Brief return of EE last weekend?

[flagal]

We visited Disney World last weekend (5/31-6/2). As I was leaving the room at the end of my visit, I noticed a letter from WDW management: Due to "increased crowds", Disney was offering early entry (8 a.m.) for 6/1 to Animal Kingdom and Disney MGM studios.

We didn't see the letter, and wound up going to MK that day, and it was indeed packed. Many were "Gay Day" participants (self-identified with red shirts), most were not.

It was just way too crowded for us, so at mid-day, we left for Epcot, which was not crowded at all (and that long air-conditioned monorail ride, right at noon, was just the ticket!) The one person in our party with a one-day one-park pass was able to park-hop for free on Saturday.

Just curious: Did anyone else staying at a WDW resort see this letter during the past weekend? I was wondering whether Disney might be re-instituting EE on a test basis, or if this was an attempt to limit crowds at MK for "Gay Day." on Saturday.

Either way......wish I saw the letter earlier!

 

[ophyllia]

We did receive the letter but I think it was a one day shot to make up for the anticipated large crowds. I thought it was a nice thing to do considering the amount of people that were expected at the Magic Kingdom. In a perfect world EE's would be returning but I have a feeling it won't be anytime soon. How wonderful would that be. We really could have used them this past week!

 

[rpbear]

I think they just sent out the letter because of the large crowds they were expecting at MK that day. I not sure if it means EE is coming back. We went to MGM on Saturday at 8:00 AM, park opening and rode RnR 3 times and ToT once before about 9:10. It was nice having EE again. Tried the getting to MK at 9:00 on Sunday and it did not work as well as it has in the past. Alot of people must be using this strategy. By 10:00 Buzz and Space Mountain were both over 30 minutes and the Peter Pan and Pooh were at 40 minutes.

 

[flagal]

Hmm....that's a pretty big MK crowd for a Sunday morning, rpbear. Hope it's just a one-weekend thing. I heard this past weekend was busy because it's the last weekend before summer hiatus for Florida Resident Seasonal Passholders as well as Play 4 Days (the $99 for four days admission for Fla. residents).

 

[RweTHEREyet]

We were staying at OKW received the letter under our door on Friday morning. It said they were opening AK and MGM one hour earlier for resort guests to relieve anticipated crowds at MK. I don't think this was in any way a return of EE. I have to say that I miss EE being available, but don't miss getting up so early.

 

[gepetto]

They put that letter out every year in anticipation of the Gay Days crowds at the MK. We spent Saturday at Epcot (not very crowded) and Sunday morning at MK. We rode Splash and Big Thunder a few times early and left around noon because it was so hot and crowded.