Anyone else concerned about the crowd increase?

[mrsxsparrow]

But Jersey Week should be the first full week of November (11/1 - 11/7), right? It's the second week showing HS at capacity during the weekdays.

Veteran's Day is Wednesday November 11th. It could be that.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I am but we are still going anyway. I will just be as careful as I can.

 

[lorileahb]

Veteran's Day is Wednesday November 11th. It could be that.

It is really only HS that is full all of the days - except for a few times (Halloween) that it may also be Magic Kingdom. I think HS is the biggest draw right now with ROR being so new before the shut down. Now that people can go, I think it will book almost every day soon. My opinion only.

 

[brockash]

So you did 4/5 of the biggest rides in the park before lunch. You may be off track some but you are in a horrible position especially if you stay all day and mix in short waits. Not everything is an hour.

Not the OP, but we've been here all week as well and while not everythings an hr., literally almost everything is at least 25-35 mins and many things are an hr. This week we found next to nothing had a "short wait;" so there was nothing to mix in.

 

[holden]

But Jersey Week should be the first full week of November (11/1 - 11/7), right? It's the second week showing HS at capacity during the weekdays.

Could be due to Veterans Day.

 

[Alpengeist04]

I usually don’t consider it crowded by the number of people in the park, but rather the length of the wait times for rides. So while the capacity and number of guests are lower right now, the wait times are not. So yes, I am concerned it will only get worse with the limited number of attractions open and reduced ride capacity.

 

[Pizzaman12]

We've been down here for a week. We are cautious but don't necessarily mind a crowd if they're properly distanced. Friday at MK was legit train wreck. The extended lines clogged up walkways. Additional wrinkles like the narrow walkway in between Small World and Peter Pan (due to Small World facade refurb) makes it tough to get around without hitting a logjam.

At HS today, I saw my 3rd separate position for the Slinky Dog line with the same posted wait. At one point I was on the app showing 70 mins for Slinky while standing by the marker for the end of the line at 40 mins.

There's just no consistency, which takes a bit of fun out of it. 75% of the time the ride estimates are accurate (or overstated). 25% of the time they're longer than stated. As previously stated, rope drop and last 2 hours are the only times I would rely on standing in line.

Foodservice choices are limited, with inconsistent hours.

At this point, my advice if you're someone who visits once every year or every other year, I'd wait. If you don't mind doing all the other things Disney has to offer when things just don't work out well (along with some extra planning here and there), then I see no issue in visiting.

 

[WEDinspired]

I think it is good news means we are getting back to normal. I hope they change the mask policy and make it a suggestion. Then WDW will start to see an increase in people going and they can start to bring back more offerings like fireworks.

Ummmm, that can’t happen. That won’t happen until the COVID 19 climate changes either by vaccination or some sort of mass immunity. Masks can NEVER be a suggestion. If Disney were to to do this then there would be the wild-west mentality in the parks. All of this would equal disaster for guests, park businesses, cast members, and the Disney Company. Not a good idea.

 

[crazy_for_the_dis]

Disney needs to make good on the warning about being asked to leave if you don’t follow mask compliance. The only instance I felt uneasy all week was in line for 45 minutes for EE behind a family who did not wear their masks until the load station, then took them completely off I.e. wore on their wrists in the air during the whole ride. We are on film during the ride, stick to your word Disney a nd ask people like these to leave. Because as they are yelling into the air during the ride, their aerosols are hitting my family sitting 2 cars back.

 

[MomOTwins]

I previously reported our MK experience, which left a lot to be desired because we waiting in long line after long line. Epcot we took a different approach. We did 4 rides all day by choice because after MK we did not want to spend all day in line again. We were on the bus at 10:10am and in the park around 10:25 on an 11am open day.

I rope dropped Frozen with one of my kids, while by DH and twins did Test Track. Both posted a wait time of 90 mins, but DH only waited half that for TT. Frozen was an hour and the ride queue was almost all in the sun and was brutal. After that we did three caballeros—took about 20 mins to get into the pyramid and then the line for the ride was only about 10mins. Then we gave up on rides for a bit and basically just milled around the WS eating and listening to the shows in the American outdoor theater while watching the app to see when Future World wait times would start to go down. At around 4pm the Soarin queue dropped to 25 mins so we went to ride it and the wait time was accurate. Then rode spaceship earth—10 mins. After that we had an amazing dinner at Teppan Edo that was the highlight of the day.

All in all we had a nice day but we enjoyed it by deliberately avoiding waiting in lines by doing the morning/evening sandwich strategy and skipping a lot of stuff we normally do. Which is why I really do have to emphasize the parks are better now for frequent visitors than first timers or people who want to do everything.

 

[WEDinspired]

I am not at all concerned. I was just there Sept 11th to the 26th. Yes, the parks were more crowded on weekends. During the week not so much. However, this is the reason why I am not concerned:

1) Walt Disney World is not playing when it comes to mask wearing. Wear it properly or you can leave! Each time I turnaround, Disney is placing more verbiage in their marketing and in the parks that masks are to be worn unless eating or drinking while stationary.

2) There are multiple cast members on the way in to the front gate watching and telling guests to mask up who are trying to sneak a little more time of fresh air before wearing a mask for the next 8 hours or just simply forgot to put it on (it happens).

3) Miles of markers. Well, maybe not a mile, just A LOT of markers signifying 6ft of space between your party and the next while standing in the queue.

4) Plexiglass in the queue lines where the lines wrap to give an extra layer of protection between guests.

5) Hand sanitizer before you get on the ride and spacing between parties on coasters or rides with multiple seats followed by more hand sanitizer when you get off the ride.

6) Actual soap and water stations in the parks and Disney Springs.

7) Scheduled sanitizing of rides every two hours.

I felt very safe at the parks regardless of crowd levels. Unfortunately, there were small instances where people feel special and need not follow the rules. Most of the time, the behavior was corrected by Cast Members. Some still slipped by. Let’s be real; people not wearing masks properly happens EVERYWHERE. People need to police themselves! Disney does a good job at reminding guests to follow the guidelines.

On a separate note: I recently visited an amusement park in my home state of PA. Knoebels in Elysburg, PA. I invite you to Google it. There was no one enforcing mask rules, hand sanitizer was spotty, cleaning of rides was sparse, no reservation system or crowd level control, people walking and eating, social distancing was not enforced. It was do as you please at your own level of comfort.

After being there one day, I was able to appreciate the steps that Walt Disney World had taken for my safety as well as other guests and cast members. Knoebels, not so much. However to be fair, Walt Disney World has the resources to implement changes and enforce them unlike Knoebels. My point is that even though crowd levels at WDW seem high, you better believe they are doing everything in their power to keep it safe!

 

[SPSRAS]

QUOTE="WEDinspired, post: 62399461, member: 494452"]
I am not at all concerned. I was just there Sept 11th to the 26th. Yes, the parks were more crowded on weekends. During the week not so much. However, this is the reason why I am not concerned:

1) Walt Disney World is not playing when it comes to mask wearing. Wear it properly or you can leave! Each time I turnaround, Disney is placing more verbiage in their marketing and in the parks that masks are to be worn unless eating or drinking while stationary.

2) There are multiple cast members on the way in to the front gate watching and telling guests to mask up who are trying to sneak a little more time of fresh air before wearing a mask for the next 8 hours or just simply forgot to put it on (it happens).

3) Miles of markers. Well, maybe not a mile, just A LOT of markers signifying 6ft of space between your party and the next while standing in the queue.

4) Plexiglass in the queue lines where the lines wrap to give an extra layer of protection between guests.

5) Hand sanitizer before you get on the ride and spacing between parties on coasters or rides with multiple seats followed by more hand sanitizer when you get off the ride.

6) Actual soap and water stations in the parks and Disney Springs.

7) Scheduled sanitizing of rides every two hours.

I felt very safe at the parks regardless of crowd levels. Unfortunately, there were small instances where people feel special and need not follow the rules. Most of the time, the behavior was corrected by Cast Members. Some still slipped by. Let’s be real; people not wearing masks properly happens EVERYWHERE. People need to police themselves! Disney does a good job at reminding guests to follow the guidelines.

On a separate note: I recently visited an amusement park in my home state of PA. Knoebels in Elysburg, PA. I invite you to Google it. There was no one enforcing mask rules, hand sanitizer was spotty, cleaning of rides was sparse, no reservation system or crowd level control, people walking and eating, social distancing was not enforced. It was do as you please at your own level of comfort.

After being there one day, I was able to appreciate the steps that Walt Disney World had taken for my safety as well as other guests and cast members. Knoebels, not so much. However to be fair, Walt Disney World has the resources to implement changes and enforce them unlike Knoebels. My point is that even though crowd levels at WDW seem high, you better believe they are doing everything in their power to keep it safe!
[/QUOTE]
We also visited our local theme park after returning from WDW and UO and the contrast was stark! The measures and enforcement of safety measures in Orlando is leaps and bounds ahead of most other places.

 

[dachsie]

interesting article about capacity

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifesty...QoyxiXUPUdSXrhFR6pvxTmDQ4Rhmh4wBNf5OK6RosQW2w

 

[yulilin3]

interesting article about capacity

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifesty...QoyxiXUPUdSXrhFR6pvxTmDQ4Rhmh4wBNf5OK6RosQW2w

yeah, people who have visited the parks in the past and think they were crowded/shoulder to shoulder seem to think that was 100% capacity but how many times really was it? not a lot, Magic Kingdom closes for capacity in some form on July 4th, for a couple of hours, and them Christmas Day and Nye again just for a couple of hours. The article is well thought out and explains, what many of us have been saying, that it feels more crowded than 25% because lack of shows, park hopping, additional gift shops and restaurants open.

 

[soniam]

yeah, people who have visited the parks in the past and think they were crowded/shoulder to shoulder seem to think that was 100% capacity but how many times really was it? not a lot, Magic Kingdom closes for capacity in some form on July 4th, for a couple of hours, and them Christmas Day and Nye again just for a couple of hours. The article is well thought out and explains, what many of us have been saying, that it feels more crowded than 25% because lack of shows, park hopping, additional gift shops and restaurants open.

Since I have been to the parks during some of the heaviest attendance times, ie Spring Break, NYE, and Thanksgiving, it will be interesting to see how this Thanksgiving compares to Thanksgiving 2018 and our July trip.

 

[stinkpickle]

I usually don’t consider it crowded by the number of people in the park, but rather the length of the wait times for rides. So while the capacity and number of guests are lower right now, the wait times are not. So yes, I am concerned it will only get worse with the limited number of attractions open and reduced ride capacity.

Same here.

 

[lorileahb]

I am not at all concerned. I was just there Sept 11th to the 26th. Yes, the parks were more crowded on weekends. During the week not so much. However, this is the reason why I am not concerned:

1) Walt Disney World is not playing when it comes to mask wearing. Wear it properly or you can leave! Each time I turnaround, Disney is placing more verbiage in their marketing and in the parks that masks are to be worn unless eating or drinking while stationary.

2) There are multiple cast members on the way in to the front gate watching and telling guests to mask up who are trying to sneak a little more time of fresh air before wearing a mask for the next 8 hours or just simply forgot to put it on (it happens).

3) Miles of markers. Well, maybe not a mile, just A LOT of markers signifying 6ft of space between your party and the next while standing in the queue.

4) Plexiglass in the queue lines where the lines wrap to give an extra layer of protection between guests.

5) Hand sanitizer before you get on the ride and spacing between parties on coasters or rides with multiple seats followed by more hand sanitizer when you get off the ride.

6) Actual soap and water stations in the parks and Disney Springs.

7) Scheduled sanitizing of rides every two hours.

I felt very safe at the parks regardless of crowd levels. Unfortunately, there were small instances where people feel special and need not follow the rules. Most of the time, the behavior was corrected by Cast Members. Some still slipped by. Let’s be real; people not wearing masks properly happens EVERYWHERE. People need to police themselves! Disney does a good job at reminding guests to follow the guidelines.

On a separate note: I recently visited an amusement park in my home state of PA. Knoebels in Elysburg, PA. I invite you to Google it. There was no one enforcing mask rules, hand sanitizer was spotty, cleaning of rides was sparse, no reservation system or crowd level control, people walking and eating, social distancing was not enforced. It was do as you please at your own level of comfort.

After being there one day, I was able to appreciate the steps that Walt Disney World had taken for my safety as well as other guests and cast members. Knoebels, not so much. However to be fair, Walt Disney World has the resources to implement changes and enforce them unlike Knoebels. My point is that even though crowd levels at WDW seem high, you better believe they are doing everything in their power to keep it safe!

We LOVE Knoebels - more of a fair atmosphere!!! But, I do love Disney, and so glad they are working hard to keep it safe!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Since I have been to the parks during some of the heaviest attendance times, ie Spring Break, NYE, and Thanksgiving, it will be interesting to see how this Thanksgiving compares to Thanksgiving 2018 and our July trip.

I'm am anxious to see for myself as well. We have been during some busy times too with some of the wait times being over two hours and Flights of Passage being 320 minutes.

 

[WDWOswald]

These reports about crowds and lines for attractions, food, and merchandise sound absolutely MISERABLE.

Myself, my wife, and my six year old son are planning a weeklong stay with six day tickets visiting each park once and Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom twice (November 30-December 7th).

We just want to have an escape and have some fun. We typically visit WDW twice a year but it has been almost two years since our last trip.

For those who have visited recently did you find yourself thinking "I wish I never came?"

 

[ellbellthomps]

It's going to be busy, but doable. I don't know you or your family dynamics, but it is possible to be able to do it normally.