Crowd comparisons: DL vs. WDW

[Canuckdad]

Hey, folks. I keep hearing about the crowds at WDW, and it's hard to visualize what people mean by crowded. My point of reference would be four trips to Disneyland in the past 20 years -- most recently spring break 2004, and previously the first week of July in 1993. Both peak attendance times, but both manageable thanks to FP and a willingness to get to the parks early. So for those of you DISers who've been to both DL and WDW, how would you compare crowd levels? Mainly because our family is headed to Florida for the first time, Dec. 27 to Jan. 6. I'm sure the first half of our stay, we'll see the parks filled, but DL, I gather, is far more compact than its Florida cousin, so I assume the crowds would be more spread out, yes? Any info would be appreciated!

 

[bpitzer20]

We've been to both DL and WDW in the second week of January. DL was more crowded in my opinion, but definately still manageable. We had to wait maybe a half an hour- forty minutes for some things, where at WDW, I think the longest we had to wait was about 25. You're absolutely right about the crowds being more spread out, at least in January!

 

[roscodog]

I've been at DL late January 2002, 2003 and I was at WDW 2004 and 2005. Always mid-week and found both to be comparable as far as the crowds. It did seem that our trips to DL were a little less crowded but this also corresponds to when Disney had overall low attendance. It has since gotten more crowded each year and seems to be culmulating at the 50th anniversary. Was at DL in late May this year and it was crowded although through FP, we were still able to get alot done ( more than I thought we would). In any case, January is still my favorite time of year to visit because of the lack of crowds and this goes for both DL and WDW. I can get the same amount things done despite the shortened hours and make it home for dinner too.

 

[Leota]

I have only been to DL 2x in Late April. It seemed to me to be more crowded than my previous experiences with WDW.....Until I went to WDW in Late April & found it pretty equal. DL seemed more crowded because, like you said, it is more compact. But I would say the lines were about the same length.

 

[disneyholic family]

probably about the same.

 

[FanOfStitch]

I just got back from a trip to DL and have to say that I found that I "felt" more crowded due to the smaller park. However, for the majority of the rides, I did not see much of a difference in the queue times. The only 2 rides I saw with outrages queue lines at DL were Splash Mountain (3 1/2 hours) and Indiana Jone (2 1/2 hours). Of course, Space Mountain was down while we were there (guess I'll have to go back ) so that may have added to the other lines.

 

[zipDdoodah]

We go to DL a lot, and the crowd levels always seem to be higher than when we go to WDW. I think it has a lot to do with the smaller size and getting a lot of locals at DL. Wait times are usually a bit higher at DL when we go. I haven't been to WDW over Christmas Break before though, so it's hard to say. We went over President's week, and it was still less crowded than DL. Guess we'll see how the crowds are next week!

 

[dozeman]

There will be huge crowds from Dec. 27-Jan.1. The parks will be open late to compensate. Starting Jan. 2 crowd levels should be much lower the farther into Jan. you go, with the exception of MLK weekend. We are going Jan.6-12. The Christmas crowds will be gone by then only have the Disney marathon weekend to contend with. The marathon causes traffic problems but crowd levels in the parks are usually light. Only been to DL once during Christmas week and it was crazy!