5/6-5/13...was THAT low crowds?????????

[denanbob]

So everyone said what a great time to go to Disney (May 6-13) because of low crowds and great weather. We had a great trip, but if THAT was low crowds I'd hate to see high crowds. We thought it was packed. Now, don't get me wrong, the ride lines weren't horrendous (except in Fantasyland), but everything else was mobbed. The streets of the parks, the food lines (all times of the day), the pools, the BUSES were insane, waited an HOUR to view my Photopass pics at County Bounty in Toontown, etc.............just wondering if anyone else was there last week that has more Disney experience and what they thought of the crowd levels? Thanks!

 

[DOOM1001]

There doesn't seem to be a slow season anymore, it's pretty much busy throughout the year.People seem to be adjusting vacation times to go at times that are considered off-peak to avoid the crowded, hot, humid, rainy summers.It's always going to be packed in the summer, christmas, spring break and so on, but of my last 10 visits I only recall it being slow one day and I have a seasonal pass which blocks me out of the busier times of the year.

 

[PlutosFriend]

So everyone said what a great time to go to Disney (May 6-13) because of low crowds and great weather. We had a great trip, but if THAT was low crowds I'd hate to see high crowds. We thought it was packed. Now, don't get me wrong, the ride lines weren't horrendous (except in Fantasyland), but everything else was mobbed. The streets of the parks, the food lines (all times of the day), the pools, the BUSES were insane, waited an HOUR to view my Photopass pics at County Bounty in Toontown, etc.............just wondering if anyone else was there last week that has more Disney experience and what they thought of the crowd levels? Thanks!

Hi Dena!
We were there the exact dates as you were. This was our first May trip also. I too thought it was pretty busy! Lots of school groups with matching shirts
I kept thinking to myself that I would hate to see how busy it is during the summer months or Spring Break. We went to EMH on Sunday the 7th and could barely walk on Main Street! It was a madhouse. The crowds were coming to standstills, people were getting rammed with strollers. One guy even got knocked down by one
We also had a great trip. Used FP a lot. We rented a car, so we did not have to wait for a bus. We had nice weather, don't you think?

 

[Disney-Kim]

We were just there during the Week of Apr 29 to May 6th and it was definately busier than our past May visits, especially the MK and MGM.
we also saw lots of elem/middle schoolers with matching shirts.

We still managed to have a good time but regretted not spending more time at MK on Tues and Wed when they were actually slow.

Travel is up and you can tell.

 

[bicker]

There is a big difference between early May and early January!!! If you really want to avoid crowds, you have to visit during hurricane season, or when it is too cold for most folks to enjoy swimming, avoiding school holidays.

 

[RC Fan]

I was there from the 4th to the 9th and would agree it was the busiest May visit thus far. The only place where I noticed that it wasn't too crowded was SeaWorld. The crowds were perfect there.

 

[sue1013]

We were just there 7th - 14th. I didn't think it was crowded except for fatasyland which to me always seems to be crowded. We took breaks in the afternoon went swimming then returned to parks after dinner time. This is the 1st time we went in May and while more crowded than January nothing like spring break crowds. I've never been in the summer so can't compare to summer crowds.

 

[mrsmom]

I was there 6th-13th and i have been there in May for the last three yrs and it has never been crowd like this yr,. It will be a couple yrs before i go back. So maybe in end of Sept.
Kim

 

[brivers222]

Two years ago it was impossible to find a wait more than 20 mins during May 1st - May 15th.

This year I was shocked at the amount of people. I guess same as the DVC secret, the MAY secret is also out... Darn, now i have to find a new best time to visit.

We are off to universal today, so hopefully crowds will be okay!

Oh and another thing... A majority of the those colored shirts were RUDE and Obnoxious. I am sorry, but show some manners even if you are only a 23 year old with a mental age of 10! Each day it was a game to find the next color grouping to hate...

 

[Elysiannn]

I was just there from 5/12-5/15 and it was severly crowded. To the point of "could-they-actually-fit-any-more-people-in-this-park????" It was Magic Kingdom (only park open late on Saturday May 13 besides WS), it was Asia in AK (but of course for Everest) and it was World Showcase way even before finding your 2-hour-space for Illuminations.

I couldn't believe the crowds - lines everywhere. Bathrooms, for the few open snack kiosks, even shorter lines for Fast Passes.

This was probably because of Mother's Day, Flower and Garden Show and there was a triathalon going on at MK during the weekend. And I noticed a ton of high school seniors doing their senior trips there.

That time of May was as bad as President's Week. I won't go again at that time. Ely

 

[WaltD4Me]

I was there close to your same dates....May 7th-May 12th and while it was busier than last May, we still didn't see waits any longer than 30-40 mins and we ourselves never waited more than 30 mins for anything. In fact, 30 mins. was our longest wait and that was for EE at Animal Kingdom and that was at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. At 11am the wait for EE was only 20 minutes.

On Monday May 8th we were at Epcot and we walked on almost everything including Soarin' - the posted stand by time for Soarin was 30 mins, but we only waited MAYBE 10 minutes if that.

The most crowded I saw it was at MK on Thursday May 11th, but it was an EMH morning for MK so I was expecting that.

Other than MK on Thursday, we avoided EMH parks and pretty much saw smaller crowds at all the non-EMH parks. At MGM, we did RNR twice in a row, with only 10 minute waits each time, we didn't even need FP's for RNR or TOT.

All in all, I didn't think crowds were bad at all, not as good as last May, but still very manageable. I really think part of it was that we avoided the EMH parks though....especially after seeing the crowds at MK on Thursday. We stayed at OKW and only two times did we take buses that went to standing room only. Most times on the way TO the parks the bus we were on was only 1/2 full.

I love early May and I really hope the secret isn't really out cuz I'm planning for the same dates for May 2007!

 

[canda]

I am an off season visitor. I have noticed that slow times are vanishing. Some of our "slow times" are big with international visitors. I was there this past Jan. It was mostly the Brazilian tourist. They tend to travel in very large groups so if you see a long line, it means they are all there. Other lines should be fine. (anyway, the pool is the best place to be during Brazil week)

I have found during "slow times" the walk ways and common areas are filled to what seems like capacity but I never wait more than 5-10 min for any ride. OOppps what am I saying

SLOW TIMES ARE GONE........IT IS ALWAYS CROWDED THE WEEK AFTER THANKSGIVING AND LAST WEEK IN JANUARY.....NEVER GO TO WDW DURING THESE TIMES.......IT IS SOOOOOOO CROWDED......AND ALL THE RIDES ARE CLOSED FOR REHABS ANYWAY.

 

[rie'smom]

There is a big difference between early May and early January!!! If you really want to avoid crowds, you have to visit during hurricane season, or when it is too cold for most folks to enjoy swimming, avoiding school holidays.

Hurricane season is from June 1 through November 30.
The least crowded we've ever seen the MK was the first week in December. Believe it or not, the most crowded, meaning not even onsite guests could get in, was during the car race thing the last week in Jan/first week in Feb. in 1997.

 

[doombuggy3]

WaltD4me...Thanks for being positive and giving wait times, this whole time I was wondering how long were the waits? I'm leaving the 21st and leaving on the 25th to get the heck out of there before Memorial Day weekend, so thanks for actually saying wait times.

I was there for Christmas and New Years and have been there over spring break and found them all VERY managable (I'll never go in summer so I can't help anyone there). On New Years, I was able to ride everything in Epcot and never waited longer than 40 minutes and the park was closed because it was at full capacity. Same on Christmas...It all depends on your park plans, utilization of FP, and an easy going attitude for if you need to adjust due to a high park volume that day or such. Otherwise, you'll drive yourself nuts!

Canda...I have to agree. I go the week after Thanksgiving almost every year (though not last year since we had an illness in the family) and we love it. It is definitely the slowest time of the year that we've been. There are next to no lines if you stick away from the EMH parks and even in the busy afternoon the waits are no longer than 40 minutes for your major attractions. It's still warm enough to swim and the weather can be cool at night, but is quite enjoyable during the day. We LOVE going the week after Thanksgiving/First week of December and will always suggest it to first timers. ...But going with what you say...never go then. Try to keep your secret safe! He he.

 

[kimba]

We just returned as well from a trip 5/6-14 and we were commenting most of the days how nice the crowd level was. We went 2 years ago in April right before Easter and it was not enjoyable. I think it was Monday evening that we walked onto Test Track 3 times without a wait. We also walked onto Splash mountain one morning 2 times and Thunder mountain without any wait. We did notice a pickup of crowds by Thursday as well as more school groups. I felt bad for those people stuck on Test Track for 45 minutes (I think that was Fri afternoon). We were next in line.

We stayed at the Poly and BC and found that there were many times we had to stand on the buses. They were crowded. The food lines were long but I know they could have been much worse. The EMH for the parks in the evening was VERY crowded. It is nice to have the extra time but it was much harder to manage the wait times. We went to SW Wednesday and found it not to be very crowded. One of the park reps said it slowed down for them considerably the week before.

It is so much nicer to do Disney when it isn't too crowded. I have been summer and spring and early May was SO much nicer. I would love to try the week after Thanksgiving or early December some time.

 

[PennyW]

We were there the 10th through 13th, and were pretty pleased with the crowd levels. We hit MGM right after we checked in, and were able to ride TOT and RNR two times in a row each, with only about a 5 minute wait (this was around 4 in the afternoon).

The next morning we went to AK - got there around park opening. The line to have bags checked was horrendous, but once we got through that we beelined to EE, and walked right on. We used fastpass for riding Kilamanjaro Safari, and another round of EE.

At MK the next morning (park opening), we busted it to Space Mtn, walked on twice in a row, went to Buzz, and walked on twice again. By that time it was crowded.

EPCOT was pretty crowded the 2 days we went there. We did have to fastpass Soarin' (obnoxious groups of teenagers ruined this for us - they yelled and talked through the whole ride). We had no problem finding a nice viewing spot for Illuminations. PS I highly recommend going to view the Manatees at the Living Seas.

We did find the buses to be very busy. Bus service from BWI was sporadic at best - we were very disappointed with this.

But all in all, a wonderful trip to the House of the Mouse!