Attendance: Are parks really empty on weekdays? Please post your recent experiences

[TXDeb]

I keep hearing conflicting reports about the crowds or lack of them at WDW. By all reports the parks are crowded on the weekends, but what is the truth about the weekdays? Some are saying that the parks are nearly empty during the week, while others say that attendance is about normal for this time of year. I have seen reports of no lines for rides and posts saying that they had to wait for up to an hour for some rides.

Since I just read another report by a DISer who just returned saying that the crowds were heavier on the trip that they recently returned from than when they went in May, I am even more confused.

If you have recently returned from WDW, please post your experience with crowds in the parks and resorts.
Specifically, how crowded were the weekdays vs the weekends?
How did the crowds compare with your previous trip?
Did it appear that most of the guests were locals or were there out of town folks visiting too?
If you stayed on-site, used the pools and visited any restaurants how were the crowds at those places?

Thanks!

 

[SuzyCornett]

During the week we never stood in line for more than 10 minutes. However, we were in the parks from opening until noon, and then again from 3:00 until closing. Also, if we did encounter a line, we used fastpass (I think we only used it 2 or 3 times the entire week, and 2 of those times were on Saturday the 20).
Suzy

 

[siffen]

Was in the parks from 10th to 15th of october.

Thursday Sea World; Shows were crowdy, not minor ques if any at rides like Kraken.

Friday; MK; came early and had walk on to Jungle Cruise, Pirates of Caribean and Splash Mountain. Then 10 minutes in line for Big T. Haunted M. ; 5minutes, Peter Pan; MAJOR line, about 35min, used FP. 20min for its a small world. 20 minutes for Space Mountain as well, and even bigger for Buzz.

Saturday; Epcot; walk on on almost everythinh except Test Track, lines was up to 30 minutes wait.

Sunday: Universal; Light crowdes early, some more later.


Regards
Siffen - still in jetlag

 

[HBK]

I was in WDW for my honeymoon ( and let me just say, my bitterness is based soley on Disney management. The CMs are the ones who truley make it magical.)

I went to Magic Kingdom on Sunday Oct 7 and the posted wait times were approx. 30-45 minutes for the "big rides" (i.e. splash, space, Big Thunder)

I went to MGM on the following Sat, and the posted wait times were 13 minutes for Tower, 25-30 minutes for RnR.

Now....I found that the wait times being posted were exaggerated. I actually noted the time I entered the line and the time I rode the ride (it was a couple of wagers with my new wife). We got onto Splash in 20 minutes, Big Thunder in 30 & she went on space (I'm too tall for the cars) in 20. We got onto Rock & rollercoaster in about 10 (with a 25-30 minute wait posted).

During the week, the lines were non existant. We went to IOA on Tuesday, and all of the posted wait times were 10 minutes (although Spiderman showed a 3 minute wait). The only exception would be on Test Track (where we experinced a magical moment . The posted wait time was 20 minutes.

All in all, if this is normal for WDW, October will be the month when we plan our annual trip.

 

[Captain Crook]

You now sound even more like my esteemed, but usually wrong friend, Landbaron. It's strange how a trip to the World seems to right at least some of the wrongs. Now, I'm not speaking of the "loathed" management, but the CM's, the atmosphere, even the spirit are still great...Maybe now you see why I still defend WDW like I do.

I hope you got to see the truly great "One Man's Dream" exhibit & btw...Congratulations!

 

[jessieroo]

the only time we used fast pass was for Space Mountain & Peter Pan.
Test Track always had a line but it only took 25 minutes. To me that
ride is just not worth it! We did all the Early Entry Mornings, and believe
me there was nobody there! I am sure that once travelers return
to disney they will start the EE mornings again. When we did Epoct
0n 10/19 we were able to walk onto anything. In the afternoon,
around three o'clock, we were in the Wonders of Life Pavillion.
Very few people. We also had a one o'clock reservation for the Garden
Grill, there were alot of empty tables. Alot of changes took place while
we were there but they really didn't affect us. We made sure that our
girls got to do the things they wanted & that's what mattered most
to us. Saturday was the only day we saw alot of people.
We have always gone in October but these crowds were alot smaller.
The only international travelers we met were from England &
Scotland.
Hopefully all these cutbacks & changes will be temporary!

Hope you have as good a trip as we did!

Have fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[HBK]

It's strange how a trip to the World seems to right at least some of the wrongs

I guess. I still noticed how maintenance continues to be an issue....I still noticed how much I hate DAK as is. It never ends.

My point (and feeling) is the people that work @ WDW, for the most part, are what make it such a nice place to go. Not the reason to go, but they are the icing on the cake.

I hope you got to see the truly great "One Man's Dream" exhibit

I did see it and I thought it was great....although I'll tell you some of the things I noticed and / or thought about when going through the show.

1) There were people sitting behind me asking rhetorical questions such as "Does Eisner look at the statue of Walt when trying to solve a problem?"

2) A lot of the exhibits were things Walt had no involvment in.

3) Which attraction did the Walt Disney company sponsor to celebrate Walt's life? Isn't it Tacky that the attraction meant to celebrate your company's founder has to have a sponsor?

Hopefully all these cutbacks & changes will be temporary!

Unfortunately, I don't think these are "temporary". It appears EE has been a permanant cancel. We'll see about the rest.

 

[MyThreeTeens]

We were in WDW from 10/13 to 10/20. AK on 14th - lots of people but lines weren't too bad. Safari had 5 min wait, Bug was about 15 mins. Used Fast Pass for Dinosaur (had 30 min wait).

US on 15th - no wait greater than 10 mins. Used Express Pass several times.

TL on Tues - very crowded in Lazy River and Surf Pool. Lines for slides not too long. CM there said it was the most crowded day since Sept. 11.

MK and Epcot on 17th. Didn't need Fast Pass for any ride other than Space Mtn. Walked right on Splash Mtn. Test Track had 10 min wait.

MGM on 18th. Again, lots of people, but lines not longer than 10 mins. Fantasmic was full.

MK and Epcot on 19th. MK was packed, waits 45 mins and longer. Epcot was only slightly more crowded than on the 17th.

We stayed at the GF and it was pretty quiet all week. Things picked up quite a bit on Friday.

We were at WDW the same time six years ago and the parks were very crowded every day.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

We were there last week....

Sun. 10/14 - MK: A little crowded, we used fast pass for Pooh, most wait times were 30-45 minutes.

Mon. 10/15 - MK: Empty! Walked on to all rides, no waiting.

Tues. 10/16 - Epcot/MGM: Empty again! Walked right on to all rides, no waiting. A few of the rides had wait times posted (Space Mountain said 20 minutes) but we walked right on.

Wed. 10/17 - AK: A little crowded, but short lines. We used a fast pass for the safari and walked on to everything else.

Thurs. 10/18 - US/IOA: Decent amount of people, wait times for big rides were about 20 minutes. We used our room key and walked on every ride with no wait.

Fri. 10/19 - US/IOA: A little more crowded but still no long waits. We used our FOTL access to ride anything we wanted with no wait.

Sun. 10/21 - US/IOA: Empty! It was raining on and off. We didn't even need our express access.

 

[tasbm1]

We were there 10/13 - 10/21. The weekends were crowded. During the week, we were walking on to rides and into the shows until late morning/early afternoon. The wait went to about 10 minutes at that point. Some shows, the CM's told us to just sit where we want and not worry about moving to the end of the row. We found that the wait times posted were to high. If it said 20 minutes, we were on in 10 minutes.

 

[addicted_to_WDW]

We were at WDW from October 19-24

10/19 Evening Epcot - Pretty quiet. The crowd was similar to low season (January) crowds.

10/20 Epcot (Saturday) - 1st day of Food and Wine Festival. Epcot was as busy as I've ever seen it. I didn't spend much time in Future World, but there were long lines at all of the Festival Food stands, and I did quite a bit of people dodging.

10/21 Sunday. AM - Animal Kingdom. Busier than I expected. PM - MNSSHP. It was pouring, but the rain didn't keep the people away.

10/22 Monday AM-MGM. 20 minute wait on RnRC. ToT had a 30 minute wait time early, then it was close to a walk on.

PM - MK. Quieter than normal, with 20 minute wait times on Splash and BTMRR.

10/23 - AM - MGM. Similar wait times as on Monday. PM - MK. We only went to MK to ride Splash Mountain, for which we used Fast Pass, and Buzz, which was close to a walk on.


All in all, WDW was busier than I expected it to be. POR was very busy, probably running at close to capacity. I did hear many people talking who had been there the previous week, who said that it had gotten much busier.

 

[TXDeb]

Thank you to all of you who have taken the time to post your experiences. I really appreciate it.
I hope that others who are returning will continue to post.

 

[anim8or98]

Lots of people at DAK lately! Crowds here are more so than before the events of 9/11. The lines aren't too bad, but quite a few guests! The parade has really brought in a crowd, IMO.

 

[Melynny]

Here's a quote from the Disneyworld Website, "I am taking the President's advice" Disneyworld" "I went to Disneyworld" by Liz Smith


QUOTE:
In today's U.S. News & World Report, there's a big photo of a deserted entrance to Disney World. In Orlando, I picked up the local newspaper, which read "Disney Hanging On During Wild Economic Ride." But none of that was my personal experience.
There were masses of people at Disney World. And they, too, lined up, having bags checked before entrance.
If business is bad at Disney World, you could have fooled me. I waited in lines to eat, to ride and to see everything. And during the three parades - two in the Magic Kingdom and one in the Animal Kingdom, you had to fight for space to stand on the sidewalk.
End QUOTE.

Here it is right from the Disney web site... I thought business was so bad they were hanging on .. having to cancel resort benefits just to stay open......

read the whole thing here
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/waltdisneyworld/index

 

[goofypat42]

We were there Oct. 18-22.

oct 18 MMNSSP- lines were no longer than 10 mins. At 11:00pm we
walked on about everything.

oct 19. MGM Roller Coaster had about 10 min. wait. Walk right in to
Beauty and the beast. Waited 15 mins for Bear in the big blue house.
Parade was pretty packed.

Oct 20 MK It was very crowed by 1:00. Before that it was 10 minutes
per ride. Chef Mickey was crowd about 7:00pm.

Oct 21 MK Used fastpass for space mountain and Thunder Roller
Coaster. We were able to get a fastpast within the next hour each
time. In the morning you could just about step on the rides.
Cinderella Castle was packed by 8:45am.