pretty close, and there is at least a statistical science behind them. And they do their best to factor in all of these things like spring breaks for schools and holidays and everything else.

While it would be helpful to know how many people are in the park at any given time and how easy it might be to walk through Fantasyland, the best data is actual numbers - posted wait times, actual wait times, people through the turnstiles, etc. Yes, "crowded" is an extremely relative term to folks. But knowing if the wait for the Tea Cups is 5 minutes or 60 minutes is something that is measurable, and is a significant data point for me and others to refer to when planning a trip.

 

[susierat]

I was at Magic Kingdom on Tuesday 02/07 and the wait time for 7DMT was 150 minutes. Who thinks that it is a good idea to even get in a line that long? We went about 5 years ago the same week and crowds were pleasant. This trip was elbow to elbow the whole week no matter where we are. It was not our most enjoyable experience.

 

[tlmadden73]

I was at Magic Kingdom on Tuesday 02/07 and the wait time for 7DMT was 150 minutes. Who thinks that it is a good idea to even get in a line that long? We went about 5 years ago the same week and crowds were pleasant. This trip was elbow to elbow the whole week no matter where we are. It was not our most enjoyable experience.

That is what always gets me.

For a line to become 150 minutes means that when the line read 120 minutes MANY more people got in the line then got off the ride.
Who gets in a line that is 2 hours long when you have only about 12 hours in the park?

Though to answer my own question, I feel standby times aren't an exact science anymore. They just can't be because of Fast Passes.
Say 100 people have a Fast Pass.
There is a big difference in the standby wait times if all 100 people who have a FP between 10-11 show up at 10:30 then 33 showing up at 10:00, some showing up at 10:30 and some showing up at 11:00.

Plus consider the floating time schedules. Let's say 100 people have a 10-11 fast pass, 100 more have a 10:15 - 11:15 one, and 100 people have a 10:30 - 11:30 one. The Standby wait time would go up CONSIDERABLY if all 300 people show up at 10:30 rather than spread out.

 

[5DisneyNuts]

I heard it mentioned earlier and have seen this first hand. When a ride goes down and someone has a FP for it, that FP can be used on other rides or the broken down ride any time during the day (at least that is what happened in November, not sure if the policy has changed).
That completely throws off crowd management. FP lines spike and in some cases standby lines get shut down.

 

[flea1267]

I was there last week and it was crazy busy between the holiday and the 1/2 marathon, whoa!!!!

tlovesdis - I just wanted to say I'm dying over your picture with Jonathan Knight

 

[pens4821]

I was at Magic Kingdom on Tuesday 02/07 and the wait time for 7DMT was 150 minutes. Who thinks that it is a good idea to even get in a line that long? We went about 5 years ago the same week and crowds were pleasant. This trip was elbow to elbow the whole week no matter where we are. It was not our most enjoyable experience.

I'm curious, has anyone here gotten in a line that was around 2 hours (give or take)? Does it actually take that long? Or once the line gets long (say an hour and a half) do they inflate it to try to deter people? I'm like you, I guess I can't fathom a 2 hour plus wait, and that people would do it, and if it truly takes that long.

Not that it matters. I'm not getting in a line much over about 40ish minutes. An hour tops, depending on ride.

 

[100AcreWood]

Our last visit was October 2015. We really wanted to ride 7DMT. We could not get a FP. So we got in a line that said 130 minutes. It took a little over an hour. I think so many people got frustrated they started exiting the line.

 

[SaintsManiac]

1 hour is my limit and that is for only a few things.

 

[SwanVT2]

Was at Animal Kingdom today. Elbow to elbow. DD crashed by after lunch. We missed Lion King and are back at the hotel we saw safari, dealt with crowds to see gorillas, booked it to the bird show, ate lunch then that was it. Granted she is only 4, but the crowds took the wind out of all of us.

 

[SwanVT2]

Also every meal we have had reservations for the last 3 days has had people packed in the waiting area.