Crowd question. Can someone explain to me....

[Juliek8]

Hello! I'm new here and this is my first time posting! I'm sure this has probably been answered somewhere but I can't seem to find it. Can someone explain to me how the parks have different levels of crowds right now if every single day is basically a "sold out" day. If I try to buy a regular ticket for any day in October they are all unavailable. So how are some days busier than others? The wait time between a weekend and a Wednesday are very different right now. Wouldn't they just all be the same level of sold out busy every day? Am I making sense? I'm sure there's an explanation for this....I just can't figure it out. Thanks!

 

[MonocularVision]

My guess would be that they staff the weekends at higher rates to be able to handle more crowds.

 

[ktlm]

That is a really good question. We were there October 6-10. Our friends were there October 6, and wanted to add a day to return Thursday Oct. 7, but could not get a reservation in either park for that day. October 7, was the one day on our trip that the parks did not feel absolutely and completely packed. Definitely felt like a different level crowd level that day than Weds or Saturday which were insane. Wednesday Oct. 6 was awful (Thurs and Sunday were the least crowded)-- so I don't think it is just weekend staffing. It wasn't just the lines either-- it was the level of crowded for walking the pathways as well. Maybe it is staffing overall that affects how many reservations they allow? Maybe if they don't have as many staff for a day- they don't allow as many reservations? Now, I want to know the answer to your question too because there was definitely a different level of Crowd Thurs and Sun, than there was on Weds, Fri and Sat.

 

[Juliek8]

That is a really good question. We were there October 6-10. Our friends were there October 6, and wanted to add a day to return Thursday Oct. 7, but could not get a reservation in either park for that day. October 7, was the one day on our trip that the parks did not feel absolutely and completely packed. Definitely felt like a different level crowd level that day than Weds or Saturday which were insane. Wednesday Oct. 6 was awful (Thurs and Sunday were the least crowded)-- so I don't think it is just weekend staffing. It wasn't just the lines either-- it was the level of crowded for walking the pathways as well. Maybe it is staffing overall that affects how many reservations they allow? Maybe if they don't have as many staff for a day- they don't allow as many reservations? Now, I want to know the answer to your question too because there was definitely a different level of Crowd Thurs and Sun, than there was on Weds, Fri and Sat.

Yeah...it's confusing! We're going Nov. 10, 11 and 12. I know the 11th is Veterans day so I'm expecting big crowds that day and the following day. The one park per day tickets are already gone for both of those days. But as we get closer all the tickets will be gone for every day of November. The crowds should be the same every day. Why aren't they? It's making me irrationally annoyed not knowing the answer to this.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

That is a really good question. We were there October 6-10. Our friends were there October 6, and wanted to add a day to return Thursday Oct. 7, but could not get a reservation in either park for that day. October 7, was the one day on our trip that the parks did not feel absolutely and completely packed. Definitely felt like a different level crowd level that day than Weds or Saturday which were insane. Wednesday Oct. 6 was awful (Thurs and Sunday were the least crowded)-- so I don't think it is just weekend staffing. It wasn't just the lines either-- it was the level of crowded for walking the pathways as well. Maybe it is staffing overall that affects how many reservations they allow? Maybe if they don't have as many staff for a day- they don't allow as many reservations? Now, I want to know the answer to your question too because there was definitely a different level of Crowd Thurs and Sun, than there was on Weds, Fri and Sat.

We were there Oct 7-11. Thursday and Sunday were indeed less crowded and I figure it's simply this: those were both Oogie Boogie party nights, so they let fewer people into the parks those days. They couldn't let their total number of magic key holders plus park hopper ticket holders plus Disneyland-only ticket holders exceed the total number of people they were willing and able to have inside Disneyland from 6 PM onward. Yes, there was certainly some overlap between day guests and party goers, but they would know that number too and be able to take it into account. So I'm sure on Thursday and Sunday they overall let fewer guests in the parks all day because of the evening party.

 

[gelatoni fan]

Guests take up reservations for an entire day even if they aren't there the whole day. Some people such as Magic Keyholders may choose to just go for one ride after dinner on weekdays and then spend a full day on the weekend. In both cases, they're taking up a reservation but they are not really adding to crowds for most of the weekdays. On Oogie Boogie Bash days, Disney will set the reservation limit assuming that every single park hopper, magic keyholder, DCA 1 park ticket and Oogie Boogie Bash attendee will be present in DCA from 3PM to 6PM even though that is not going to happen.

Staffing may be a factor but it's hard to know much that matters given how opaque the system is.