Just returned from an 8-day trip (Sat, 1/13 - Sun, 1/21) and this was by far the most crowded we've ever seen the parks. Granted, the last time we visited was almost 5 years ago (late April 2013) and we've heard that the crowds have really ramped up since then, but we still couldn't believe how much busier they actually were. I've always used touringplans as my main crowd calendar guide but have also always checked other sites to make sure I'm getting a consensus crowd estimate. I've only scheduled trips on weeks where crowds are projected to be a 6 or lower (with most days 3's, 4's or 5's). The last few trips I booked had similar projected numbers at the time (late April 2013, late February 2012, early December 2010 & late April 2009). All days were projected 3's, 4's, 5's or 6's. Based on what we saw this past week, projections were either way off or a "5" doesn't mean what it used to mean.
Arriving on Saturday, we knew to expect huge crowds for MLK weekend. So we avoided the parks on Sat. Visited Disney Springs instead, which was a madhouse as both the lime & orange garages were marked "full" (we managed to find a spot). Ate at The Polite Pig - which was about a 25 min wait to place an order at the counter - HIGHLY RECOMMEND this restaurant. Great food, excellent service.
We knew Sunday and Monday would still be very crowded with MLK holiday crowds, so we decided to do Universal these days as our daughter (10) is a huge Harry Potter fan who read all 7 books over the past year. We were absolutely blown away by Diagon Alley (the last time we were there, only Hogsmeade existed). The theming/detail is simply amazing. It was very crowded, but again, we expected it.
Tuesday, 1/16 is when all the websites were projecting the crowds to start thinning out from the holiday weekend. Well, we visited MK this day, arriving about 20 minutes before park opening with the naive intention of riding 7DMR first thing. Castle show, follow the mob to 7DMR, wait is 100 min at park opening. No biggie - I've read enough here to know that was a possibility. What did surprise me was that EVERY ride had a long wait (not just the headliners). I realize this is due to the newer FP+ model (as well as Splash being down), but it was still a bit of a shock for someone who hasn't been in several years. 45 min for Pirates? We've never waited more than 10-15 min for Pirates! 75 min for Jungle Cruise, 70 min for Haunted Mansion, 30 min for the People Mover?!? But it wasn't so much the waits as it was the crowds - MK just FELT packed to the gills. If the Hub/Main Street for the 8PM Fireworks show was a "6", I shudder at the thought of a "10". The only way the crowds could've been more congested is if people stood on each other's heads. So after the Fireworks show (which is AMAZING), we decided to hang back an hour to avoid the mass exodus out of the park. Got to see them open up the "backstage" area for a crowd-control exit. An hour after park closing the wait for the Ferry/monorail was still 45 min+ and once we got back to the parking trams we had to wait 10-12 trams (another 30-45 min) to finally get on a tram. I know this sounds like child's play to people who have visited during the "busy" season, but like I said, it was a reality check to this family who expected "lighter" mid-January crowds.
We hit Epcot on Wed, HS on Thu, Epcot again on Fri and MK on Sat to close out. Every park other than HS far exceeded the crowds we were expecting, and it was freezing the day we went to HS (it got down to 26 degrees early Thu morning), so that's probably why it wasn't packed. We didn't do AK because we didn't feel like dealing with the Pandora crowds. Talked to several CM's who simply confirmed "there is no longer a 'slow' season" - maybe September, but that's about it. One other thing we noticed - it seemed like at least 50% of the people in the parks were foreigners. Not sure if January is a big month for foreign visitors or if foreigners are simply a larger percentage of WDW visitors now, but it was MUCH more noticeable than during our past visits.
We still enjoyed our trip, but this is the first time we don't have that "we can't wait to go back!" feeling. We simply felt like we couldn't breathe in the parks the way we could on our previous trips.
One last note - with as much money as Disney is raking in, there is simply no excuse for the monorails to be in the condition they are in. I'm talking dirty, grimy, smelly, stains, dustballs(?!) - it looks like they haven't been cleaned in years. Not the first impression I'd want my "guests" to have if they were shelling out thousands of dollars to come to my fantasyland.
One thing I did that I've never done before is once I sat down on the plane, I wiped my tray all over using clorox wipes I had in my carryon. I also carried an empty plastic ziploc to put the dirty wipes in so I didn't have to hold them or find somewhere to throw them away while everyone was boarding. Easy peasy and took less than 30 seconds. I wiped our remote, doorknob, toilet handle and light switches once we got in the room and was conscious of not touching everything and washing my hands often.
