Checked out early - Parks too crowded.

[ArwenMarie]

Honestly, I don't believe people who say they wait 45 min for buses all the time. I believe they are embellishing things a bit

What would be the motivation for people to lie about that though? Seriously asking

 

[AngiTN]

What would be the motivation for people to lie about that though? Seriously asking

I couldn't dream of what motivates people to embellish things online. But you and I both know they do
Note, I didn't say I don't believe it's possible to every wait 45 min. It is and I have. But I don't think it's so common that someone would have that problem for many of their bus rides on a given trip

 

[Angel Ariel]

One thing that just popped into my mind reading this....

DLR

That's been our solution Don't regret it for a second

 

[Dentam]

I couldn't dream of what motivates people to embellish things online. But you and I both know they do
Note, I didn't say I don't believe it's possible to every wait 45 min. It is and I have. But I don't think it's so common that someone would have that problem for many of their bus rides on a given trip

Have you ever stayed at the AKL or BC? Our worst bus experiences were at these two resorts. AKL was during Christmas week so we expected it to a certain degree. BC was this past month before the spring break craziness began but the Mardi Gras crowds were there. We routinely waited 30-45 minutes for a bus and were late to two ADR's - luckily that wasn't a big deal either time. We haven't had great luck at CSR either. Pop seemed to have the best bus service.

 

[AngiTN]

Have you ever stayed at the AKL or BC? Our worst bus experiences were at these two resorts. AKL was during Christmas week so we expected it to a certain degree. BC was this past month before the spring break craziness began but the Mardi Gras crowds were there. We routinely waited 30-45 minutes for a bus and were late to two ADR's - luckily that wasn't a big deal either time. We haven't had great luck at CSR either. Pop seemed to have the best bus service.

Yes both, AKL multiple times. We found the bus service fine. No different than every other resort on avg. We've stayed in them all, except for the 2 dedicated DVC properties. They all have a few that take longer than 20 but not many. The transportation method I have issues with is Monorail. That thing and me do not get along at all

 

[PirateD]

Hello! Seeing you have been for Thanksgiving week and we are going for the first time with extended family I would love any advice or suggestions you could give.

Thank you.

I'm happy to share my experiences. I would agree with most of the advice already given. We like to have a solid plan when we go during busy times but that plan always includes being flexible and having backup plans.

We arrived on the Saturday before Thanksgiving in the evening and spent time at our resort. We spent Sunday at AK and had an awesome day. I thought the crowds were great and we did everything we wanted to do.

We spent the next two days offsite with family which wasn't good touring strategy because I'm sure those were lower crowds. However, we had a great time with family.

We went back on Wednesday and toured DHS. I thought the crowds were fine and we had one of the best days we have ever had at DHS. We really enjoyed the Star Wars experiences which were new to us and loved the Jingle Bell Jingle Bam fireworks.

We were crazy and spent Thanksgiving in the MK. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it but we wanted to do be in MK and were prepared for high crowds. We had Thanksgiving dinner at Be Our Guest and it was amazing! They had turkey dinner available, but all of the adults went with the steak and were not disappointed. Someone on the Dis recommended to me to not try to have a traditional turkey dinner as it might not live up to a home cooked dinner. I'm glad I followed their advice and went with the steak!

Honestly, the crowds bothered me more on Black Friday at MK then they did on Thanksgiving. We did fine both days but we are pretty strategic. We use touring plans and the easywdw cheat sheets to guide us in the timing of our attractions. I highly recommend the Lines app which in our experience was more accurate than Disney's wait times. Using this, we could see which attractions had shorter lines than what was being posted.

We spent Saturday after Thanksgiving at EP and had the best day I have had at EP for awhile. The holiday storytellers were there for the holiday season and we enjoyed seeing them.

We like to schedule our FP between 11:00-3:00-ish. I think Rope Drop or late nights is a must when it gets crowded. We like to do both usually starting with one early in the week and using a rest day to switch to the other later in the week. I think most people recommend AK as the best park for Thanksgiving Day.

Sorry for the long post. Hope that helps!

 

[Dentam]

Yes both, AKL multiple times. We found the bus service fine. No different than every other resort on avg. We've stayed in them all, except for the 2 dedicated DVC properties. They all have a few that take longer than 20 but not many. The transportation method I have issues with is Monorail. That thing and me do not get along at all

We've had the opposite experience - no issues whatsoever with the monorail!

 

[elaine amj]

Think about how long it has been since EPCOT got a new ride? It literally has about 4 rides that most people want to ride. I understand that there are many other things to do in EPCOT, but the bottom line is most people come to ride at least some rides.

Well, they did just take an "anytime, rarely-any-lineup" ride (Maelstrom) and turn it into the hottest ticket in town (Frozen Ever After). So that helps with Epcot's ride count and draws thousands of people a day into its queues.

I agree - it would be nice for Epcot to have more rides. Although - I'll have to fit more days in somehow...I already like to take at least 3-4 days to tour Epcot properly.

 

[AngiTN]

Well, they did just take an "anytime, rarely-any-lineup" ride (Maelstrom) and turn it into the hottest ticket in town (Frozen Ever After). So that helps with Epcot's ride count and draws thousands of people a day into its queues.

I agree - it would be nice for Epcot to have more rides. Although - I'll have to fit more days in somehow...I already like to take at least 3-4 days to tour Epcot properly.

You have a very different memory of Maelstrom than me. That ride had VERY long lines. FEA is longer but now that they've tempered a bit it's not that different.

Not saying Epcot couldn't stand a few more rides, that would be nice. Though we like more than 4

 

[twoplustwins]

Honestly, I don't believe people who say they wait 45 min for buses all the time. I believe they are embellishing things a bit

Waiting for 45+ minutes for a Pop bus happened to us four of the five nights we were there. One night it was an hour and 20 minutes. I know because I timed it.

 

[twodogs]

Will be interesting to see what you think. We've done both and I know what works better for us, even when it's crowded. I felt the old FP system was a very big disadvantage when it's crowded. And the smaller parks feel much more crowded with fewer people. It's fun and special but not "better"

Agreed. We visited DLR in 2014, and it was crowded! It was right before their anniversary so many things were down for refurbishment getting ready for that. So I blamed some of it on that. I hope it's better this time, but I'm not too confident. We are taking the kids out of school for a long weekend in late April. We shall see...

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

I have not been there during those times. I would say this is definitely the biggest peak time we have traveled hands down, and we understood that and planned accordingly. I think the only point I am trying to make is that for a lot of us we were expecting spring break crowds (let say just for argument an 7-10) and what ended up happening was 10 out of of 10 and it was just a bit for freakishly busy even for spring break. Obviously I am just making up numbers for argument sake. I don't think anyone that was there last week is saying they were expecting moderate crowds nor do I think anyone is saying it was as busy as Christmas Day. All I am saying is the bar is set so high for spring break and last week exceeded that just enough to make people go from "yup this is what I was thinking spring break would be like" to "wow I was not quite expecting this much" if that makes sense. In no way did it ruin our vacation or keep us from having a great time, but I can absolutely sympathize with the OP as far as just being caught off guard a bit with the combo of higher than expected spring break crowds and the cold snap.

I think the difference is that Disney knows that Christmas is the busiest time of year and usually they pull out all the stops. They run everything at full capacity and are fully staffed. From what I've heard, they were either ill prepared for the crowds last week or have decided they don't care. Since MM+ gives them access to an unprecedented amount of data, there is no reason for them to be unprepared for crowds.

 

[twodogs]

I think the difference is that Disney knows that Christmas is the busiest time of year and usually they pull out all the stops. They run everything at full capacity and are fully staffed. From what I've heard, they were either ill prepared for the crowds last week or have decided they don't care. Since MM+ gives them access to an unprecedented amount of data, there is no reason for them to be unprepared for crowds.

Having been there last week, I could not agree more. You nailed it.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Agreed. We visited DLR in 2014, and it was crowded! It was right before their anniversary so many things were down for refurbishment getting ready for that. So I blamed some of it on that. I hope it's better this time, but I'm not too confident. We are taking the kids out of school for a long weekend in late April. We shall see...

IMO, many people underestimate the # of days to spend at DLR. There's almost as many rides at DLR in 2 parks as there are in 4 parks at WDW. Most people say 3 days is enough for DLR, but (IMO), that requires a pretty fast pace** and would definitely be difficult with any crowds. We went in 2015 and 2016 (November, for the Avengers 1/2 marathon both years). In 2015, our trip was Friday to Friday, and we were in the parks for 4 full days (2 days in San Diego) In 2016 our trip was Tues-Tues (6 days in DLR only). In both years, we got the most done on the Wednesday/Thursdays of our trips. We felt rushed in 2015, though, when it came to Disneyland...there was a lot we didn't get to, especially in DCA.

The 2 extra days we had in 2016 made a huge difference = *especially* because of the Marathon/Opening of the Holiday season weekend in both years. Once the runDisney events started, the parks were *packed,* and yeah it was harder to get some things done. We learned our lesson with that in 2015. The extra days this year allowed us to relax on the runDisney event days. Dh and I both ran the 10K, and he also ran the 1/2 - so we weren't getting to the parks early on those 2 days anyway. So we took our time coming back into the park. We had ADRs for both days, a photo shoot on one of them...rides weren't the focus on Sat/Sun, so the crowds didn't negatively affect us as much.

Because of the 4 parks, differences in transportation times and such, it's harder to take that approach at WDW *AND* get as much done as we did in DLR, with the relaxed pace that we had at DLR both during the low crowd days and higher crowd days.

I love WDW too, and I look forward to taking DD there again at some point. But right now, DLR is a better destination for us.

(**I caveat that to a fast pace with a family. When DH and I were going as just 2 adults, we could knock out DLR in 3 days without a problem...we opened and closed the parks and had a blast. That pace isn't possible with DD **)

 

[FortForever]

Don't plan to read 19 pages of comments. I did skim over a couple and saw the usual ridiculous bickering.

Every day last week saw 9 and 10 level crowds. I completely believe that people waited 45 minutes on a bus, even more than once.

 

[beaprn]

I couldn't dream of what motivates people to embellish things online. But you and I both know they do
Note, I didn't say I don't believe it's possible to every wait 45 min. It is and I have. But I don't think it's so common that someone would have that problem for many of their bus rides on a given trip

I have a hard time believing that some folks never experience any problems anywhere while at Disney and they have a good time no matter what! Unless of course if they are Mary Poppins or Mary Sunshine,LOL! It has been well established from a lot of people on this board that the bus service to and from the resorts are lacking. I have not experienced a 45 min wait but I have experienced 30 min or more waits while watching several empty buses all headed to the same place, this should not happen with a supposedly well oiled machine like Disney. The state of the bathrooms are another frequent source of complaint that I have seen with my own eyes and this is plainly from lack of staff that has been cut to save Disney money! I love Disney too but I believe I see warts and all. Disney's standards have been slipping for awhile, in the same period their prices just keep getting higher. There will always be folks that will continue to pay these prices no matter what because of course Disney can do no wrong. Only when the unhappy guests outweigh the happy guest will Disney do anything about any of these problems!

 

[JadeDarkstar]

I wanted to add one more thing. I love FP+ I know for a fact I will have 3 rides out of the way no matter what time I show up. If I am smart and use emh and rope drop I can get 3-5 more rides out the way in the morning. I enjoy the shows as well. I think that what Disney is worth to you is up to each of us. I do wish it was 5 fp+ a day and allowed for park hopping.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

Plan, plan, and plan some more. We found Christmas week manageable with lots of planning (we even went slow and did a lot of "smell the roses" type stuff. Having reasonable expectations is another good thing. We had to skip stuff like Spaceship Earth because standby lines there was nuts less than an hour after rope drop. Also had a 20 min line at Journey of The Little Mermaid late in the evening. If you are willing to go about 45 mins before rope drop to be ahead of the crowds and plan your ride order strategically, your morning will go a lot smoother.

We went super early one morning and knocked off 7DMT and Space with no wait. But then my father wanted to play in the arcade with my son followed by a snack for breakfast. That ended up causing us to wait 20 mins for BTMR (it would have been a walkon if we had headed there without stopping). It wasn't a big deal since the moments were more important to us (but it did get my planner self a little edgy - kept my mouth shut though lol!)



Yes, I was irritated when I was there in September. I was checking for FPs, and checking MDE constantly - my phone would last about 1/2 to 3/4 of the day. It is an iPhone 5 so not as good a battery life as the iPhone 6. One time, I had to drop my phone off at Guest Services to charge it there (and argue with them to print me a list of my FP+s - dude at first said he couldn't do it until I showed him the list another CM had printed for me the day before!). Part of it is me though - I tend to like looking at my FP+ list very frequently so that sucks up juice. Add photos and videos to the mix and its easy to run out.

I agree 100% and this is one thing my son and DH are telling me now. Do not over plan. Plan to go slower and take things in. LOL about keeping your mouth shut. I am trying so hard working on my temper and anger and hoping wdw time I will be good.

IMO, many people underestimate the # of days to spend at DLR. There's almost as many rides at DLR in 2 parks as there are in 4 parks at WDW. Most people say 3 days is enough for DLR, but (IMO), that requires a pretty fast pace** and would definitely be difficult with any crowds. We went in 2015 and 2016 (November, for the Avengers 1/2 marathon both years). In 2015, our trip was Friday to Friday, and we were in the parks for 4 full days (2 days in San Diego) In 2016 our trip was Tues-Tues (6 days in DLR only). In both years, we got the most done on the Wednesday/Thursdays of our trips. We felt rushed in 2015, though, when it came to Disneyland...there was a lot we didn't get to, especially in DCA.

The 2 extra days we had in 2016 made a huge difference = *especially* because of the Marathon/Opening of the Holiday season weekend in both years. Once the runDisney events started, the parks were *packed,* and yeah it was harder to get some things done. We learned our lesson with that in 2015. The extra days this year allowed us to relax on the runDisney event days. Dh and I both ran the 10K, and he also ran the 1/2 - so we weren't getting to the parks early on those 2 days anyway. So we took our time coming back into the park. We had ADRs for both days, a photo shoot on one of them...rides weren't the focus on Sat/Sun, so the crowds didn't negatively affect us as much.

Because of the 4 parks, differences in transportation times and such, it's harder to take that approach at WDW *AND* get as much done as we did in DLR, with the relaxed pace that we had at DLR both during the low crowd days and higher crowd days.

I love WDW too, and I look forward to taking DD there again at some point. But right now, DLR is a better destination for us.

(**I caveat that to a fast pace with a family. When DH and I were going as just 2 adults, we could knock out DLR in 3 days without a problem...we opened and closed the parks and had a blast. That pace isn't possible with DD **)

OMG I was there. 2014 I ran the 5k. It was the first year. I worked hard lost 15lbs for this race and have kept it off. I love DLR I go or try and go every other year. WDW this is a second trip (1st one 10+ years ago and not planned at all. My parents don't plan.) DLR is awesome and I have to have 5-7 day hopper. My DH has already started planning his Bday in 2019 in DLR if all works out. He said we always go for Christmas time (my bday is Nov 30th) easy to sneak in celebration first week dec.) So He wants to see Hunted Mansion without the Christmas layover.

 

[Klayfish]

As far as what Disney can do about it, they can but won't close the park for incoming before it gets so bad you cannot walk, extend the hours during these times to 1am/2am so the crowds could spread out (day people vs night people)
and have signs up before the packing island that it is going be overcrowded and perhaps you might want to visit another one of their parks. That the people know going in how bad it will be, Busch Gardens in Va does this during especially crowded times and the will close the park before it gets unbearable. Some of the crowds I have seen lately make fear for people should a fire or any type of emergency break out when the parks are allow to get elbow to elbow and you cannot even walk for the crowds. God help them, it would be a stampede.

I think that's a bit of a stretch...OK, a lot of a stretch to say "it gets so bad you cannot walk". I've been in the parks on literally the busiest days of the year, and never had a situation where I simply couldn't walk anywhere. I suppose if you're going to count standing in the areas designated for watching fireworks and such, then yeah, it's very tough to walk through there. But the same is true for any gathering spot like that. WDW does quite a good job with keeping walkways open, even during the most hectic of days. Have you seen how many CMs they have just to direct traffic on a very busy night? I think it's a far overstatement to say you cannot walk. Simply not the case.

Yep, if there were a massive fire, there would be a stampede. This is also true at football games, concerts, etc...anywhere where a massive crowd gathers. I'm also willing to bet that WDW has a capacity limit that is dictated to them by fire code or other regulation. I don't think it's a random thing how many people they let in.

You could make an argument that they could do some kind of "warning" to folks that it might be a crowded day. If I were WDW, I wouldn't do it, but I can understand why you may want them to.

You want them to close the park to incoming guests before the park actually reaches capacity? Or lower the capacity? OK...how about you be the first person to be turned away, after you spent all that money to come down, get a hotel, buy park tickets, etc... Somehow I'd guess your tune will change.

I find this stuff interesting to read, but I still just have a hard time wrapping my head around all the complaining about how crowded it is. You want wide open space vacation? Go to Montana or go hiking in the Denver area or the Grand Canyon. At WDW, you're going to a place that draws tens of millions of people per year into a finite (though very large for a theme park) space, you have to have certain expectations.

 

[starjazz]

How so? It gets really crowded there too.

True, but there's a couple of factors that play into for us. I'll list them.

1. Paper fastpasses. I like both systems, but with FP+, the consensus seems to be that it increases standby waits.
2. Ride density. Give me an hour at RD, and I'm fairly certain I can get more rides done at DLR.
3. Vicinity to hotel. DLR hotels are WAY closer. If I need a break, forget something, and getting there in the morning and returning at night is a 15 minute walk from almost anywhere in the parks, and from many points even less.
4. Vicinity to everything else. Food is closer and cheaper. The second park is across the walkway. Grocery stores, etc. Its all across the street.
5. Nostalgia. Has nothing to do with the topic at hand, but just wanted to mention it. ;-)

We still love WDW because it offers something different. Total immersion, bigger better resorts, tons of "other" activities, etc. But if crowds are your enemy, and rides are your best friend, DLR is a great alternative in my opinion.