Parents at Disney right now and say it is hot and crowded.....

[katebeth]

My parents are at disney right now. My mom called tonight to tell me about their day. They went to AK and MGM. They are having a great time, but they said that it is extremely crowded and crazy hot. Some of the lines for the major attractions have been 3 hrs. long and they have come across some empty fast pass machines. There're suggestion is to get there when it opens and go to the major attractions first

The only good thing is that it rained all evening. That cooled it down and the crowds thinned.

 

[maxsmom]

I litterly just got back and there were no lines that were 3 hrs long. Soarin had the longest wait at 90 min. ANd yes they often do run out of fastpasses this time of yr. It was hot and there were a lot of people. Nothing extreme though. The weekend was great b/c there was a breeze and it was overcast because of the hurricane and attandence was down a bit.

 

[UrsulasMyHero]

welcome to summer in central FLA. It is always crazy hot, and the parks are horridly crowded. The summer rain cools things off for a bit and then it becomes muggy again. The best thing to do is go early, take a break mid day and go back in the evening, rested.

 

[NewEnglandDisney]

welcome to summer in central FLA. It is always crazy hot, and the parks are horridly crowded.

This about sums it up.

I'm sorry the OP's parents aren't having the best time, but it surprises me how many posts of people I've seen lately who are suprised at crowds and heat at a time of year when both are virtually garunteed.

N.E.D.

 

[katebeth]

My parents weren't complaining. They were just checking in. They knew to expect this in the middle of July. The Kali River Rapids line was 3 hrs. That makes since with the heat

 

[Okiemom]

Your parents are brave. I know it would be very hot and my family would kill each other in that heat. But we know ourselves well, so we are going in November. I think people know summer is not, but it gets "really hot" there.
Hope they have a good time.

 

[klofan]

wow! im going soon and i hope that dosen't happen to me.

 

[Uncleromulus]

All of which is why we'd NEVER consider going to WDW in the summer. In 3 hours we expect to do almost all of what we want to see in the AK in Oct. I cannot imagine standing in a line for 3 hours for a ride hardly more than 5 minutes long----. I'd pour a cup of water on my head before I'd do that.
But I guess some folks can't go to WDW any other time EXCEPT summer, so there isn't much to be done about that.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

Please read this with a non-sarcastic manner.

Crazy hot and crowded? It's summer, school's out, it JULY which it's hiddeously hot, um, isn't that kind of a "duh?" Were they expecting no crowds and 60 degree weather??

 

[katallo]

Katebeth, it's the norm, but three hour waits are pretty bad. You really need to get an early start and take a break during the day. No offense, but it's pretty hard for LindsayDunn228's post to not sound sarcastic.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

Sorry Katallo, but I read the post and just wondered with the parents were expecting.

 

[NCombs]

Sorry Katallo, but I read the post and just wondered with the parents were expecting.

Read the post again and you will see that it does not say anywhere that they weren't expecting it. It has been stated that they were checking in and giving a report. That's a big difference from "what were they expecting". It's just passing on information not a complaint.

Thanks for your post katebeth.

 

[26555]

Thanks katebeth for the update! How many threads start "how are the crowds now?" Nice of you to pass on the news since lots of us just like to hear first hand current reports. Sometimes b/c we have friends going at the same time or to make you appreciate delaying your trip until Sept!

 

[zcubed]

We just got back and yes, it was really hot, but I too did not see any lines that were three hours wait. I think the really big issue is that we saw a ton of large (probably youth) groups, and they would stand in one line, increasing the wait in that line, and one of the adults would go over to another ride with everyone's cards and get the fast pass... sometimes hundreds of them.

We had a fast pass for test track, returnable at the same time as one of these huge groups, and went right at the start of the time, to make sure to beat out this group. Still, we kind of got stuck in the middle of it.

This was not something that we noticed when we were in Disney two years ago, almost at the same time. But what we did is sort of move quickly when we saw those groups coming! And at Animal Kingdom, first think in the AM, we were able to go on Dinosaur and the Rapids, with only a five minute wait. But when we ran over to the safari, it was already forty (HOT) minutes. (felt like three hours!!! ) Then we had to rush back to the rapids to get there in time for the end of our fast pass eligibility. We just made it. And I saw that the rapids had a 90 minute wait.

We went back to the hotel, to the pool in the middle of the day each day.

My parents... they would never come to Disney in the summer.

Talking about an entire family trip in November, 2006

 

[kidd_freeper]

We were at AK on Tuesday.

Tuesday was EMH-PM for AK.

I talked to a CM who said that AK was almost at capacity (28,000). And yes it was hot and humid, but it was Florida. We drank a lot and stayed in the shade and it was quite tolerable.

Kali RR broke down around noon that day. It was down for a couple of hours. When it restarted, they were no longer issuing new Fastpasses, but they were honoring Fastpasses that had expired. We had an expired Fastpass for that ride. The Fastpass line at the time was probably 20 minutes. When we got on the line, the Standby wait was severely underestimated at 60 minutes. It was 90 minutes when we got off the ride, and growing rapidly.

Yes, I could see how the wait could grow to three hours.

Go early ! Go early! Go early!

 

[cinmell]

Some of the lines for the major attractions have been 3 hrs. long and they have come across some empty fast pass machines.

Yikes, 3 hours?! That is one of the main reasons I love going off season.

 

[tinkssister]

I echo the go early, go early, go early.....

I wish we could go in the winter. It would be great to get away from my New England winter for awhile in Novemeber or January. But with kids in highschool it doesn't look like will be doing that any time soon unless DH and I just do an adult trip.

Anyway, we were there at the end of June and it WAS crazy hot and it WAS crazy crowded but we had a wonderful time anyway because of the go early, go early, go early advice and taking a break in mid-afternoon, back to the parks at night. That advice worked perfectly for folks that HAVE to go in Summer.

 

[BESUNNYSIDEUP]

Thanks for posting the crowd update!!
I have read where several people didn't have more than a 10 min. wait.
Then some people had 90min + wait time. Hummm... I don't know what to think.
We will be going in 8 DAYS! I know it will be hot. We usually go end of July or beginning fo August but I was hopeing the crowds would be well...not so. I am expecting it but was planning on using fast passes as much as I could. We thought about getting to the safari ride first thing. Is this the right thing to do? We wouldn't want to do the rapids first thing in the am and get wet right away. I guess everyone else thinks the same thing. At Epcot we wanted to do TT and Sorin first. I don't think there is anything at MGM or MK that we need to rush to. Any advice? We will only be there 5-1/2 days so I need to make the most out of the time I have. I am not sure we will take a break midday but who knows. We usually go full blast from sun up to midnight. Not exactly relaxing.

 

[katebeth]

Well just to look on the bright side and ease some people's minds.... My parents were at AK when it opened and went straight to the Safari ride and got right on it (and loved it!!! ) then they went to Dinosaur and only stood in line for about 20 min. then went to Bugs Life and only waited a ew min. So they did the three things they really wanted to do with no problems. They did not ride KRR, they just saw the sign that posted the time for the rides that tells you how long the wait was. This was in the middle of the day when the park was probably at capcity.

The "going early" suggestion is definatly the way to go if you don't have EMH tickets

 

[Cheeky in TN]

First, Hi Kate from another Tennessean (Spring Hill)

We are leaving in two weeks, so thanks for the update. I am already planning for heat and crowds. I would have loved to gone in OCt again this year, but kids school ruled that out.

I never even realized that the signs on the rides went to 3 hours, the most I think I ever saw was 90 minutes.