Park Crowds So Far

[FirstTimeDisneyVisit]

Friday Epcot was shoulder to shoulder

Saturday MK (not a party date) was shoulder to shoulder

Sunday my AK / DHD day was moderate and easy flowing the crowds weren’t bad at all...only flight of passage was horrendous as it broke down a few times.

Thanks for that update !

 

[alhurricane]

This is our first full day in the parks. We are in Epcot. Surprised at the wait times. 60 minutes at Living With the Land at 11am? Wow! Definitely surprised with how busy it is this morning.

 

[Chrispy97]

There are a ton of sites that have similar crowd calendars (Just google “disney crowd calendars”) but I pretty much follow the same rules. Never do MK on a weekend, Monday, or any day with extra magic hours. Definitely do MK on the day of a Christmas party or an early close. This happened to be Tuesday and Thursday this week. After scheduling our two MK days, then we chose the other parks based on which has the shortest hours, and/or which park does NOT have extra magic hours. And do NOT do Epcot on a Friday Saturday or Sunday. Ever. Especially if it’s the last week of Food and Wine. Our week looked like:

Monday- Hollywood Studios (arrival day)
Tuesday- Magic Kingdom
Wednesday- Epcot
Thursday- Magic Kingdom (MVMCP day)
Friday- Animal Kingdom

It worked out perfectly. None of these parks had extra magic hours these days, and Thursday was a MVMCP night at the MK so it was DEAD. But all of the crowd calendars had these parks recommended these days due to, i’m Assuming, the reasons i listed. We had a VERY pleasant week with minimal waits.

Also schedule your fast passes based on which rides have the longest lines, (like Jungle cruise) not necessarily the rides you want to ride most. Some rides have much shorter wait times.

Since we just returned from the same week, I can say that most of this matches my experience.

We arrived around 9:30-10 at HS after driving down. HS had some crowds, but I think that was mostly due to the lack of rides to absorb the crowd. Headed back mid-day to check in and for dinner, then MK at night.
MK Monday night was insane, but it was our best chance to see HEA.

Tuesday: Epcot was crowded but rope dropping Soarin was pretty easy. The heat was the bigger issue; we had to go back to WL mid-day. Too hot to even enjoy F&W. Crowds picked up around lunch as F&W opened up.

Wednesday: AK EMH, waited from 7:45AM to ride FOP at 9:30. After that, the only major wait we had was for animals wandering onto the safari road. Again, heat was the bigger issue than crowds.

Thursday: MK was pretty good in the morning up until mid-day. We left mid-day to rest so DD could make it through MVMCP. We were able to get on 7DMT with about 40 minute stand-by wait.

Friday: MK was a little more crowded with EMH but still not bad. Left mid-day for tea at GF.

Saturday: Rope drop wasn't bad, beelined 7DMT and waited about 20-30 minutes. Started to get busy mid-morning but we left soon after the skies opened to start our drive home.

Monday was the really noticeable crowd. In general I'd say it was more than we expected in mid-November. Watching wait times on the app we were able to time some short waits mid-day for 7DMT. And if you are doing the Christmas party, the 6:30 time frame is ideal for short waits because the fast pass line is emptying out and the standby line hasn't caught up yet. (20 minutes for 7DMT.)

Next time will be a different time of year for us, but that's as much because of my new job as the crowds.

 

[Megsie1000]

We just came home last night (Nov 7-12). I think as long as you plan ahead, the week was do-able. Not pleasant, though. The strange thing for me was that the "crowd feel" was not too bad, but the long lines told a different story. I was here in August with much shorter waits, but the crowds felt similar. The exception to that was Saturday's HEA crowd. Thank goodness we had dessert party tickets. That was absolutely insane. Saturday combined with Christmas parties other nights combined with Jersey week and EMH and you had a recipe for crazy. And it was!

 

[JESSketeer]

Since we just returned from the same week, I can say that most of this matches my experience.

We arrived around 9:30-10 at HS after driving down. HS had some crowds, but I think that was mostly due to the lack of rides to absorb the crowd. Headed back mid-day to check in and for dinner, then MK at night.
MK Monday night was insane, but it was our best chance to see HEA.

Tuesday: Epcot was crowded but rope dropping Soarin was pretty easy. The heat was the bigger issue; we had to go back to WL mid-day. Too hot to even enjoy F&W. Crowds picked up around lunch as F&W opened up.

Wednesday: AK EMH, waited from 7:45AM to ride FOP at 9:30. After that, the only major wait we had was for animals wandering onto the safari road. Again, heat was the bigger issue than crowds.

Thursday: MK was pretty good in the morning up until mid-day. We left mid-day to rest so DD could make it through MVMCP. We were able to get on 7DMT with about 40 minute stand-by wait.

Friday: MK was a little more crowded with EMH but still not bad. Left mid-day for tea at GF.

Saturday: Rope drop wasn't bad, beelined 7DMT and waited about 20-30 minutes. Started to get busy mid-morning but we left soon after the skies opened to start our drive home.

Monday was the really noticeable crowd. In general I'd say it was more than we expected in mid-November. Watching wait times on the app we were able to time some short waits mid-day for 7DMT. And if you are doing the Christmas party, the 6:30 time frame is ideal for short waits because the fast pass line is emptying out and the standby line hasn't caught up yet. (20 minutes for 7DMT.)

Next time will be a different time of year for us, but that's as much because of my new job as the crowds.

Wow, I can't believe the heat was such an issue! I would've expected the weather to be a little cooler in November!

 

[ewalshslp]

We were there last week and were surprised by how crowded it was. That being said, we had a good plan and did everything we wanted, with the exception of Space Mountain, which was 50+ minutes every time we tried to ride. We did FOP twice, once during 8AM EMH and another day with a FP. We did rope drop every morning, then took a quick break to swim (it was HOT), then switched to another park in the late afternoon/evening. The worst day by far was Friday (Veteran's Day). We did all 4 parks that day...transportation was slow and EPCOT was wall to wall people.

We usually love this time of year, but considering trying out something different next time.

 

[Mousey0324]

HEre again today at Epcot...it’s busier than yesterday but still manageable. We are having fun!!! Hoping it dies down by this evening!!!

 

[JDUCKY]

Why was it backed up?

No idea. Don't recall it being like that even when Pandora first opened.

Was practically empty rolling past this morning

 

[crzy4dsny]

Got here on Saturday went to food and wine. As we expected it was absolutely jammed being the last weekend, and a holiday weekend. Sunday we went back again much more manageable but still real crowded. On Monday we expected crowds to thin. We went to HS and it wasn’t too bad but who even goes there anymore? We went to MK and it was a mad house. Got there around 6pm and it was unmanageable to me as we tend to go during low crowd times. Wall to wall people! We fought our way down Main St, looked at the castle all lit up and left, way too crowded for us.

 

[tzolkin]

We went to MK and it was a mad house. Got there around 6pm and it was unmanageable to me as we tend to go during low crowd times. Wall to wall people! We fought our way down Main St, looked at the castle all lit up and left, way too crowded for us.

Unfortunately, you arrived while they were doing the Castle lighting show (6:15) so that’s why it was packed at Main St and in front of the castle.

We actually thought the park was empty last night. We got FP after FP (as soon as I scanned our bands I booked another) and many of the rides were walk-on.

We were also there on Saturday which was a crowd level 10, so last night was nice to be able to do everything one last time before we headed home this morning.

 

[jerseyjersey]

We were there 11/4 til 11/11. We've visited during Jersey Week several times in the past 7-8 years. Back in 2012-2013, we loved the great weather and manageable crowds. Last year it seemed to be more crowded than years past, and we all felt this year was much more crowded vs this same week in prior years. We had a good plan and did ok, but the uptick in crowds was definitely noticeable.

TP showed MK as a 10/10 on Saturday, with lots of 8s and 9s during the week, as well. From that and similar sources, it seems that it was objectively significantly more crowded during Jersey Week vs a few years ago.

 

[crzy4dsny]

Unfortunately, you arrived while they were doing the Castle lighting show (6:15) so that’s why it was packed at Main St and in front of the castle.

We actually thought the park was empty last night. We got FP after FP (as soon as I scanned our bands I booked another) and many of the rides were walk-on.

We were also there on Saturday which was a crowd level 10, so last night was nice to be able to do everything one last time before we headed home this morning.

Maybe that was the case, we didn’t want to bother venturing any further, we got into fantasy land and that also seemed jammed, so we made our way out. We went back today at around 11am and the crowds weren’t bad at all.

 

[Fabinva]

We were there this year Nov 5-9 and were surprised how crowded Disney was and the very long lines. Our plans (subscribed to service) estimated DHS Toy Story wait on Monday Nov 5th at 9:15am to be 20min, when in reality it had 45min posted and the line was actually 1 hour. I noticed there were A LOT of people with Fastpasses making the regular lines longer. Restaurants were also crowded, could not get reservations. We usually go during spring break and were hoping for a much slower pace but this trip felt almost as bad due to parks closing earlier, it meant we did not get a long break in afternoons. We had park hoppers, did a lot of walking. We also visited Universal for one day and found the wait times to be a lot less and more doable. I am starting to believe those who say "there is no slow Disney season anymore"

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We were there this year Nov 5-9 and were surprised how crowded Disney was and the very long lines. Our plans (subscribed to service) estimated DHS Toy Story wait on Monday Nov 5th at 9:15am to be 20min, when in reality it had 45min posted and the line was actually 1 hour. I noticed there were A LOT of people with Fastpasses making the regular lines longer. Restaurants were also crowded, could not get reservations. We usually go during spring break and were hoping for a much slower pace but this trip felt almost as bad due to parks closing earlier, it meant we did not get a long break in afternoons. We had park hoppers, did a lot of walking. We also visited Universal for one day and found the wait times to be a lot less and more doable. I am starting to believe those who say "there is no slow Disney season anymore"

Since we are going jersey week next year i checked the app regularly for same day reservations and found lots of opening. Even saw some for chef Mickey and BOG.

 

[DG-12]

Heck, I can't count how many time I read trip reports from June and July this past summer where people talked about half-empty parks and surprisingly short waits for the most popular rides. Summertime at Disney seems to really be less crowded than the Fall anymore.”

Last year In January i was told by the groups department that no more rooms could be blocked- From October until Mid-December because they were at capacity, hotel wise. (Some of it has to do with reduced capacity at Coronado and Caribbean Beach) but fall is no longer an uncrowded time to visit.

On the other hand I was there the week of July 20th and we walked into everything. I was also about to make and adjust dining, at will.

I would not be surprised to see seasonal adjustments made to pricing and DVC shortly.

 

[FirstTimeDisneyVisit]

Since we are going jersey week next year i checked the app regularly for same day reservations and found lots of opening. Even saw some for chef Mickey and BOG.

Perfect ! i actually forgot to look for dining RSVp'S

 

[bizeemom4]

Perfect ! i actually forgot to look for dining RSVp'S

Same for every week of the year. People cancel all the time. If you are flexible, it's better to just wait and see what pops up rather than turning yourself inside out trying to get a good ADR.

 

[sponica]

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.

Well hurricanes, depending on where the guests origin was. Not much was moving out of Houston due to Harvey, then it was Irma, then it was Maria...but I was thinking the same thing that this fall might be off due to rescheduled trips.

 

[10MoreMinutes]

We were there the 10th-13th.

Crowds on Saturday at Epcot were insane, literally wall to wall people in World Showcase, but wait times weren't actually that bad (our longest wait was for Soarin', which had a posted wait time of 60 minutes, but we only waited about 30). We did all the rides except Mission Space, wandered around the Seas, did Club Cool, and went to several F&W booths before our dinner ADR at Spice Road Table at 8.

We did MK on Sunday, banking on the fact that it was a party day, and I'm glad we did. We got a ton done before lunch. Crowds picked up in the afternoon, and it was definitely more crowded than I expected, but it was manageable. Our longest wait was BTMRR, I think, and we only waited about 20-25 minutes for that. We didn't stay for the party, but Main Street seemed crowded still when we left at just after 7 pm.

AK on Monday was more crowded than I expected, again, but it was noticeably less crowded than Epcot or MK. Got there at 7:40 for an 8 am EMH and walked onto Navi River Journey, Everest, Primeval Whirl, and Dinosaur before 9 am. Had a FP for FOP for mid-morning. Our longest wait was to meet Mickey and Minnie (posted wait was 35 minutes, Lines app said expected wait was 21 minutes, but we waited 45 minutes).

One thing I did notice was that the wait times were consistently inflated by at least 15-20 minutes. With the exception of Mickey and Minnie at AK, we never waited the full wait time that was displayed when we got in line.

 

[Anabelletoronto]

We are here now and it's not busy at all. Today at Epcot, we used our FP and the difference in time was a few minutes.
We were very lucky to be walking passed FEA right as it reopened from being down so we walked on.
We got a fast pass for Soarin at 5pm but we really didn't need one. Same for mission space and spaceship earth.

Yesterday was MK and again, crowds were good. The longest wait was thunder mountain - 20min. Parade - we sat down 10min before and we were in the second row behind the curb.
I am so happy with my choice of week.