April 24-28....CROWDS! Yikes!

[georgiagal]

We arrived day one Wednesday evening...stayed at the Embassy Suites Convention Center using hubbie's Hilton Honors points....glad it was for free and liked the big hot free breakfast, but missed being in the 'magic' of the park.

Thursday went to Animal Kingdom for our first visit. Followed everyone's advice...."Be there early and RUN to the safari." Well, we were second in line and walked rather fast along with two hundred others...following the same advice. I have to admit, I was a bit surprised and maybe even a little disappointed in AK. I had heard so much about the safari, I guess I was expecting it to be longer and over a larger piece of land. In fact, the entire size of AK surprised me...it was tiny compared to the other parks. The only thing that really stood out and screamed "DISNEY MAGIC!" was the tree in the middle. It sorta reminded us of a 'souped up' zoo. It was nice, but 2 hours and 45 minutes later, we were done....and surprised that we were done. Really liked the little roller coaster thing in Dinosaur land! Overall, the crowds weren't bad at all....rather calm and serene. The reason there were no lines was because everyone was at..................

MAGIC KINGDOM! I have never in all 12 trips seen MK so crowded. It was 90 degrees and hot and sweaty and crowded, screaming kids, whining toddlers.....we saw the worst behavior in children I think I have ever witnessed. Saw one four-year-old while in the midst of a full-blown tantrum, haul back with a closed fist and sock his father right in the kisser. Naturally, like all the other parents, he did nothing. We were amazed at the spoiled, badly behaved children....but that's for another day and another forum! The lines were very long...we actually passed by several rides....never have done that before. I guess the end of April isn't a good time to go afterall. Used the fast pass on a few rides....it was wonderful....but the problem is that while you wait around for your 'appointed time'...you have to be doing something else...and everything was packed. We had allotted an entire day to see MK....and we had two 13-year-old girls so we didn't have to do the little kid stuff, and we really couldn't get everything in....due to the lines. Big sigh.

Epcot was wonderfully serene, no crowds, music playing in the background, a nice breeze blowing, lots of shade and park benches.....I love that place. My husband did the divequest at the Living Seas. I surprised him with an appointment to scuba dive as an anniversary present. He's a Dive Master, but hasn't gone in a while so he was ecstatic. All the people watching through the glass walls were oohing and aahing at the scuba divers,"Ooh....look at the scuba divers!! They must be special Disney employees who check the inside of the tank to make sure everything is working right...hmmm....." I wanted to say,"No, actually that's $140 on next month's visa bill." He had a great time. (Left my anniversary gift back home...so I got a mickey mouse watch and t-shirt before we came home!)

MGM was crowded, but not tremendously so. Probably half hour lines...but the fast pass helped. The Aerosmith roller coaster was ridden twice...the second time made me seriously consider the possible damaging effects to my brain as it was being slammed around inside my head. Saw everything in short order .....Oh! The Drew Carey detective thing was just about the stupidest thing we had ever seen. We just didn't get it. Everybody in the theater just kinda left shaking their heads saying,"What was THAT about?" I'm surprised they chose that as an attraction.

While we were there a dead body was fished out of the lake at the Grand Floridian. Wednesday night, a man and wife argued while drinking....she went back to the room and he was found dead the next morning in the lake. Do you think the GF gave her a bill when she left the next day? It would be interesting to hear how it was all handled.

Overall, we had a wonderful time. But the crowds at MK were such a disappointment. I love the magic kingdom....I think I'll only go back in the fall now. I've gone every month but June and August....October was nice and quiet.

 

[pumba]

Yes it was sad that the couple had to have a fight while in Disney........I do believe that they were staying in another hotel . We had pretty good fast pass system going for MK while we were there......did the ones that we could and fast pass the others.......thanks for your report

 

[pnelson]

Did you find the heat overwhelming? I'm actually bummed that it's shaping up to be in the 90's while we are there.

 

[pumba]

in fact we just kept going and going......and not feel drained when it is really humid....hope this helps

 

[georgiagal]

I made everybody drink drink drink. The water was gross sulfa Florida water...but we drank it all day long. Also, I think having a big hardy breakfast kept us strong. I was kinda surprised that my legs didn't get tired. I had relatively new tennis shoes and had bought new insoles for my daughter's tennis shoes. I would've given ten bucks for a shower at about 4 pm everyday. I was SOAKED with sweat and all of us were....how should I put this .....STINKY! The second day, I took a little travel size deodorant and twice in the day, washed off and reapplied. Made me feel a bit refreshed. I hate that sweaty feeling though. The little deodorant thing really helped. (although was a bit embarassing at the security check)

 

[SandraC]

We went April 20-29, 2001 CBR and again last week, April 20-30, 2002 CSR ~ this year was hotter and more crowded than last year. So much for NO ONE IS TRAVELLING! DH thinks prehaps folks who would have considered global travelling were staying in the states and WDW was a good enough vacation as any to them.

Although it was hotter than last year (only by a few degrees) I enjoy the heat. It's not too humid.

Going early helps with the crowds and Disney added a bunch of Spectro Magic Parades and Fantasy in the Sky at MK to help please the folks.

My kids are 2 and 8 and I noticed a lot of 8 year old little girls throwing hissy fits. I guess because I have an 8 year old girl, I noticed them more. Lots of teenagers due to a science thing and grad nights. Most of the teens were excellent with only a few exceptions of EXTREMELY NOISY ~ "LOOK AT ME" LOOK AT ME" types ~ but they were VERY rare. They roamed in packs and liked to stay together in the lines. They would offer lots of folks to go ahead of them so they could stay together.

I didn't notice babies or toddlers making a fuss, my little 2 year old had his melt down at AK April 22 EARTH DAY! The parks 4th anniversary! It was very hot, he was tired and teething. He did well the rest of the trip.

I fine I have more trouble with adults than the kids LOL!

The pools were excellent in the heat! Sandra

 

[dandelion]

I wonder if some of the crowds are people who postponed their trips from last fall? One of my neighbors had plans to go last October, cancelled due to travel worries, but Disney told her they would honor her reservation rate anytime in the next 12 months.

I've never been at a super-crowded time (my kids are 5 and 2 so we can go off-season), but even on the odd day when the MK is more crowded it is like a totally different place. I agree Epcot and MGM usually seem less crowded. AK is either totally packed or totally empty.

Too bad about the early-season heat. My favorite time to go is May, but not if it's going to be mid-90s. Back to Nov. I guess!

 

[nicurnc]

I can attest to the crowds and bad behavior. But again, I think the heat and size of the parks are just too overwhelming to some of the kids. Throw in a sugar high and some stressed out parents and I think you can see where you're gonna wind up...in "Not-Too-Happy-Land".

We saw a mom whack the snot out of her kid (maybe around 2) in the Liberty Tree Tavern. He wanted out of the highchair, she wanted him in. BAM!! Then we got to hear him scream louder, and then gues what..she took him out of the highchair!? Go figure

Our waiter said managers will have those people escorted out of the park for that. We didn't stick around to see what happened.

Loretta

 

[LBYC-19]

We are on the same track-- We were there a week before you, and ditto....
Loved Epcot for the same reasons, and found MGM to be very manageable as well...
but the MK--let's just say we never went back to a park after that day it wore us out so much!

And my favorite were all the people who were moving at l00 miles per hour through the lines, pushing forward (like it made a difference), and if you got separated from your family members while in line, they wouldn't let you by so you could get all get on the ride together!

Maybe we're getting old, but the days that we decided to skip the parks and lie by the pool were the most relaxing memorable ones of vacation, lol.

 

[luvpooh]

we were in WDW from the 19th to the 23rd and the crowds were greater than the past 2 Aprils (2000 and 2001) by far. We got extremely frustrated in the Magic Kingdom with the crowds and the heat on the 22nd. Epcot wasn't too bad though. Our second half of our vacation (23rd to the 27th) was at Universal and it was empty!

We are still trying to figure out Disney's thinking - saying that people aren't visiting and therefore cutting hours and amenities, even though there was clearly more people there than I've ever seen, including June and July.

I did notice a vast amount of cranky and upset children this trip. Lots more than ever before. Odd.