Anyone know why it's so busy right now?

I was at DHS yesterday and the crowds and wait times fluctuated immensely. The Rock n Roll coaster was down for the first hour but immediately went 65 min then before lunch went down to 30min and continued to fluctuate throughout the day.
 
The crowd calendars used to be more effective/accurate prior to Pandora opening in AK. All the algorithms and formulas based on historical information can only go so far when something new opens up. Couple that with Disney's recent model to reduce staffing on days they expect lower crowds (using data from how many folks are staying at resorts along with FP+ reservation data, and much more I'm sure and may include shutting down one of the 3 tracks for TSMM or one of the theaters for Soarin', for a couple of examples) to artificially drive up wait times even when the crowds are lower make it seem that the parks are more crowded.

I further expect the crowd calendars accuracy to go down over the next several years due to all the new attractions being planned for HS (especially TSL & SWL as well as a new Mickey & Minnie coaster ride replacing TGMR), as well as major additions to EPCOT and the Tron coaster and new theater planned for MK. I think the latest date for anything planned at the moment to be completed is still 2021. With the exception of Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas weeks which are already crowded, enjoy the crowd levels now because by 2021 you'll be looking back fondly at them.
 
Great post rpb. Crowd planning models tend to focus on wait times to predict crowds. With dynamic staffing and so much capacity dedicated to FP+, standby wait times no longer correlate as well to park attendance!
 


You are right about short staffed. 1 order station per 2 lines, then 1 person pulling food for 3 or 4 lines, it took 25 mins to get food at Columbia house on Wed. Terrible food too. Lobster roll was a disappointment after I read so much about it. Went to restaurantasouras on Thursday, even worse service. My salad was pathetic. Redeeming tho was that AK is an amazingly beautiful park, and we managed to ride FoP with FP, Everest twice, dinosaur, primeval whirl, safari. Want to go back tomorrow to ride river but the crowd calendar has me scared! We have a fp for fop again so at least going to do that again. I wasn't terriibly Impressed with the ride, and would never wait more than 30 mins for it. Still, we are having a wonderful time. I think there are many locals at EPCOT today for the farts (we have named festival of arts farts). Rode frozen today. Do not see what the big deal is, and again would not wait more than 20 mins for it. Rode thunder 3 times last night between 1015 and 11, and hoping the cold will scare everyone off after fireworks today! Wish me luck!
 
Also it's UDA/UCA College Nationals competition this weekend... many teams arrive to WDW on Thursday. I've been coming the past 3 years this weekend to watch our daughter dance it's always super busy this weekend.
 
You are right about short staffed. 1 order station per 2 lines, then 1 person pulling food for 3 or 4 lines, it took 25 mins to get food at Columbia house on Wed. Terrible food too. Lobster roll was a disappointment after I read so much about it. Went to restaurantasouras on Thursday, even worse service. My salad was pathetic. Redeeming tho was that AK is an amazingly beautiful park, and we managed to ride FoP with FP, Everest twice, dinosaur, primeval whirl, safari. Want to go back tomorrow to ride river but the crowd calendar has me scared! We have a fp for fop again so at least going to do that again. I wasn't terriibly Impressed with the ride, and would never wait more than 30 mins for it. Still, we are having a wonderful time. I think there are many locals at EPCOT today for the farts (we have named festival of arts farts). Rode frozen today. Do not see what the big deal is, and again would not wait more than 20 mins for it. Rode thunder 3 times last night between 1015 and 11, and hoping the cold will scare everyone off after fireworks today! Wish me luck!
Love the Farts name!!
 


We just got home today. It was definitely more crowded than I was anticipating for this time of year. But, it never bothered us using FP+ & a good plan.
 
I was just there this past week and found the crowds to be moderate. The only ride that my son wanted to do multiple times w/o FP that had a 70+ min wait was SM. Other than than we walked on to a lot of rides that people told us we had to have FP. I find the MDE app super helpful in figuring out when ride waits drop. The only park I truly found crowded was AK on Thursday 1/11, and we didn't even bother going to Pandora. There were tons of Brazilian tour groups and they would all just stop in the middle of somewhere while waiting/figuring out what to do next. It was annoying as all heck. Also, the Lion King theater area when a show lets out is insane. We all just sat in a corner until the crowds dispersed.
 
I further expect the crowd calendars accuracy to go down over the next several years due to all the new attractions being planned for HS (especially TSL & SWL as well as a new Mickey & Minnie coaster ride replacing TGMR), as well as major additions to EPCOT and the Tron coaster and new theater planned for MK. I think the latest date for anything planned at the moment to be completed is still 2021. With the exception of Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas weeks which are already crowded, enjoy the crowd levels now because by 2021 you'll be looking back fondly at them.

The thing is, though, when I booked a trip in 2015 I was worried that the crowds would be so completely out of hand that we would hardly be able to get on anything at all. It was mostly because of talk like this, here, on these boards -- I hadn't been to WDW since 2009 and I kept seeing thread after thread full of people talking about how insane the crowds are these days, how it's constantly getting worse, how we can only expect the crowd situation to get more and more miserable.

And then I went on the trip and honestly did not notice much difference between 2015 and the crowd levels I remembered from 2009. Yes, it's busy. No, we're not facing the crowdpocalypse. New attractions are always mobbed, but having all those new things will also draw people away from other parts of the parks -- and someday what's new now will be old and won't draw mad crowds anymore. It's the theme park circle of life.
 
And then I went on the trip and honestly did not notice much difference between 2015 and the crowd levels I remembered from 2009. Yes, it's busy.
Were you there in January 2009? We were, and crowds were truly low. No crowding ever outside of fireworks/MSEP time. We walked onto Soarin'. Never used a Fastpass and never dealt with waits. Late January was really a low crowd time, once upon a time, less than 10 years ago.
 
It's only going to get worse this summer and fall with the toy story projected opening.
 
2 years ago there was a hurricane predicted during our late August trip. Of course the prediction was wrong and weather was normal. But a ton of people moved their trip (I talked to boardwalks front desk about this and they told me about the cancellations). There was nobody there!

Mid-day waits were 45 minutes for Soarin, 75 for Tron Track, 60 for splash space or thunder, 40 for haunted mansion and pirates! 60 for Peter Pan! We got in line for Toy Story at 10:00 AM and it was a 45 minute wait! Safari at 40 minutes in the afternoon! At 8:30 we walked to the railing at the lake near China and had a spot for illuminations!

I kept walking around saying “there’s nobody here” and my husband was like “what do you mean, there’s people everywhere!” It’s all about expectations. Disney World is always crowded, a 2 crowd level means 40 minute waits. 10 years ago a 2 meant walk on. I remember going in October like 10 years ago and the fast pass machines weren’t turned on because you didn’t need FP for anything. Those days are over. The secret is out!
 
The hurricane this past Sept caused many to re-book. Many rebooked for fall and winter. Could be a factor also.
 
Were you there in January 2009? We were, and crowds were truly low. No crowding ever outside of fireworks/MSEP time. We walked onto Soarin'. Never used a Fastpass and never dealt with waits. Late January was really a low crowd time, once upon a time, less than 10 years ago.

I was there from September 2009 to January 2010 because I was there on the College Program, so I saw a variety of crowd levels (didn't see Christmas crowds firsthand because I was working long hours most of the holiday week and my work was backstage). I remember that I was able to do a four park day with pretty light crowds right before I shipped home in mid-January, but...yeah, no, I didn't think October 2015 was significantly worse than fall 2009.
 
I was looking at wait times yesterday and according to Touring Plans, AK was supposed to be a two. The waits were crazy and when I looked this morning, the actual crowds at AK yesterday turned out to be an 8! I would say that yes, it's busy due to the holiday weekend. But as others have said, I think WDW has just gotten to the point where it always feels crowded no matter the time of year. I don't think it's safe for anyone to go in expecting anything less than moderate crowds and hope doesn't turn out to be heavy crowds!

I agree - we have been going every August for the past 9 years and let me tell you - each year has gotten worse and worse with the crowds. The plus of going in August USED to be the low crowds (it kinda offset going in the blistering heat). But now we have high crowds with long wait times on rides (one day It's a Small World was 40 minutes o_O) partnered with the surface of the sun high heat.... it's made DH not want to go mack this August :worried:.


Yeah, I've been able to shrink my vacations to 3 nights or so thanks to smart use of FP+ at WDW/MaxPass at DLR and basically not having to wait in any lines except FP lines or lines for rides that don't have FP at DLR. We did 4 days at DLR (first trip ever) in September and we were basically done and ready to go home after 3 days. We only went into the park on day 4 because we had Halloween Party tickets, and that was something different to do. My upcoming trip to WDW is going to be 3 nights/3 days (2 full days and 2 half days due to travel). Since I'm only doing MK and AK (not enough at HS and EP to hold my interest right now), I'm thinking it might be too much as it is. But 2 nights just seemed like too little time for a 3 hour plane ride one-way.

We have scaled down or trips to 5 nights - it's more affordable and leaves you wanting more for the next trip!
 
Seriously though, is it normal to be wall to wall traffic in the parks? It blows my mind how busy is is on a wedneaday in mid january, and I'm kinda mad about planning with touring plans for an entire year and all plans went to the pooper. Weve still have a great time, done almoat wverything, but I am so tired of being run into. The only time u can walk without stopping every 3 inches is after fireworks. We've gone every night an hour til closing and rode thunder 3 to 4 times in a row. What s up with that? AK on Sunday was actually way less busy than today. Hollywood was ridiculous yesterday. Like the touring plans everyone followed were same as mine and the best parks turned to the worst parks. Blah
 
The hurricane this past Sept caused many to re-book. Many rebooked for fall and winter. Could be a factor also.

I don't mean to laugh at your post, but this cracks me up. The hurricaine effected one week at a slower time of year. And people have been using that theory for every busy week since. I personally don't think that is a factor anymore. More like Disney is heavily marketing the park, improved economy has people spending money & Disney has introduced new events to get people there at different times of the year (Festival of the Arts, sports & cheer competitions in the winter, spring & fall, expanded Food & Wine festival, holiday parties & how many runDisney events are there now??). Plus using data like fastpass & ADRs they can staff up or down more predictably & keep wait times pretty consistent year round.
 
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