5/15/12 - Crowds are Heavy; Lines are Long

[Mugglemama]

I think it's a matter of perspective. I've been looking at Wait Times throughout the day and it has not been that busy. Not February, but for mid-May, not bad at all.



In my opinion, when it's been close to 80 degrees all day long is not a long wait. I wouldn't have minded getting a cold splash earlier this evening.

Sorry the crowds have some rude ones amongst them. That's no fun.

- Dreams

with all due respect, I've been trekking through the parks all day and it *has* most definitely "been that busy". You can see from other posts by people who've been in the parks that I'm not imagining it. Not sure what wait times you're viewing, but a 30 minute FastPass line on a non-holiday, non-summer weekday seems unusual as far as my experiences go.

 

[Mugglemama]

Oh, have fun at DK! We go every summer for my husband's company BBQ event. We are usually there on a Saturday in July every year, and despite the large crowds, we have always enjoyed our time and never run into any rude or pushy people either. My kids loved the Thomas town, until they changed it last year. Other than that little disappointment, we love that park.

Thanks! We might get AP's for DK instead of DLR next year...it's close to home and we love seeing the sharks, dolphins, and killer whale.

I always find this time of year a little crazy - most colleges are getting out and you seem to find a different type of group at the parks... Sorry the parks are a little crowded for you - but you aren't alone!

When I thought I'd chosen well by sandwiching our visit between Spring Breaks and end-of-schoolyear testing/obligations, I didn't consider college students. We seem to be encountering mostly families, but I'm going to try to remember to pay attention tomorrow to see if there seems to be a lot of college age kids.

My good friend work there as a vet tech! I have always wanted to get up there to see her. Have fun, it sounds like a great place.

Thanks! Hope you make it to see your friend at DK soon! The aquarium alone is worth the (online) admission price, IMHO.

 

[markinmt]

I was in the parks last week and Wednesday was lighter than Thursday and into Friday. One thing I noticed that I didn't care for was that Disney is now allowing the Grad Night kids into the park all day long, not after the park closes which used to be the case.

Didn't really notice the high school seniors until about 8 p.m., but having them all in the park at night ruined Disneyland after dark for us. We are used to closing the park and walking on rides for the last hour or so, not the case on Thursday and Friday. Alice was 50 minutes, almost an hour for Pan, and that was 60 minutes before the park closed to the public.

I love the Grad Night tradition, but I don't think it is fair to the general public nor the students to cram everyone into the park. Hopefully Disneyland gets enough complaints to push grad night back to the way it was for the past 49 years.

All that said, Disneyland is still my favorite place to be, crowded or not.

 

[Pixiafurie]

Well, I guess we can agree that Disney is anything but predictable!

Hopefully, the rudeness doesn't carry through the summer!

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

Rudeness could be directly related to crowd size. LOL

I'm sooo crossing my fingers for less people. And happier people. ROFL

 

[Feistygirl916]

We're going to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo (it's an aquarium and zoo in addition to a theme park), the crowd dynamic there is very different than SF Magic Mountain (which I grew up going to several times per year). I've never personally encountered pushy, rude people at SFDK.

Ooh, favorite park in California (besides the original Mouses house!)

 

[MrsPinup]

Wow, the crowds surprise me. I have been watching MouseWait and the lines are posting under 20 minutes and even TSMM was only at 30 minutes. Those lines seem heavenly compared to my last few visits in February and March when most rides were over 30 minutes and TSMM was well over an hour.

 

[dumbodame]

Our trips to DL are always taken during the busy times....August, Candlelight weekend, etc.

We love the crowds. Sure....the more people that are in the parks, the more opportunity there is to encounter rude and pushy people. I ignore that kind of behavior and don't let it ruin my fun...it's not worth my time or energy to let that kind of stuff get under my skin or to irritate me.

More people in the parks also gives us the chance to encounter more engaging and terrific people. We have met some awesome people while waiting in line, or sharing a table in a busy restaurant. If a line seems too long...we go somewhere else...there is always something to do or to experience.

I agree with a previous poster that felt a 30 minute wait for Grizzly in 80 degree weather wasn't bad....but again, it's about perception.

I am sorry that you have met with unpleasantness during your time in the parks. I hope you enjoy your time at Six Flags.

 

[christinaspring]

We were in DCA last night and it wasnt that bad at all. Ferris wheel wait was 20 minutes, TSMM was 30 (shortest I've seen so we finally rode it for the first time....CUTE!), grizzly river run was 20 minutes. So overall not too bad!

Of course this was DCA and not DL.

 

[Shawn]

Thanks for the report. We did a DL trip in May 4 or 5 years back and it was our best trip ever --- crowds were small and weather was great. We're planning our next trip and I was considering doing May again. Perhaps I'll move it to January or February.

 

[jetskigrl]

We got to DLR at about 6:30 last night, walked into DL thinking it would be horrible and it was awesome. There was no outside line for Star Tours (people walking right in) and fastpasses still available for 7:30. The same for Space. Everyone was lined up for the parade so all the rides in Tomorrowland were walk on.

Lines did start to form a bit after the parade but it was still an extremely quiet night compared to what we usually see on the weekends. We were there for the Fantasmic 20th Anniversary event so we just enjoyed everything in Tomorrowland and then moved over to NOS (to sample the special food items, LOL).

NOS and areas around there were a bit busier, but I think that was due to all the people there for the event. The crowd for Fantasmic was big, of course, but the overall feel of the park was very light crowds. A very quiet night (in our opinion).

The highlight was walking out on Main Street with only a few people even near us at all and then seeing all the Fantasmic characters (with Mickey and Minnie front and center) at the train station waving goodbye to us.

 

[HydroGuy]

Not to dismiss any posts here about crowds, but it is not uncommon to see two people at the same park on the same day post two different things - one says it is terribly crowded and another says it is light crowds.

The best indicator is probably wait times for rides. When I see 30 minutes peak wait times for TSMM I think moderate but not heavy crowds. When I see 20 minutes peak I think light crowds.

Even so, if there are a lot of people in the parks they can feel crowded even though the lines are not that long.

 

[Mugglemama]

Crowds are getting heavy again today. We've had a few instances of people shoving us out of the way to get ahead in line today (something we've encountered a LOT on this visit), but other than that,the rudeness is less pronounced today. So far.

 

[kailuagirl]

Major bummers, so sorry

 

[pilesoflaundry]

FP line for GRR at 5 pm was 30 minutes...TOT was about the same...lines in bathrooms are 8-12 people long. I guess it's a matter of opinion, but those qualify as "bad" lines for me, personally.

I haven't been to DL yet but we are planning our first trip. That sounds bad to me in May, comparing to WDW or sea world or any of the other places I have been. Maybe I've been spoiled by going to WDW during low times and having the additional parks to absorb the crowds but 30 minutes in May sounds awful!

We are here at DL for our first ever trip and we are shocked at the crowds so far. We have really had to rely on fast pass to get things done. We waited in line for space mountain for 50 minutes on Sunday night. It was posted as 30.

I was at WDW last summer on 4th of July week and it felt less crowded than this.

We have not encountered many rude guests at least. Lots of over the top PDAs though.

This post is scaring me! I've been in WDW the week leading up to the 4th and it was awful but that was 2008 and that year was pretty bad for crowds.

We are only planning on going once to DL and I'm afraid I'm going to enjoy it a lot less than WDW because of the crowds/rude people (which I've heard in the summer is worse because locals use it as summer camp for their teens). I want to go but yet I don't know if I want to spend the money to be irritated...

 

[JadeDarkstar]

i hope in 10 days it gets better and rude ppl make me soo mad i am not a nice person when ppl aren't nice to me. I know ive got a temper just try real hard not to bite there heads off.

I do hope the 89-90% wont kill my trip

 

[Astylla]

I'm a firm believer it's all what you make of it. Since you can't control how others are you have to be in control of yourself. Growing up near WDW I always recalled very long lines and days without FP - Even on the "worst" of days I can't remember it ever really affecting me personally. I'm there to enjoy myself - and sure we have all encountered rude people but it's going to happen. I just refuse to let it ruin my day or trip , that's all.

 

[Mugglemama]

Our trips to DL are always taken during the busy times....August, Candlelight weekend, etc.

We love the crowds. Sure....the more people that are in the parks, the more opportunity there is to encounter rude and pushy people. I ignore that kind of behavior and don't let it ruin my fun...it's not worth my time or energy to let that kind of stuff get under my skin or to irritate me.

More people in the parks also gives us the chance to encounter more engaging and terrific people. We have met some awesome people while waiting in line, or sharing a table in a busy restaurant. If a line seems too long...we go somewhere else...there is always something to do or to experience.

I agree with a previouss poster that felt a 30 minute wait for Grizzly in 80 degree weather wasn't bad....but again, it's about perception.

I dont think 30 minutes for GRR is bad, either....but I *do* think 30 minutes for the FASTPASS line is bad...which us what I explained we personally encountered.

The lines fluctuate throughout the day of course, but this was our experience.

The crowds aren't ruining our trip or anything. We're just ready to leave these big crowds behind. Even the kids have had enough DLR for now.

 

[Mugglemama]

Not to dismiss any posts here about crowds, but it is not uncommon to see two people at the same park on the same day post two different things - one says it is terribly crowded and another says it is light crowds.

The best indicator is probably wait times for rides. When I see 30 minutes peak wait times for TSMM I think moderate but not heavy crowds. When I see 20 minutes peak I think light crowds.

Even so, if there are a lot of people in the parks they can feel crowded even though the lines are not that long.

I hear what you're saying...however, wait times listed Splash at 40 minutes a bit ago but the line wrapped all the way around to the exit of HM. Is that actually a 40 minute wait? I don't know personally, because I've never gotten into the Splash line when it's that long.

Oh, and anytime we've walked past TSMM in the past 3 days, we've never seen it listed under 50 minutes...and have seen it as high as 70 minutes on Monday.

 

[CrazyDuck]

I hear what you're saying...however, wait times listed Splash at 40 minutes a bit ago but the line wrapped all the way around to the exit of HM. Is that actually a 40 minute wait? I don't know personally, because I've never gotten into the Splash line when it's that long.

It just looks long, because they haven't started weaving people in the queue... on a busy day Splash can get to 60-90 minutes and the line won't reach the exit on HM.