Anyone else concerned about the crowd increase?

[Stratman50th]

I have no concerns whatsoever....

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Now are the wait times correct or inflated?

Also is touring plans keeping more accurate wait times?

I know in years past I’ve used TP app for wait times because they’re more accurate.

 

[Avery&Todd]

To: Avery&Todd said:
“We're arriving in 6 days and I'm a little nervous for the crows at HS”

Honestly, thot the crowds at MK were far worse than Epcot due to reduced space in some areas from the lines (fantasyland)

As usual during F&W, Epcot in the evening was very busy but we were able to skip the large groups congregating here & there.

You have to be smart. If you do feel comfortable visiting but then find yourself in a situation where you are not comfortable @ WDW, remove yourself from it, period! No amount of $$$$ spent is worth taking risks you would never accept at home.


One thing I did notice is many people seemed to look exhausted last week in the parks.

Talked to friends who were there the same time. Many commented this was the first time they had really walked more than a few miles a day since the pandemic and were struggling. Combo of being out of shape and issues wearing a mask for an extended period of time.

All should consider ‘training’ thusly for upcoming trips IMO

those dang CROWS!!!

but lucky for us, this trip it's only DH and I, so no kids and worrying about them touching things! I would imagine that if DH gets "over" the crowds at HS we'll just leave...the plan is to be there by 9am and hopefully get on MMRR prior to 10am, and then hopefully get on ROTR at some point....we wont do the Smugglers Run bc of DH's motion sickness so that's off the table, but we do love a good Toy Story ride and Slinky, so those are a must do....

I have prepared DH that the posted wait times have been almost double the actual times and since we usually go in HOT HOT June hopefully he'll be a little more OK waiting with it being October....

but we'll see - I'm going to have to take of my GO-GO-GO hat and put on a more relaxed, go with the flow hat.....

and we do have a lunch ADR at 50s PT so that will be a nice break....

 

[MaryKatesMom]

I was there for 10 days for the last week of September and was floored by the size of the crowd. Most of the week DHS was as capacity and it looked like a regular day. Both Saturday's all the parks were full to both AP and resort guests. I chatted with numerous CM's about it and they said it was much busier than Labour Day and the busiest they had seen since reopening. I was at DHS on a Tuesday and Thursday and both days I was unable to do ROR. Apparently I wasn't the only one. All four times the Boarding passes were gone within seconds. Everyone was staring at their phones at 10 AM and 2PM. The shouts of joy or disappointment were loud. There was a huge streaming crowd that left at 2:01 Everything including SW had well over an hour wait.

Touring Plans had the crowd level at 1-3 all 10 days and it was much higher. I'm sure their algorithms are off. Everyone I talked to was within driving distance and the couple I talked to were from Atlanta and were going home that night because they thought it would be slow and were shocked by how crowded it was. NOTHING during my trip was walk on.

 

[wilkydelts]

Now are the wait times correct or inflated?

Also is touring plans keeping more accurate wait times?

I know in years past I’ve used TP app for wait times because they’re more accurate.

The Touring Plans Line app uses Crowd sourced data to track actual wait times:

Right now at 10:52 on 10/6/20

Splash Mountain- WDW posted 65min TP estimate 32min
Space Mounatin- WDW posted 45min TP estimate 18min
Seven Dwarfs- WDW posted 50min TP estimate 37min

 

[mi*vida*loca]

The Touring Plans Line app uses Crowd sourced data to track actual wait times:

Right now at 10:52 on 10/6/20

Splash Mountain- WDW posted 65min TP estimate 32min
Space Mounatin- WDW posted 45min TP estimate 18min
Seven Dwarfs- WDW posted 50min TP estimate 37min

I was debating on renewing the subscription but I think I’ll go ahead and purchase.

 

[Naomeri]

One thing I did notice is many people seemed to look exhausted last week in the parks.

Talked to friends who were there the same time. Many commented this was the first time they had really walked more than a few miles a day since the pandemic and were struggling. Combo of being out of shape and issues wearing a mask for an extended period of time.

All should consider ‘training’ thusly for upcoming trips IMO

I’ve been doing that. On my January trip, I felt practically crippled by sore feet and tight muscles in my calves, but now I’ve been stretching and going out to walk a couple miles a couple times a week on pavement to condition my body. I’ve even been wearing my mask on these walks, even though there’s no one around and it’s not actually necessary for safety.

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

I'm not concerned about crowds from a safety standpoint. WDW is a big place and we'll keep our distance from congested areas. If that means we have to take a lot of detours, ok. But we're used to being in public with masks/distancing at this point and will not feel unsafe if there are a lot of people in the general area/outdoors.

My hope is that crowds don't result in all of the lines being extremely long waits for everything. I'm confident that even with more people attending, it's not going to be so many that safe distancing becomes impossible.

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

Touring Plans had the crowd level at 1-3 all 10 days and it was much higher. I'm sure their algorithms are off. Everyone I talked to was within driving distance and the couple I talked to were from Atlanta and were going home that night because they thought it would be slow and were shocked by how crowded it was. NOTHING during my trip was walk on.

Looking at the historical data for the end of September, TP's predictions of "1" level crowds were off pretty regularly. They reported actual crowds of 2-3 most days during that time.

I've noticed that the accuracy has been better overall more recently except for EPCOT on the weekends. F&W crowds showed up in droves making the predictions of 1-2 turn into 7's !!!!!

 

[Took]

I'm not concerned about crowds from a safety standpoint. WDW is a big place and we'll keep our distance from congested areas. If that means we have to take a lot of detours, ok. But we're used to being in public with masks/distancing at this point and will not feel unsafe if there are a lot of people in the general area/outdoors.

My hope is that crowds don't result in all of the lines being extremely long waits for everything. I'm confident that even with more people attending, it's not going to be so many that safe distancing becomes impossible.

You may have a more difficult time than you imagine. I’ve been coming to Disney for 25 years I’ve even been to wdw on Xmas day. I know wdw HAS been busier than it is now but it’s never FELT busier and more congested. Really miserable in MK today (oct 6).

 

[batuuboba]

I guess we all knew it would happen but, the jump from manageable crowds to what appears to be chaos on weekends and recent weekdays seems too much too soon. It appears the need to recover lost dollars outweighs the safety of guests at this point. The pictures/videos and articles over the past couple of weeks makes it look like they have opened the flood gates to guests. I know everyone wants to get out and try to feel normal but, it sure doesn't look like they are limiting attendance. I have not personally been there to experience it but, it looks like pre pandemic currently.

Cheers,

Schuey

Yeah, this is kinda disappointing given that Universal was worse at one point and now they both seem to be on par. Disney looks normal and to the best of my knowledge, they've only been increasing capacity/attendance since the already crowded Labor Day weekend. Enforcement already in my experience has been so-so at best, and increasing capacity could add to this. I'm not saying we need to shut down, but we need to be responsible. What's happening right now isn't. For everyone going during Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas right now, I highly recommend really prioritizing rides (choose six at every park that you have to go on) and then finding out what else you can do in the parks like pictures or an interactive experience or shopping. On Labor Day weekend my party got on all the big-ticket rides once and think it's safe to say expect less out of a trip for these bigger holidays coming up. I keep joking to take those matching shirts and Minnie ears for those pictures you never had time for but wanted. This will probably be the trip for those! Best of luck to you guys braving those days and I hope it turns out magical nonetheless.

 

[Tootsie62]

Yes we were there last week and decided NOT to do any parks on our 8 day stay because of the increased crowds. It was a pool resort hoping extravaganza for us instead. Everyone has their own comfort zone, and I respect that, but for us the parks were way too crowded for our tastes. Last Monday we attempted to go to MK(after purposely skipping Sunday due to local crowds) and saw the crowds and just left. We decided that day it would be a resort only stay.

Did you resort hop or just pool hop?

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

You may have a more difficult time than you imagine. I’ve been coming to Disney for 25 years I’ve even been to wdw on Xmas day. I know wdw HAS been busier than it is now but it’s never FELT busier and more congested. Really miserable in MK today (oct 6).

Ultimately, it doesn't matter if it "feels" congested. The question is whether it IS congested. If it is congested, we'll adapt and avoid anything that we don't feel safe being around.

ETA: We're 40+ year veterans of WDW and managing expectations. Definitely not blinded by pixie dust.

 

[disneyseniors]

A question for our moderator, Yulilin3!

What is the name of your utube site? I noticed it mentioned on here, and I would love to see the videos
(If you tell me it's, Yulilin3's utube channel, I'll feel pretty dumb) LOL

 

[keishashadow]

my experience re wait times past week:

if stated 15 min = walk on

30 min = 15-20

anything longer, subtract 1/3 (sometimes closer to half) off stated time

All four times the Boarding passes were gone within seconds. Everyone was staring at their phones at 10 AM and 2PM. The shouts of joy or disappointment were loud. There was a huge streaming crowd that left at 2:01 Everything including SW had well over an hour wait.

Pretty much as it’s always been, pre covid.

Mgm always at capacity it seems in current ‘normal’ post covid but it is obviously still far less people than it was in the past

Yeah, this is kinda disappointing given that Universal was worse at one point and now they both seem to be on par

I think U has adjusted better, could be due to less guests/area to handle per day

U Seemed Far less crowded our five days there vs same time frame We spent next at WDW. Both included weekends.

btw, a day at SW was very rain filled, low crowds but didn’t really observe much in way of social distancing other than seating in stadiums

U absolutely got the nod for better protocols in their stores IMO.

They also did a fantastic job keeping people distanced in their two haunted houses

 

[yulilin3]

A question for our moderator, Yulilin3!

What is the name of your utube site? I noticed it mentioned on here, and I would love to see the videos
(If you tell me it's, Yulilin3's utube channel, I'll feel pretty dumb) LOL

lol, no it's Dream to Stream, the link is on my signature, I live stream on Facebook, I do have a youtube channel that I'm building right now, link also in my signature.
If you are reading this on your phone put in in landscape and you'll see people's signatures

 

[yulilin3]

my experience re wait times past week:

if stated 15 min = walk on

30 min = 15-20

anything longer, subtract 1/3 (sometimes closer to half) off stated time


Pretty much as it’s always been, pre covid.

Mgm always at capacity it seems in current ‘normal’ post covid but it is obviously still far less people than it was in the past


I think U has adjusted better, could be due to less guests/area to handle per day

U Seemed Far less crowded our five days there vs same time frame We spent next at WDW. Both included weekends.

btw, a day at SW was very rain filled, low crowds but didn’t really observe much in way of social distancing other than seating in stadiums

U absolutely got the nod for better protocols in their stores IMO.

They also did a fantastic job keeping people distanced in their two haunted houses

I also think that people are just used to making lines at Universal as their express is paid or you must be staying at one of their deluxe resorts. The casual visitor will not buy an express pass. Disney got everyone used to and experts in the use of fp. So now making a 30 to 45 min queue at Disney feels like a long time

 

[disneyseniors]

lol, no it's Dream to Stream, the link is on my signature, I live stream on Facebook, I do have a youtube channel that I'm building right now, link also in my signature.
If you are reading this on your phone put in in landscape and you'll see people's signatures

Well, duh, I never look at all the little writing on the bottom of peoples posts

I am one of those dinosaurs who doesn't have a smart phone ! Thanks for the heads up

 

[yulilin3]

Well, duh, I never look at all the little writing on the bottom of peoples posts

I am one of those dinosaurs who doesn't have a smart phone ! Thanks for the heads up

Me too, i just point ans press go live, lol
Going live from DS at 4pm if anyone wanted to see what the crowds look like

 

[Brett Wyman]

Did you resort hop or just pool hop?

We did a quadruple split stay between Riviera, Vero Beach, Fort Wilderness(we had our camper with us), and Wilderness lodge(CCV). So we resort/pool hopped by way of changing resorts 4 times Outside of that we never left the resort we were currently in.