Crowds at the parks right now?

[crazyj4488]

I've been poking around on the net trying to get an idea of what the crowds are like right now. I'm headed out there again on the last week of May (Solo) and am wondering how the crowds might compare to when I was there this past last week of April. The last week of April was pretty nasty in my opinion.

I did see one post from someone that was at EPCOT yesterday and reported the following....sounds pretty good to me and a lot better than my experience in the last week of April:

***snip***

Soarin' and Test Track shared a 55 minute standby line today around 2:00pm. Mission: Space, Journey into your Imagination, Spaceship Earth, Energy, Seas, and HISTA were walk ons. Not sure on Malestrom or River Del Tempo.

MGM's 1:00pm performance of LMA was very packed. Rockin' Roller Coaster was shut down for technical difficulties, expected to reopen after the 5:30pm parade. Tower of Terror was a walk-on even with Rockin' Roller Coaster closed. Star Tours saw 15-30 minute wait times.

***snip****

For those of you just getting back, sound off people. TIA

-J

 

[pearljim]

Just returned last evening from CT Towers. We found the crowds to be less than we expected. We were at MK on Sunday 5/8 and Thurs 5/12 and could walk on to most attractions with 5-10 min wait maximum. Maybe we were just lucky. We fast passed Soarin because it was a 35-45 min wait on Tues 5/10. I would recommend that.

 

[lillygator]

my sister went to Epcot on Wed afternoon and had no waits for Soarin', Test Track or Mission Space....


those are the only rides they went on.

 

[JudicialTyranny]

I was at:

May 5 (evening) MK
May 6 MK
May 7 AK & MGM
May 8 MGM
May 9 MK & Epcot
May 10 Epcot

Lines were not really a problem on any of those days. I was very pleased.

I only used Fastpass three times over those days - once for Peter Pan, once for Space Mountain (both on 5/6) and once for Test Track (on 5/10).

The longest wait I personally saw on any ride was 40 minutes (Soarin', and we did decide to wait, and it was actually less than 40 minutes).

On the morning of 5/9 at MK, we could get on Splash Mountain at will - no wait at all.

 

[Ever_After]

Returned from Pop last night and there was little to no wait for the most part at the parks...we walked on to Soarin'...and we used the fast pass for the stunts show.

 

[dsneygirl]

We were at WDW May 1-8 and found the crowds moderate. We did use FP a lot but sometimes it was only a few minutes quicker than the stand by line. Space Mountain and RnR were walk ons. We were pleasantly suprised.

 

[wendy1974]

I think there will be a slight difference between the crowds now and the crowds on the last week of May. We will be there the 22nd through the 27th and because of the upcoming Memorial Day weekend I fully expect wait times to increase. Not to mention that schools here in Louisiana as well as some Florida schools get out on Friday, May 20th

 

[dani12]

I agree. We were there the 4-10 and the crowds weren't bad at all. One thing I would like to pass on is even if the wait time says 20 minutes, that's not always the case. We went on a few things that had stand-by times of 20-30 minutes b/c our kids wanted to do them again. Once in line, we would only have a wait of about 10 minutes. They also wanted to do soarin again and the time said 30 minutes but we walked right on!

 

[tmarquez]

Just for anyone's info...

Just back from a quick day trip to MK today (5/14) and it was not too crowded at all. We got there at opening to have DD's haircut, and walked right on almost everything after that. Did most of the rides, all the major attractions and left the park around 3:45 (we got stuck behind the 3:00 parade route). The one that surprised me was there was a 15 minute wait at the Haunted Mansion which seemed too long so we skipped it. Would be glad to answer any questions!

 

[crazyj4488]

thanks 4 the update!!!!

 

[Equidae]

I have been at Disney yesterday and today and the crowds weren't that bad at all. If you are going the end of May, I noticed a billboard on I-4 that advertised that Gay Days (in Orlando) is at the end of May beginning of June, so the parks might be a bit more crowded then.

 

[Stiff]

we just got back yesterday

to me, it seemed the concourses were quite crowded, but then when we would go on a ride the waits were minimal...very strange.

the longest we waited was about 30 minutes for soarin (VERY worth it)...that was a 2 hour wait when we left the park that day....that was mothers day

 

[bizeemom4]

Hotels are very full next weekend so I think the crowds are coming...just in time for my trip.

 

[jpeltier]

touringplans.com's crowd blog has a 5 for Memorial Day weekend rising to 6 by midweek and 7 the following weekend. Wouldn't you know I changed my reservation to avoid Memorial Day weekend and now it looks like the crowds will be larger when we arrive on June 1. I've learned so much on DIS though that I fully expect minimum wait times.

 

[Violetx3]

I just got back too and I know WDW resorts were pretty well booked, but the wait times were not bad at all. The parks seemed busy with LOTS of people walking around but we never waited more than 10 minutes for a ride.

 

[SqueakyMouse]

I think there will be a slight difference between the crowds now and the crowds on the last week of May. We will be there the 22nd through the 27th and because of the upcoming Memorial Day weekend I fully expect wait times to increase. Not to mention that schools here in Louisiana as well as some Florida schools get out on Friday, May 20th

We get out of school on Tuesday and will be leaving for WDW on Friday. I know of quite a few families from our area who will be heading south around the same time.

 

[crazyj4488]

First, Gay Day doesn't begin until 17 days from now (countdown clock on the website)...that's around the first week of June. Also, I asked central reservations about on-site bookings and the CM took a look on her system and said they had a ton of rooms. I thought changing my ressie from ASMu to POP would be impossible with only a week left until I arrived but I had my pick of value resorts. I tried changing my hotel 25 days in advanced for my trip in the last week of April and there wasn't one room left on property. I even tried all the deluxe resorts and concierge levels.

The last week in May (not the last weekend) is going to be a walk in the park in comparison to that last week in April which was mobbed by New York / NJ Spring Breakers....I still walked onto everything that week due to some super detailed planning. Dodging masses of strollers and jumping over kids was a bit annoying at times but I dealt with it fine. I hadn't seen crowds like that since the Summer MGM opened in the 80's but have always gone in the off-season.

I expect the crowds to not start arriving until, the earliest, on that last Friday (that's why I'm leaving on that day) of May since that Saturday marks the start of people's Memorial day holiday and a few schools around the country have their last day of class on that day.

IMHO, the last week of May is the last chance to go before the Summer mobs arrive. No matter what, with some good planning and the ability to move quickly around the parks, you will be fine.

My tip for on-site people going from Memorial day on into the Summer would be to GET A RENTAL CAR. The Disney transportation system is much more efficient and pleasant than most public transports but it takes at least 35 to 45 mins to get anywhere and it's just another in to stand in at some times. I found that having a rental for my last trip made the biggest difference in us experiencing more in less time while staying a step ahead of the crowds. Mousesavers helped me get a full size car for 7 days at $106. It's a no-brainer. I had been going to Disney for years without a rental...after my last trip, I'm kicking myself for not having a car even while staying on-site.