Anyone just back? Crowds/wait times?

[44disney]

Was anyone there at the end of last week and over the weekend who can let me know about crowds and wait times at the parks? Thanks!

 

[LeeLeeLuvsDisney]

We were at EPCOT on Sunday to see the Nemo ride preview and go to the Food & Wine Festival. We arrived around noon and stayed until 6pm.

Soarin' ranged from 60 minutes to 70 minutes wait time...we got a FP and only waited 10 minutes.

Test Track was 120 minute wait at noon, and 60 minute wait at 5pm.

Everything else ranged from 5-30 minutes wait time...most in the 5-10 minute range, except for Maelstrom, which was 30.

The food/drink lines for the festival varied, but all were tolerable.

We were at MK for MNSSHP on Monday night, and it was not crowded at all. We pretty much walked on every ride with no wait. However, as we were walking in, the crowd coming out was huge. I think it was quite busy there during the day, but I don't know about wait times.

 

[javaonline]

Was there from 10/06-10/13

10/06-MNSSHP Nearly no waits at all (20 min max)
10/07-MK 40 Min Peak wait
10/08-AK 50 Min Peak wait
10/10-MK (AM only) 40 Min Peak wait
10/11-EP 50 Min peak wait
10/12-DS 50 Min peak wait (very crowded all day)
10/13-MK (AM only) 60 minute peak wait more crowded and hot than at any time throughout the week

 

[Olallamom]

I just got back last night. My trip was from 10/10-10/17. I found Epcot to be quite busy in regards to Soarin and Test Track. The wait times were always around 50-70+ mins. Fast pass was very important. The crowd level was much lighter the last 2 days.

 

[kimberh]

We were there from 10/12-10-16. I was shocked at how crowded everything was. We park hopped on Sat, arrived at Epcot and missed the fast passes for Soaring and Test Track. We waited for Test track but Soaring was useless. 90 minutes when we arrived and 60 min when we left. The Magic Kingdom was sold out for MNOSHP on Thursday and waits on major rides, We went back on Sun and it was still crowded. FRI was good at MGM. I heard hotels sold out. People in lines were talking about trying to transfer over to Deluxe properties and they were not available.

 

[AladdinsPrincess]

We were there this weekend and I was amazed at how crowded it was. We were also there the two previous weekends as well and it wasn't nearly as bad. We went to AK Sunday morning and the Everest FP were already completely gone! October used to be the slow season, but not anymore!

 

[chrissy92972]

We were their from 10/11 until 10/17. I did not geel that it was all that crowded and the wait times were not bad at all. I think it depends what parks and what days. Our schedule was:

Thursday 10/12 Epcot Soarin first with a few minut wait and then fast past with a 15 minute wait about an hour after park opening.

Friday 10/13 MK did Fantasyland every single ride/attraction in under 90 minutes starting at 9 am. Waits in the afternoon were long for Thunder Mountain etc, but we got fastpasses. Crowds very manageable for walking around etc. Peco Bills very busy at 12:15 for lunch

Saturday 10/14 MGM not very crowded. Empty rows at Fantasmic on the sides

Sunday 10/15 AK did not go near Everest. Did Safari first as a walk on.

Monday back to MK crowds not bad at all. Walked on Space Mountain at 10:40am with a 5 minute wait.

All Star Music Seemed to be empty. Very quiet until our departure day on the 17th. Seemed to be getting busier. Pools empty and food courts before 8am empty not sure after that time.

Buses from/to Music were quick never more then a ten minute wait. Went to Boardwalk on Sunday 5 PM and could not get a bus out of their to Downtown Disney even after a 30 plus minute wait around 7pm.

Chrissy

 

[Tinkerbellmom33]

We were there 10-11 to 10-13
Waits were nothing. We did Soarin in the morning on Thurs and I think it was about a 25 min wait, which was really shorter than that. I believe it went up to 50 later that day. Everything else we did was 10 min waits. F & W was no wait at all, even on Friday, we were there until 4. It was great. I guess we missed the weekend rush! I was worried it would be busy and it was nice. All the parks were very manageable.

 

[elgerber]

Early and mid-week were OK, but later it got more crowded. Space MTN actually posted a 100 minute wait, for a few minutes on Saturday the 14th. Test Track was 70 and Soarin' was 90 that afternoon. Even the Maelstrom was 40 minutes.

 

[elgerber]

F & W was no wait at all, even on Friday, we were there until 4. It was great. I guess we missed the weekend rush! I was worried it would be busy and it was nice. All the parks were very manageable.

I posted too quickly, it must have gotten much busier after 4. We got to Epcot about 6:30 on Friday (just to wander), and the F&W crowds were absurd! It was EMH and the lines for wristband were at least 40 people long at each location. Many of the food boths had lines of at least 20 people. It was a little difficult to walk through, but it looked like it was going to be one heck of a party later on. We weren't going to eat or anything, so we were fine.

 

[DisneyDadof3]

We were at AK on 10/15 - no waits on basically anything - EE - not sure what was posted, but was about 10/15 minutes. EPCOT on the same day in the afternoon was interesting - could walk onto about everything even the new Nemo ride with the exception of Soarin which was about 50 minutes (listed - didn't ride).

On 10/16 - MGM - very little waits on everything in the morning. On a side note, there were so few people seeing the Power Rangers (which never happens), we were almost able to get all 5 to pose together (seriously).
On 10.17 - MK - very little wait - Splash was a walk on - Big Thunder - maybe 10-15 minutes - Space Mtn. 10-15 also. There were longer waits at Winnie the Pooh than the 3 Mtns

10/16 & 10/17 at MNSSHP - walk onto everything.

 

[flortlebap]

AK was rather busy on the weekends. EE was up to a 90 minute wait, and all the FP's had gone when we arrived for our return time at midday.

MK was a huge disappointment. We were there 5 hours and managed 3 rides - the crowds and waits were a nightmare. I didn't care much for MK before, but now I hate it to the point of probably not going back. Some of us call it Evil Kingdom, my DP calls it Tragic Kingdom even the 3 kids didn't like it as much as we thought they would - they preferred Epcot!!

 

[44disney]

Thanks everyone for the help! Keep the info coming -- I am trying to figure out a possible trip for next year, and knowing which parks were/were not crowded each day is very helpful!

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

AK was rather busy on the weekends. EE was up to a 90 minute wait, and all the FP's had gone when we arrived for our return time at midday.

MK was a huge disappointment. We were there 5 hours and managed 3 rides - the crowds and waits were a nightmare. I didn't care much for MK before, but now I hate it to the point of probably not going back. Some of us call it Evil Kingdom, my DP calls it Tragic Kingdom even the 3 kids didn't like it as much as we thought they would - they preferred Epcot!!

What day were you in MK?

 

[Pooh Friend]

Also try www dot touringplans dot com for a free crowd calendar done by days. I just heard an interview by the person who works on these websites on www.mousetunes.com and it is really something how they get the data for these charts. I'm using them for my trip next week!

 

[White as Snow]

We were there 10/13-10/16. Saturday was Epcot all day. It was somewhat crowded to us. The Food and Wine booths were pretty busy and the wait time for Soarin' around 4:00 was 90 min.

10/14 AK was not crowded at all we walked right onto EE and KS.

DS was a little more crowded than AK. Had about a 30 min. wait for RnR. We could still find a seat for Fantasmic about 15 min before it started though.

MNSSHP on the 16th was not crowded at all. We got prime spots for the parade, fireworks, and villains show. The character and candy lines weren't even long. We walked on all the rides and even road BTMRR twice in a row.

 

[QueenT]

We were there 9/29 - 10/11. The first week we experience very low crowds, the only consistently "long" waits were at the big ticket rides: Soarin', Killamanjaro Safari, Everest, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, and this was in the afternoon since we didn't ever get to a park before 10am. Easily manageable with fast passes. In fact most of the time we would get a fast pass, go in on the standby line, and then ride again using the fast pass.

We also had a baby with us & did take advantage of the baby swap, worked great.

Everest did run out of fast passes by about 1pm. Great ride by the way.

Dining did not seem too crowded; I was able to get same day ADRs for Crystal Palace & some others. We were also let in early for some ADRs.

The best (least crowded) day at MK seemed to be Saturday. We also went on a Wednesday, it was more crowded then (not sure about EMH, didn't use it).

AK always seems crowded in the parts where you walk through, especially in the area between Everest & Kali & also in the area before Safari, but the individual attractions & restaurants were fine.

We found most of the posted waits to be longer than the actual wait. Most rides (non-big ticket) were walk-ons, or 10-15 min wait. We went on the Haunted Mansion 3x in a row, even Fantasyland was only 30 min for Dumbo.

Epcot was more crowded overall, we did go there 2/3 times on the weekend.

MGM was empty.

Enjoy your planning.