magic kinhdom at phase three again today

[mrsp1030]

I agree with that. We went in December one year and it was unusually cool. I mean 30 and 40 degrees and people we met said they had every intention of swimming and doing a water park day but too cold even with heated pools! Next week looks to be 70s and 80s!!'

 

[canoe86]

I know this probably goes against some board rules, or Disney karma, but I just don't like Disney that much to stand in lines as long as I'm reading on here.

Just asked our 11 year old what would be the maximum time she would wait for barnstormer. 5 minutes was her answer. When we told her the wait was well over an hour she said...."Why would anyone wait an hour for a 15 second ride?"

Good luck to all who are there now.

 

[puffkin]

You have to take the ride wait time apps with a grain of salt. The wait times posted all week have been horribly exaggerated in my opinion. DHS wasn't bad at all today. We got a ton accomplished and we even left for a few hours this afternoon.

 

[kangaroodle]

We were at DHS today too. Got there at RD and got a ton done...even TSM 3x. But the wait time apps were almost spot on to the posted times. We kept checking all day. We also left after lunch around 2pm, when I'm sure the crush of people were there.

 

[AR81]

Just curious how were or how are the crowds typically the second week of March? We went this year the week after Presidents Day. I was scared about the crowd levels prior to going but went on all most recommended days and had a great time. Now next year we plan on Spring Break but we are from the south and our spring break is usually early in March and not later. For example this year it was March 10-15. I know they started the 7am openings that week but how bad was it or typically for early March? Is it probably comparable to Presidents day week? Now we werent there on President day, we arrived Tuesday the 19th and stayed 4 nights.....

 

[Suzanne74]

We happened into the MK when it had closed for capacity during the 1st week of January. All I can say is that we could not get out of that park fast enough. We were trying to get to Splash Mountain, but were trapped by the parade. I can't accurately describe how crowded it was, and how many people were there - it was insane. When the parade passed, we looked down the path by Frontierland, and there literally was a person in every square inch of the path. It was scary - I felt like I couldn't keep up with my boys, there were just simply too many people. We decided that we would never vacation during a really busy time again - it just wasn't worth it.

This is how we felt at MNSSHP a few years ago. It was horrible for the parade and fireworks and people were tense, not magical. Wall to wall people. No way to get past the bridges to do anything. You were stuck We have avoided the high peaks like the plague. Why pay top dollar for top crowds?

 

[LikeSeriously]

This is how we felt at MNSSHP a few years ago. It was horrible for the parade and fireworks and people were tense, not magical. Wall to wall people. No way to get past the bridges to do anything. You were stuck We have avoided the high peaks like the plague. Why pay top dollar for top crowds?

That's interesting. We went for MNSSHP a few years ago and never waited in line more than a few minutes. The streets felt empty and my daughter just walked up to a lot of the characters and they would hug her and dance with her.

 

[Suzanne74]

We go in August, when the parks are open pretty late.

I'm very much a morning person, so I'm in charge of mornings. I set my alarm, get up and into the shower, then take our mugs down and get everyone coffee/tea/juice. (We place an order from gardengrocer so we have breakfast food in the room.) Before I leave the room, my husband is getting up and into the shower.

I arrive back at the room with breakfast and get the kids up. The kids shower, dress, and eat while someone else is showering, so it really moves pretty quickly.

We hit rope drop, and tour until lunchtime. Then we head back to the resort and swim the afternoon away. (OK, in the interests of total honesty, my husband frequently naps. And sometimes I catch a few winks in the sum)

We had back to the parks for dinner, then do much lighter touring in the evening. After fireworks, we go back to the room and right to bed.

Somehow, everyone gets enough sleep.

We do this exactly. Go mid to late August. Start with RD. From RD to 1pm, we can knock out most of HS, Epcot future world, AK or half of MK depending on the day. Then we go back to resort from 1-4pm and do anything from lunch, pool, naps, showers. Then back for dinner and a more casual night at another park or sometimes DTD.

 

[Suzanne74]

That's interesting. We went for MNSSHP a few years ago and never waited in line more than a few minutes. The streets felt empty and my daughter just walked up to a lot of the characters and they would hug her and dance with her.

It was that way for us the first MNSSHP we went to. The next time we went we made a fatal mistake of going on a weekend closer to Halloween and it was full of locals. The ride times weren't so bad but the bridges, main street, candy areas were CRAZY busy. It was night and day.

 

[Nicoleclaw]

We have been here since last Saturday. We did ep, hs, ep, mk, mk, ak, and today our last day is Ep. The only line we have waited for was about 20 for pirates and 30 for haunted. We have done all the headliners except mission space, some more than once. We missed car show at hs due to torrential downpour and tornado warnings. And we've been freezing!!but we can't handle the heat of summer and we stay offsite so no emh! Lol we have to go now with 3 school employees in our group. We did Xmas 3 years ago and this feels the same or worse at some points. We managed lines fine due to my planning.... But walking anywhere is such a hassle!!! If our kids were alittle older and could stay up later, we would leave and come back at night which would help as well.

 

[kangaroodle]

I have to give Kudos to Disney during this crazy week. The CMs were all still laughing and having fun while doing their jobs. They kept crowds flowing with CMs directing the crowds. They kept people moving in one direction on each side of the walkways so you weren't fighting against an uncoming crush of people. Yes, it was CROWDED, but overall I think Disney knows how to handle it and did a great job---especially in Fantasyland near Peter Pan UGH! I never felt like I was drowning in people because we were all moving the same way. I did get "bitten" by a few strollers but that's to be expected!

 

[defendthehill]

Been reading this thread for a couple of days and thought I would throw in my experiences on Wednesday. We entered the pard from the ferry around 8:30. We could tell immediately that it was going to be nuts. Parked in Simba 20 and the tram was nuts! Ferried over ..... It was cold and most souls were waiting in the long line for the monorail. Once in we headed straight to little mermaid with a 10 minute wait. Then we rode dumbo standby with15 minute wait time. I collected two FPs for the barnstormer and dumbo. When my crew got off dumbo the first time we went and greeted Minnie and Daisey under the tent. The wait for that was 10-15 minutes. We walked through the shop that you get emptied into and bought some snacks. Exited and rode the barnstormer and then dumbo again with ourFPs. Wait times we up to 45-60 minutes already. We sent a runner to get FPs for splash during our second dumbo ride and meet up at small world. Wait time was 30 minutes. Standby lines for pooh, Peter Pan were at 60 minutes by this point. After small world our window was open for splash so we used our FPs. We also gathered FPs for jungle cruise prior to riding splash. Once of splash we had about 40 minutes till our ressies at crystal palace at 1:20. Standby times were far exceeding the time we had available for most everything around so we hit the Tiki room. Would have rather hit poc but it wasn't happening with the wait time. After tiki we had lunch and relaxed and enjoyed pooh and friends and the flank steak at crystal palace. Upon leaving we used our jungle cruise FPs. We now met up with some friends in the park gathered FPs for splash later in the day and then bit the bullet and waited 60 minutes for poc. We then used our FPs for splash. We wanted to ride the haunted mansion but decided against it with the 60 minute wait time. We walked to the carousel and rode it. 15 minute wait or so. At that point we decided to head to Main Street. We did make it for a good spot to watch the parade that the name escapes me at the moment. Get loud and party now or something like that. We then shopped in the emporium for 45 minutes or so and left the park close to 8PM. We did well considering the park was crazy full. The most crowded I have ever seen it. Yes, many people were in the park due to the cold at the beaches. We are staying on the gulf coast and drove over for the day. We talked to many people that were filling days due to the cold with non beach activities. It was too crowded to really enjoy after 10:30-11:00 if you werenew to the world. So many people with very little idea of how to accomplish a decent day at the park! I had people ask me how much I paid for the fast passes....I gave a couple of FPs away to a young couple from Europe....and tried to explain to them how it worked. They were wide eyed due to the overwhelming nature of a packed magic kingdom. If you know what you are doing you can still enjoy your day. If not.....well......good luck!

 

[gorkt]

It's time to build the Marvel/Star Wars themed fifth park to start spreading the crowds around a bit more. I get trying to maximize profits by stuffing more and more people in the parks all seasons of the year, but this is getting ridiculous.

 

[Pembo]

We have been here since 3/21. Last Fri and Sat were remarkably less crowded. Sunday was worse and has been getting more crowded each day. We were at AK on Wed and there was a 120 min wait for the safaris. Luckily we had ridden last week. We did alot of just walking around, however Bugs Life was only 10 min. We had lunch at RFC at the bar with no wait, a table would have been 30 mins or more.
Yesterday was a second trip to Epcot.
By 1130, FP were gone at Soarin. TT wait time was 200 min with single rider time at 65 min. The place was crazy busy. The countries were not as bad And by 5 we rode Spaceship Earth with a 10 min wait.
We usually are here in June. I prefer those crowds. My boys were here with their marching band so I had no control of the dates. I would never choose Spring break. I met a lady in the laundry rom who was a first timer and was having a miserable time as she was not going at rope drop and had no Idea what park to go to.
Were At Universal on Tues....very crowded. We got there at rope drop and did a lot but by lunch, the place was crawling with people. Ordering lunch at a counter service took forever !
On a good note, we love Pop Century and if it is full, it doesn't feel like it.

 

[LaurenT]

It's time to build the Marvel/Star Wars themed fifth park to start spreading the crowds around a bit more. I get trying to maximize profits by stuffing more and more people in the parks all seasons of the year, but this is getting ridiculous.

Marvel won't happen. Universal has Disney contractually locked out. And I think Star Wars is going to be added to DHS (I know everyone thinks it's going to be Carsland...but my gut is telling me Star Wars)

 

[mcd2745]

Seems like this week really has been a "perfect storm" of circumstances leading to these insane crowds. You have the people who normally have spring break the last week of March, the early Easter so more people are on break, and the unusually cold temps drawing people away from the beaches/pools/water parks etc.

Here's to hoping next week isn't sooooo bad.

 

[ManyMinnie]

I know this probably goes against some board rules, or Disney karma, but I just don't like Disney that much to stand in lines as long as I'm reading on here.

Just asked our 11 year old what would be the maximum time she would wait for barnstormer. 5 minutes was her answer. When we told her the wait was well over an hour she said...."Why would anyone wait an hour for a 15 second ride?"

Good luck to all who are there now.

Smart girl.

 

[Stegemouse]

Just curious how were or how are the crowds typically the second week of March? We went this year the week after Presidents Day. I was scared about the crowd levels prior to going but went on all most recommended days and had a great time. Now next year we plan on Spring Break but we are from the south and our spring break is usually early in March and not later. For example this year it was March 10-15. I know they started the 7am openings that week but how bad was it or typically for early March? Is it probably comparable to Presidents day week? Now we werent there on President day, we arrived Tuesday the 19th and stayed 4 nights.....

We were there this year from March 10th through March 14th, and it wasn't bad at all. We did Rope Drop every day, even if that meant 7am our last day at Magic Kingdom. It was hard and tiring, but it was worth it because we had accomplished most of what we wanted to for the day by about 11am. Once the crowds started getting unmanageable we either headed back to the hotel or did the attractions that don't draw as many people. The only downside for us was we were too tired from our early mornings to go back out at night for any of the fireworks.

 

[AR81]

We were there this year from March 10th through March 14th, and it wasn't bad at all. We did Rope Drop every day, even if that meant 7am our last day at Magic Kingdom. It was hard and tiring, but it was worth it because we had accomplished most of what we wanted to for the day by about 11am. Once the crowds started getting unmanageable we either headed back to the hotel or did the attractions that don't draw as many people. The only downside for us was we were too tired from our early mornings to go back out at night for any of the fireworks.

When we went the week after Presidents day weekend, we hit rope drop every day but always avoided emh parks so never had an official opening before 9. I don't know if we could have done an 8am which means being there by 7--Yikes is all I can say. We had such a great time even with as short as it was (5 days) and was hoping for a similar experience when we go in 2014 but Spring Break seems like the only logical choice. (don't want to pull the kids out again). My point about the 9am opening is because we didn't have to wake up terribly early- 7ish, at the bus stop by 8 and at the parks around 8:15 waiting--it didn't tire us out. We left for mid day breaks around 1-2 and always came back for dinner and fireworks. Not too tired as long as we were in bed by the latest 11. I might try to rethink this and go the first week of June. We also loved the weather when we went. It was in the 80's and we got to swim, never saw a drop of rain the entire time. It was fabulous. I was trying to avoid the summer because I don't want a lot of rain. I know people say its no big deal and just keep touring but that doesn't sound like fun to me. Decisions, decisions...
Spring break (2nd week of March)--more crowded, really early park openings but probably better weather
First week of June-- probably less crowded, can avoid emh and go on 9am openings but will probably see a lot of rain

 

[mcd2745]

No phase 3 today? Surprising since it's an EMH night.