Epcot was crazy today

[Meriweather]

Well it is last weekend of F & W, dapper day, long holiday weekend, Christmas taping with many Disney stars. Perfect storm.

end of Jersey week too.
It was so crowded. More than any time I have gone. We did our fast passes, ate lunch and left.
Hope next week I can get less crowds.

 

[Koz]

We spent two days at Epcot this trip. Day 1 was devoted to rides and front of the parkids and we had a great time Day 2 was arrival at 2pm and World Showcase, Agent P etc. I have never seen Epcot so crowded as this past Friday. We arrived during the ticketing glitch with the computers but it was elbow to elbow at the WS. We made sure to leave before the fireworks as I could only imagine trying to make it out with the herd.

 

[kaytieeldr]

The wife and I were thinking about heading to F&W today but when she saw a 50 minute wait for Spaceship Earth, we knew it must be a zoo.

MG

Thank you for the update! The wife and I had plans set up to go to Epcot yesterday, and had to cancel. Maybe it was a good thing we didn't make it!

Only one wife going to WDW, huh?

 

[WhateverLolaWants]

A friend is at MCO right now and says departures is crazy so I'm hopeful that today at F&W won't be insanely crowded.

 

[CarrieR]

Both Epcot & MK were Christmas week busy yesterday (I'm a Christmas week vet.) We had a great morning at MK Fri, got to EP around 6 or 7 and had a really lovely time. This morning at DHS was okay but of course I was in & out by 9:30...

I came for Dapper Day but if I had to do it again I would have picked a different weekend. We hardly "Dappered," Epcot was so nuts we grabbed lunch, caught American Adventure, and then opted to boat to DHS to catch the bus instead of fighting the sea of humanity to get to the front of Epcot.

 

[Domsmom]

I was there this past week and I will definitely never go back during Food and Wine again. Wall to wall people. People puking. My husband saw that someone smeared feces all over the bathroom wall. It's like a zoo. Why would you pay so much money to go to a park to get drunk. You can do that anywhere. Those crowd calendars were way off. I was prepared for a 6 or 7 in the parks not 10's. I thought attendance was down.

 

[gorkt]

Yep, it was a mob scene yesterday everywhere. I have never seen the parks so crowded. They didn't close, but it was really congested. We went to HS yesterday since we wanted to avoid Epcot. We toured in the morning, and it was crowded but manageable, then took a break at 3pm, returned at 6pm for the Star Wars Fireworks and the park was packed. Then once HS closed, we decided (stupidly) to spend a few hours at MK at night since it was me of the few non party nights last week. Everyone else apparently had the same idea. You could barely move down Main Street. The people mover had a huge line which is the first time ever seeing that. After Wishes, it did clear a little, but all the headliners were still jammed. We finally called it a night at 11:30pm.

 

[crazedprincess]

This scares me for our upcoming trip!

 

[2pinwheels]

Great. We were at Epcot this morning and bailed.... Like, "We're near France and are so over the crowds, let's take the boat to the Studios and catch the bus there instead of walking up front through them." And we're headed to MK tonight. It's the only night of my trip to see Wishes...

Where do you catch the boat between Epcot and HS?

 

[Mel730]

Leaving Magic Kingdom yesterday around 2:30pm I was told by a cast member that Epcot and Hollywood Studios were closed for capacity. I headed to Epcot anyway and was let in with no problem. But it was crazy, I have never seen crowds like that at Epcot.

Where do you catch the boat between Epcot and HS?

Between France and the UK there is an exit that leads to the boats that go to Boardwalk, Yacht Club, Swan & Dolphin, and Hollywood Studios.

 

[North of Mouse]

Only one wife going to WDW, huh?

Yea, for some reason that phrase kills me! I'd better be more than 'the wife' to my dh.

 

[Nhebron]

This scares me for our thanksgiving trip. I was looking at the wait times this weekend and they were crazy.

 

[mjkacmom]

Well it is last weekend of F & W, dapper day, long holiday weekend, Christmas taping with many Disney stars. Perfect storm.

Plus Jersey week, ending today..

 

[Selket]

I was there this past week and I will definitely never go back during Food and Wine again. Wall to wall people. People puking.

We were there the first weekend in October and I thought the crowds at Epcot were thick which surprised me but I'm ok with that. I didn't realize how much the F&W festival draws people in. I'm hardly prudish and I was young once myself but I also noticed just an outstanding number of very, very drunk people that were unpleasant to be around...lots of "drinking around the World" going on...to the point of excess. I got the feeling that Epcot was like a giant bar scene more than a place to take the family. The other parks were fine though.

 

[marie8461]

I am one of those "Jersey week" people. I go every year around the same week in November and have never seen crowds like this. Was there Nov. 5-12 this year and I kept thinking I must have just picked the wrong park surely they couldn't all be so crowded. But, they were! I was in Epcot the evening of Nov. 11 and the level of the crowds in World Showcase was overwhelming. I logged into DisBoards today to see if I could find some kind of explanation for what was going on. Sorry, I'm not buying Jersey week. This was nothing like anything I have ever experienced and I have been going during Jersey week for years.

 

[holden]

I am one of those "Jersey week" people. I go every year around the same week in November and have never seen crowds like this. Was there Nov. 5-12 this year and I kept thinking I must have just picked the wrong park surely they couldn't all be so crowded. But, they were! I was in Epcot the evening of Nov. 11 and the level of the crowds in World Showcase was overwhelming. I logged into DisBoards today to see if I could find some kind of explanation for what was going on. Sorry, I'm not buying Jersey week. This was nothing like anything I have ever experienced and I have been going during Jersey week for years.

Agreed. We were there too. We go this week every year and I've never seen it this crowded.

 

[kydisneyfans]

We came back on Wednesday and concur with many above.
The crowds were the worst we have ever seen, and it wasn't even close.

We hit rope drop 2 mornings at the MK, both Christmas party days, using the thought the it wouldn't be busy due to the short days. Wrong. Tuesday, we rode 2 rides in 2 hours. Rides like Pooh and Peter Pan had 60-90 minute waits within 30 minutes of opening.

I don't know what is happening either, but Disney is jam packed. The crowd calendars normally work for us, this trip they were a complete bust. It's still manageable with fast passes and good planning, but what is happening right now is extreme.

 

[erin1715]

I'm normally a summer visitor due to my husband being a teacher. But he had a long weekend with Veterans Day so we took a short trip and I'm sorry to say that after many many years of trips this was the first time I didn't have a great time.

I think that was the case mostly due to the crowds. I enjoy just being in the parks and soaking it all in. It's near impossible to do that when you're too busy trying to dodge people along the walkways. It was a bummer

 

[CaterFamily]

And here I thought Disney was pricing most everyone out?!

Now I am worried about the week of Dec 12th - 17th....

 

[georgina]

I didn't think Epcot was too bad today. There were a lot of people walking around, but the food lines weren't bad at all. I couldn't stay for Illuminations since it was at 10 and I had to get up at 5 AM to catch my flight this morning. I had FP for any rides I did, except Test Track which I did single rider (took 20 minutes).