magic kinhdom at phase three again today

[penchris]

We were at MK Fri 03/22/2013, the estimated arrival day for the heaviest of the Spring Breakers. We had an early pre-open breakfast ressie at Crystal Palace, and were inside the park for rope drop. That seemed to give us an edge on getting pretty smoothly to all the E-ticket rides before about 11:00am-ish when the heaviest of the crowds started arriving.

The rest of the day, and especially in areas where parades/shows que up, was "sardines in a can" packed with guests. We used the railroad to get around the park, because the forward progress walking was down to a shuffle, and our group of four kept getting forcibly separated by various combinations of strollers, double-strollers, scooters, school groups, etc. Thank goodness we did not have any small kids with us or it would have been very stressful keeping track of everyone. The crowd stayed shoulder to shoulder until around 6-7pm when the light rain came. By fireworks time, the park had thinned considerably, but was still "busy" until close.

IMHO, if you are OK with being in a shopping mall at Christmas, stuck in a packed elevator, or at Times Square New Years Eve, then don't let a phase 3 Spring Break crowd stop you from the fun of MK. We had a blast and would do it again with an small group of older kids and/or adults. Do not waste your time or money if you have crowd issues, or get easily frustrated with waiting for things. There are much better times to go.

 

[Dash&Maggie]

When we were at DHS in February during President's weekend, my husband and I heard the CM's by ToT mention that the park was in phase III. We just looked at each other and said "Well, that can't be good!". The crowd levels for the day were listed at a 9 and I figured that phase III must have some correlation to park capacity. It was very crowded but thank goodness we knew how to make the most of our day with our previous experiences and advice from the Disboards!

 

[LaurenT]

When we were at DHS in February during President's weekend, my husband and I heard the CM's by ToT mention that the park was in phase III. We just looked at each other and said "Well, that can't be good!". The crowd levels for the day were listed at a 9 and I figured that phase III must have some correlation to park capacity. It was very crowded but thank goodness we knew how to make the most of our day with our previous experiences and advice from the Disboards!

Was that this year? I was in Disney - must have happened while I was in a different park - it was DHS that went to phase 3?

 

[~Brandy~]

We're going to be there next week, and plan to arrive well before rope drop on our Magic Kingdom day (the park opens at 7 am every day that week for morning EMH). What time does it start to get really bad? I know it's obviously impossible to pinpoint, but I'm wondering if I can reasonably plan to hit the big name rides quickly, eat lunch, then get the heck outta there... or if it will be impassable by 10 am.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

Very crowded, extremely crowded, and stupid crowded, respectively.

You didn't ask, but Phase 4 is you-couldn't-pay-me-enough-to-be-there crowded.[/QUOTE]


I think the bolded is my feelings towards any day with closures. Mesaboy is clearly tougher than we are!

 

[jamelynn24]

We are here now...wish I could post a pic from my phone because I have a great one of Main Street at noon today!! Wall to wall people!!

We arrived at MK at 6:50am for EMH. Between 7-8am, we rode Space twice and Buzz twice. Then we did Little Mermaid, met Ariel, Pooh, tea cups, Peter Pan, pirates, big thunder, haunted mansion and jungle cruise by 11. We ate lunch at 11, did the people mover and decided to get the heck out by noon!!
For as crowded as it was by noon, I am grateful that we all got up at 5:30am and could get all of this done! We even used three fast passes!
Now the kids are sleeping

 

[AJKMOM]

WOW! I am so nervous about next year's Spring Break Family Reunion! I have tried to discourage my mom for booking it this week before Easter, but I cannot. Not only is it the week before Easter and the regular Spring Breakers... but schools that only do April vacations, regardless of the Easter holiday will be out too (which is us). So, 2014 will be miserably packed!

So, can someone tell me about the Phase closings, we will be off-site, so we would be out at Phase 1. When do they make these decisions? Before or after Rope Drop? As the parking lot fills?

Not sure if anyone else answered this, but Easter is late next year, so you probably won't have college "spring break" kids to deal with. Of course, the Easter crowd will still be there.

 

[mnmhouston]

Just signed into the MDE app to see how bad it really is...

at 1pm
BTMRR- 85min
Buzz- 65min
HM- 60min
Peter Pan- 105min
SpaceM- 125min
Jungle Cruise- 105min

Soarin'- 155min
TT- 150min
MS- 105min

RnR- 90min
ToT- 90min
TSMM: 165min
Star Tours: 60min

Dinosaur- 70min
EE- 85min
Safari- 110min
Kali- 5min (must be too cold??)

OUCH!!!

 

[Dash&Maggie]

Was that this year? I was in Disney - must have happened while I was in a different park - it was DHS that went to phase 3?

Yes, this past February, I think we were there on the 16th, a Saturday. Maybe the CM's were referring to ToT being in phase III? It was extremely crowded. FWIW, BATB was not currently playing or had just let out.

When we were planning our trip to be over President's Day weekend this year I knew the crowd levels would be up but never expected them to be as bad as when we went over spring break in March 2010 - they were worse!

 

[LisaTN]

Just signed into the MDE app to see how bad it really is...

at 1pm
BTMRR- 85min
Buzz- 65min
HM- 60min
Peter Pan- 105min
SpaceM- 125min
Jungle Cruise- 105min

Soarin'- 155min
TT- 150min
MS- 105min

RnR- 90min
ToT- 90min
TSMM: 165min
Star Tours: 60min

Dinosaur- 70min
EE- 85min
Safari- 110min
Kali- 5min (must be too cold??)

We went to HS over Thanksgiving 2011... and TSMM was 210 min!! 165 seems pretty good Kidding!!!

 

[SpecialK]

Not sure if anyone else answered this, but Easter is late next year, so you probably won't have college "spring break" kids to deal with. Of course, the Easter crowd will still be there.

So, is it this crowded because it's the last week of March, or because it's the week before Easter?

Our break is always the last week in March, and I thinking next year would not be as crowded because Easter is late. Now I'm not so sure!

 

[kangaroodle]

Just left AK. We got there when it opened (8am), rode Everest 2x, Safari, Primeval Whirl, and Dinosaur all before lunch at 11:30. Then did Lion King show, wandered thru shops, had ice cream and did Maharajah Trail. Out of there by 2pm and had done all we wanted to do. Made use of FP's. Taking it easy tonight as we r going to MK at 6:30 am tomorrow. Have used Josh's recommendations last 2 days.....so far, so good!

 

[cheer25mom]

We were at MK Fri 03/22/2013, the estimated arrival day for the heaviest of the Spring Breakers. We had an early pre-open breakfast ressie at Crystal Palace, and were inside the park for rope drop. That seemed to give us an edge on getting pretty smoothly to all the E-ticket rides before about 11:00am-ish when the heaviest of the crowds started arriving.

The rest of the day, and especially in areas where parades/shows que up, was "sardines in a can" packed with guests. We used the railroad to get around the park, because the forward progress walking was down to a shuffle, and our group of four kept getting forcibly separated by various combinations of strollers, double-strollers, scooters, school groups, etc. Thank goodness we did not have any small kids with us or it would have been very stressful keeping track of everyone. The crowd stayed shoulder to shoulder until around 6-7pm when the light rain came. By fireworks time, the park had thinned considerably, but was still "busy" until close.

IMHO, if you are OK with being in a shopping mall at Christmas, stuck in a packed elevator, or at Times Square New Years Eve, then don't let a phase 3 Spring Break crowd stop you from the fun of MK. We had a blast and would do it again with an small group of older kids and/or adults. Do not waste your time or money if you have crowd issues, or get easily frustrated with waiting for things. There are much better times to go.

This was our experience on Friday as well. We rope dropped EPCOT and the crowds were considerably less there we rode test track x2, picked up Soarin fastpasses, did figment, walked around the flower and garden setups, got lunch in France and went back to ride Soarin before noon. We headed to MK about noon and crowds were CRAZY. I think the only reason the crowds thinned out before firewroks was the rain. It poured a couple of times throught the afternoon and drove people out. We jst put on our ponchos and soldiered on. We were focused on playing Sorcerers more than rides, but even there we often had lines 4 deep for portals, which we haven't encountered playing before. We finished our game about 8:30 and got out before the parade rolled.

 

[tmbacon]

We are here now...wish I could post a pic from my phone because I have a great one of Main Street at noon today!! Wall to wall people!!

We arrived at MK at 6:50am for EMH. Between 7-8am, we rode Space twice and Buzz twice. Then we did Little Mermaid, met Ariel, Pooh, tea cups, Peter Pan, pirates, big thunder, haunted mansion and jungle cruise by 11. We ate lunch at 11, did the people mover and decided to get the heck out by noon!!
For as crowded as it was by noon, I am grateful that we all got up at 5:30am and could get all of this done! We even used three fast passes!
Now the kids are sleeping

OK so now you're giving me some hope that we'll be able to maneuver MK - we'll be there next week on Friday, plan to do EMH @7 and get outta there by noon and on to another park. Planning seems to be the key here!! (and a whole lotta patience)

 

[luvmy2babies]

I can’t take my child out of school either, but oh how I wish. It's either Spring Break, Christmas or summer for us. She is honor roll but that is a team effort and her literally busting her behind (Dyslexic/ADHD). We were at MK for one day during her fall break (originally a trip to Sea World) and it was wonderful. It wasn’t too hot, wasn’t too cold, about a 6 out of 10. We were there from open to close doing whatever we wanted as many times as we wanted. We did 30 park hours in those 3 days (2 days at Sea World and one day at MK) and no one was even tired.

We went the last week of June last year and we had a good time despite how Debby poured on us for days. I’m planning for the first week of June this time. I’ve experienced a 9 at MK and a 9.5 at Epcot and we did fine, but it was Thanksgiving week and even though it was our first trip, I had already spent months here on this site and knew what to expect. After that a 7/10 is nothing. I can’t imagine going there having no idea what was waiting.

I have a couple of facebook friends who I know will be going and I know they have no clue. I told them to get up as early as they could to get to wherever they were going.

One of them was talking about waiting until they got there to see if her daughter wanted to do BBB before she tried to make an appointment. I told her to call now and not mention it to her daughter.

I decided on this trip 3 weeks ago. It is in 2 months and it took 3 calls to get a BBB appointment in MK and it is at 5pm.

 

[kangaroodle]

Another question about Phase closings.... What happens if we go to MK, bail outta there at 1ish, then want to go back later? We r DVC members staying on site but no Hoppers this trip. I know they guarantee you entrance into A park (doesn't have to be the one you want to enter), but without Hoppers am I SOL if there is a closing? We plan to get there at 6:30am.

 

[chartle]

Another question about Phase closings.... What happens if we go to MK, bail outta there at 1ish, then want to go back later? We r DVC members staying on site but no Hoppers this trip. I know they guarantee you entrance into A park (doesn't have to be the one you want to enter), but without Hoppers am I SOL if there is a closing? We plan to get there at 6:30am.

If you are on site or have, ADR with written proof or fall into some other categories you are some of the last people let in but if its at stage 4 no one is let in no matter what.

And I have heard that you would be directed to a ticket booth if you wanted to upgrade to a hopper. Good news is that it will probably open back up again in the late afternoon as people start to leave.

 

[LaurenT]

Yes, this past February, I think we were there on the 16th, a Saturday. Maybe the CM's were referring to ToT being in phase III? It was extremely crowded. FWIW, BATB was not currently playing or had just let out.

When we were planning our trip to be over President's Day weekend this year I knew the crowd levels would be up but never expected them to be as bad as when we went over spring break in March 2010 - they were worse!

Ah...we arrived on the 26th. Didn't go to the parks until the 17th. I did Josh's parks all week and it was crowded in the afternoons, but really not bad. I think there was one day where I could have just gone back to the resort around 2 (we don't take breaks, lol).
Mesboy was there for some of it too...I think I remember him saying that Epcot was "slammed" on a day when I thought it wasn't too bad...so, obviously, I have a very high tolerance for pain....

 

[g-dad66]

So, is it this crowded because it's the last week of March, or because it's the week before Easter?

Primarily because it's the week before Easter.

Last week of March next year should be a whole different story.

 

[mesaboy2]

Another question about Phase closings.... What happens if we go to MK, bail outta there at 1ish, then want to go back later? We r DVC members staying on site but no Hoppers this trip. I know they guarantee you entrance into A park (doesn't have to be the one you want to enter), but without Hoppers am I SOL if there is a closing? We plan to get there at 6:30am.

To add to what chartle said, you also have some priority to enter if you're re-entering the same park. Not in all phases, but some.