Anyone know why it's so busy right now?

[PrincessWithABlaster]

I agree with this has been Disney's general approach to the parks as of late - reduce expenses, increase crowds/revenue. However, it seems like this January's crowds have been an anomoly that Disney was not prepared for. They base the park hours and staffing levels on years and years of data. Touring plans, an independent site who also has years and years of data, did not expect these crowds either. I can't blame Disney for staffing based on historical levels. That's what any sensible company would do.

But why can't Disney pull in more workers to increase ride capacity or open more QS lines. I imagine many cast members would want more hours or overtime. Is Disney being greedy? Or is it administrative red tape of getting money/additional hours approved that prevents more staffing?

I keep hearing that there is no slow time anymore and that January crowds are getting bigger. While this is true, it seems like THIS January is truly unusual and these crowds could not have been predicted or planned for. Crossing my fingers that crowds go back to normal next January because I'm planning on doing the half!

My understanding is that’s part of the whole reason they did MDE and FP+. It gives them tons of data about how many people are going to be in the parks any given day. They should be able to tell from how many FPs are booked approximately how many people are planning to be there. It’s not exact of course but much better than using historical data. It is (or should be) fed into decisions about hours, staffing, etc.

TP doesn’t have access to that info.

 

[PDXmouse]

My understanding is that’s part of the whole reason they did MDE and FP+. It gives them tons of data about how many people are going to be in the parks any given day. They should be able to tell from how many FPs are booked approximately how many people are planning to be there. It’s not exact of course but much better than using historical data. It is (or should be) fed into decisions about hours, staffing, etc.

TP doesn’t have access to that info.

All the MORE reason why it’s inexcusable to be understaffed.

 

[Elle23]

All the MORE reason why it’s inexcusable to be understaffed.

If they couldn’t staff appropriately for the known busy time in December, I can’t imagine how bad it is for an unexpected busy time.

 

[hllb]

My understanding is that’s part of the whole reason they did MDE and FP+. It gives them tons of data about how many people are going to be in the parks any given day. They should be able to tell from how many FPs are booked approximately how many people are planning to be there. It’s not exact of course but much better than using historical data. It is (or should be) fed into decisions about hours, staffing, etc.

TP doesn’t have access to that info.

FPs are quite limited. They set the amount. They can’t really tell how many people wanted them and couldn’t get them. Though it does now make me think that when they released more FPs for January it may have been because their crowd projections were up.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

FPs are quite limited. They set the amount. They can’t really tell how many people wanted them and couldn’t get them. Though it does now make me think that when they released more FPs for January it may have been because their crowd projections were up.

Yes, the popular ones are in short suppply and yes, there are some people who don’t make FPs or buy tickets same day, but most people book FPs for something else if they don’t get the one they want. Or they book 1 or 2 that they want. All the parks have availability tomorrow. Epcot and DHS have good Tier 1s available. How many are available a week or two out or even the rate at which they are booked would give Disney a very good sense of how many people are planning to be in the park.

 

[hllb]

Yes, the popular ones are in short suppply and yes, there are some people who don’t make FPs or buy tickets same day, but most people book FPs for something else if they don’t get the one they want. Or they book 1 or 2 that they want. All the parks have availability tomorrow. Epcot and DHS have good Tier 1s available. How many are available a week or two out or even the rate at which they are booked would give Disney a very good sense of how many people are planning to be in the park.

Glad to hear there are some available for tomorrow. I think our trip will be far more crowded than we were expecting though. Makes me glad I booked some extras. I debated because it wouldn’t be necessary if the parks were lower crowds. Glad I booked anyway lol.

 

[belledreamer]

Went to Epcot today for AM EMH. Rode Soarin, Test Track (Single rider line) and Mission Space before 9am and pretty much walked on all of them. I did find wait times getting higher about 10:30am and did not go back down again until after 2pm. Did see two large tour groups but never ended up in lines with them.

That being said, by the time we left this evening at 7, we rode every ride there (Soarin 3 times) and saw everything we wanted to see by mid afternoon.

I'm gonna say 5/10 crowd level.

Have had no problem with bad counter service, rude CMs or guests. Honestly, with the exception of crowd levels, it's been a good trip for us.

 

[Haley R]

How far in advance does touring plans project crowds? I don’t have it and I’m getting a little worried about our trip at the end of February.

 

[Linkura]

How far in advance does touring plans project crowds? I don’t have it and I’m getting a little worried about our trip at the end of February.

They have some free crowd levels for some upcoming dates- 1/27-29 and 2/24-3/26:
https://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/crowd-calendar

 

[corgi_monster]

Yes, the popular ones are in short suppply and yes, there are some people who don’t make FPs or buy tickets same day, but most people book FPs for something else if they don’t get the one they want. Or they book 1 or 2 that they want. All the parks have availability tomorrow. Epcot and DHS have good Tier 1s available. How many are available a week or two out or even the rate at which they are booked would give Disney a very good sense of how many people are planning to be in the park.

If all parks have availability and there are good tier 1 FP available tomorrow, wouldn't this indicate the parks are NOT busy and extra staffing isn't required? Or are those FP usually available at the last minute during busy times? I've only used FP+ once in 2014 so I have no idea what "normal" availability is.

 

[Haley R]

They have some free crowd levels for some upcoming dates- 1/27-29 and 2/24-3/26:
https://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/crowd-calendar

Thanks! Man our mk day went from a 4 to a 7. That sucks pretty bad. Idk if it’s because they extended hours or what but that’s a big jump.

 

[hllb]

Thanks! Man our mk day went from a 4 to a 7. That sucks pretty bad. Idk if it’s because they extended hours or what but that’s a big jump.

Generally the CL is raised when the hours are extended.

 

[Haley R]

Generally the CL is raised when the hours are extended.

I hope it doesn’t make our day stink! It will be our second mk day after dah so maybe we’ll take a long break at tom saywer.

 

[hllb]

I hope it doesn’t make our day stink! It will be our second mk day after dah so maybe we’ll take a long break at tom saywer.

Good luck!

 

[DISfirstTimer]

LEaving Saturday and am starting to have anxiety about this trip that I've been planning for a year. I'm so disappointed to see the CL so off from predictions. I don't do well with crowds so if it gets anywhere close to looking the photos posted here I'll be back the resort. This is out 1st vacation and I've had to fight my husband for this trip so if we see crowd level of 8 it will probably be our last Good news is we great ADRs and FP for our must dos so at least we will be able to do all of that! Now if only I can get everyone up and moving in time for RD

 

[WillowRain]

We were booked for first full week after Labor Day last year and had to cancel due to the hurricane. Rebooked for 8th-15th this September. Hoping lighting doesn’t strike twice...

See you there! I hope not as well (though secretly I wouldn't mind some wind and rain)

FPs are quite limited. They set the amount. They can’t really tell how many people wanted them and couldn’t get them. Though it does now make me think that when they released more FPs for January it may have been because their crowd projections were up.

Um yah, some times the FP lines were longer than the stand by, which made NO SENSE! So then they would let us all through and stop the stand by. Who knows what the heck was going on last week. We may never get a real explanation.

 

[WillowRain]

I was at AK yesterday and it did not seemed crowded to us. I did notice, though, that the waittimes posted were WAY over-exaggerated. When we used our FP for Dinosaur, the family entering standby at the same time ended up in the same pre-show room as us. The posted wait was 40 minutes and there was no line. There was a line for Safari when we FP'd it but I have no idea how accurate the posted sign was.

Walkways were easy to navigate and there were no lines to order food and drinks at restaurants or carts. We ate at Satu'li at 6:30pm and there was no one in the queue - we walked right to a register. Pandora was busy, esp at night, but I easily navigated the store and had no line to check out. Parking lot was not near full, either.

I'm sure it's all perspective but as fairly frequent visitors, we were pleasantly surprised at the crowd level. TP says it was actually an 8 but in my experience, 8 crowds come with difficult touring, lines at restrooms, stores, and carts, long lines for dining, etc. None of that was happening at AK yesterday. *shrug*

I was reading back to pages I missed while on vacation, seriously?? We waited at Restaurantasaurus for well over 30 mins for food. Lines for bathrooms in every land, lines at every store because of understaffing. Walkways were so crowded, especially during music and dance times, could barely move around. Were we in the same place? lol Still loved every second of it and this is now my favorite park, but sheeeeeesh it was crowded, mainly lunch time to evening. Morning and night were alright.

 

[Tramp&TheLady]

We were there the 15th thru the 21st. It was a madhouse from beginning to end. Foreigners everywhere clogging up the paths and fastpass lines. The bathrooms were absolutely disgusting (epcot especially). It is flu season and it is Inexcusable. There was more trash on the ground and thrown around than I have ever seen there. Cast members were lacking and lines for everything were long. We were there the January before and it was nothing like this. I still can’t figure it out. We had a terrible experience in our treehouse villa (Long story) and were given free fastpasses from the management there. If we wouldn’t have had those it would have been a miserable trip. Disney has some problems right now.

 

[WaterLinds]

Oh, heavens...somebody tell me when this Mardi Gras break is. I didn't even know that was a thing.

Yeah, I was totally thrown by the Mardi Gras thing too. We didn't have flexibility in our dates this year, because we're meeting up with my dad who is in FL for another trip anyway and shoehorning us into his schedule. But when we first talked about it, I tossed out that "February before Presidents Day is usually pretty low crowds, let's do it!" And then later I checked TP and was floored by the predictions for that week.

I was under the impression that it's just schools in Louisiana that have an actual break for Mardi Gras, plus perhaps international tourists from some predominantly Catholic countries? But based on the crowd predictions it must be more widespread than that? Oh well, we're going anyway.

The reassuring thing to me from this thread is that our next chance to go is going to be mid-March next year, which I was not thrilled about because spring break (the entire province of Ontario will have that week off). But if this year is anything to go by it doesn't sound like crowds that week will be significantly worse than Mardi Gras. And we will have more park days on that trip to spread things out, and probably get to stay at a monorail resort, and be planned further ahead, etc. So I'm more optimistic about that one now! (Also that takes the pressure off for this trip, so win-win)

 

[shocker]

Well, here's to hoping EVERYONE went in January and February so July turns out the be "shockingly low attendance," we had to "reduce hours," and "close QS lines" there just wasn't enough people. Throw out those crowd calendars folks, they're wrong and you just won't need them in July.

 

[rkstocke5609]

Yeah, I was totally thrown by the Mardi Gras thing too. We didn't have flexibility in our dates this year, because we're meeting up with my dad who is in FL for another trip anyway and shoehorning us into his schedule. But when we first talked about it, I tossed out that "February before Presidents Day is usually pretty low crowds, let's do it!" And then later I checked TP and was floored by the predictions for that week.

I was under the impression that it's just schools in Louisiana that have an actual break for Mardi Gras, plus perhaps international tourists from some predominantly Catholic countries? But based on the crowd predictions it must be more widespread than that? Oh well, we're going anyway.

The reassuring thing to me from this thread is that our next chance to go is going to be mid-March next year, which I was not thrilled about because spring break (the entire province of Ontario will have that week off). But if this year is anything to go by it doesn't sound like crowds that week will be significantly worse than Mardi Gras. And we will have more park days on that trip to spread things out, and probably get to stay at a monorail resort, and be planned further ahead, etc. So I'm more optimistic about that one now! (Also that takes the pressure off for this trip, so win-win)

We’ve always loved going during Mardis Gras. All the folks from Louisiana that come come to Disney to Escape it are generally awesome and fun!