Here now and OMG ITS CROWDED!

[HayGan]

HayGan-Just got back a month ago from my 5th cruise....which boat are you going on? I have been on Wonder, Magic, and just cruised for 7 days on the Fantasy this recent trip.

Make sure you use the "post-cruise list" for packing when you go. Cabins and drawer space can be tight if you are several in one cabin! Have an awesome time!

We're actually cruising on Royal Caribbean out of Tampa. Since it is our first cruise we wanted a 5 night that didn't go to the Bahamas. I'm strongly considering a Disney cruise for next June. Depends on price and how much we like this one in December.

Thanks for the tip on packing. I way overpacked for our current trip. Didn't account for all the stuff I would be bringing home as well (especially all these darn popcorn buckets (haha!)

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[AmyB2006]

We're actually cruising on Royal Caribbean out of Tampa. Since it is our first cruise we wanted a 5 night that didn't go to the Bahamas. I'm strongly considering a Disney cruise for next June. Depends on price and how much we like this one in December.

Thanks for the tip on packing. I way overpacked for our current trip. Didn't account for all the stuff I would be bringing home as well (especially all these darn popcorn buckets (haha!)

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Your first cruise??!! You are going to love it!! That is my fave method of vacationing. Other than WDW of course. LOL Which RC ship?

 

[HayGan]

Your first cruise??!! You are going to love it!! That is my fave method of vacationing. Other than WDW of course. LOL Which RC ship?

We are sailing on the Brilliance of the Seas out of Tampa. There are 6 of us (me, my boys, my mom, my ex & his mom). It is the first cruise for all but one of us. We are all pretty excited!

I have to comment again on the crowds this week. They were definitely bigger than the week before but honestly I think that the heat played a good part of people's tolerance (or intolerance) of the crowd levels. I know it kind of made my family less tolerant of wait times and people being around in general.

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[AmyB2006]

We are sailing on the Brilliance of the Seas out of Tampa. There are 6 of us (me, my boys, my mom, my ex & his mom). It is the first cruise for all but one of us. We are all pretty excited!

I have to comment again on the crowds this week. They were definitely bigger than the week before but honestly I think that the heat played a good part of people's tolerance (or intolerance) of the crowd levels. I know it kind of made my family less tolerant of wait times and people being around in general.

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You are going to love it!!! I'm jealous anytime I hear of someone going on a cruise. I'm one of those people that wish we could stay on the ship for 2 weeks back to back like some do. My DH is ready to go home though. :/

I know heat definitely makes me less tolerant of crowds. I can't do summer. I just can't. I'm so used to going in October and December with nice weather and like no people, I couldn't imagine going in summer. If I go in December and have to wait longer than 20 mintues for anything, I'm like nope... we'll come back LOL.

 

[Doug7856]

This is only my opinion:

Over the past 6 to 7 years, Disney has not increased capacity much at the Walt Disney World Parks. During the severe economic downturn, it was a bit less noticeable. Now that the economy is registering a heartbeat of sorts, even a slight increase in crowds appears severe. Hopefully Disney reacts positively to increase capacity soon. (By capacity I mean additional rides.)

 

[bigtony777]

This is only my opinion:

Over the past 6 to 7 years, Disney has not increased capacity much at the Walt Disney World Parks. During the severe economic downturn, it was a bit less noticeable. Now that the economy is registering a heartbeat of sorts, even a slight increase in crowds appears severe. Hopefully Disney reacts positively to increase capacity soon. (By capacity I mean additional rides.)

We just talked about this with our trip earlier this month. I think we got spoiled several years ago when the crowd levels were low. Disney stated a 20% increase in park attendance for the 2012 year. I can definitely notice the difference.

 

[DMKEDM]

we are here now, too...arrived Wed 6/12 (the day the computer system was down...THAT was a nightmare! We didn't get keys to our villa til the next morning (they gave us a temp key that they said would work only once when we arrived at 1 p.m. Then they sent us to an already-occupied room. Then they sent us to another room, this time w/a temp key that would supposedly work til midnight. All this between Carriage House and Carousel in 93-degree humid heat...we were NOT happy...not much in the way of apology either...just LOTS "We know nothing; computer is down." You've never seen so many unhappy people, since no one at any resort could get checked in "for real.")

Anyway, I digress--we haven't found the crowds to be out of the ordinary at all...yes, there are people...by mid-afternoon lines at the marquis attractions (Toy Story, Space Mountain, Soarin, Expedition Everestt, etc.) were 55 to 75 minutes...but around 30-40 minutes til noon or so...FPs "sold out" by late in the afternoon, but we haven't had to arrive at park opening to get fast passes...

All sorts of confusion at entry points since not all gates accept both new and old ticket media and there's no real way to tell "from the back of the line" which lines have the new ticket machines and which ones have the old ones...

LOTS of CMs standing around stopping people to do long surveys that at the very end ask for personal identification info...including phone numbers & address...not very happy about that the first time it happened and wound up declining to do any further surveys after spending 10 minutes doing one and then being asked for personal info at the very end...

VERY hot, but that's to be expected in June in FL...

Buses running very well. No wait longer than 10 minutes and most less than 5. We're staying at Saratoga Springs and have been to all 4 parks multiple times and at various points during the day/evening...

No trouble at all w/dining...walked in to Nine Dragons at Epcot (dinner) and to Sanaa (lunch) at AKV...had reservations that started on time or early at Narcoosee's, Wolfgang Puck Cafe and Ragland Road (all made within the last 3 weeks, which is when I booked this trip)...wonderful food and service in all 5 places...

Really rocky start on Wed...nothing was working, the CMs didn't know anything, and everyone was (at least) disgruntled. Not good, Disney!

Went over to the preview center to see the model studio and 1-BR for VGF...GORGEOUS!!!!! Really beautiful. And a nicely done event, too...

Pools quite crowded...and had a not-so-pleasant experience at the Paddock Pool yesterday morning (we're in Carousel, which--as it turns out--is no further from Carriage House than Congress Park...you just walk the equivalent of one villa building to the Paddock Pool, then across the bridge "behind" the pool, across one Springs Villa building and voila, you're there...of course, you CAN walk what seems to be miles & miles if you're like me and get turned around in the dark and wind up walking in circles...but that's just me being "directionally challenged!'"

Anyway...my not so pleasant pool experience: I swim (sort of laps) for an hour each morning for exercise, usually around 6 a.m. Yesterday, at 6:50 (10 minutes before I was due to get out of the pool) a uniformed Disney Security guard told me, while I was swimming, that there was no lifeguard at the pool (duh...that was completely obvious)...I replied (while swimming), "I know." He said..."be very careful." I said, "10 minutes to go" and there he stood, watching me, for the next 9 minutes...creepy...for years and years and years (decades!) I've swum in Disney pools pre-dawn...first time I've ever been "questioned" (he did not "order me out" (or even suggest that I leave)...just stood watching me...just plain creepy...

So, between the "disaster" of arriving on a day when Disney IT was at its usual rotten level of performance, the creepy early-morning pool encounter, and a couple of other IT-related "challenges," this has not been my best-ever Disney trip...but it's still been more good than bad and I haven't noticed crowds heavier than usual for this time of year...

 

[rlduvall]

My DS13 and I were there from 06/01 - 06/11 and I totally agree with everyone who said it was so crowded. We have been going during this timeframe since 2008 and this was the busiest EVER. I was shocked at some of the wait times barely 10 minutes into park opening. And the weather was not the best due to Tropical Depression Andrea, but that's not Disney's fault. All of this, including having a 'teenager' [parents, you know what I am talking about], culminated into not the best vacation ever.

I think it's great if other posters didn't notice, didn't see and didn't mind it, but it was very noticeable to us. Since 2008, the morning we go to the airport to return home we always eat at the Denny's on 192. I have never seen traffic backed up on 192 as much as I did that morning.

Of course, my DS is getting older, but honestly, this was our least magical trip yet and I was so ready to come home. It might be time to make WDW a semi-annual family trip.

 

[ABE4DISNEY]

We just got back last night and this was our fourth early June trip. Yes, it was much more crowded than the previous trips. MK was really the nightmare. We were there on three different days(2 of which were best park recommendation days by Josh) and the crowds were the biggest I have ever personally seen. ( 20 trips probably) We still had a fantastic time because we just focused on the stuff we could do. Also, we did some of those personalized games, like the pirate adventure and Sorcerer card game. My kids loved those!

One big observation that I had was that people seemed to be more educated on the idea of rope drop. If you got there 30-40 minutes before rope drop, you were too late. It was already crazy crowded! If these crowd levels continue, you will want to arrive at least an hour before official opening times to be in decent shape.

 

[CMOORE185]

We just got back last night and this was our fourth early June trip. Yes, it was much more crowded than the previous trips. MK was really the nightmare. We were there on three different days(2 of which were best park recommendation days by Josh) and the crowds were the biggest I have ever personally seen. ( 20 trips probably) We still had a fantastic time because we just focused on the stuff we could do. Also, we did some of those personalized games, like the pirate adventure and Sorcerer card game. My kids loved those!

One big observation that I had was that people seemed to be more educated on the idea of rope drop. If you got there 30-40 minutes before rope drop, you were too late. It was already crazy crowded! If these crowd levels continue, you will want to arrive at least an hour before official opening times to be in decent shape.

Great point on the rope drop, I was shocked at how crowded it got.

 

[mom of princessx2]

One big observation that I had was that people seemed to be more educated on the idea of rope drop. If you got there 30-40 minutes before rope drop, you were too late. It was already crazy crowded! If these crowd levels continue, you will want to arrive at least an hour before official opening times to be in decent shape.

I say we all go to the Theme Park board and say how much rope drop is over rated and you can easily do all you want if you arrive later. Besides you should sleep in a bit because, after all, you are on vacation!
Just kidding, but I think this is probably a huge reason it is or seems busier. Most people I know do rope drop and if they don't they become the Disney haters that will never go back.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

One big observation that I had was that people seemed to be more educated on the idea of rope drop..

Well, over the years people on these boards asked for tips, advice etc. on how to best do Disney, perhaps we should have kept all of it to ourselves! But it's clear that economic recovery is at the root of this huge influx, because realistically nothing else has happened to cause it! Quite the opposite, ticket prices are up, FL resident ticket deals are near to non existent and yet people are coming in droves! Park peak time will be spent at the resort, the outlet mall etc.

By the way Universal is even worse, we went last week before passes expired (we aren't renewing them) and it was the worse I've ever seen!

 

[El&Asmom]

I also wonder how much the new Fantasyland has affected crowds and people wanting to see "the new land". We were there this past Jan over MLK. We have been this week 4 times over the last 6 years. Typically, after Monday, the crowds drop to almost nothing. Not this year. We waited 1.5 hours for the Safari ride at AK, and the same for BTMR one evening. We have never seen crowds like that at that time of year. The not to be named tour groups don't help anything in January either.


We're pulling the kids out of school for a late Sept trip for the first time since dd, who is going into 5th grade, was 5. It's worth it to get the low crowd levels with warm weather. January is nice, but I like heat and hate the potential for cold weather then. I'm hoping that Sept doesn't follow in January's footsteps as far as crowds go though I'm sure it's nothing like summer crowds.

 

[Candace]

*

 

[myxdvz]

We were there from 6/4 - 6/10 and this was the first time we've been there at this time (last time we were there was the week before, week of Memorial Day). Since I have nothing to compare to, except maybe Disneyland in the summer - I didn't think it was TOO crowded.

We arrived at DHS for a lunch appointment at H&V on 6/4, and not too may people behind us on our Sorcerer Hat photos. We were still able to get TSMM FPs after lunch (though return time was 9:05pm!), whereas before, they always run out before we get there. Because of the rains, at night, ToT were 10 mins.

In Epcot, again very few crowd. Character Spots were walk on, although TT and Soarin were both high waiting times. Our first day at Epcot (we got there past noon), all FPs have been distributed, so we focused on characters and Countries (we did the Phineas and Ferb). Our 2nd day at Epcot, we got our FPs at 9am (walked from BCV to get FPs), return times were 12:50pm which was just right for us since we're checking out of BCV and switching to BVW that day.

We were able to ride all rides we wanted (all photo rides, for our Photopass Plus) except maybe BTMR, which we could have on our last day, but we did the Sorcerer and Pirates adventure instead. We also were not able to do Merida's M&G because the lines were always insane. We were able to do Enchanted Tales and that was probably the longest line we did (50 mins!).

The week we went on was probably the latest we'll do in the summer though. Points are still low, and crowds are manageable, IMO.

We're coming back in November, and I think the crowd levels are a tad higher than this week. We are also there the 1st week of December where crowd levels are REALLY low, but we are travelling with DB's family and they want to do Universal.

 

[FLmomof2]

We just got home yesterday

The crowds all week were crazy EXCEPT for Saturday 6/15. We got magic kingdom at rope drop expecting it to be like the rest of the week but were so happy when we got to do almost every ride with little to no wait. BTM we walked on twice and that was after doing Fantasyland.

I will say the crowds started to pick up a little when we were leaving around 1:30 but all in all it was a GREAT day! Great way to end our vacation!

We have been thinking of pulling the kids out of school next year for a trip since usually we go the first week of June and everyone says it was just as crowded.

 

[mickeysbestfriend]

is that the South American contingent rolled in later than normal this year. They tend to be large groups and all come at the same time. I was in Epcot Saturday and to be honest, it wasn't crowded at all, but a deluge had just moved through and maybe that was the reason.

We usually come October-February and it used to be slow then, but I honestly don't think there is a slow time anymore. With the cheerleaders, sporting teams, dancers, singing groups etc. coming down they have pretty much eliminated them.

 

[mickeysbestfriend]

Hot! but not as humid as August...we go for my birthday almost every year. Temps average mid 80's during the day and around 70 at night.

 

[DeeCee735]

Quality of food has gone down and dining plan gets more and more pricy too!

We use the TIW card, not the DP. I do agree the quality of the food has gone down and it's quite disappointing. Unless we eat at the high end signature restaurants, we are definitely not guaranteed an excellent meal

 

[starbird]

Speaking of the large Brazilian groups...

I have noticed them in the past, but didn't notice them this past week. I did, however, notice what appeared to be Disney CMs in green polo shirts (with the Brazilian flag) and hats on several occasions. Anyone know if they were for the groups or not?

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