Here now. What is with the crowd level?

[Nancyg56]

When my kids were young we took them over New Years, and stayed til January 3. Crowds were gone on the 1st. Yay! SO when my DGD was 4 we planned our family trip so we all were there to experience her first time, and I used my "vast" knowledge from over 20 years ago to plan a January 1 arrival..... well we know how that worked out! LOL! It was busier than I would have expected, but even with the marathon the parks were less crowded by the end of the week.

One thing to remember is that even if there are no scheduled school vacations, folks visit year round and Disney is really good at offering incentives to keep the resorts and parks filled. There is no real slow time anymore.

 

[NH-to-FL]

We popped over to MK yesterday morning and also found a bit higher crowd level then we expected. We made it through bag check about just as they announced 5 minutes until Mickey's arrival. After a leisurely stroll down Main Street from rope drop we walked onto Peter Pan. Which was our primary purpose as we missed it on our last visit. After that we just wandered around the park and hit a few attractions along the way. A few minutes of waiting for Philharmagic, HM, POtC and CoP. Our morning walk completed we head back down Main Street. We decided to ride the train around the park. It was a full ride until Fantasyland station. And crowds were still streaming in as we headed out of the park.

easyWDW had predicted a 3 level crowd. I think it was a bit higher than that but then my crowd assessment ability has been confused of late.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

We popped over to MK yesterday morning and also found a bit higher crowd level then we expected. We made it through bag check about just as they announced 5 minutes until Mickey's arrival. After a leisurely stroll down Main Street from rope drop we walked onto Peter Pan. Which was our primary purpose as we missed it on our last visit. After that we just wandered around the park and hit a few attractions along the way. A few minutes of waiting for Philharmagic, HM, POtC and CoP. Our morning walk completed we head back down Main Street. We decided to ride the train around the park. It was a full ride until Fantasyland station. And crowds were still streaming in as we headed out of the park.

easyWDW had predicted a 3 level crowd. I think it was a bit higher than that but then my crowd assessment ability has been confused of late.

By 2PM it was a crowd level 10 based on ride wait times. The calendars were all wrong about MK yesterday.

 

[atricks]

I don't think it's just the Marathon, I think people are hanging out an extra week to avoid the post Christmas week crowds, which is making it crowded. Universal was slammed also, well above projections.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I think it's best to think in terms of levels of crowded....Crowded, Very Crowded, Very Very Crowded, Get-Me-Out-Of-Here Crowded. Low crowds is probably a term that should be retired when thinking of WDW.

Other than a few weeks (days?) a year maybe, it seems there aren't any more true slow times especially at MK.

 

[ArwenMarie]

It's just that the people who are coming from off property are just so rude. Times have seemed to change.

Just curious, how did you know they were from off-property?

 

[FirstDown]

By 2PM it was a crowd level 10 based on ride wait times. The calendars were all wrong about MK yesterday.

You don't say!

 

[Magpie]

I can't speak for the past 7 years. My wife and I are back right now after a 7 year absence. We are both WDW vets and got married at Sunset Point at POLY. We both agree with OPs summary of the current situation. Our prior 2 trips in '08 and '09 in January were nothing like the crowds we have seen in the past 3 days. We both agree that we have not seen volume like this in years even during the Fall and Spring in the mid 90s and early 00's. Wait times have been crazy and the worst part is that the crowds are, for lack of a better term, rowdy. There is absolutely no 'decor', meaning, people will run you over to get to a certain place. I observed several times this evening CMs having to tell guests to not stand on railings during MSEP and Wishes. The only saving grace for the evening was that we were able to go to Trader Sam's when it was 21 and over. A welcome respite from the insanity.

The only night of the trip that was typical of the time was Sunday when is was 55 degrees and raining. We had packed gear for it and rode all the rides that night at AK and DHS because everyone else left. I spoke to another Vet tonight at CBR and he has told me that this is the new norm. I'm kinda bummed and it's not because I feel I want the place to myself. It's just that the people who are coming from off property are just so rude.

Times have seemed to change.

Things have certainly changed in 7 years! And for the better, from Disney's perspective, which is why they aren't offering so many discounts and bounceback deals any more.

From a guest's perspective, of course, it's not so good. The parks are more crowded, and the cms more stressed. On the plus side, though, more money for Disney means more money going into expansions and renewal projects, such as Star Wars land and Avatar, etc.

And from a purely intellectual point of view, it's amazing the pioneering work Disney has been doing in the area of crowd control and guest management.

By the way, the word you want is "decorum". Decor is the word you use to describe the Disney princess theme you've got going in your living room. Decorum describes the behaviour you expect from your guests, so that they don't go knocking your ceramic princesses down and smashing them to pieces. ("Um, can you show some decorUM?")

Also, I'm curious, too...? How can you tell which of the rude people are from off property and which aren't?

 

[jenji124]

Wait times have been crazy and the worst part is that the crowds are, for lack of a better term, rowdy. There is absolutely no 'decor', meaning, people will run you over to get to a certain place. I observed several times this evening CMs having to tell guests to not stand on railings during MSEP and Wishes. when is was 55 degrees and raining.
Times have seemed to change.

I agree with your sentiments. We just got back from 4 days at the parks and the behavior from other guests was really off putting. I witnessed many cases of line jumping by big groups and when I brought it to the attention of CM's they acted indifferent to it or just didn't care. Guests having no awareness of other people and the lack of personal space, we as a group were ran into several times while waiting in line. People seem to lack any kind of control over themselves or their kids. Just overall feeling of inconsideration, I move over to let people by while other groups take up the whole walkway without moving an inch, standing right in front of you blocking your view when they know you were there first. We had a great vacation these were just disappointing moments that happened along the way that didn't happen previous times we've been to Disney.

 

[ktlm]

The way Christmas/New Years fell this year, most school districts in our area did not start back until mid-week this week, and there are others which don't start back until Monday. It was so unusual for us that our school district sent out E-mails and automated phone calls reminding people that school was not starting on Monday and was not in session until a later day of the week. I even know a teacher who was doing a lesson plan for Monday, not realizing school did not start. I know lots of parents that were planning to drop their kids off at school Monday and were caught by surprise. There are several parents I know of in our area (who were aware of the extra time) that took advantage of the partial week to go on vacation this week to attempt to avoid the holiday crowds or not to interfere with family holiday obligations. I suspect there are other areas across the country like ours and this may be what caused the crowd increase. It might get better as more kids go back to school this week--- or it may be the parents pull the students out for the school days and stay at WDW for the week since it is a short school week. I do think that as more schools are going to what they call "year round" school, and taking non-historically standard weeks off during the school year that you are seeing crowd increases at certain times of the year for what used to be times when all the schools are in session, but now are times that fit with the "new" school scheduling. We are still on the classic system in our district. There is a big central metro district about 30 minutes away from us that are "year round" and it seems to cause all kinds of issues for those parents with child care/work schedules/ kid activity schedules etc. I don't know any families with 2 working parents around here that like the changed system. In fact, we have had a pretty big surge of parents that have pulled their kids out of public school due to the scheduling- and also have seen new private schools popping up since the demand has increased substantially since the scheduling change a few years back.

 

[epcotty]

Interesting. Probably a combination of a longer Christmas break and the AP holders coming back (and the Osborne lights extension).

 

[maryj11]

I keep reading posts like this all the time. September was the busiest it's ever been! Then it was October! You name it. Just change the month.

Crowded all the time. That's all.

It seems so. I have just gave up on going when it is not crowded and now we just go in the summer.

 

[atricks]

The last week of August was strangely the slowest point of the year (by far), although the week before and after it were busy. And it wasn't the weather.

 

[drea21]

It seems so. I have just gave up on going when it is not crowded and now we just go in the summer.

We always go December/January, but this year snuck in a July trip to get more use out of our AP. The resort rates were significantly cheaper in July and really, I didn't think the crowds were much different. I actually found ADR and FP easier for the summer too.

I have never heard someone in our area say they won't pull their children from school, in fact when I turned our excused absense form in for next week the secretary said we were the 5th family just from our tiny elementary school that is going to Disney just next week alone. So I really don't know how much of a factor school year is, especially with the elementary crowd.

I think everyone has read for so long that Disney is so much more enjoyable in the "off peak" season that the pendulum might be starting to swing the other way.

I also saw that yesterday's MK prediction of a 6 was in actuality a 10.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

You don't say!

Today was great at AK. Everything walk on all day.

 

[MattsPrincess]

AP blockout dates also ended over the weekend, i'm sure that's not helping either.

 

[toni nicole]

Was there last night as well, it was our last night. Was absolute insanity starting at about 815 when crowds started leaving, could not even move. Our main MK day was Sunday the rainy day, and waits and crowd level was amazing. great spot for wishes, great wait times, and not a hassle leaving at all, glad we went that day or would have been disappointed in Tuesday.

 

[maryj11]

Was there last night as well, it was our last night. Was absolute insanity starting at about 815 when crowds started leaving, could not even move. Our main MK day was Sunday the rainy day, and waits and crowd level was amazing. great spot for wishes, great wait times, and not a hassle leaving at all, glad we went that day or would have been disappointed in Tuesday.

Rainy days are the best !

 

[epcotty]

We always go December/January, but this year snuck in a July trip to get more use out of our AP. The resort rates were significantly cheaper in July and really, I didn't think the crowds were much different. I actually found ADR and FP easier for the summer too.

I have never heard someone in our area say they won't pull their children from school, in fact when I turned our excused absense form in for next week the secretary said we were the 5th family just from our tiny elementary school that is going to Disney just next week alone. So I really don't know how much of a factor school year is, especially with the elementary crowd.

I think everyone has read for so long that Disney is so much more enjoyable in the "off peak" season that the pendulum might be starting to swing the other way.

I also saw that yesterday's MK prediction of a 6 was in actuality a 10.

I really don't remember my classmates going away to Disney at all during the school year when I was in school, not even earlier on when I went to school up north before moving to FL. I guess things have changed now, probably your second to last sentence is the basis of that

 

[Magpie]

I really don't remember my classmates going away to Disney at all during the school year when I was in school, not even earlier on when I went to school up north before moving to FL. I guess things have changed now, probably your second to last sentence is the basis of that

Things haven't changed.

School attendance is something that's always been VERY regional, cultural and family-specific. When I was an urban schoolchild, in the 70's and 80's in both US and Canada, skipping classes for anything less than being at death's door was unheard of. My mother believed perfect attendance was part and parcel of showing respect for your education. On the other hand, my husband, who is several years older than me and lived in a rural area in northern Ontario, used to take a week off every spring (along with many of his classmates) to go hunting and fishing with his father. Some of his classmates would also take time off in the fall, for similar trips. When one teacher tried to make an issue of it, in high school, his father (born in the 1930's) just asked, "Is my son doing well in your class? Then what's your issue?"

When my own kids were in school, their teachers were always very supportive of family trips during the school year. My son is dyslexic and found middle school very stressful. His special education resource teacher actually tracked us down once to ask if we planned to take him out soon, because, "He needs a mental health break!" Meanwhile, my daughter was an excellent student and in Grade 10 she wasn't sure if she should take a week off to go to Disney with us. She mentioned her dilemma to her Chemistry teacher and his reaction was, "Are you crazy? Go! Go!"

Whether you're free to take your kids out of school for a vacation is dependent on your local school policies, your personal beliefs, and your cultural background. It's always been that way.