Much more crowded this week than i anticipated

[dreambound]

touring plans dot com. sorry i got all ****'s trying to post the link directly

Thanks! Okay, this alarms me because we have all 4's for our upcoming trip as well. Last time we went week after Thanksgiving and had smooth sailing. However, I was a stickler for the touring plan so we got all popular rides done by noon each day. I would say it FELT crowded many times, but we never waited longer than a few minutes for each ride, except for Small World on our first day (used no touring plan) which was 25 minutes.

So I'm sort of panicked thinking that it might be bad next week.

I was going to lighten up my style this time, but dh thinks maybe I should stick to the touring plans as much as we did last time.

Who knows????!!!!!

 

[disneydiva2007]

I just got back yesterday and was there from Saturday after Thanksgiving and did not find the crowds bad at all. I avoided the parks on Saturday and spent Sunday at Universal (which was empty!) On Monday we went to Epcot had lunch at the Land and the crowds were more then managable. Test track and Soaring were about 30 mins - but that was expected....other then that the rides were 5-10 mins if not walk ons. Tuesday we hit Magic Kingdom and again the rides were very managable. Buzz was about 5- 10 minutes except once that it broke down and the wait went up to 20 minutes. Raceway was about 20 mins when we went on and Space mountain was about 20 minutes - but the rest of the rides were about 5 - 10 minute waits...Even Winnie the Pooh was 5 mins....although the posted wait time said 20 mins....we just walked right on. We didn't use fast passes once the entire trip! Wednesday we went to MGM and again the crowds were very managable. We rode TOT 2x - 5 min. wait. We opted not to do RnR b/c we wanted to catch Beauty and the Beast but that was a 20 min wait. We had a party of 13 and walked in 15 mins prior to fantasmic and managed to get seats together. Even after we were seated there was still plenty of space available. On Thursday we went to Animal Kingdom....did the Safari and that was about 20 mins....didn't head out to Mount Everest (I wanted to - but we opted to catch all the shows). I will say that on Friday we went to IOA and that was completely empty - but then we headed out to MK and what a difference. We arrived at 4:00 - which was about the time that the guest from the christmas party were arriving and it was a packed. My sister and niece got stuck on the TTA ride and we had to wait for them to be escorted off and we were in the park until about 7:15 that evening and found that to be the most crowded we had seen it the whole trip. We had a great trip and are even considering making this our new annual time to go.

 

[disneydiva2007]

Curious, those who found the week after Thanksgiving to be crowded, did you have the touring plans dot com or Tourguide Mike recommendations for that week? How did they match up? I'm curious to see how far off these two planning guides were, especially touring plans.

Also, did you use any sort of touring plan or touring strategies of any kind (arrive at opening, tgm or tp itineraries, etc.) or did you wing it?

This might be really helpful to those planning future trips. Thanks!

Meg

I used TGM and he was right on the money for our trip!

 

[siugoalie78]

we really didn't have much of a touring plan, other than what park for what day. We've been a few times, so we now favor a relaxed approach to a commando approach. So it really didn't break our hearts skipping a few things here and there. And please don't get me wrong, I'd rather be in a very crowded park than in the office any day.

 

[dreambound]

I used TGM and he was right on the money for our trip!

Thanks! That's GREAT to know, especially since you found things manageable.

 

[disneydiva2007]

Thanks! That's GREAT to know, especially since you found things manageable.

Now I'm just suffering from DWS ( Disney Withdrawal Syndrome)!

BTW - the weather was also - awesome....it was in the low 80's the whole time - Friday was a little cooler with scattered showers...but still great....compared to what I returned to in NY - snow!

 

[TXMommy]

Be that as it may, it was more crowded than I anticipated. Never said did not have a great time, was just surprised by crowd levels based both on my past experience for this time of year, and the mostly "4's" in *****************

DITTO! We had a great time and didn't wait more than 20 minutes for ANY ride - most were walk-ons. Was just surprised at the number of people in the parks that made it hard to get around sometimes. We still had a magical trip and are already planning the next one!

 

[DisDarling]

Oh my gosh, I was thrilled with the lack of crowds this week.

Thursday we walked onto everything including space mountain over and over.

Wednesday Soarin was a walk-on first thing in the morning twice and at 6pm twice.

Tuesday morning we were in AK and rode Kali over and over without ever having to get off. We had FP's for Everest but I think the stand-by line was only 15 minutes. On Tuesday night we walked into the Candlelight Processional two minutes before it started and got seats. Then we were right on the railing for Illuminations. It had poured for a half an hour earlier in the evening so the park was dead empty.

Monday morning was pretty busy at MGM but Sunday night EMH there was uncrowded. There was plenty of room at Fantasmic and the Osborne Lights.

Sorry, but I dont buy that Soarin was a walk on at 6:00 at night.

 

[kymma]

We just got back yesterday. I found the week after thanksgiving to be a lot more crowded than I expected. We didn't have any problems getting on rides without lines because we got to the parks early but it really was a lot more crowded than we have seen it in September when we usually go to Disney.

 

[Eeyore's My Favorite]

We went to MGM yesterday on a day trip & it wasn't busy at all. The only large crowd we saw all day was for the opening of the Osborne Lights right at dusk. We were able to get right into Sci Fi for a late lunch without a reservation, which I was amazed at. We didn't do RNR or TOT so I couldn't tell you if there was a wait for them, but even the stunt shows weren't totally full. Only other crowd we saw was for the last show for HSM2.

 

[cobbler]

We were there that week to and I honestly think that it is because of a number of things.

1 - Tourism is up
2 - Everyone around saying how much they like the week after Thanksgiving - the first 2 weeks of December making everyone book during those times.

We go that week every year and we have steadily seen it become more and more crowded. Now it isn't summer crowds that is for sure, but a lot of people think that it will be basically dead and that just isn't true. There really isn't a slow season at Disney anymore.

 

[FigNewton]

We go that week every year and we have steadily seen it become more and more crowded. Now it isn't summer crowds that is for sure, but a lot of people think that it will be basically dead and that just isn't true. There really isn't a slow season at Disney anymore.

That's true. We were on a bus with a guy and his son one day last week and he was going on about how he came that week because he'd been told the parks were basically empty then. Week after thanksgiving has definitely become more and more crowded over the last three years or so. Honestly, we're looking at a completely different time period to try next time out, even though as you say there is no real slow season any more.

 

[kvogel11202]

We were at Disney for a quick trip and by using FP we found the crowds managable. Downside was there was a cheerleading competition and several marching bands so lots of teenagers running around unchecked. One night leaving Epcot via the International Gateway, a group of teens had figured out how to remove the covering on the security pylon and one of the upstanding young men was pretending to violate one of the lovely "ladies" he was with. Yes, walking by them with my MIL and 12 year old was very uncomfortable. There language was just as classy. I was so wishing security could be found. Didn't see a lot from the next generation on this trip.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

We just got back tonight. This is our 3rd trip during this time frame. We were there Nov. 27-Dec. 3rd. I really think the crowds were about the same that we expected and were there before. I know pop warner was there for the week end. The crowds we noticed were MK on friday night for the MVMCP. We went to the party on thurs. night and the lst night before christmas show was standing room only, the lst parade was 4 deep. Friday morning in the MK was pretty crowded with the castle taping. We did the CP in Epcot on wed. and I did notice that for the 2nd show the stand by line was already at the end of the roped off area. I did notice that the sit down restraunts where we ate were mostly full. Also we even had to switch hotels since the swan was sold out for sat. and sun. We went to the dolphin and they had 125 military familys there with the Road to Recovery Program. It was busy there too. Its still our favorite time to go weather wise, decoration and holiday wise and also we think the crowds are pretty low and manageable.