Here now and it is packed :(

[asmit4]

Went to MK yesterday and today. Yesterday was PACKED- a ZOO. It was hard to navigate down main street. Today? 1/2 as crowded and lines were GREAT! We were there at the same time each day, early morning to early afternoon. Then we leave to nap/regroup.

Ride lines were 40 minutes and up for EVERYTHING it seemed yesterday and FP- yesterday was already up to 5pm ish for most rides by 11am.

Today? Lines are 10 minutes, maybe 15, with FPs available within an hour or so of the current time.

It seemed to me that there were TONS of locals yesterday (sunday) but today? Seemed everyone had MBs on and was running around with rental strollers. I learned a lesson- avoid weekends. I will ignore what any site says about crowds and only go M-F.

I'm not gonna argue with people about the crowds. This was my perception and the line waits when we were there. I just wanted to report my opinion on things as they stand now Perception, opinion, fact- call it what you want

 

[FLchick415]

I tend to agree about weekends. A lot of locals probably going then, which is why I tend to avoid the parks on weekends when we go.

 

[sweetnjmom]

I haven't read every post in this thread, but wanted to comment on crowds.

We were in the parks 11/12 to 11/16 and here are my thoughts on crowds. And, for us, Magic Bands and FP+ were great. No problems, except for trying to purchase a small toy at the Pirates gift shop--and it was their scanner and not my Magic Band that was the issue.

Tuesday 11/12
MK in the AM -- pre-opening ADR at CP, from 9-11 crowds manageable, got busy in our last 1/2 hour there. Left park before 12 because DS4 was tired.
HS in the PM -- Somewhat busy, but had FP+ for TSMM.

Wednesday 11/13
AK in the AM -- AM EMH; chilly day, but crowds were low, IMO with some bottlenecks in Africa by Safari. Longest wait was to meet Mickey and Minnie.
EPCOT in PM -- can't comment on rides, but not a lot of people walking around in Future World when we arrived at 4:15 PM.

Thurs 11/14
MK -- AM EMH; park was EMPTY that 1st hour. Did speedway, Space Mountain (parent swap) and Buzz Lightyear in 1st hour. Used FP+ for Peter Pan, Jingle Cruise and Splash/Talking Mickey (split group). Last were wasted as minimal waits. Stayed in MK until around 2 PM when DS wanted to go to pool. Had dinner in EPCOT at Le Cellier. World Showcase seemed OK -- and it was a MVMCP night, and HS closed at 4 pm. But we didn't stay for Illuminations.

Friday 11/15
AK -- minimal crowds, cloudy day, upper 70s.

Saturday 11/16
HS in the AM -- AM EMH; it was busy and yucky with the rain. DH and I did parent swap for Star Tours. Seemed crowded. Left before noon because my son was cranky due to the rain. No FP+ that morning. Waits for TSMM were 45 minutes at 8:15 AM.

MK in the PM -- surprisingly low crowds, perhaps due to the earlier rain. Stopped by 3:15 PM when we arrived. Caught the afternoon parade. Did FP+ for Rapunzel and ETWB. Dinner at BOG. After dinner most rides had 15-30 minute waits. Did FP+ for MSEP.

 

[fla4fun]

PH = Park Hopper. Also known as, "Darn those folks at Touring Plans! They said that Park X would be empty today, yet everyone is here. Thank Goodness for our handy dandy Park Hopper passes. We can now quickly move to Park Y and enjoy a crowd-free day!"

That worked better in the days before FP+. Now, you really need to do more research ahead of time because if you make your FP+ for MK, and MK is crowded but another park isn't, you may not be able to just switch FP+ and get the attractions you want at that second park. That's one reason why on my 10 day trip I only have FP+ booked for half the days. There are certain days, like the weekend, that I want to be able to be flexible and go where the crowds aren't, and other days during the week that I feel pretty confident of my park choices.

 

[delmar411]

Went to MK yesterday and today. Yesterday was PACKED- a ZOO. It was hard to navigate down main street. Today? 1/2 as crowded and lines were GREAT! We were there at the same time each day, early morning to early afternoon. Then we leave to nap/regroup.

Ride lines were 40 minutes and up for EVERYTHING it seemed yesterday and FP- yesterday was already up to 5pm ish for most rides by 11am.

Today? Lines are 10 minutes, maybe 15, with FPs available within an hour or so of the current time.

It seemed to me that there were TONS of locals yesterday (sunday) but today? Seemed everyone had MBs on and was running around with rental strollers. I learned a lesson- avoid weekends. I will ignore what any site says about crowds and only go M-F.

I'm not gonna argue with people about the crowds. This was my perception and the line waits when we were there. I just wanted to report my opinion on things as they stand now Perception, opinion, fact- call it what you want

I went to MK yesterday (Monday) and found it really busy. LOL Mostly due to going back and forth between high congestion areas.

 

[G719]

We were in the parks 11/10-11/15. We found the crowds much lighter than June. 11/13 we were in Epcot and test track was 10 minute wait at 7:00. The weather was chilly and windy so that might have had an effect on that. We got a snack at Mexico and sat to wait for illuminations at 8:30. Walked out after and right on a bus for AoA.

 

[kwaziismom]

OP's post was surprising for me to read. We were in the parks from 11/11 - 11/16, and found the crowds to be pretty light. We followed the easy WDW advice and visited the most recommended parks, and ended up waiting in very minimal lines. In fact, I think the only lines I waited in that were that longer than 20 minutes was for a dole whip and to meet characters in Hollywood Studios. Most of the rides were walk-ons, and the ones that weren't we were able to fast pass. Between the light crowds, perfect weather, and good deals I found this to be a wonderful time to visit Disney.

 

[antree]

We were there Nov. 1st to the 11th, and thought it was mobbed there. My brother had friends there the same time and they were telling him how great it was with no crowds. I felt if it wasn't for Magic bands we would have not rode anything. We have been there many times and in every season. I say it was mobbed the 11 days we were there.

 

[nyrebecca]

We are here now and must say these crowds are the smallest we have seen in years. We did tons of walk on rides this week.

 

[lovedworld]

We just returned last night from a 10 day trip. We were there November 14th -23rd. I found the crowds very light. The weather was pretty much great, though we did have some rainy days which is to be expected at WDW. Our last day on Saturday the 23rd was very very nice. The magic bands worked great for us pretty much. Never a problem entering the parks and the FP+ was great, and we ended up changing them sometimes because the wait times were small alot. I did experience a glitch on my band about mid week with my pin not working just on my band, but there were others in my room that were able to use theirs instead, so it wasn't much of a problem. So to anyone worried about using the magic bands I wouldn't worry, they were really great for us. Also just wanted to say we had free dining and ate at many different restaurants and never had a bad meal. I read alot of negative revues on here and I just don't understand them. Maybe I am easy to please but all of our meals were great.

 

[g-dad66]

I read alot of negative revues on here and I just don't understand them.

You don't understand that not everyone has had the same experience with Magic Bands?

I guess I don't understand that.

This poll might be of interest:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3173486

 

[EWDonald]

Not everyone has the same definition of "mobbed" either!

 

[goofy78]

We were in the parks 11/10-11/15. We found the crowds much lighter than June. 11/13 we were in Epcot and test track was 10 minute wait at 7:00. The weather was chilly and windy so that might have had an effect on that. We got a snack at Mexico and sat to wait for illuminations at 8:30. Walked out after and right on a bus for AoA.

I agree with you 100%. We were there November 9-16, followed easywdw park advice and never had more than a 20 minute wait. Absolutely great time to go.

 

[goofy78]

OP's post was surprising for me to read. We were in the parks from 11/11 - 11/16, and found the crowds to be pretty light. We followed the easy WDW advice and visited the most recommended parks, and ended up waiting in very minimal lines. In fact, I think the only lines I waited in that were that longer than 20 minutes was for a dole whip and to meet characters in Hollywood Studios. Most of the rides were walk-ons, and the ones that weren't we were able to fast pass. Between the light crowds, perfect weather, and good deals I found this to be a wonderful time to visit Disney.

I meant to quote this response.
I agree with you 100%. We were there November 9-16, followed easywdw park advice and never had more than a 20 minute wait. Absolutely great time to go.

 

[annacali]

Perception... I have been here in the World since Friday 11/22. We did MVMCP Friday and it was great. Saturday at Epcot was beautiful--- very low crowds and we didn't even get there until 2pm. No FP's but still rode TT with about a 30 min wait. Sunday am at MK we found the crowds--- and left by noon. Today at Epcot--- really crowds were not bad. We had no wait for counter service lunch at noon, no trouble seeing the shows we wanted to see or meeting characters. BUT--- I can totally see how someone who is not familiar w FP+ and doesn't understand what is going on with that " behind the scene" would go home tonight from Epcot and say "it was packed, we couldn't ride anything!" TT and Soarin FPs were gone by 10. Lines were > 90 min all day. Even Nemo and the boat ride in Mexico had 30 min waits. So many may have perceived Epcot as "packed" today. When you don't have FP+ access ( and may not even know it exists) and can't get legacy FP's and the lines are all long--- it feels "packed"!

 

[nansmama]

We were there Nov 10-20 and found the crowds to be not bad at all. We didn't show up to the parks until noon at the earliest. We had some FP+ times set up but some we didn't even need because the lines were so short. My daughter and I always do all the evening EMHs, but we found we didn't even end up staying for most of them because we got to do everything we wanted before EMH even started. The only one we took full advantage of was the MK 2AM EMH on Veteran's Day weekend.

On our last day (Nov 20) we hit MK, Epcot, and DHS, and lines were very short at all three parks. We had to be back to our resort for a 4:30 Magical Express pickup time and were still able to ride things in all three parks and also had time for a lunch break at Epcot and a Dole Whip at MK. I would definitely go again this time of year.

 

[Mother Gothel]

I think it is perception. We have friends there now and they are saying the crowds are light.

 

[lovedworld]

You don't understand that not everyone has had the same experience with Magic Bands?

I guess I don't understand that.

This poll might be of interest:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3173486

I didn't mean that I didn't understand the bad revues of the Magic Bands, I understand that some people have had problems, I myself had a problem, but I just think people shouldn't be afraid to try them. I was talking about the meals we had that were all good. I feel some people just nitpick their meal experiences and complain alot.