Park Crowds So Far

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

Did MK today and it was super nice for about first two hours. We were jumping onto several rides with no wait. Then it did pick up in busyness but seemed way better than Epcot and AK the last two days. So Today was by far our most pleasant day

Very happy to hear that, turtlechick!

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

Disney does not want any more slow times. They are doing their darndest to fill the parks all year long. They are extending the festivals, starting them earlier, starting the parties earlier in the season, free dining etc.

Well, if you think about it...why would they want slow times?

 

[anniemae]

Well, if you think about it...why would they want slow times?

They obviously wouldn't. If you have a hotel, you want it full. Same with restaurants, parks etc. In the past, there were clear slow times and Disney did nothing to eliminate them. Now they are filling in the gaps with free dining, parties etc. to even out the crowds year round. Great from a business point of view, not so great for a guest who wants to avoid crowds. And most guests want to avoid crowds. Just look at the constant threads on these boards:

Is the third week of March slow?
Which is better crowd wise first week of May or last week of April?
Tell me about crowds in November?
Will Jersey week be crowded?
How are crowds the third week of June?

and on and on.

 

[DisTXMom]

These posts are freaking me out a little bit. We are there 11/16-11/22. We will rope drop every day and have great fast passes and some dessert parties. Hoping that combo provides some relief for us. Fingers crossed. I watched last year's wait times thanksgiving week so know it will be busy...

 

[jtwibih]

I wouldn’t let it scare you but you need to have a good plan on how to tackle what you want to do. I will be there shortly and we are expecting this weekend to be stacked and next week to be busier than it’s been in recent years. I think rope drop is a must if you are worried about it.

 

[bdcp]

We've been here since Sunday. Parks are very crowded and there are lots of strollers (double ones in particular) and tons of scooters. Also, there are many large family groups. Standby lines are long and we haven't done a couple of rides we normally wait 25 min for due to 50+ minute waits- BTM is one we didn't have a FP for and didn't get to ride. Heck, even the train in MK had crazy long lines today. Epcot is very busy with people who use strollers like battering rams. Don't get me started on the number of 5-9 year olds we've seen riding them, while we've seen many 3 year olds walking everywhere. Strollers are now used as weapons. There's very rarely a reason anyone over 3 needs to be riding in one (my boys never did after age 2.5, anywhere) and I really have issues with double strollers. Kids have more energy than adults. The strollers are used as weapons and NO ONE ever says excuse me or I'm sorry, or anything similar. Just way too crowded And I get that some people need scooters, but there are obviously many who don't, but are too lazy to walk. I'm 57 and my legs and feet hurt at the end of the day, but it's good exercise. I've seen several people hop off and walk quickly to do things. I've also seen teenagers riding on them (two at a time). In my personal life (church, work, neighbors) I know of maybe 2 people who need scooters to get around, but in the parks, it seems to be 20% or more. There's no way everyone who has one actually needs one. BTW, a mom of an at least 5 year old, dropped her stroller on my foot on the bus.

As I told a friend earlier after I posted on FB about a screaming baby on the monorail and she said "poor baby, must be tired", people need to put their children's needs over their wants and all my friends agreed. We did and our kids didn't miss anything. Sorry, this is a little off topic, but this has been the worst trip we've had in 20+ years and we pretty much go the same week every trip. The selfishness has gotten out of hand.

 

[stinkpickle]

These posts are freaking me out a little bit. We are there 11/16-11/22. We will rope drop every day and have great fast passes and some dessert parties. Hoping that combo provides some relief for us. Fingers crossed. I watched last year's wait times thanksgiving week so know it will be busy...

The 16th, 17th, and first part of the 18th should be good.

 

[stinkpickle]

I would expect it to be a mess at MK. I think TP has it at an 8 right now but I would say it's going to be much worse.

I agree. Actual crowds seem to be running about same or a little heavier this year, and MK was a 10 last year. We were at Epcot that day last year, which was an 8 (I think), and it was packed. Of course, it was even heavier in world showcase being the last Saturday of F&W. Woof...

 

[stinkpickle]

I was thinking we would rope drop Epcot (I really only care about riding Frozen... maybe do Living with the Land- that couldn't possibly have a long line, could it?). Then head to AK and try to do Pandora, then end at DHS and hopefully do Toy Story.

I haven't been to the parks since I think 2015 and I've never strategized so I'm a little stressed... but I guess we'll make the best of it

Good plan. Epcot crowds should be relatively reasonable until the F&W hordes arrive later in the day.

 

[Mousey0324]

this thread has me a little nervous about next week too. our trip is planned 11/12-11/18. Hoping the crowds subside by 11/13 which is our first park day.

Read a few places that this week is notoriously busy for a few reasons:

1. Jersey week (real or not)
2. 11/5 marathon weekend
3. Convention on 8th and 9th

Combined with food and wine festival and parties. Did a quick look at room availability this week. There are literally none left. Showing zero availability. Next week is showing lots of availability. Praying this is a sign of lower crowds.

 

[anniemae]

A contributing factor could also be the hurricane that hit in Aug. So many people re-booked for the fall. Some of the crowds could be attributed to this.

 

[FirstTimeDisneyVisit]

These posts are freaking me out a little bit. We are there 11/16-11/22. We will rope drop every day and have great fast passes and some dessert parties. Hoping that combo provides some relief for us. Fingers crossed. I watched last year's wait times thanksgiving week so know it will be busy...

 

[Eastern]

I have a relative there this week and she said the crowds are ridiculous. It never used to be like that when I went during Jersey week 10 years ago. Back then it was a great week to go.

 

[holden]

I have a relative there this week and she said the crowds are ridiculous. It never used to be like that when I went during Jersey week 10 years ago. Back then it was a great week to go.

Agree. We have been going this week for 9 years in a row. Crowds have absolutely gotten worse.

 

[stinkpickle]

this thread has me a little nervous about next week too. our trip is planned 11/12-11/18. Hoping the crowds subside by 11/13 which is our first park day.

Read a few places that this week is notoriously busy for a few reasons:

1. Jersey week (real or not)
2. 11/5 marathon weekend
3. Convention on 8th and 9th

Combined with food and wine festival and parties. Did a quick look at room availability this week. There are literally none left. Showing zero availability. Next week is showing lots of availability. Praying this is a sign of lower crowds.

It it's like last year, the crowds will start thinning down on Sunday the 12th. And they will start picking back up on Saturday the 18th.

 

[Dakota731]

Strollers are now used as weapons. There's very rarely a reason anyone over 3 needs to be riding in one (my boys never did after age 2.5, anywhere)

This is the biggest change I’ve seen at Disney in the past twenty years! Stroller use seems to be up tenfold. It makes it harder for everyone to navigate and makes the parks seem so much more crowded. I think if your eight or nine year old needs to be in a stroller (other than medical reasons of course) then maybe you should wait to visit the parks. My girls would have had a fit to be in a stroller past age three - they wanted to be independent big girls as they should!

 

[stinkpickle]

This is the biggest change I’ve seen at Disney in the past twenty years! Stroller use seems to be up tenfold. It makes it harder for everyone to navigate and makes the parks seem so much more crowded. I think if your eight or nine year old needs to be in a stroller (other than medical reasons of course) then maybe you should wait to visit the parks. My girls would have had a fit to be in a stroller past age three - they wanted to be independent big girls as they should!

That's one big difference we noticed at Disneyland. It was crowded, but the walkways weren't packed with strollers like they are at MK. Strollers definitely add to the crowded feel.

 

[rpb718]

The affects of Irma in September and the rebooking adjustments for many folks into the fall and even early next year based on resort room availability might push some days up a point crowdwise especially for the following weeks which particularly affected late September and all of October and may possibly be the case right up through the end of this year. However, I think Irma may have an slightly opposite effect for 2018 and that late summer bookings and crowds - especially for September and possibly into October - may actually be down a bit. Only time will tell.

But the real culprit here is the internet. If one can spare the time one can go back several years in the Disboards or elsewhere and see folks asking about the best times to go to WDW and read many posts saying October/November/early December is great (except for Thanksgiving week). After reading enough of these posts by different people, folks decide maybe they want to give it a try and they like it early on so they schedule another trip for the same general time period again, and again. And maybe they tell folks they know and even post somewhere how great it is and how it didn't feel crowded, etc. so now more and more folks are scheduling trips. After several years they begin to notice the crowds increasing and wonder why.

Now when someone posts when is a good time to go to WDW I see a different time period being discussed now - again and again. I give that a few years before that time period is maxed out and folks start complaining of the crowds. I don't think I'm the only one here that cringes every time someone mentions whatever time my next trip is scheduled for as a great time to visit WDW because we all know it's just a matter of time.

 

[SaintsManiac]

The affects of Irma in September and the rebooking adjustments for many folks into the fall and even early next year based on resort room availability might push some days up a point crowdwise especially for the following weeks which particularly affected late September and all of October and may possibly be the case right up through the end of this year. However, I think Irma may have an slightly opposite effect for 2018 and that late summer bookings and crowds - especially for September and possibly into October - may actually be down a bit. Only time will tell.

But the real culprit here is the internet. If one can spare the time one can go back several years in the Disboards or elsewhere and see folks asking about the best times to go to WDW and read many posts saying October/November/early December is great (except for Thanksgiving week). After reading enough of these posts by different people, folks decide maybe they want to give it a try and they like it early on so they schedule another trip for the same general time period again, and again. And maybe they tell folks they know and even post somewhere how great it is and how it didn't feel crowded, etc. so now more and more folks are scheduling trips. After several years they begin to notice the crowds increasing and wonder why.

Now when someone posts when is a good time to go to WDW I see a different time period being discussed now - again and again. I give that a few years before that time period is maxed out and folks start complaining of the crowds. I don't think I'm the only one here that cringes every time someone mentions whatever time my next trip is scheduled for as a great time to visit WDW because we all know it's just a matter of time.

You're not the only one that cringes! So many posts of people asking about crowds. Of course the crowded times would flip/change. This is why we go when we want to and don't worry about crowds.

 

[turtlechick6]

Did HS this morning rope drop till about 1am. It was managable at rope drop. Did RRC and TOT back to back in first 15 minutes no problem.

Then by about 11 the park got REALLY crowded. We used DAS on Toy story and Star wars. They had about 50 min waits. Then did Muppets and then left. Lots of people walking around. I imagine it gets worse because of the christmas lights tonight but we left and won't be going back for that