Here NOW and ... and WOW crowds!

[MOM POPPINS]

We were at Epcot today and the wait for Figment was 20 minutes at noon, nemo and friends was 40 and Soarin 80.. the land boat ride was 35. I know it is the last day of the flower festival but it's really crowded!

Last night at Magic Kingdom it was horrible crowded as well. We only went in for the Fireworks and parade at 6:00 and people were already lining the streets for the 9:00 parade. We watched from Peocs Bill in Adventureland.

The park closed at 11:00... Wishes was at 10:00 and we decided to wait and exit at 10:45 before the 11:00 Spectro and we had to wait almost an hour for the Ferry boat to get to our van.

I sure hope tomorrow gets better around here! We are waking up early and going into the Magic Kingdom. Rope drop for the whole week!

 

[SignMeUp]

Doesn't MK close early tonight? Maybe that is what is impacting the crowds at Epcot today and why everyone decided to go to MK yesterday?

 

[MOM POPPINS]

Yes your right it does maybe that is what is going on... in all the trips we have been here 19 times in 10 years. I have never seen crowds like I have seen yesterday and today.

 

[Disney Vegas]

My sisters friend just went at the end of April and she said it was empty. I figured it would be busy this summer...even during times it's not supposed to be busy, because of all of the promo's. I hope it isn't as crowded in 25 days when we go.

 

[earthfaries]

Going by the crowd calendar the next few days are supposed to be a crowd level 4 ~ so you should have no problems with big crowds
Have fun!

 

[VirataMama4]

Epcot was one of the parks to avoid today... So hopefully the crowds thin out for you!

 

[livndisney]

We were at the Studios and Epcot today. Crowded and crazy people. Just really ODD interactions with people. Has me wondering if it is a full moon or something.......

 

[monarchsfan16]

Yeah, I'm here now and am stunned by the crowds. I was here for the last weekend of the F&G festival last year, and I swear that was nothing compared to this year. Last night the single rider line for Test Track was posted as being a 40 min wait at 7pm. I was shocked. Friday night I gave up on Epcot, could barely walk through there. Went to MK and that was much better. I spent this morning at MK, and I wanted to see Illuminations tonight, but I think I'm going to pass on that and hang out at the hotel. Granted, the storm probably helped clear people out, but I'm not going to test it out.

 

[SaraJayne]

We were there last week M-F and the longest wait we had all week was 40 mins for Soarin.

Even Toy Story only had a 20 min line.

Sounds like we went at a great time.

 

[emmababy]

Wow!!! I have NEVER seen a wait at Figment or Nemo!

 

[baby1disney]

Wow!!! I have NEVER seen a wait at Figment or Nemo!

I have to agree with you on that one!!! The only time I remember waiting was for Nemo..but that was because the CMs were helping a boy in a wheelchair get on a ride and they had to stop it for about 5-10mins. Other than that, never had to wait for those two rides.

 

[lunapnp]

Yes your right it does maybe that is what is going on... in all the trips we have been here 19 times in 10 years. I have never seen crowds like I have seen yesterday and today.

We were at MK last night...and all I can say is OMG!! The FASTPASS line for BTMRR was out past the FP ticket kiosk! It was elbow to elbow through the entire park. The rest of the weekend wasn't too bad.

 

[tarrbear]

I just got back from a quick weekend trip, we went to DHS EHM rope drop and we were able to fp Toy Story then walk right on it, we walked on ToT multiple times and walked right on Star Tours and basically everything else that day at DHS, even though DHS was the park to avoid the crowds were very low! Then we hopped to the recommended park of the day, Epcot, and the crowds were just unbearable. We only did a few things then went back to the hotel then made our way to the MK. And OMG, I thought Epcot was bad.... In three hours we were able to do Tomorrowland, but only Space Mountain, Buzz, and Astro Orbiter. The crowds were just terrible yesterday. This morning we did rope drop for AK, the crowds were great, longest we waited for anything was 20 minutes and we were out bu 1 pm.

 

[MOM POPPINS]

We are back in from our night at Epcot. We used our fast passes for Soarin and Test Track and Mission Space and headed out after Illuminations. The crowds were not to bad after the rain. Tomorrow we are going to try to rope drop Magic until noon and then leave. I know it's a Monday and it's yellow but it should not be to bad until noon.

 

[Neverland98]

Where are you getting the "Parks to Avoid" information? Who uses red, yellow, and green levels for the parks?

I have our days lined out for November, and it isn't supposed to be too crowded. But, we hit the last weekend of f&w, so that will be packed, but we want to try it, so we'll go for a bit and the atmosphere with no expectations.

I basically had to pick parks based on EMH, showings of Spectro/Wishes (with MVMCP it isn't showing a lot), and Fantasmic! We have PH and plan to do mornings somewhere, break in the mid-day, and then go somewhere in the evening, maybe just for the parade, Illuminations, Fantasmic, etc. Does this sound like a good basic plan for first-timers (and some returners, but not since the 80's!)?

 

[Disney Vegas]

We are back in from our night at Epcot. We used our fast passes for Soarin and Test Track and Mission Space and headed out after Illuminations. The crowds were not to bad after the rain. Tomorrow we are going to try to rope drop Magic until noon and then leave. I know it's a Monday and it's yellow but it should not be to bad until noon.

What is rope drop?

 

[Maggie'sMom]

What is rope drop?

Rope drop refers to the park opening. They let people through the turnstiles a little before the actual opening, but have ropes up so you can't proceed past a certain point. At the opening time, they "drop the rope" and everyone stampedes, oops I meant politely hurries, to their first attraction of choice.

 

[blu3d3vil]

I'm glad I went last week!! Most rides were walk-on at all parks.

 

[MrsLS]

wow I've always seen Figment empty and I mean empty like we are there with another family of 2-4 people both years during busy spring break.

For parks to avoid - touringplans, but they only give you 30 days unless you pay for the full year.

 

[Praying Colonel]

Going by the crowd calendar the next few days are supposed to be a crowd level 4 ~ so you should have no problems with big crowds
Have fun!

FWIW, the crowd calendar has some 4s but also has some 6s and 7s:

http://www.touringplans.com/tp2/UG2_index.php?PageID=14

All of this just points out the importance of basic park-touring protocol: rope drop, have a basic idea of what you want to do, strategic use of FP, etc. If you show up at noon in a park with an evening EMH and have no idea what FP is and what you want to do first, you may not have as much fun.