stinkpickle
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2013
It's days like today that I check the lines app and re-convince myself, no matter how bad I want to visit, to stay away at this time of year. Yikes!
Holiday Crowds
- Thread starter stinkpickle
- Start date
thelittlemermaid2
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2014
Yikes indeed!
Dizjunkieee
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2015
Do let us know how you make out!!
Accident
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2015
will do but it's more to film things before they go away and try out a new fireworks spot to see what it'll be like before friday night. but it's opened until midnight and had a morning emh, 9pm fireworks, 9:30 projection show. I'm really crossing my fingers by 10:30 that it'll be like the old days where everyone just clears out that couldn't make it to midnight so with a little luck I may get some rides in somewhere.
Capo
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2009
To me, it seems that going over the holidays only makes sense if you want to soak in the atmosphere, look at some shops, wonder around, etc... Going with the mindset you're going to get a lot of rides in seems like setting yourself up for the failure.
I was there on Christmas day many years ago and while I do remember much of it fondly, I also remember the 3 hour wait on some key attractions.
I was there on Christmas day many years ago and while I do remember much of it fondly, I also remember the 3 hour wait on some key attractions.
andyman8
DIS Veteran and WDW Passholder
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2011
It's interesting. I've been here for a few days now, and this Xmas/NYE week seems less crowded than past years. That's not to say the crowds are light or even average or that lines aren't insanely long, but to me, for whatever reason, it just feels like I have more space when walking around, can get FPs that would have been all gone by that point in the day last year, and can get on some rides without having to wait hours. Again, it's still unbelievably crowded (Soarin' climbed to a 180 minute wait today) but just slightly lighter it seems.
I think you can still get quite a bit done even during these busiest days of the year. That said, I wouldn't recommend a first-time visitor visiting during this week unless they had absolutely no other choice, but you can get a fair amount done; it just take more energy and effort than it would during a slower time of the year. Ultimately, if you get to the parks early, you can still hit many of the headliners. If you make your FP+s for later in the day, then you can also get on rides then too. In the meantime, you can see some shows, enjoy the holiday decor, shop, and eat. You definitely do want to manage your expectations, but I do think it's possible to still have a mostly typical WDW vacation during this period, although one that requires more effort and patience.
For me, I go in with an even more managed mindset. Honestly, I haven't woken up early at all this week. Instead, I get to the parks around noon or so, use my FP+s that I booked at home, use single rider queues, enjoy the holiday decorations, look for 4th FP+s or try to catch cancelations, shop, eat, and make a point of seeing all the holiday entertainment. That said, crowds don't really bother me. For me, because I'm lucky enough to visit multiple other times during the year, I only hit my favorite rides and try to spend the majority of my time seeing the holiday offerings, but in past years during this period, I've toured the parks with individuals who wanted to focus more heavily on attractions, so I've done it that way. I agree that it's all about managing expectations, but I also think a lot can be done during this festive (albeit crowded) time of the year with a little bit of strategic thinking and planning.
To me, it seems that going over the holidays only makes sense if you want to soak in the atmosphere, look at some shops, wonder around, etc... Going with the mindset you're going to get a lot of rides in seems like setting yourself up for the failure.
I was there on Christmas day many years ago and while I do remember much of it fondly, I also remember the 3 hour wait on some key attractions.
I think you can still get quite a bit done even during these busiest days of the year. That said, I wouldn't recommend a first-time visitor visiting during this week unless they had absolutely no other choice, but you can get a fair amount done; it just take more energy and effort than it would during a slower time of the year. Ultimately, if you get to the parks early, you can still hit many of the headliners. If you make your FP+s for later in the day, then you can also get on rides then too. In the meantime, you can see some shows, enjoy the holiday decor, shop, and eat. You definitely do want to manage your expectations, but I do think it's possible to still have a mostly typical WDW vacation during this period, although one that requires more effort and patience.
For me, I go in with an even more managed mindset. Honestly, I haven't woken up early at all this week. Instead, I get to the parks around noon or so, use my FP+s that I booked at home, use single rider queues, enjoy the holiday decorations, look for 4th FP+s or try to catch cancelations, shop, eat, and make a point of seeing all the holiday entertainment. That said, crowds don't really bother me. For me, because I'm lucky enough to visit multiple other times during the year, I only hit my favorite rides and try to spend the majority of my time seeing the holiday offerings, but in past years during this period, I've toured the parks with individuals who wanted to focus more heavily on attractions, so I've done it that way. I agree that it's all about managing expectations, but I also think a lot can be done during this festive (albeit crowded) time of the year with a little bit of strategic thinking and planning.
Accident
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2015
I noticed a few things..
1: the place felt packed in areas and not so crowded in others.
2: without MSEP, the back of the park stays pretty crowded which helped spread out everyone so it wasn't the parade route + hub + main street chaos. rides that should have been walk on by that time had lines longer than the time left before fireworks.
3: you can tell there is budget cuts, about 1/2 the staff I would expect to be out and directing people around.
4: nobody was asking everyone in the hub to stand so it was really packed by peopel taking up the space of 3 people on the ground.
5: all the overflow it's crowded food service locations were opened like terrace (I didnt' check adventureland).
6: starbucks was weirdly empty
7: ice cream was the new starbucks. it was also hot and humid which caught me off guard as my house not that far away wasn't humid like that.
8: 15 minutes before fireworks, the crowd int he streets all pushed to main street and hub
9: after fireworks it never really came back but the ride lines stayed crazy long.
10: as I got out of there before project show finished, I had an easy walk down main street as the massive crowd of park hoppers showed up as MK was still opened for 2 more hours so I think it was a good choice I left, many rides had lines longer than time left opened so it was literally a pick 1 ride and that's all you had time for night.
11: they opened the bypass (first time without a party all year that I saw and I saw some crowds they should have opened it for).
cool changes:
1: they made good use of ropes around the outside security area. they are really testing out techniques to better move people around (only took 40 years). Little things like everyone staying left and not right because left is where oyu needed to be when you got where you were going and right you needed to cross. It was smooth and fast.
2: they didn't need more security than the center, but they did a cool thing with a rope walkway on the inside of security to funnel people from buses directly to the tables where ferry and monorail came in the other side. It really worked well and was efficient and quick.
3: I think they were testing out some ideas of what flow would be like when they move security and finally really trying to improve that experience to make it quick and painless.. much better than any other day previous to this.
thoughts: no night parade and fireworks before projection keeps everyone spread out so it's not sardines in the front half of the park and crickets in the back. families were still getting in line for the younger target audience attractions and there were some pretty long lines.
walking around was slow, riding anything was slow, getting food was slow, seeing past the crowd to take the place in was eh.. there was pockets of comfort all over.. interesting what a packed crowd looks like when you reduce the night entertainment and order of the night shows. I guess many don't like projections, they just had to be in the hub for their spot for fireworks after it. with fireworks first, people cleared out of the hub and left earlier than I expected..
the short.. it's stupid crowded, but new crowd spread out. you might get a ride per 90 minutes and that doens't sound fun to me.. great time to people watch!
1: the place felt packed in areas and not so crowded in others.
2: without MSEP, the back of the park stays pretty crowded which helped spread out everyone so it wasn't the parade route + hub + main street chaos. rides that should have been walk on by that time had lines longer than the time left before fireworks.
3: you can tell there is budget cuts, about 1/2 the staff I would expect to be out and directing people around.
4: nobody was asking everyone in the hub to stand so it was really packed by peopel taking up the space of 3 people on the ground.
5: all the overflow it's crowded food service locations were opened like terrace (I didnt' check adventureland).
6: starbucks was weirdly empty
7: ice cream was the new starbucks. it was also hot and humid which caught me off guard as my house not that far away wasn't humid like that.
8: 15 minutes before fireworks, the crowd int he streets all pushed to main street and hub
9: after fireworks it never really came back but the ride lines stayed crazy long.
10: as I got out of there before project show finished, I had an easy walk down main street as the massive crowd of park hoppers showed up as MK was still opened for 2 more hours so I think it was a good choice I left, many rides had lines longer than time left opened so it was literally a pick 1 ride and that's all you had time for night.
11: they opened the bypass (first time without a party all year that I saw and I saw some crowds they should have opened it for).
cool changes:
1: they made good use of ropes around the outside security area. they are really testing out techniques to better move people around (only took 40 years). Little things like everyone staying left and not right because left is where oyu needed to be when you got where you were going and right you needed to cross. It was smooth and fast.
2: they didn't need more security than the center, but they did a cool thing with a rope walkway on the inside of security to funnel people from buses directly to the tables where ferry and monorail came in the other side. It really worked well and was efficient and quick.
3: I think they were testing out some ideas of what flow would be like when they move security and finally really trying to improve that experience to make it quick and painless.. much better than any other day previous to this.
thoughts: no night parade and fireworks before projection keeps everyone spread out so it's not sardines in the front half of the park and crickets in the back. families were still getting in line for the younger target audience attractions and there were some pretty long lines.
walking around was slow, riding anything was slow, getting food was slow, seeing past the crowd to take the place in was eh.. there was pockets of comfort all over.. interesting what a packed crowd looks like when you reduce the night entertainment and order of the night shows. I guess many don't like projections, they just had to be in the hub for their spot for fireworks after it. with fireworks first, people cleared out of the hub and left earlier than I expected..
the short.. it's stupid crowded, but new crowd spread out. you might get a ride per 90 minutes and that doens't sound fun to me.. great time to people watch!
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