Crowd Was Huge Today

[inkkognito]

We got to Epcot around 6:30 and Soarin' was at 55 mins. We didn't ride anything, just went right to Canada to eat. Even tho' Soarin' was long, the park itself didn't look too crowded. There were empty tables at Canada, and the Illuminations crowd didn't get bad till right before the show. Definitely less of a crowd than Sun.

 

[Guest-expert]

55 minutes on soarin is not "long," when you've seen 160 minutes.

 

[ladycollector]

I'm a local but have a trip planned from 1/7-1/11 - I hope it's not crowded!

 

[inkkognito]

Yes, I've seen those insane Soarin' times in the summertime. Can't even imagine waiting that long! For me, anything over 20 mins. is "long" because the only way I will ride it is with FP, first thing in the morning, or during the dead season.

 

[Weluvdisny]

We're looking at going sometime in early January next year. DS's DGF has to be back to college by the end of the month. We usually go the end of January but went in Nov. 8-14 this past year instead because of the Superbowl being in Tampa this year. It was definately more crowded than January.

So which of the first three weeks in Jan. would anyone recommend? TIA!

 

[inkkognito]

You'll probably be fine any time after the marathon (which is this coming weekend).

 

[TravelinMommy]

The reason why it was probably busy was the schools didn't start here till today....so that was probably the "last" day for everyone before heading out yesterday.

 

[Weluvdisny]

If we go with the first weekend, I'm afraid there is the leftover NewYear's crowd. The next weekend is the marathon and the following weekend is MLK. The week after that would be good but I think the DGF has to be back in school by then. So, which is more busy, marathon or MLK weekend?

 

[Racknack]

Yes, I've seen those insane Soarin' times in the summertime. Can't even imagine waiting that long! For me, anything over 20 mins. is "long" because the only way I will ride it is with FP, first thing in the morning, or during the dead season.

When is the "dead season?" I've been looking for it for some time now with no luck at all.

Karnak

 

[DisneyDoc1895]

The week after Jersey Week is pretty light. Jersey week is the same week as election day in November. The teachers have a conference Thurs and Fri so schools are off, and most are now off election day too, so taking 2 extra days off gets them 9 days.

We used to live in NJ, and often went. It was a little busy, but not too bad. Often if we stayed into the next week, we founf it really dead! It is the week before Thanksgiving week. On the Friday night the week before Thanksgiving, we went to sleep at Pop with a lot about 25% full, and woke up to find it jammed with all the people coming in.

Ken

 

[inkkognito]

When is the "dead season?" I've been looking for it for some time now with no luck at all.

This year, the best I had was the period right before Thanksgiving. I can't remember the exact day, but I blogged about it on the 18th of Nov. so it had to be right before that. Soarin' was literally walk-on in the evening. We went one night for two hours and rode it 8 times in that span.

 

[tominindiana]

I can't imagine living that close to WDW!

The family, all 7 of us, will be arriving this Sunday, hoping to avoid the marathon! Staying for a full 6 days! It will be the first time for our 5 and 6 yr olds.

What do you all think about that following Friday/Saturday MLK weekend? Will the crowds be enormous and should we plan for a major slowdown on Saturday with lines increasing?

 

[inkkognito]

I forgot all about MLK. That will be a crazy weekend! Other than that it should be fairly slow tho'. For the weekend, get out to the parks early. If you're there at rope drop, you can get the popular stuff done before the major crowds descend. Even in the peak season, I can get in a couple of rides on Soarin' that way...I do a standby right at rope drop, then grab a FP and ride singles at TT till it's time for the FP. Early is the way to go in the busy times.

My favorite thing about living so close is never having to truly "leave." The traffic can be a real pain in the butt at peak times, but I still wouldn't trade living here for anything. When we eat at a WDW hotel restaurant, I always see families waiting for DME to go back to the airport and remember that awful depression from our own tourist days. Now I never have to have that feeling again.

 

[pudge the fish]

i have been on MLK weekend and it's been dead and I have been when it is so crowded you can't ride anything with except with a fast pass

we were at epcot and MK yesterday -Monday Jan 5th and at first I was like oh no time to leave- main street was jam packed- but the irdes were not bad at 9:20 walked on to Pirates, jungle cruise had a 10 minute wait but up to 25 minutes when we got off

HM had a 10 minute wait around 10:30

Space mountain at 2:00 had a 30 minute stand by
the fairies had an hour wait but Princesses were 30 minutes( was more like 15)
Fantasy land Peter pan packed as normal- walked on to Phillarmagic, small world 10 minute wait- pooh was 30 minutes

leaving to go to epcot at 2:30 main street still had open spots on the curb for the parade- i mean LOTS of spots

Epcot at 3:00
Spaceship earth had 5 minute wait- (more like walk on)
test track had a wait but not long
it was NOT busy

back to MK around 6:00 main street was staring to fill for Spectro but not 3 and 4 deep like at times- it wasn't bad really imo

Lots of tours with the little flags running around MK yesterday

IMO week before Turkey day is good-
times in October are good too-

 

[kathi29]

Give it to this week and it will die down. We thought everyone was leaving last Friday morning Jan 2nd because we were stuck on I4 by exit 64 for a 1/2 hour becuase there were hundreds of cars merging to get on. It looked like all rentals heading for the airport or just people heading home. I am going to EPCOT Thurs so I guess I will see how the crowds are then.

We were driving down late Friday morning, and I-4 east was an absolute parking lot. Got my hopes up that a lot of people were leaving, but holy cow did it stay busy!

 

[tominindiana]

Wow. This is some really good info you all are sharing. We certainly appreciate it.

It's only the second time that we've been, so we are super excited! Oh, the kids are excited to : )

We've got reservations at the Wilderness Lodge, including a lunch there one day. Any particulars for this location that might not be in the books?

 

[2nd childhood]

Hi, I was wondering if inkkognito or anyone else might be able to tell me what the crowds were in the past for March 22-29. We've never been during peak season.

 

[Brian Shepherd]

Hi, I was wondering if inkkognito or anyone else might be able to tell me what the crowds were in the past for March 22-29. We've never been during peak season.

See disney Link


http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/tickets/wonderful/index?id=ValueWeeksLandingPage

 

[inkkognito]

We've got reservations at the Wilderness Lodge, including a lunch there one day. Any particulars for this location that might not be in the books?

You will love the fact that you can take a boat directly to the Magic Kingdom. If you want to do something outside of the parks because the crowds are too insane, rent bikes and ride over to Fort Wilderness. Alternately, take the boat to Fort Wilderness and check out the animals and draft horse barn (it's free...I think there are pony rides for an additional charge).

You will LOVE WL. The ambiance is amazing. We often eat there, mostly at Artist Point although sometimes at Whispering Canyon, which can get rather wild. I'm guessing your ressie is at WC, since AP is closed for lunch.

 

[DisneyDoc1895]

My favorite thing about living so close is never having to truly "leave." The traffic can be a real pain in the butt at peak times, but I still wouldn't trade living here for anything. When we eat at a WDW hotel restaurant, I always see families waiting for DME to go back to the airport and remember that awful depression from our own tourist days. Now I never have to have that feeling again.

Very true! Were you on the EB Repo this year? My DW and I were truly in a funk for weeks because it was such a great vacation. I got my FL medical license and once the kids are in college, we may move south. If they stay in colleges around home we'll delay it and but close to them, but if they scatter and have to fly to see us anyway, they might as well fly to FL!