BlueGreen5
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2024
- Messages
- 311
Hi all! My SO and I went to WDW the week of December 1st and stayed at VGF. We spent one day at EPCOT and 3/4 of a day at MK (due to party hours). And, I need a reality check here from you knowledgeable folks.
We have been to WDW countless times over the past decade. I don't love crowds, but I understand they are a necessary evil.
When I say it felt "crowded" that week, I mean it felt REALLY, clostrophobically crowded by (what I thought were) my own WDW standards. I mean that we waited over 30 minutes in line to get popcorn at MK. I mean that the standby line for HM stretched past where you used to get on the Liberty Belle. I mean that, in the middle of the day, there was more than a literal boatload of people waiting with us at the gold launch from MK. I mean that we had to cut through Emporium because we could not move down Main Street. I mean that there was not a seat to be found at Cosmic Rays. I mean that we skipped dinner at EPCOT because just about every line in World Showcase extended past the roped off queue and into the walkway. I mean that we waited for Tambu lounge at Poly for over an hour before we got out of a line that was clearly not moving (similar experience just trying to enjoy a drink at CR). I mean that trying to get around the lobby of any of the monorail resorts was a painful joke. [Sorry, that paragraph got longer and more repetitive than I expected]
Which, okay, I get it during some times of the year. And, maybe the first week of December has quietly turned into one of them. But, then when I go look at the historical crowd calendars from one of the popular sites for those two days that we were there, that's where I feel like I'm being gaslighted (gaslit?) or something. Or am just losing my mind. On the day we were at the respective park, Magic Kingdom was a 2/10 and EPCOT was a 3/10. And these scores were LOWER than expected, per this particular site.
We have been there when they were 6s, 7s, and 8s without complaint. I usually consider a "6" to be a relatively easy going day, especially at MK. A "5" is a "drop what we were planning to do, we're doing MK that day" type of lucky find. On a day not too long ago when MK felt like a ghost town because of a threatened storm, it was still a "4." I cannot recall a time when I was there when it was a "2."
But, I know what we experienced that week. It was chaos and it was not fun.
The only explanation I can come up with is that yes, other than the HM issue (which maybe was breakdown related?), the actual ride wait times were rediculously low. For example, at one point we walked on IASW simply to get a short reprieve from the crowds (which is basically the opposite of every other experience I have on that ride...). So, perhaps many people were not there those days to ride the rides? And, if that was the case, perhaps these crowd scoring sites - which appear to be based entirely on wait time - would be misrepresentative of what a "feels like" type of score would have been. Is that a thing? Is early December known as a time when there are many people in the parks who are not there to ride rides? Seems plausible, epsecially because we were at MK on a party day and EPCOT on a CP day - both being events where I could see there being a large contingent of people who are not there to ride rides (or, with respect to MK, at least during park hours).
If not, what am I missing? What happenened? Please help because right now I am in the fetal position in a dark basement closet, questioning everything I thought I knew about WDW.
We have been to WDW countless times over the past decade. I don't love crowds, but I understand they are a necessary evil.
When I say it felt "crowded" that week, I mean it felt REALLY, clostrophobically crowded by (what I thought were) my own WDW standards. I mean that we waited over 30 minutes in line to get popcorn at MK. I mean that the standby line for HM stretched past where you used to get on the Liberty Belle. I mean that, in the middle of the day, there was more than a literal boatload of people waiting with us at the gold launch from MK. I mean that we had to cut through Emporium because we could not move down Main Street. I mean that there was not a seat to be found at Cosmic Rays. I mean that we skipped dinner at EPCOT because just about every line in World Showcase extended past the roped off queue and into the walkway. I mean that we waited for Tambu lounge at Poly for over an hour before we got out of a line that was clearly not moving (similar experience just trying to enjoy a drink at CR). I mean that trying to get around the lobby of any of the monorail resorts was a painful joke. [Sorry, that paragraph got longer and more repetitive than I expected]
Which, okay, I get it during some times of the year. And, maybe the first week of December has quietly turned into one of them. But, then when I go look at the historical crowd calendars from one of the popular sites for those two days that we were there, that's where I feel like I'm being gaslighted (gaslit?) or something. Or am just losing my mind. On the day we were at the respective park, Magic Kingdom was a 2/10 and EPCOT was a 3/10. And these scores were LOWER than expected, per this particular site.
We have been there when they were 6s, 7s, and 8s without complaint. I usually consider a "6" to be a relatively easy going day, especially at MK. A "5" is a "drop what we were planning to do, we're doing MK that day" type of lucky find. On a day not too long ago when MK felt like a ghost town because of a threatened storm, it was still a "4." I cannot recall a time when I was there when it was a "2."
But, I know what we experienced that week. It was chaos and it was not fun.
The only explanation I can come up with is that yes, other than the HM issue (which maybe was breakdown related?), the actual ride wait times were rediculously low. For example, at one point we walked on IASW simply to get a short reprieve from the crowds (which is basically the opposite of every other experience I have on that ride...). So, perhaps many people were not there those days to ride the rides? And, if that was the case, perhaps these crowd scoring sites - which appear to be based entirely on wait time - would be misrepresentative of what a "feels like" type of score would have been. Is that a thing? Is early December known as a time when there are many people in the parks who are not there to ride rides? Seems plausible, epsecially because we were at MK on a party day and EPCOT on a CP day - both being events where I could see there being a large contingent of people who are not there to ride rides (or, with respect to MK, at least during park hours).
If not, what am I missing? What happenened? Please help because right now I am in the fetal position in a dark basement closet, questioning everything I thought I knew about WDW.
