Crowd levels right now?

[TheSouthernBelle]

Overall I’m pleased with the crowds. We did the 3-5 of August did Epcot on the 3rd and crowds were very light. MK on the 4th, medium crowd levels and the 5th was AK which was the most crowded of our days but we knew it would be since it was an EMH day. The rain was spotty but no wash outs. We did Disney Springs on our arrival day on the 2nd and it was soggy.

Overall we had a great trip and felt the crowds to be manageable. I think the one annoying trend we noticed was a lot of rides were either down throughout the day or stopped mid ride and/or didn’t work properly. Like no voice overs on parts of rides, missing music, stopped on both our mine train rides, etc. It’s just Disney starting to show it’s age.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Just did a quick 3 day trip. Did Epcot on Sat 8/3 thought crowds were relatively light. Got in all the rides, managed to get a 4th FP for FEA and then moved it to an earlier time after about 15 minutes of refreshing. No real waits for any stores/food etc. Rain off and on was a slight annoyance but not too horrible. Incredibly easy to walk up 5 mins before Illuminations and find a spot.

Sunday 8/4 we did MK - were there from rope drop to close. We did get delayed going to MK because our bus broke down so we only showed up 5 mins before rope drop which was definitely not the plan but we were fine. Rode so many rides, managed to get a large number of extra FP - prob used 10 during the day. Thought HEA show was crowded but it didn't seem oppressive at all. Just one small afternoon rain shower that was very easy to wait out.

Did AK on Monday 8/5. It "seemed" more crowded than our other days but I always feel like that at AK. We showed up at 7:15 (pull into parking lot) for EMH. We were thru security and at the back of the Pandora line at 7:35. It moved continously and we were heading into preshow around 8:10ish. We had to leave early today so didn't try for extra FP, but I did move my FOP FP to a much earlier time slot after maybe 20 mins of refreshing. No real waits for food, weather was great.

Our trip pretty much mirrored yours with our park days other than we didn’t RD AK. Agree with your assessments of crowds and overall waits. All the parks felt much less crowded than our November trip. It was enjoyable even with heat and humidity.

 

[CindyPA]

Overall I’m pleased with the crowds. We did the 3-5 of August did Epcot on the 3rd and crowds were very light. MK on the 4th, medium crowd levels and the 5th was AK which was the most crowded of our days but we knew it would be since it was an EMH day. The rain was spotty but no wash outs. We did Disney Springs on our arrival day on the 2nd and it was soggy.

Overall we had a great trip and felt the crowds to be manageable. I think the one annoying trend we noticed was a lot of rides were either down throughout the day or stopped mid ride and/or didn’t work properly. Like no voice overs on parts of rides, missing music, stopped on both our mine train rides, etc. It’s just Disney starting to show it’s age.

Agreed about the rides being down... It felt like there were a lot of issues in all the parks over the seven days we have been here and not all of them due to age. We were on FOP today and the video was not working in the load room... It took a lot of the experience away from the ride. We also got stopped a few times on the Dinosaur ride which totally ruined the intensity it is meant to have.

But we still managed to have fun overall!

 

[nerdyone]

Just got back from MK and even with night time EMH, the lines were insane. 6 years ago, at least in the fall or winter, EMH were slow and easy

 

[jphcoffeeboy]

We leave tomorrow and we have been thinking (hoping?) that crowds won't be so bad because of SWGE opening later in August - how have crowds been these last several days? See you all soon

Last night we went to EMH at MK. Attraction wait times were worse than the daytime. Main Street Ice Cream Parlor was atrocious. 30 minutes at 11:00pm. Was able to ride carousel and Buzz. Morning EMH at all of the parks very inefficient. There was actually a point at Epcot where people just walked over ropes and stantcions (Sp) and went to tap in to the park because there were two people checking Magic Bands for about 4,000 people. It was nuts. But EMH offers no pull for me anymore. We still had a wonderful vacation. Leaving tomorrow.

 

[jphcoffeeboy]

Just got back from MK and even with night time EMH, the lines were insane. 6 years ago, at least in the fall or winter, EMH were slow and easy

It was ridiculous last night.

 

[armerida]

It was ridiculous last night.

Whoa, glad we changed our plans last minute and avoided MK! That’s too bad.

 

[dlavender]

Just got back from MK and even with night time EMH, the lines were insane. 6 years ago, at least in the fall or winter, EMH were slow and easy

6 years ago there were more EMH. And the pool was smaller. Now they’ve increased the pool and decreased the hours. It’s a shame but evening EMH is practically worthless now. They try and cram everyone into one night of 2 hours. And that’s a “benefit”...

 

[Disneylover99]

6 years ago there were more EMH. And the pool was smaller. Now they’ve increased the pool and decreased the hours. It’s a shame but evening EMH is practically worthless now. They try and cram everyone into one night of 2 hours. And that’s a “benefit”...

Maybe it’s a benefit if you go to a different park.
We were at AK last night. Crowds seemed average to what we’re used to.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

6 years ago there were more EMH. And the pool was smaller. Now they’ve increased the pool and decreased the hours. It’s a shame but evening EMH is practically worthless now. They try and cram everyone into one night of 2 hours. And that’s a “benefit”...

Agree unfortunately EMH really aren’t a positive perk like they used to be. Can’t fairly compare a recent visit to 6 years ago. Our new strategy as of the last 4 years has been only visit parks on EMH days during our FP+ window times if that’s all we can get for in demand FP+ otherwise we usually avoid those parks all together. The abbreviated summer hours have really put a squeeze on park touring. From what I can deduce from the changes, Disney has realized that guests will still pay to stay on property with the few, dwindling perks and they can make additional $ on after hours paid ticketed events so what reason do they need to keep the parks open longer? Sad but it’s the reality as of late.

 

[wgeo]

6 years ago there were more EMH. And the pool was smaller. Now they’ve increased the pool and decreased the hours. It’s a shame but evening EMH is practically worthless now. They try and cram everyone into one night of 2 hours. And that’s a “benefit”...

It's makes sense to me that it would be so crowded. There are almost no real nighttime hours anymore. Closing at 9 and 10 during the summer is pretty sad. So once in a great while when they actually offer later hours (and even then only 2 instead of 3) it's gonna be crazy. It's really unfortunate how they've changted their business model to upcharging for so many "special" events and taking away park hours from regular ticketed guests.

 

[lacy1101]

It's makes sense to me that it would be so crowded. There are almost no real nighttime hours anymore. Closing at 9 and 10 during the summer is pretty sad. So once in a great while when they actually offer later hours (and even then only 2 instead of 3) it's gonna be crazy. It's really unfortunate how they've changted their business model to upcharging for so many "special" events and taking away park hours from regular ticketed guests.

wgeo . . . when you did AK on August 5th, did you have EMM (Extra Morning Magic, paid event), or the regular morning EMH (Extra Magic Hours, no cost)?

 

[wgeo]

wgeo . . . when you did AK on August 5th, did you have EMM (Extra Morning Magic, paid event), or the regular morning EMH (Extra Magic Hours, no cost)?

it was the EMH at no cost for staying onsite

 

[TaraWasHere]

Evenings and EMH in MK still had the night time parade pulling people away from the rides in the good old days. We used to get five back to back rides on splash mountain durring night parades. I really miss Spectromagic, and to a lesser extent the electric parade...

 

[kydisneyfans]

Our son and daughter in law are there now.
They reported DHS to be fairly quiet upon arrival right after a storm yesterday, with crowds picking up as the day went on. They are at AK now and report it is swamped-they just sent a photo of a 4 hour wait at Pandora. I think they are pivoting away from AK and will be trying another park the rest of the day.

They ended up going back to AK last night thinking the crowd would head over to the MK for the midnight closing. They were right-rides were walk on at AK upon return around 4:30. They went straight for the Lion King show than rode rides all evening, with amazing safari pics. The safari was walk on at 8:00, they went twice.

Thinking that everyone would close down the MK last night, they went today instead, another good call. They are reporting "normal" crowds as of now with no problems getting additional FP's for mid level rides.

 

[nerdyone]

We did Epcot this morning from 10-4 which was great, we had FP+ for ToT, RnR, and SDD at HS from 4-7 and then left to go to H20.

My 12 year old son was underwhelmed at HS after going on Hulk but loved Star Tours at HS which was a walk on. We all thought HS was too crowded and don't want to go back tomorrow Instead of going to HS tomorrow, we are doing Epcot in the morning (staying at BWI), pool while I go to Galaxy Edge for a tour with a CM (BiL), and back to Epcot.

We loved H20 and AKAD. When we go back in a few years we are only doing hard ticket events or paying for a day of thrills. My BiL is a VIP TG and I would love to pay for a Plaid but I'd rather invest the money instead.

 

[Delirium]

At 6:50 in the morning, I don't think anyone is in the park yet.

 

[Searc]

Last night we went to EMH at MK. Attraction wait times were worse than the daytime. Main Street Ice Cream Parlor was atrocious. 30 minutes at 11:00pm. Was able to ride carousel and Buzz. Morning EMH at all of the parks very inefficient. There was actually a point at Epcot where people just walked over ropes and stantcions (Sp) and went to tap in to the park because there were two people checking Magic Bands for about 4,000 people. It was nuts. But EMH offers no pull for me anymore. We still had a wonderful vacation. Leaving tomorrow.

There were only TWO CM's checking resort status? Ridiculous.

 

[armyone22]

Looking at HS wait times yesterday and I was surprised by how crowded it must have been. Figured people would be holding out for GE but maybe people are starting to try to beat the crowd. Wait times for SDD and ToT we’re 2-3 hours. I do however agree that Epcot crowds seem to be reasonable.

 

[jbehr12]

Looking at HS wait times yesterday and I was surprised by how crowded it must have been. Figured people would be holding out for GE but maybe people are starting to try to beat the crowd. Wait times for SDD and ToT we’re 2-3 hours. I do however agree that Epcot crowds seem to be reasonable.

Been here since Monday and MK was crazy for EMH because the internet was down and they couldn’t check people in. Eventually they just started asking what resorts guests were staying at to get the line moving. It was busy but they recovered.

Epcot was very light, Frozen and Soarin under an hour wait most of the day with TT only having larger than average wait times I’m assuming because of the on and off rain. When it was open everyone must have went there.

HS yesterday was insane, that’s all I’ll say.

We went to AK the first night we got here but went directly to Pandora for our FOP FP so I couldn’t get a good gauge. Seemed average. We’re going back today so we will see.

Overall this summer looks exactly like our trip last August but with more rain and lesser late night hours.