Crowds & heat:perception

[heart4dis]

I've noticed that there can be several posts by different people all at WDW the same days but they report very different evaluations of crowds and heat! It's just interesting to note. Length of time waiting in lines is helpful to report for an objective evaluation. As for heat, it might be helpful to report where you live and what your heat tolerance generally is! Someone in Houston could easily handle Orlando humidity (no comparison) versus someone from Bangor, Maine! Just a thought...

 

[Texian@WDW]

heart4dis:

I was born and raised in Houston and I am still a big wimp as far as the heat goes! I can never get used to it. My DH on the other hand can play golf or mow the yard at noon on the hottest day of the year. I don't know what the difference is.

At WDW, we just try to do things early in the morning and late in the evening and keep a cold wash cloth handy.

 

[kdibattista]

Agreed!!!! We normally go the week after Labor Day (sometimes described as the least crowded week in the entire year) and we went last October instead. Although the park was not crowded by most people's standards, it was packed to us because we are use to nonexistent crowds. I do mention that however when I am posting about "my view" of the crowds

 

[Wish Upon A Star]

I think crowds vary person to person . . .

I know what Easter 2000 crowds were like compared to July 4th 2002 crowds were . . .

My perception was that Easter was CROWDED while July 4th was very less crowded . . .MK did happen to be the most crowded during last year's visit . . .but Epcot and MGM were very very quiet.

The heat was ok as well only because when you go inside an attraction or a building it is like walking into a freezer . . .We all agreed it wasn't that bad . . .Kids take their misty fans and we drink lots of fluids . . .

I'll post a report after our June 20th trip . . .

 

[CarolA]

My perception is that it was crowded this past weekend, but I normally go in off season. Now, I still think it was not as crowded as I would have expected. Line times were reasonable (except for Small World at 30 minutes, LOL!) and you were not SHOVING your way thru the crowd. I got to MK about 30 minutes before the parade and if I had wanted I would have had no problem sitting down on a piece of curb and watching.

My feeling is that for Disney to "make" money it needs to be much more crowded. (I kind of view Disney parks like retail, during slow periods you hope to cover costs and you make all the profit during the busy periods)

 

[nee]

I went at easter for two weeks and it was HOT for me. 86f most days, I am from England, need I say more. I would like to take my DD next August and I am hoping that it is not much hotter than that.

It did not appear crowded at all, a lot of rides were walk ons and at the second parade in MK, fronteirland was always deserted, yet I had read that easter was one of the worse times to go for crowds.

 

[clutter]

We were there in May, just before Mother's Day. It was HOT. 90's temp, 90s humidity. The thing was that people around me looked.... warm. Me? I had rivers of sweat pouring down my face, my clothes were drenched through!!!

I just don't think everyone feels heat the same way...

 

[caitycaity]

i agree with clutter. i don't know why but even after living here 7 years + i still get drenched with sweat in the summer. most of the people i work with don't.

 

[photobob]

I went the last week of May. Memorial day Weekend was crowded but the rest of the week wasn't. i judge crowds by wait times at rides because there always seems to be tons of people there to me. Heat-wise I from alabama so high 80's low90's with humidity is common for me. The only park where heat can be a problem is AK. We were fortunate this past trip at AK, a breezy day in the high 80's I didn't break a sweat...

 

[Lovetherodent]

Is it possible to judge crowds by fast pass?

We were in MK last Wednesday evening for Spectromagic and FITS. We got there about 4. I thought it was very crowded. Splash Mountain and Big Thunder were out of fast passes (does this always happen by 4? the guide book only mentioned that Test Track at Epcot ran out.) Wait time for Splash Mountain was 100 minutes. Posted wait for Big Thunder was 50 minutes. However, I found a place to see the parade in Frontierland just 20 minutes before the scheduled start time.

 

[lisadam]

Aside from waiting time for lines - can anyone come up with a somewhat objective way to describe crowds...

I overheard someone complaining about the crowd one day and I turned to dh and said "I really dont think it's crowded at all" and he looked at me and said - yeah but you ride the NYC subway everyday" - - he had a point - what isn't so crowded to someone who is normally packed like a sardine on a subway - may be panic-attack inducing to someone who is used to wide open spaces.

 

[laceemouse]

Great thread!!! I was raised in south Louisiana and my hubby was raised in Jacksonville, Fl. Now we have lived in the Chicago area almost 4 years and I think our thermostats are changing!!! We still hate the cold, cold winters, but this cool spring has been kind of nice! We went for a walk on Sunday, I think it was up to about the high 70's and I SWEATED!!! Went to Disney last August and did okay, I wonder if the summer heat will bother us more the longer we are away? As far as lines and wait times, I must admit I never really watch my watch at Disney! I am just so happy to be there I can rarely tell you what our "wait time" was!!!

 

[HunnyPots]

We were there for our first trip 6/1-6/7 and thought the weather and crowd situation was very managable. We kept saying how we'd really lucked out. Then I get on here and read several posts about how unbearably hot and crowded it was!

But, to be fair, I'd be in pretty bad shape if I tried to do Bangor, Maine in the Winter. Give me the heat any day!

As for crowds, I was so impressed by the fast pass system and how it helped us to see and do so much. We got to do almost everything on our MK list the first day, which was a Monday, and supposedly very crowded. BUT some people refuse to use fast pass! We couldn't figure out why, but so many people would stand in the stand by line for an hour and complain loudly everytime someone would go past them in the fp line! It got to be kind of funny after a while.

 

[Jen D]

Not to stray off topic, but sometimes you can't judge by where people are from. When I lived in the South (Atlanta, Dallas) I was a much bigger wimp about the heat than I am now. In the warm weather in Dallas, everything is air-conditioned to death, and in the heat everyone just runs from their cold house to cold car to cold office... you get the idea.

Now that I am in the north, I have to live with the heat more. Granted, we only get true heat for a couple months, and even then it comes in waves, but not every place is air-conditioned (many schools here aren't), plenty of homes don't have central air (we only have small units in the bedrooms) and you walk and ride everywhere (subways are airconditioned, but the platforms are ovens.) It's only really hard when the temperature gets to the 90s and above. It does suck, but I've become more tolerant of the heat over the years.

Having said that, the hottest I've been in WDW was in late September. It was in upper 80s-- may have cracked 90 a few days-- we really barely gave the heat a thought.

 

[Uncle Scar]

I think some of it is mindset too.

We have a saying when it seems hot, crowded or things just aren't going as planned, "An off day at Disney is still better than a good day at home."

This helps to keep us focused on the good and how lucky we are to be there, crowds, heat and all.

 

[>>^..^<<]

I have to say Universal has the edge on those big water misting fans... they have them all over the place - industrial strength - and they are great for cooling off...

I saw a few at Disney, not very many - I think they are the best thing - Disney needs more.

>>^..^<<

 

[luvaladdin]

Tis true. We always went in the 2nd or 3rd week of May and one year we went in March and I thought it was terribly crowded, at least compared to May. Now about the weather. One May it was 97 degrees just about every day and I was wilted! Can you say a mess? I looked at this woman next to me, hair and makeup perfect like she just stepped out of the beauty salon, and I said, "Why do you look so good and I look like this?" She laughed and said, "I'm from Alabama, this isn't hot."

 

[Planogirl]

I'm from the Dallas area, formerly Houston and while we do love our AC, I spend quite a bit of time outside during the summer. We've been to WDW in June and I don't really mind the heat as long as we keep moving and doing something. The only time I remember being hot was in the Fast Pass line at Pooh. It is way too closed in and it took quite a while to get on the ride too.

Crowds can bother me more than the heat but I usually take it all in stride. I think it's mainly because we've been to WDW often enough that it's not important to us to see everything plus we have a pretty good idea how to avoid the crowds most of the time.

 

[antmaril]

We are leaving next Wednesday and I am not looking forward to the heat, humidity or the crowds. However, my husband will not let me talk about it. He says - you just do it. He thinks that by complaining about it (either ahead of time or once you're there) it makes it worse.

You know it will be hot and crowded - you can't change it, so why complain about it. I guess he has a point, but I'd still like to complain about it a little - LOL

Oh well, I guess I'll grin and bear it!!

 

[PatriciaH]

DH and I LOVE the heat and are really looking forward to the end of August. Our relatives and friends think we are crazy. We are on the go even when it is 90's and high humidity. I am from NY and also lived in Baltimore during college and the humidity does not bother me. I don't find Orlando any worse than NY, MD or MA in the summer.

Now the cold-that is a different story. I am actualy in pain some days here in MA in the winter.