Shocked by wait times!

[cathynmichigan]

This is the first time I have ever watched wait times for rides during spring break and I have been very surprised by the long lines. We are thinking of going the week leading up to Christmas Eve this year, are these the type of wait times we should expect?

 

[mesaboy2]

This is the first time I have ever watched wait times for rides during spring break and I have been very surprised by the long lines. We are thinking of going the week leading up to Christmas Eve this year, are these the type of wait times we should expect?

The days just before Christmas will be similar if not worse.

 

[GovieMom]

The days just before Christmas will be similar if not worse.

 

[cathynmichigan]

I am going to have to seriously reconsider. We've always gone during fall when it's slower, I am afraid we might go in to shock! Lol

 

[anonymousegirl]

I normally go during "off" times like September or March but last year DH and I were there for four days over NYE.
We made sure we made the RD, and used EMH. That meant an early morning for MK (up at 530, at the park entrance by 630am for the 7am opening). Walked on to ETWB, LM, Space Mt, Peter Pan, etc. Moved onto the popular rides in Frontierland and Adventureland after 8am when the regular hours started and everyone was heading for ETWB, LM, and Space MT. Moved onto less popular rides after that. Managed to see everything without huge waits.

 

[MinnieGirl33]

The days just before Christmas will be similar if not worse.

 

[mb_uh]

Awful, what is even worse is the crowds. Epcot was wall to wall people.

 

[3girls4me05]

My SIL is a Disney travel agent and an all around Disney fanatic (like the rest of us on here aren't? ) She went the week between Christmas and New Year's one time. She swore never again. The crowds are amazing.

 

[ctpooh]

We went for Christmas a couple of years ago and it was awesome to see all the decorations and things but the lines for the rides were so bad we will never go back during that time. Don't get me wrong we went there expecting this and I was also 6 1/2 months pregnant so we mainly went for the decorations.

 

[mrsp1030]

I'm thinking our next trip will be a June trip.

 

[msminnieears]

We were there 2 weeks ago, when the Spring Breaks start and we managed fine. We never waited in line over 30 mins. We did get there at RD and used the FP system wisely. We even got to see all the characters without waits over 20mins (mereda) I've never been during the Christmas season but we always go during march. Yes the crowds are very large during the day but manageable.

 

[mmtravel]

We've done September and we've done spring break. If we had a choice, would absolutely skip spring break, but we have no choice since there's zero tolerance for pulling kids out in our school district. It can work if you adjust expectations, and use EMH and park hopping. We've had some delightful days this week, but you can't expect to walk on to TSMM or Space Mountain at noon. We ate our way through the World Showcase's F&G booths one afternoon, and played Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom the other afternoon. That worked out great since we'd gotten our favorite rides out of the way with a combination of 7am EMH and RDs in the morning.

 

[angierae]

We were there last year from 4/1 to 4/8, basically. (We flew in late on the 31st and flew out early on the 9th.)

If you are used to sparse crowds, yes, it was probably crowded. We had only ever been one other time, the first week of May 2010, and I didn't think the crowds were _that_ bad, except if we were trying to leave the parks at the same time as everyone else. Then it was crazypants.

However, I was there with older kids (teens) so we did a lot of the EMH (there was emh somewhere almost every night) Several nights that week we'd get to another park slightly after rope drop, hang out til after lunch, then chill at the resort until dinner time. We'd go to dinner, then head into Magic Kingdom around 10pm. Everyone would be streaming out, and we'd stick around for a few hours and do all kinds of stuff with basically no lines.

I loved it so much I wish we could plan our next trip for Easter Week, but now that my daughter is going to be in college, her spring break doesn't line up with easter, and we'll probably miss out on all that late night EMH. (We stayed at Magic Kingdom until 3am one night.)

 

[nadira36]

I normally go during "off" times like September or March but last year DH and I were there for four days over NYE.
We made sure we made the RD, and used EMH. That meant an early morning for MK (up at 530, at the park entrance by 630am for the 7am opening). Walked on to ETWB, LM, Space Mt, Peter Pan, etc. Moved onto the popular rides in Frontierland and Adventureland after 8am when the regular hours started and everyone was heading for ETWB, LM, and Space MT. Moved onto less popular rides after that. Managed to see everything without huge waits.

Growing up, before FP existed, our family went for Christmas every year - 2+hour line-ups for everything.

As above - we were there first thing at RD, stayed and played until lunch - then left the park to dine, relax, swim etc then returned in the evening (we asked prior to leaving how capacity was looking). We used park hoppers, used parades to hit rides, and followed a touring plan pretty similar to the ones you can find now a days in books.

We were off property - but still managed to do pretty much everything at least twice over the course of 5 days for the 3 parks that existed - and at that time there was a lot more to EPCOT to occupy a kid. The crowds were insane, but really I only recall having a ton of fun - though...

Now I take our family during off times - much more relaxing experience IMO.

 

[Maleficent Dragon]

The days just before Christmas will be similar if not worse.

This! I would lean towards "worse".

 

[anonymousegirl]

I would go again at Christmas time, but it would not be my preference,. I did love the fireworks and want to see the show at DHS next time, but after that, I'll probably steer clear!

 

[Jestocost]

I have seen TSMM with a 210 minute wait time posted and watched people get into the standby line during Christmas.

 

[ekendall2]

I was just in Disney World for the past 4 days.

My family usually goes in early June, but my choir (im a h.s./m.s. choir director) was performing this week.

This is by far, the busiest i have ever seen any of the parks. I have never seen a wait of over 60 or 70 mins in early june. This past week we saw 300 min waits for some rides. CRAZY. It was absolutely wall to wall people. There were even lines to get in to the restaurants, and then lines to sit down. Not just a few people lines, i mean, 70 or 80 people lined in a queue line, waiting to order and then that many waiting to sit.

Since we have been numerous times and my wife is in her second trimester, we just took time to see things and relax.

We love our early to mid june vacations as the crowds are never this bad.

 

[johde]

If you're talking about the 15th -22nd the beginning of the trip should be OK but get busier as the week progresses. I would expect the crowds to start arriving Friday the 20th and be in full swing by Dec.22nd and be crazy until Jan 5-6th

 

[Tormania]

I was just in Disney World for the past 4 days.

My family usually goes in early June, but my choir (im a h.s./m.s. choir director) was performing this week.

This is by far, the busiest i have ever seen any of the parks. I have never seen a wait of over 60 or 70 mins in early june. This past week we saw 300 min waits for some rides. CRAZY. It was absolutely wall to wall people. There were even lines to get in to the restaurants, and then lines to sit down. Not just a few people lines, i mean, 70 or 80 people lined in a queue line, waiting to order and then that many waiting to sit.

Since we have been numerous times and my wife is in her second trimester, we just took time to see things and relax.

We love our early to mid june vacations as the crowds are never this bad.

That is nuts. I truly can't fathom why people would knowingly go at these times when the crowds are so bad. (Some don't know and that must be even worse for them) I know some folks say that they can only go at certain times but I'm sorry, that is crazy. No amount of Disney Magic can overcome that for me. I just live my life with too much logic to justify that tradeoff.