Just got back. Wasn't really that great.

[de8212]

We stayed one night at art of animation on 2/14 and then at Pop Century 2/15, 2/16, 2/17, and 2/18.

First of all I don't know what was up with the art of animation room but everything felt "wet". The floor, the sheets. It just felt humid and smelled a little moldy. BUt whatever, we were only staying one night.

The room at Pop century was nicer. And seemed a little bigger, even the beds.

But the vacation just wasn't fun.
I know disney doesn't care and it does no good venting but it just sucks when you pay ~3k and can't ride alot of the rides.
Also, she really wanted to ride Slinky Dog Dash and they had early hours for Hollywood studios one of the days at 8AM. So, me and my daughter woke up extra early and hit the bus stop at 730AM. Well at 740AM she noticed there was a 30 minute wait for it already???? On the bus ride it jumped up to a 70 minute wait. This was before 8AM.

We did have some fast passes so all was not lost. BUt a ton of the rides had 1+ hour waiting. That's just not a vacation to me. WAiting in line after line after line.

Disney really should either give out more fast passes or not let as many people in the parks. Of course I know that won't happen.

We went spring break of 2017 and never had more than a 45 minute wait and most waits were 20-30 minutes.

My wife mentioned this might have been our last disney vacation.

 

[MooseBucks]

Sorry it was such a bummer

Presidents’ Day weekend is one of the worst times to go... hopefully if you do Disney again you can go during a less busy time... it makes a huge difference in the fun/magic to me personally to not be overwhelmed with waits

 

[de8212]

Yeah. When I booked it I went off those crowd calendars and it was waaaaaaaaaaay off. Kids are getting older so hopefully I won't ever go back.

 

[DisDreaming4116]

Regarding the early morning wait times. If the park is opening at 8am, even with EMH, then it means you should be at the park entrance by 7:15. Not saying you were in the wrong but they tend to open the gates early and many other people are thinking the same thing as you, just 30-60 minutes ahead of you.
I hope after a few days/weeks, your thoughts on the trip will be on the positive memories you gained with your family.

 

[ckb_nc]

Seen lately at HS that is more like a soft opening - 8am means 7:35am

 

[Brett Wyman]

Sorry it was such a bummer

Presidents’ Day weekend is one of the worst times to go... hopefully if you do Disney again you can go during a less busy time... it makes a huge difference in the fun/magic to me personally to not be overwhelmed with waits

Agreed. We purposefully never go around holidays or spring breaks. We know we would just not enjoy it then.

 

[mummahustle]

I noticed a huge uptick in crowds from my visit in 2016 to my 2018 visit. Both times we went during crazy crowded (Christmas) times. However 2016 was much more manageable we could head back to room around lunch and hang at the resort when it was too crowded and then go back in for an early dinner and didn't have any problem doing what we wanted to do (with 2 toddlers). Last year is was a mad house! There was no "quiet" or "less crowded" time in the park. It was literally shoulder to shoulder the entire day. My mother who has been serval times in previous years was with us and said she had never seen anything quite like it.

Im sorry you had a bad time. I hope that if you ever do go again, it is a much better experience. I agree though, lower attendance levels/ park caps would be nice during the busy seasons.

 

[MomOTwins]

Yeah. When I booked it I went off those crowd calendars and it was waaaaaaaaaaay off. Kids are getting older so hopefully I won't ever go back.

Are you sure you were looking at the right weekend? Every crowd calendar I have ever looked at (and I'm pretty sure I looked at them all) lists president's day weekend as the highest level of crowds. It has been the case year after year.

Also if you do go again, I highly recommend skipping EMH. So many guests stay on disney property and so many of them are excited to make use of their "special" access on EMH days that parks are often by far the busiest on days that have the early morning hours.

 

[Ensusieasm]

We stayed one night at art of animation on 2/14 and then at Pop Century 2/15, 2/16, 2/17, and 2/18.

First of all I don't know what was up with the art of animation room but everything felt "wet". The floor, the sheets. It just felt humid and smelled a little moldy. BUt whatever, we were only staying one night.

The room at Pop century was nicer. And seemed a little bigger, even the beds.

But the vacation just wasn't fun.
I know disney doesn't care and it does no good venting but it just sucks when you pay ~3k and can't ride alot of the rides.
Also, she really wanted to ride Slinky Dog Dash and they had early hours for Hollywood studios one of the days at 8AM. So, me and my daughter woke up extra early and hit the bus stop at 730AM. Well at 740AM she noticed there was a 30 minute wait for it already???? On the bus ride it jumped up to a 70 minute wait. This was before 8AM.

We did have some fast passes so all was not lost. BUt a ton of the rides had 1+ hour waiting. That's just not a vacation to me. WAiting in line after line after line.

Disney really should either give out more fast passes or not let as many people in the parks. Of course I know that won't happen.

We went spring break of 2017 and never had more than a 45 minute wait and most waits were 20-30 minutes.

My wife mentioned this might have been our last disney vacation.

Arriving at the bus stop at 7:30 was about an hour late. You needed to be out there no later than 6:45.

 

[annie170]

I'm sorry your trip was less than magical. I think Disney's popularity is ever increasing.

When we were there in December, we were always on a bus by 7:00 for 8:00 EMH. Even getting there by 7:15 and the park opening at 7:30, we waited 45 minutes for Slinky Dog Dash. I know it's crazy, but it is what it is. You don't even want to know about how early we got to AK for FoP!

 

[jeff_h]

Also if you do go again, I highly recommend skipping EMH. So many guests stay on disney property and so many of them are excited to make use of their "special" access on EMH days that parks are often by far the busiest on days that have the early morning hours.

Yeah I've read about that here and found it to be true in person, that EMH just tends to funnel people to that given park and the wait times are just as bad as during general hours.

So now we normally take the contrarian approach and wherever they have EMH, we go to a different park and it tends to work out much better.

 

[JimR24]

I was a life long Disney goer but do not visit the parks anymore. When my kids were growing up, there were off times. They no longer exist and we have found some of the rudest people at the parks. It was like an attitude of "we paid for magic and we're gonna get it, even if that means running over your kids".

We let our passes expire after 10+ years of having them and now vacation at a slower pace in the Caribbean. I hate it because many of my family vacations where is the parks with my parents.

 

[jhoannam]

I’m sorry you all had a crummy time.

 

[dlavender]

President's day, Columbus day, or any weekend that is elongated by a holiday are miserable. The Saturday before Columbus day 2017 was literally the most crowded I've ever seen the place in 20 years.

Summer is really now the best time to go, even with the heat.

The buses can be absolutely ridiculous. It's why we mostly drive, even when staying on site.

But in general, I agree with your sentiment about the overcrowding. They are fixing the real issue (which is capacity) by adding in new rides, but it is slow to catch up to the growth.

We didn't renew our passes this year since anytime we wanted to go that wasn't summer, so did the rest of the world, as in your example over President's day.

It's disheartening, but I think with the added rides and knowing to avoid any official holidays will aid in your next visit should you decide to go again. Just know that to really maximize your time, you need to arrive at the gates no later than 45 mins before opening. You will be able to knock out at least 1 major headliner and 2 "lesser" tier rides before moving on to your FP's for the day. Then you can chill out and hit things as you see fit. At the MK using this strategy, sometimes you can knock out all of Frontierland and Adventureland before the place gets too crazy.

 

[ckb_nc]

President's Days weekend trips need to be done very carefully. For us, rope drop then resorts. We probably spent less time in the parks than usual but loved being able to sit by a pool in Feb.

 

[a1tinkfans]

Sorry to hear of ur disappointment OP, but totally get it.
Disney is an Entirely different
Beast than years back.