crowds around the holidays

[DVC1991]

if it was that bad outside of the park, even with more thorough security, i can't imagine how bad it had to be inside the park

 

[anniemae]

I'm scared! I've never seen it like that. Wonder how long that took? How can you do anything? How can any of that be enjoyable?

That is typical for a holiday week. Every year there are photos like that posted in every park just jammed to the gills.

 

[lizzytizzy]

Wow! We've been to WDW during the last two Thanksgiving holidays and it's never been this crowded. Parks weren't shut down. I wonder why's it so crowded this year!

 

[anniemae]

I think the osborn lights are adding to crowds. I have seen so many posts of people making one more trip to see the lights, or people who never saw the lights making a spontaneous trip to see them.

Also, if it's free dining that could be a factor, but honestly I have seen pictures just as crowded as these in years past. I don't think it's any more crowded than other years. Plus, I think with the warnings they are taking longer to do bag checks, so it could seem more crowded because they are taking longer to pass everyone through.

 

[scrapquitler]

if it was that bad outside of the park, even with more thorough security, i can't imagine how bad it had to be inside the park

That bag check area is a real bottleneck, and I'd guess that with the recent travel warning, they are stepping up the security checks a bit, which will cause an extra delay. It won't be as bad inside the park because people will be more spread out.

 

[DrivenByDisney]

We went to the Studios yesterday and it did not seem all that crowded to me, though the stand by queues told a different story. RnR was at 70-90 minutes all day that I saw. Tower was always over an hour. Star Tours was also always over an hour when we walked by as well.

Toy Story was stupid long at 120 minutes at it's highest. Never saw it under an hour. Would could not get a FP for Tower either. Was able to book FP's for Star Tours, Indy and RnR but nothing else we wanted.

Have a buddy that drives for the stunt show and he said all the big rides at Studios today are all well over an hour for stand by. He also said Toy Story & RnR are getting close to a two hour wait.

Girlfriend of mine text me earlier from Magic and said Space was over a two hour wait for stand by. She said crowds were very high and it will only get busier today through the weekend.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

Crowds are definitely up this year! We visited last Thanksgiving and they seem much higher now. On Monday at DHS ToT was 150 minutes at 3 pm, we waited 20 minutes for our TSMM fp+ and the Osborne Lights were packed to the gills at 5:30 pm.

Our oldest DD is doing the DCP and she texted last night that the standby wait for TSMM was only 10 minutes, so maybe we hit DHS on a bad day.

Anyway, we've been visiting MK after 9 pm and the lines are definitely down. At the end of the night we only waited 20 minutes for 7DMT when the posted wait time was 40 minutes. We're still having an AMAZING time, but if you can manage the late nights the crowds die down substantially.

 

[Carirae]

Many schools are actually got the entire Thanksgiving week off, instead of the old "1/2 day Wednesday, off Thir/Fri." Tampa Bay Area schools were off the whole week and I've read about some other areas doing a full week this year too. I'm sure this is adding to the crowds!

 

[maxiesmom]

I'm scared! I've never seen it like that. Wonder how long that took? How can you do anything? How can any of that be enjoyable?

Arrive at the parks before open. If there is morning EMH, go then! Make your FPs for later in the day and ride standby for the first couple of hours you are in the park. Book a lunch ADR so you get a bit of a break, then do shows (think Country Bears) and shop if you want during the afternoon. Or go back to your resort for a break.

 

[Aloop]

We will be there Black Friday and Saturday. The past two years we have gone during winter break and while crowds can be crazy, if you know how to time things it is quite manageable. Having a gameplan is important so you know exactly where you're going when you get into the parks! Also decide on what to do next while waiting in line. The app is extremely helpful with this when you can see every wait time while standing in line! Book Fp+s early to try to get additional ones, but don't expect them during busy seasons. Take advantage of single rider when you can, and use parades/fireworks to your advantage, lines drop during this time! Also we like to bring sandwiches for lunch which can be eaten in line, and when park hopping we use the time on the bus to pass out tickets and open up backpacks for security check. Do your top attractions in the morning so when it is the afternoon you can take advantage of attractions like mickeys philharmagic where lines are always short and it's a chance to rest your feet! We tend to be crazy and go from park open - close, but we park hop through all 4 parks getting our have-to-do's done! Going during the holidays is great because the parks are open longer and they're decorated beautifully, as long as you know how to navigate the crowds!

 

[krayzmelmel]

We are going to be heading off to WDW in a little bit coming from Clearwater.. hopefully since it's EMH at Epcot that will take away at least some of the crowds that either HS or MK

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

We are in the Magic Kingdom today. It is crowded, no doubt, but we rode 19 attractions so far this morning, and are now just chilling at the train station while the afternoon parade gets past the tracks. Our longest wait was sixteen minutes, at Small World of all things. Walked on every major ride except 7DMT, Peter Pan, and Space, all of which we have fastpasses for later today. Ate lunch, too. It is hard to walk, but as long as you arrive early, wait times are super manageable.

 

[mom2rtk]

We are in the Magic Kingdom today. It is crowded, no doubt, but we rode 19 attractions so far this morning, and are now just chilling at the train station while the afternoon parade gets past the tracks. Our longest wait was sixteen minutes, at Small World of all things. Walked on every major ride except 7DMT, Peter Pan, and Space, all of which we have fastpasses for later today. Ate lunch, too. It is hard to walk, but as long as you arrive early, wait times are super manageable.

You walked onto every attraction except 3 on a holiday weekend? Could you define "walked on"?

 

[coastrnut]

I'm going Dec 20th to the 27th - hoping everything is walk on hehe yea in my dreams! (Still can't wait!)

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm going Dec 20th to the 27th - hoping everything is walk on hehe yea in my dreams! (Still can't wait!)

Keep dreaming. Apparently there's hope!

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

You walked onto every attraction except 3 on a holiday weekend? Could you define "walked on"?

We walked through the queue, boarded the ride, and rode. Splash, BTMRR, Winnie the Pooh, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Jingle Cruise, Buzz Lightyear, and Astro Orbiters before 10 am. Then the 16 minutes waiting for Small world, then just straight through the queue onto Under the Sea. Ate lunch, rode the people mover, carousel of progress and philharmagic (did have to wait for the doors to open on that one), and the hall of presidents, because why not. Took a break, and eventually hit the train, sat for a bit waiting for the parade, rode around once, and the an extra stop to get to frontierland, walked to Peter Pan, did that with a fastpass, went to dinner at the Contemporary, rode the monorail back, and used our Space and Mine Train fastpasses. They were doing a special holiday show in Tommorowland, even though it wasn't a party night, because it was so crowded and a holiday, so we watched that too.

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

I will say the 19 number I mentioned in my first post was off. I clicked done on my lines app more than once on some attractions and they double posted in my completed list. But we did walk on, meaning not wait more than the time it took to walk the queue, all of the rides I listed. The park was pretty empty from 8-10.

 

[mikejuliestl]

My wife is a bit nervous about security at the parks, with the recent travel warnings etc. it would be nice to see that Disney is stepping up security. Any news or first hand accounts of more guards etc?