YIKES....looks super crowded right now

[AndyFL]

I am at work and just pulled up the wait times app to see how bad it was down in the parks because we are leaving this Sat night. From what I see, I am VERY glad I'm not there right now. In MK right now SM, BTMRR, PP, Dumbo, JC, HM, SM are all over one hour waits. In HS RRnC is 105 min, ToT is 60, TSM is listed as 120+ and both of these parks are recomn'd.

 

[Time Traveler]

Yep, Thanksgiving (along with most holidays) result in much larger crowds. A few days after Thanksgiving it'll go back to being fairly slow until mid-December.

 

[catho72]

It sounds like a typical July day to me.....whenever I see a wait time for TSM of less than 120, the first thought that comes to my mind is, "oh, it's not that busy!". As long as you know how to navigate the crowds (when they go left, you go right), it's do-able.

 

[bladiator]

What is one of the better/best wait time apps that are free out there?

 

[RaySharpton]

That is why I always go to WDW the first Monday after Thanksgiving weekend. I feel lucky to be able to take vacation at this time of the year every year. I think that most of the Thanksgiving week and weekend folks will be flying back home on Sunday night or Monday afternoon for work or school. But it could be different this year. I guess that I will find out in 5 more days.

 

[AndyFL]

What is one of the better/best wait time apps that are free out there?

The one I use is the Undercover Tourist one...the one with the green frog.

It works so well and is so user friendly that I went ahead and bought the ad-free version.

 

[GeneralTso]

I'm not surprised. I would expect it to be super crowded this week.

I use "Lines" ap and it's really good. Accurate, lots of features. I think I paid $10 for it. Works at Disneyland too.

 

[tbee407]

We spent the day at Hollywood Studios. Managing our Fast passes we were able to do every major ride and several shows. The only issue was late afternoon when RNR was down and the Fast Pass line backed up. However they agreed to let people use their FP after the stated time. We left the park around 6:30PM because our kids did everything they wanted to do.

 

[Peachkins]

Thanksgiving is supposed to be one of the busiest times of the year, along with any other time of year where kids are usually out of school. We went the week after Thanksgiving last year, and it was pretty quiet.

 

[missesdisney]

Here now and as expected it is REALLY crowded. We are visiting for a total of 12 days so we don't care that it is crowded yet - we are just doing what we can and not stressing. Everyone will leave Sunday and it will be a lovely week after that crowd-wise.

Something hilarious we noticed yesterday. Arrived late Tues night, went to Walmart, got a very late start yesterday. Attempted MK until we saw lines for monorail/ferry so we went to plan B and went to Epcot. Crowded, but not insane at 11am. Went over to Land and got Soarin FPs for 6pm.....and the FPs for Living with the Land.....all distributed for the day! Now that is the epitome of the uneducated Disney holiday traveler.

Whoever said go left if the crowd goes right was correct. We told our son we are just going to react and do the opposite of crowds.

One ride and a stroll through the countries at Epcot and went to AK - very crowded but emptying out like you wouldn't believe at 3pm. Did Tough to be a bug, watched parade from Africa and went on what may have been the best safari I've ever seen. Not a productive Disney day by my normal standards but we had a wonderful one.

Today at DHS at 8:30 - we were in and on TSMM by 9:05 with fastpasses for 10:35. Walk on Star Tours and Muppets and back for TSMM again. Then it was CRAZY with people everywhere. Hung out at animation and went back to the hotel at noon (never done that before!)

Next week will be very different. Low crowds and less clueless people.

BTW - the weather is GORGEOUS - a little nippy perhaps in the shade and at night but sunny and clear and beautiful all day!

 

[kathleendsm]

We're here. It's crowded, sure, but we're on vacation and having a lovely time anyway! I'll take a crowded day at Disney over a day at work any time.

 

[jodeeb]

It sounds like a typical July day to me.....whenever I see a wait time for TSM of less than 120, the first thought that comes to my mind is, "oh, it's not that busy!". As long as you know how to navigate the crowds (when they go left, you go right), it's do-able.

We just got home and my thoughts are the same. Our last trip was last week of June. We have been to DL first week of July. Thats busy, but our norm. So when we arived on Friday, parks seemed slow. Saturday, Sunday not much different. We did notice it busy Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday was a little more, but doable. I think it is all a matter of perspective of what you expect to get done.

 

[Ephany]

My in-laws are there with the grandkids (including my DD) and refuse to listen to me or DD regarding anything. MIL was convinced it would be a slow week, being a holiday and all. They're wandering into the parks around 11am and getting frustrated because they can't do everything. Tonight DD called me at 6pm saying they were already done for the day 'cause it's too crowded. We've both tried telling them if they could be there for rope drop, they'd get a lot more on their list accomplished, but hey, what do we know?

MIL refuses to believe me that if they get to DHS tomorrow 30 minutes before the scheduled opening, the park will probably already be open. That's not what Disney says, so I must be mistaken. I've told DD to relax and go with the flow and to just enjoy the time with her cousins.

 

[missesdisney]

My in-laws are there with the grandkids (including my DD) and refuse to listen to me or DD regarding anything. MIL was convinced it would be a slow week, being a holiday and all. They're wandering into the parks around 11am and getting frustrated because they can't do everything. Tonight DD called me at 6pm saying they were already done for the day 'cause it's too crowded. We've both tried telling them if they could be there for rope drop, they'd get a lot more on their list accomplished, but hey, what do we know?

MIL refuses to believe me that if they get to DHS tomorrow 30 minutes before the scheduled opening, the park will probably already be open. That's not what Disney says, so I must be mistaken. I've told DD to relax and go with the flow and to just enjoy the time with her cousins.

If it helps, we arrived at DHS this morning at 8:30 and they let us in at 8:45. No more rope drop - just into the park. We moseyed over to TSMM and were on in about 10 min (and already had fastpasses for later). It was pretty easy for the first two hours, then it got rough.

 

[Ephany]

If it helps, we arrived at DHS this morning at 8:30 and they let us in at 8:45. No more rope drop - just into the park. We moseyed over to TSMM and were on in about 10 min (and already had fastpasses for later). It was pretty easy for the first two hours, then it got rough.

Thanks. That's what we've told her, but they like to sleep in on vacation. Plus, I don't think she wants to admit I'm right. They don't care about Fastpasses or anything; it's really driving DD nuts. It's the last time she'll see her cousins for a long time though, so I keep reminding her it's better to enjoy the time they do have than worry about missing a ride or show. Disney'll be there next time.

 

[andyman8]

I think folks on the DIS, and in general (including all of the Disney "bloggers"), get way too concerned about crowds. With proper planning, it's definitely manageable.

In fact, when we went to WDW for the 4th we got to the parks around noon and stayed to about seven and got everything done we wanted to (which was a fair amount) without waiting more than 25 minutes. Of course, we utilized FP.

Have a general TP and use FP. You'll be fine if you do.

 

[mfd25wife]

Here now and as expected it is REALLY crowded. We are visiting for a total of 12 days so we don't care that it is crowded yet - we are just doing what we can and not stressing. Everyone will leave Sunday and it will be a lovely week after that crowd-wise.

Something hilarious we noticed yesterday. Arrived late Tues night, went to Walmart, got a very late start yesterday. Attempted MK until we saw lines for monorail/ferry so we went to plan B and went to Epcot. Crowded, but not insane at 11am. Went over to Land and got Soarin FPs for 6pm.....and the FPs for Living with the Land.....all distributed for the day! Now that is the epitome of the uneducated Disney holiday traveler.

Whoever said go left if the crowd goes right was correct. We told our son we are just going to react and do the opposite of crowds.

One ride and a stroll through the countries at Epcot and went to AK - very crowded but emptying out like you wouldn't believe at 3pm. Did Tough to be a bug, watched parade from Africa and went on what may have been the best
safari I've ever seen. Not a productive Disney day by my normal standards but we had a wonderful one.

Today at DHS at 8:30 - we were in and on TSMM by 9:05 with fastpasses for 10:35. Walk on Star Tours and Muppets and back for TSMM again. Then it
was CRAZY with people everywhere. Hung out at animation and went back to the hotel at noon (never done that before!)


Next week will be very different. Low crowds and less clueless people.

BTW - the weather is GORGEOUS - a little nippy perhaps in the shade and at night but sunny and clear and beautiful all day!

What is even crazier about the Living with the Land was that it wasn't so much people just going right. It was lack of knowledge of the attractions and the use of fast passes. DH & I talked about that because we got in standby because it's kind of a tradition for us. The standby line was 10 minutes and we noticed a lot of people going through the fp line. It was really odd.