Checked out early - Parks too crowded.

[Crystal824]

We were there at Thanksgiving last year. We left the MK on Thanksgiving Day due to crowds. We made rope drop did a few things and then left the park, but we went back to our resort and had a great time swimming and having lunch at the pool. We all had a much better time at the hotel than fighting crowds at the park that day. I don't think we would ever leave vacation early due to crowds.

 

[kitkat4622]

There is literally SO MUCH to do outside of the MK. There is no way I would cut my vacation short.

agree 100%

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

I get people having to go at a time when it is crowded. Some school districts really limit when you can take your child out of school.

But you need to go in, knowing that it will be crowded.

That said, I would be hard pressed to leave early. I would find things to do at the resort or at another resort.

 

[Debbie Jean]

I do get what your saying. I go during spring break every year and did notice crowd levels that were higher than I've seen in previous years. For example, I rope dropped Epcot and by the time I got to Soarin, the wait was 70 minutes. Never got lower than that. Back tracked to Spaceship Earth which was an easy 10 minute wait. I went over to Nemo where I waited 30 minutes standby. Never had that happen!

Having said that, I got to the parks early, planned my fast passes strategically, got the express transportation to make hopping more efficient and spent time doing non park things including just relaxing and enjoying my resort, Wilderness Lodge.

I'm also an annual pass holder which I think is such an advantage when the crowds are that bad. It isnt my one and only chance of a lifetime visit. Never would occur to me to leave early.

 

[ton80]

Our yearly trip (June) we make the best of the heat and the crowds.. Early break back to the hotel for swimming ,hit the parks in the PM.

 

[Debbie Jean]

I will say that with morning temps of 40 degrees and afternoon temps of 60 with blustery winds, swimming was not really much of an option for most of the week, though I did see a couple of kids in the pool at WL.

 

[AngiTN]

I get people having to go at a time when it is crowded. Some school districts really limit when you can take your child out of school.

But you need to go in, knowing that it will be crowded.

That said, I would be hard pressed to leave early. I would find things to do at the resort or at another resort.

While I agree it does seem that reports for this week are exceeding even expected crowds. Not sure what all fell in to place to make it worse than expected but I've seen enough reports of the crowds by now to realize something is different about this week. I think even the best of laid plans are struggling. Will be interesting to see if this trend continues or if this week is some sort of anomaly.

 

[Hikergirl]

I just checked out the crowd calendar for this week and it is showing 9 for every day. I wouldn't wait in a line that long and if the park was really crowded I would have either tried a different one, or done something else for the day. I wouldn't check out early, that involves a flight change and its just not worth it. I'd take a day sitting at the resort pool, or finding other things to do in Orlando before I gave up on my vacation.

When the kids were younger we had no problem taking them out of school for vacations. Now that they are older we try not to do that, so we know we are going to have to deal with higher crowd times. We just make the best of it.

 

[hultrain]

On Wednesday evening March 15, Space Mountain had a Stand By time of 215 Minutes before it broke down just after the 9PM Fireworks. Sorry, but 30 minutes is my limit for any ride; I wanted to come back in Fall to try Pandora but now we are not going to bother and let our Passes lapse in November.

Can anybody comment on having a similar experience wanting to check out early?

I totally hear what you are saying and empathize because we also have to go when the kids (and thus everyone else's kids). However, as many people have said in this thread, when you know you are going at a crowded time, you just have to adjust your expectations and go with the flow. I think the days when you can expect a sub-30 minute SB wait on all rides, including headliners, is over especially during pretty much any school break time.

We've given up on being able to hit everything and just focus on the highlights (by doing RD and FP+) and exploring other areas of WDW.

 

[revdon64]

Can't say I've ever cut my vacation short and with as much as we spend to be in WDW there's very little that would make me do so. I did feel that way a bit on a previous trip - crowds were higher than we expected, kids were misbehaving, dropped and stepped on my glasses. At that point I just wanted to go home but my lovely wife talked me down and we made the best of that day. I was better the next day and we soldiered on. I couldn't imagine just packing it in and going home for real.

 

[Dis703]

In the old days when we all had hoppers we would have just gone to another park. I experienced our first crowd level 9 (as far as I can remember) at MK on our most recent trip and we stuck it out as our only planned day for MK and went about the rest of our week. The other 3 parks were nowhere near as crowded, but we don't travel peak weeks. We pull our kids out for family trips and try to go during times when it's not quite as crowded.

Even on the day it was a level 9 we had a great time, but it was just a bit more overwhelming trying to move around and dealing with lines in shops and at snack locations, QS, etc. As for rides, if it's over 30 minutes (usually over 20) we won't even get in line. We skip it and come back around or make FP accordingly. If that means we miss a particular ride that trip it's not too big a deal. But considering we fly to get down there it's highly unlikely we'd ever leave early.

 

[AlohaKeke]

I can't imagine leaving a vacation early, you've anticipated it so much that it would be really disappointing to have to cut the vacation short. I probably would have just skipped a park on the last day and gone to Disney Springs or mini-golf. OP how long were you there for before it became unbearable?

 

[SoCalDisneyFan2708]

This is a problem for people that go to a Disney resort mainly for rides. In both Disneyland and Disney World rides these days get waits of 90+ min even on off season days. So I feel bad for those people who go to the resorts for that reason.

 

[disneyvoice]

We go to WDW for the entire experience of being at WDW, not just for the parks so I wouldn't cut a trip short just because of crowds. Our touring plan is the same regardless of how crowded it is - we are there for rope drop or earlier and we are typically done with most of what we want to see during the hottest and most crowded times of the day. If the crowds are insane we leave the park and go to DS or resort hop or just go back to our resort and do something there. We have been on the 4th of July, right around Christmas, Memorial Day weekend, Thanksgiving, summer, etc - basically at just about every busy time and during slow times. We have always enjoyed ourselves. The key is to get out of the parks when the crowds start to get so heavy that you are paying more attention to the crowds than anything else.

 

[mickey&minnie04]

Yesterday we checked out of Bay Lake Towers and left Walt Disney World a day early. The hotel was great but my family of four could no longer take the crowds in the Parks.

I get that it is Spring Break, we have Florida Resident Annual Passes, but having school-age kids means we can only visit during vacations and weekends (we only take our kids out of school for Emergencies). We do plan hotel, dinner and FastPass reservations months in advance; so please do not judge.

On Wednesday evening March 15, Space Mountain had a Stand By time of 215 Minutes before it broke down just after the 9PM Fireworks. Sorry, but 30 minutes is my limit for any ride; I wanted to come back in Fall to try Pandora but now we are not going to bother and let our Passes lapse in November.

Can anybody comment on having a similar experience wanting to check out early?

I feel you! We were there 3/3- 3/9 .....it was the most crowded in all of my 10ish (I'm getting old, can't remember exactly!) This trip was a birthday trip for me and we had grand plans on the 8th to park hop and do all my favorite rides in each since it was my birthday.....well we are NOT used to having such long wait times and crowds that we went to MK in the morning and I told my husband I just wanted to go back to the pool and relax, so we went to the pool and did laundry!! LOL We had dinner res. at Le Cellier, ate and then headed back to the resort again!! We usually visit more in the fall but a birthday trip was on my bucket list!

 

[ThistleMae]

I just break things up by playing Agent P or Sorcerers of the MK. We go to Epcot in the countries, where things are a bit more spread out. I would think with the ability to see ride wait times using the app. it would help folks decide where to go. And yes, the pool breaks, the restaurants, the shops, the rides that often have fewer people, like the people mover and Carousel of Progress...two of my favorites, or the shows. There's just so many ways to mix things up.

 

[HopperFan]

I think it all comes down to expectations. OP what type of crowds were you expecting? (not being sarcastic just want to know)

Agree.

As AP holders (as OP is) I think are all aware of crowd levels tied to dates. We all got spoiled after 9/11 and the many years after when attendance was down. Disney was at times a private park experience making it easy to jump on the bandwagon even for the fence folks. But the last 6+ years I've seen nothing but more and more crowds - which of course has translated into new constructions and expansions. Many days I say I'll go back to no new attractions or renovations just for the low crowds.

I swore I'd never go during Spring Break season again (or Christmas week) but here I am going the first week of April. I know it will be crowded, I know I'll need my patience, I know I might get unplanned resort time (will have a huge sub cooler full of cold beer) and I know it would not be my ideal trip. BUT we'll go with the flow, be flexible and we are meeting friends we know we'll have a great time with ... and fingers crossed, I am hoping that all these awful crowd reports may mean most breaks will be over before we go.

 

[yulilin3]

We all got spoiled after 9/11 and the many years after when attendance was down. Disney was at times a private park experience making it easy to jump on the bandwagon even for the fence folks

THIS is the main reason so many people now wonder why the parks are so busy and long for the "good ole days" Orlando's tourism took a huge hit and it took years and years to start bouncing back. That's why we saw so many promotions, Year of a Million Dreams, and now that Disney is back to high levels they are not offering as many things as before and people get upset. I visit the parks about 4 times a week and each time I see them more and more crowded. It's just what it is, and people need to come with high crowds in mind no matter what any crowd calendar says. Still the best advice is be at the park before it opens

 

[kittyab]

If the parks are too crowded, we go back to the resort, enjoy the pool or go to Disney Springs.

 

[megs1313]

I'm sorry your trip didn't live up to your expectations. That stinks no matter what the other circumstances are.

I think this is a good reminder for people that crowds aren't what they used to be even LAST year. It seems to me that the whole "world" in general is in a state of flux between construction, crowds, security, new add ons, etc. it's going to be a hit or miss few years, IMO.