For those of you who *hate* heavy DL crowds and went during heavy crowds...

[alvernon90]

The second crazy crowded experience was Dec 2014; so just last year. I had not been during holiday time in years and wanted to see the decorations. Well, again, the crowds were just massive and insane.

What part of December? I understand that the week after Christmas is worse than the week before.

 

[gilana]

My husband and I are just back from our first trip, and we were in the parks yesterday, when it was pretty seriously crowded. I know it's different for 2 adults than a family with children, but we were still surprised at how much we managed to see and do on a busy day. We took advantage of a lot of attractions that we might have otherwise skipped -- like Autopia, or going over to Pirate's Lair -- and found we enjoyed them more than we would have expected. So use some FastPasses, take advantage of some hidden gems, and have fun!

 

[KalamityJane]

My husband and I are just back from our first trip, and we were in the parks yesterday, when it was pretty seriously crowded. I know it's different for 2 adults than a family with children, but we were still surprised at how much we managed to see and do on a busy day. We took advantage of a lot of attractions that we might have otherwise skipped -- like Autopia, or going over to Pirate's Lair -- and found we enjoyed them more than we would have expected. So use some FastPasses, take advantage of some hidden gems, and have fun!

The race weekend is this weekend so that might be why it is pretty crowded? Plus Veteran's Day.

 

[stinkpickle]

Strangely enough, heavy crowds at DL seem more manageable to me than moderate crowds at WDW....not sure why.

 

[Love Tink]

Strangely enough, heavy crowds at DL seem more manageable to me than moderate crowds at WDW....not sure why.

I agree and I think it's because there is just so much more to do.

If you are at Animal Kingdom at WDW and it is kind of crowded, the crowds are dispersed between only 17 attractions (seven rides, four movies/shows, five walking tours and a playground). And if they are all busy, or you get bored, it takes quite a while to change parks. At DLR there are dozens of things to do (58 attractions just in DL), and the two parks are minutes apart. SO I think it is easier to find things that are manageable.

 

[Congo Queen]

What part of December? I understand that the week after Christmas is worse than the week before.

It was Dec 21 - so pretty close to Xmas.

 

[motor58]

OP here....I've been away from my computer for a couple days so I've not been able to respond fully, but your posts have really are making me feel better. I think the nervousness mostly comes from never being there during heavy crowds and thinking about how busy it was the last time we were there and it would be WAY BUSIER is really what is freaking me out. But we will have to do it differently, and splitting up will be helpful too.

It looks like there is a lot of us here that did what I did-picked what I thought would be a less busy week of the holiday season and it became a super busy time. When I booked this trip, star wars land hadn't been announced, closures hadn't been announced and el nino stuff wasn't talked about either.

I've got a few weeks to prepare and plan and that is what I will do.

thank you everybody

 

[CLR4321]

I hate crowds. When we go to WDW, I pull my kids out of school for a week just so we can avoid them. We will be in CA over Christmas break to visit my family, so we kind of have no choice but to go when we can. We picked Dec 29th for DL and 30th for DCA. I admit that I am a little nervous LOL We are going into it expecting that we won't see as much as we do at WDW (husband and 2 of the kids have never been to DL). We are skipping all rides that they have at WDW, because we go to WDW normally every year. We're doing the special attractions (Haunted Mansion holiday, Hyperspace) and DL exclusives first, then will go back to other rides if we have time. Under no circumstances will we even consider Peter Pan! LOL! We caught Jingle Cruise at WDW in January, so we'll skip that. We normally plan for WDW pretty well, but don't follow a strict schedule. For this trip we are using a strict schedule and will only deviate from it if need be or if we get the must-sees done sooner than expected.

 

[califlorican]

Ok we arrived yesterday and got into DL at about 4pm. It was really crowded (by our standards), but we grabbed FPs for BTMRR for 7:20-8:20 and ate some food. Then we went to Pirates, 40 min wait, but it went by quick! Then we did Matterhorn, 30 min wait, did some shopping, got a treat from Pooh's Corner and ate at French Market while the fireworks were going. By then it was almost 10 so we decided to see if we could get a spot for PtN at 10:45. We walked to IASW and found a few seats for the 5 of us. It was a great show!

So all in all we didn't get a TON done, but 3 rides, 2 meals and the parade was good enough for us. Today will be a full day so we'll see how it goes!

 

[beachdreamr1229]

I've been many times this year, both on- and off-season, and it's definitely more crowded than I've seen it in a long time. That being said, I was there on Spring Break, the 24 hour party, August before kids were back in school, and during the Halloween insanity. I hate crowds with a passion, but it's not so bad if you go in realizing you may not be able to see everything and that some areas will be wall-to-wall people and you may not always be able to walk to where you want to go. Go in with a list of the top 5 things each person in your party wants to do. The reality is, it might not all get done. Haunted Mansion will probably be especially packed with the Nightmare overlay and the Hat Box Ghost, so if that's in your plans, hit it first thing in the morning. Hyperspace Mountain will also likely be a mess with crowds. We found that if we spent our mornings at DL, then headed over to DCA in the afternoon when crowds were at the peak, it was easier to manage. But then, if you want to see the new parade and fireworks, you'll have to brave the crowds again at night. Overall, it's a different experience than going when it's not as crowded. It's not bad necessarily, but it means you have to be very flexible and willing to change your plans quickly if you see that something just isn't working.

 

[avalovesminnie]

Any tips for when there is a wall of people? Especially with a stroller? I imagine avoiding parade route and post fireworks would avoid some of that? Any other times/ areas where it is wall to wall people? I got run over by a scooter leaving the park during fireworks last visit and it actually cut my foot.

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

Rope drop more than anything else, no matter how hard you may have to scrape the family out of bed (and I totally get the cranky morning husband bit), will give you the best attraction time of your whole day, along with judicious use of Fastpasses. You can't get that time back or make it up on a very crowded day if you miss it, and speaking from experience, you may regret the rest of your day because of it. You can rest midday and build your energy back up for dealing with the evening crowds. If anything, I would do rope drop, lunch counter service and take an afternoon break, and then reserve table service dinners. DL will be slammed with people for the new fireworks, parade, and the last Fantasmic! performances for 18 months. If you stay for those, counter service will be slammed, probably much more crowded than at lunch. (Last Halloween, I remember one painful, half-hour long line just to get into Plaza Inn.) The bottom line is if you get there early, early, early no matter what, you'll have far fewer regrets when the crowds swell in the afternoon/evening, and you'll feel a lot more at ease going slower due to the crowding.

 

[teach1abc]

Just curious, why do you think it is going to be extremely crowded during thise dates? We will be there from Dec 6-9. We went two years ago, but from Wed - Sat, and the crowds were really low, especially in DCA ( dates attached to the same weekend). Friday night and Saturday got very busy but the other days were great! We booked Sunday - Wednesday this time, hoping people would start leaving Sunday and Monday - Wednesday would be less crowded.

 

[KalamityJane]

Just curious, why do you think it is going to be extremely crowded during thise dates? We will be there from Dec 6-9. We went two years ago, but from Wed - Sat, and the crowds were really low, especially in DCA ( dates attached to the same weekend). Friday night and Saturday got very busy but the other days were great! We booked Sunday - Wednesday this time, hoping people would start leaving Sunday and Monday - Wednesday would be less crowded.

60th Anniversary has been bringing crowds in like CRAZY plus since they are doing so many refurbs in January (and F!, Aladdin, TSI, and RoA will be down/gone) people are trying to get in to see those before they close.

 

[teach1abc]

Touring Plans has the crowd tracker (10 being most crowded) looking like this for Disneyland/DCA -
12/6 - 8/7
12/7 - 4/3
12/8 - 3/2
12/9 - 4/3

This gives me hope it won't be too crowded!

 

[pittypat]

Touring Plans has the crowd tracker (10 being most crowded) looking like this for Disneyland/DCA -
12/6 - 8/7
12/7 - 4/3
12/8 - 3/2
12/9 - 4/3

This gives me hope it won't be too crowded!

I'm pleased to see these numbers!! Someone posted on the big Christmas thread that the numbers on another crowd-tracking site implied it was going to be awful for these days! That's the week we specifically chose because of historically low numbers, so I was not happy to see these "new" predictions. Interesting, though, that different sites have such different predictions.

 

[motor58]

Also I think extra crowds due to Star Wars season of the force stuff, and I wonder too on how weather is factoring in. El nino is most likely happening, and most likely starting in January. When I booked this trip none of this stuff was known and our upcoming trip is now going to be a very very different trip. That and the closures in January and the 60th, it's like a perfect storm for crazy crowds.

I also am not too trusting of the Touring Plans numbers, they've been adjusting them recently. Also our last trip they said it was a 3/4 for DL and it was not-

Rope drop more than anything else, no matter how hard you may have to scrape the family out of bed (and I totally get the cranky morning husband bit), will give you the best attraction time of your whole day, along with judicious use of Fastpasses. You can't get that time back or make it up on a very crowded day if you miss it, and speaking from experience, you may regret the rest of your day because of it. You can rest midday and build your energy back up for dealing with the evening crowds. If anything, I would do rope drop, lunch counter service and take an afternoon break, and then reserve table service dinners. DL will be slammed with people for the new fireworks, parade, and the last Fantasmic! performances for 18 months. If you stay for those, counter service will be slammed, probably much more crowded than at lunch. (Last Halloween, I remember one painful, half-hour long line just to get into Plaza Inn.) The bottom line is if you get there early, early, early no matter what, you'll have far fewer regrets when the crowds swell in the afternoon/evening, and you'll feel a lot more at ease going slower due to the crowding.

Mike-I agree with all of that, and what you wrote and what I have been reading here is helping my brain adjust. I will look more into booking dinners later today....

 

[Girimama33]

Touring Plans has the crowd tracker (10 being most crowded) looking like this for Disneyland/DCA -
12/6 - 8/7
12/7 - 4/3
12/8 - 3/2
12/9 - 4/3

This gives me hope it won't be too crowded!

Do.Not.Trust.Touring.Plans.Crowd.Predictions.

They are not accurate for DLR.
You are better off expecting crowds (considering the increase in park hours), and be pleasantly surprised if it is not as bad as you anticipated.

 

[KalamityJane]

Rope drop more than anything else, no matter how hard you may have to scrape the family out of bed (and I totally get the cranky morning husband bit), will give you the best attraction time of your whole day, along with judicious use of Fastpasses. You can't get that time back or make it up on a very crowded day if you miss it, and speaking from experience, you may regret the rest of your day because of it. You can rest midday and build your energy back up for dealing with the evening crowds. If anything, I would do rope drop, lunch counter service and take an afternoon break, and then reserve table service dinners. DL will be slammed with people for the new fireworks, parade, and the last Fantasmic! performances for 18 months. If you stay for those, counter service will be slammed, probably much more crowded than at lunch. (Last Halloween, I remember one painful, half-hour long line just to get into Plaza Inn.) The bottom line is if you get there early, early, early no matter what, you'll have far fewer regrets when the crowds swell in the afternoon/evening, and you'll feel a lot more at ease going slower due to the crowding.

We are not really TS people - any recommendations for cheap TS meals? We have RBT F! package booked on a Saturday night, I think (might be Sunday). I will totally add more TS reservations to cover our butts though. I have kids that eat like birds.

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

We are not really TS people - any recommendations for cheap TS meals? We have RBT F! package booked on a Saturday night, I think (might be Sunday). I will totally add more TS reservations to cover our butts though. I have kids that eat like birds.

Cheap is relative unfortunately, and depends on where you are/want to be in/near the parks at dinner time. Hotel TS options and Carthay Circle will be most expensive. Dining in DTD might be more affordable. Depending on where you're staying, there's always Earl of Sandwich in DTD. It's CS but awesome. (When we stayed at DLH last year, it was our go-to dinner option.)