Crowds REALLY large right now?

[Action City]

I have seen plenty of cast members, in fact, there are an influx right now that are being trained. I have seen groups of new CMs being given tours and CMs shadowing at attractions, resorts, restaurants, etc...

Training doesn't mean attractions are adequately staffed. Attractions are deliberately being understaffed and it reduces capacity, increasing wait times.

 

[Action City]

Almost none of the rides that we regularly walked on with no wait have been walk on since FP+. We have seen Small World at 20 to 30 minutes even when the parks did not seem crowded. Pre-FP+, I can never recall waiting more than 10 minutes for Small World, and it was usually walk on or 5 minutes.

Or Living with the Land! I was laughed at when I said we needed a FP+ for it, and then made them eat some crow when it was a 45 minute stand by wait when we arrived for our FP+.

 

[ktlm]

Or Living with the Land! I was laughed at when I said we needed a FP+ for it, and then made them eat some crow when it was a 45 minute stand by wait when we arrived for our FP+.

Kind of like when I laughed when the only 4th FP+ that came up was for Figment- but then when we walked over the wait was 30 minutes, so I went and grabbed the FP and we walked on 10 minutes later.

 

[Pkltm]

Historically, pro bowl didn't add to the park waits much at all. That doesn't mean it's not an issue this year, but in the past, you didn't really see a bump during pro bowl week.

This is only the second year the pro-bowl has been there, so historically how do we know how it has affected the crowd levels and wait times?

 

[Toad_Passenger]

Arrive at rope drop, and you can add 2-5 more attractions with zero or short waits. Little ones wake up early! We were there January 2, and arrived at 7:30 for an 8:00 opening. We all rode Peter Pan, Pooh, and a couple others with only a few minutes wait each before moving on to our FP later in the morning.

We experienced success like this on the Saturday of MLK weekend 1/13. By hitting rope drop we were already 3-4 rides in before we hit our first FP. We then used the "tap/modify/add" strategy on the app, and ended up using close to 10 FP that day to have a huge and successful day when standby wait times were pretty elevated.

I have noticed, though, that regardless of ride waiting times the walkways always seem more crowded than the used to. We were in MK on 3 different days during our trip and the ride times fluctuated, but the walkways always seemed crowded.

 

[hllb]

This is only the second year the pro-bowl has been there, so historically how do we know how it has affected the crowd levels and wait times?

Well, there wasn't a spike at all last year. I didn't realize that was the first year though.

 

[Klayfish]

This is only the second year the pro-bowl has been there, so historically how do we know how it has affected the crowd levels and wait times?

True, but the ProBowl hasn't drawn a "crowd" in Hawaii either. It's sort of a mockery (and I'm a huge NFL fan) at this point. I'm sure some people go specifically for it, but I don't think it's a must see thing. So while I agree there's no historical data for Orlando, I'd be surprised if it's anything more than a small blip on the radar.

 

[pigletto]

Training doesn't mean attractions are adequately staffed. Attractions are deliberately being understaffed and it reduces capacity, increasing wait times.

This is my first thought at well .If everything is running at low capacity because they weren’t expecting more people , even a slight uptick can feel terrible .

 

[Spencer Wright]

When I see a posted 35 minute wait right now (5pm) for Small World - on an off-peak month like this is - I can't help but wonder if we are doomed this July.

I'm going in August and try very hard to resist the urge to think it is doomed.

To say predicting crowd levels is now obsolete due to events and other factors may be a bit of a stretch. However there are a lot of reasons why crowds can be so high and low.

One year we were there the last week in June and MK was INSANE, as in a 90 minutes for Jungle Cruise. We went to MGM Studios (I will also call it MGM Studios) and it was empty, like we had to stop riding the roller coaster and tower of terror because we were getting nauseous.

There are so many factors, and increasingly so, that in my opinion making crowd predictions is either a dying, if not dead art.

 

[Roccosmom]

We've gone during the same week in January for the last 7 years and the crowds were definitely a LOT heavier this year than in the past. The ride lines were all a lot longer.

 

[GatorChris]

Almost none of the rides that we regularly walked on with no wait have been walk on since FP+. We have seen Small World at 20 to 30 minutes even when the parks did not seem crowded. Pre-FP+, I can never recall waiting more than 10 minutes for Small World, and it was usually walk on or 5 minutes.

That's my big problem with FP+, and part of the reason we haven't been back since 2012. I keep coming over to these boards as I want to return "home". But FP+ seems to be the same. Former walkons like Pirates are now long waits thanks to needlessly putting FP there.

 

[focusondisney]

My thoughts on the increased crowds:

-- Improving economy, more people are traveling. Or maybe the same people are traveling more. Or both. My DH and I are getting 4 trips out of our APs. And we live in Buffalo, NY. Even I can't believe how many times we're going this year.

-- Disney is trying hard to eliminate slow times. The Festival of the Arts at Epcot & Disney After Hours are new in the last 2 -3 years & are offered during the traditionally slow winter months. And yes, they are bringing people in. I planned a 3 night trip just for DAH. There are several other people on that thread that are planning trips just for DAH. I'm sure people are planning trips just because of the Art Festival too.

They have expanded the popular Food & Wine Festival & the Halloween parties right into the slow weeks around Labor Day. There are cheerleading competitions in January, February, April & May. And then we have Pop Warner in early December. If I remember right, the Flower & Garden Festival got extended a few years ago too.

-- Run Disney events in January, February, April & October are all really popular & bring in the crowds.

-- More schools on year round schedules with week or longer breaks in the fall & winter months so people can travel at different times.

-- Disney is letting other online travel sites market & book their rooms. They never did that years ago. You could only book thru Disney. So they are getting exposure to people who wouldn't necessarily go looking for a Disney vacation.

-- Every travel book & fan site has been advising going during the slow seasons for years. With Disney pushing more advanced planning on their website, I think people are doing more research than they used to. So I think more people are trying to plan for the slow season which makes it busier.

-- It has been an awfully cold winter so far, making more people think about taking a vacation.


And I agree poor staffing by Disney & fastpass plus actually make things seem more crowded.

 

[Nohal]

Go in January they said, it is a slow time they said. Well guess what they were wrong. This trip was booked to take the place of our cancelled September trip (due to hurricane). We thought it wouldn't be crowded as schools just went back after the holidays. Obviously people think nothing of taking kids out of school anymore even if they just went back from the holidays. I noticed many really small kids there, some looked no more than a few months old.

While I'm sure Festival of the Arts has drawn some people the crowds, as others have stated, in MK yesterday were just crazy. We cancelled our FP for Buzz as the FP line was really long. Hopped over to Epcot and got a FP for Soarin and then one for FEA.

Spoke to someone on the bus who was a Florida resident who was staying at ASSp and she said her room was $60 a night. Many offers for this time of year brings in more people.

There were also many tour groups. I think most of them were from Brazil. They were very well behaved but entered the lines as a group. When they entered a FP line you can be sure the standby times went up.

 

[ktlm]

That's my big problem with FP+, and part of the reason we haven't been back since 2012. I keep coming over to these boards as I want to return "home". But FP+ seems to be the same. Former walkons like Pirates are now long waits thanks to needlessly putting FP there.

I totally get it. We went in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016, but we cancelled our 2017 trip and really did not miss it that much. We do feel that FP+ has diminished our return for what we pay as it has substantially increased our wait times and substantially increased our stress level. I hear you on Pirates- I don't think we had ever waited on Pirates at WDW (certainly never more than 10 minutes- but I really can't remember it ever being more than 5 pre- FP+) and now without FP+ it is always a 20 or 30 minute wait, or more. If they could just move World Showcase to Disneyland, I don't think I would ever get DH to go back to WDW.

 

[Shanti]

When I see a posted 35 minute wait right now (5pm) for Small World - on an off-peak month like this is - I can't help but wonder if we are doomed this July.

Over two hours now for the 7 Dwarfs Mine Train.

Obviously we will use FastPass+ and book them 60 days out - but I read how quickly THEY get "sold out".

Sure - a lot don't ever get used and we can try throughout the day - but that's not my main concern.

Are the crowds REALLY that large? (Again, based on 35 minute wait for Small World - a very fast loading ride that despite being a classic really isn't a "must see". In January. On a Wednesday.)

(Maybe) related question, for veteran WDW goers - Did FastPass+ help or hurt overall? Our last trip was 5 or 6 years ago - again in July - and we never waited long for anything (thanks to FastPass as well as getting there are opening). I sure don't recall more than maybe a 5-10 minute wait for Small World. Even Splash Mountain - without FastPass - was maybe 45 minutes.

We went in late July two years ago, and crowds were quite low. You'll be fine. Summer is no longer the busiest season at WDW.

 

[tobikaye]

Training doesn't mean attractions are adequately staffed. Attractions are deliberately being understaffed and it reduces capacity, increasing wait times.

I have seen similar staffing at attractions now to June 2017.

I just know that there are way more people here right now and I am not talking based on wait times, but on maneuvering the crowds. I have had a harder time moving around crowds this week than I did in January 2017 or June 2017.

Early in the week there were a few BTGs, but since just a few smaller groups have been seen. There are a large number of big multigenerational families (10-20 per group) traveling together right now, as well, both domestic and international guests.

 

[Katedisneylover]

Is ProBowl this weekend not always a crowd factor, i know the site i use always says ProBowl makes its a heavy few days crowd wise and lists it as heavy crowd time

 

[hllb]

Is ProBowl this weekend not always a crowd factor, i know the site i use always says ProBowl makes its a heavy few days crowd wise and lists it as heavy crowd time

Yes, pro bowl is Sunday. What crowd calendar do you use?

 

[Happiest.Haunt_999]

It's because of the pro bowl. January never used to be bad this week historically, but that all changed last year. We were there and it was crazy until the Saturday of the ProBowl and then the crowds died off. Sadly we were only able to enjoy the Parks for our vacation one day w/o those crowds.

Oh well.

 

[Klayfish]

That's my big problem with FP+, and part of the reason we haven't been back since 2012. I keep coming over to these boards as I want to return "home". But FP+ seems to be the same. Former walkons like Pirates are now long waits thanks to needlessly putting FP there.

Maybe so, rides like PoTC and IASM are easy to get FP+ for just about any day, just about any time. So no reason to wait if they have a line. To me, that's "no harm, no foul".