Crowds March 23-27

[cschulte]

I wondering if anyone can tell me how crowds were the week of March 23-27 this year? I'm considering a trip during this time period next year. I looked up the UG predictions for that week for next year and it was about a 7.

We've always gone toward the end of October but it's getting harder to take kids out of school. Thanks in advance.

 

[JennSaint]

I've read a few reports saying it was extremely crowded and some of the parks had to close around noon due to full capacity.

 

[BlovesC]

I found the crowds to be fantastic. We hit all four parks on days in which the crowd level for each was reported to be either a 6 or a 7, but each park except MK felt less than that. Epcot especially was walk-on for numerous attractions! The only park we got to at rope drop was HS; all other parks we arrived around noon and there were still fastpasses available for all big attractions. We only spent around 8 hours in the parks each day, but got everything we wanted done and then some.

 

[mom2aandj]

the parks we were at did not close to capacity and I never heard anything about that--I would say overall the week was about a 7. The crowds on Mar 26 and 27 were possibly even 6s. Next year's crowds may be different though depending on where Easter falls. If Easter is closer to the end of March, this week will be busier.

 

[summermac]

FYI, Easter is 04/04/10 next year.

 

[wilde_oscar]

year over year estimates on crowd are hard to do for this time of year because Easter moves

 

[Raidergx]

Moderately crowded. Go early though, you can do all the major stuff by noon.

 

[vt_disney_fan]

Was there all last week, and it was worse than I had anticipated, based upon the crowd level calendars. I've been during 4's, and I've been during 9's and 10's, so I've seen the different levels of crowds. Last week there was nothing lower than a 6 (Tuesday and Friday, I think), and mostly 7's, I think Sat the 28th was an 8. I don't think the crowd levels were 6's and 7's, more like 7's and 8's. It was crowded everywhere, Fastpasses were going quicker than I'd seen in the past (especially for Soarin'), and standby waits were 80-100 minutes pretty standard for the main attractions. Thankfully, the great weather helped, but it was still very crowded. A HUGE number of teens and perhaps a cheerleading competition didn't help.

 

[katallo]

We were there until the 27th. Did Epcot, MK and DHS and the only one we found to be "crowded" was the MK. We went early to Epcot and MK and managed to get on most of the rides. The longest wait we had was for Fantasmic and a 20 minute wait for Soarin. We stayed at BCV and it was rather quiet there. The BC did have a convention for a few days. This was the first year we did not make ADR's and still managed to eat the Captain's Grill, Wave, Big River Grill, Artist's Point and Chefs de France. All as walk-in's.

The weather was perfect...one cloudy day on Monday. I think the weather is why we choose March and April. Overall, we thought it was great. But, as I said, we left on Friday afternoon, so I'm sure the weekend was more crowded.

 

[DisneyFan06]

I was there this past weekend and noticed that the Magic Kingdom was the 'more crowded' park. It seemed to be the park that everyone wanted to go to. Hollywood Studios and Epcot were great, in my opinion.

 

[theatermouse]

I thought the crowds were decent. We had our 2-year old with us and he didn't get too antsy (unless we were in a character line). I'd probably do during that time frame again, as long as Easter wasn't at the same time, like it can be.

 

[Moneypenny]

We were there the 24th-29th. The crowds were very manageable. We went early and left mid-afternoon. I think reports that parks closed due to capacity are incorrect because we did not see or hear any evidence of that.

 

[g-dad66]

I've read a few reports saying it was extremely crowded and some of the parks had to close around noon due to full capacity.

I haven't heard any reports of parks closing, but I have heard reports of fast passes for the biggie attractions running out by noon.

I know that FPs for TSM, EE, SM, RnRC, and TT ran out by afternoon on the days we were there between March 16 and 23. (Probably ran out for Soarin and ToT also, but I didn't witness those first-hand.)

 

[Alesia]

I was there from the 20th to the 28th.

I thought it was pretty good, actually. We rode nearly every ride and the longest line we waited in was about 25 minutes, but we rarely waited more than 5 or 10 minutes.

 

[karenloo]

I was at Epcot Thursday the 26th and MK Saturday the 28th. Epcot felt pretty empty most of the morning. Only big crowds were at Soarin' and Test Track, but I did Soarin' twice first thing when I arrived (once standby, second time with FP). Journey was a walk-on all day. The Land hit a 25 minute wait at one point, but then was quickly back down to 10 minutes. Turtle Talk first couple of shows were half-filled. Nemo was a walk-on most of the day. Spaceship Earth easy to ride. World Showcase was crowded early evening but totally manageable. MK was a breeze for the first three hours after we arrived. It felt crowded mid afternoon but thinned out again later in the day. Even the Spectro crowds felt manageable. Pirates said 30 minute wait midafternoon but actually took only 10 minutes to get on. All in all, I had stressed about the crowds and found it to be no problem at all. Of course, arrive early and you will get just about everything done in the first two or three hours, then you can take your time, rest, people-watch, hit rides that are not too busy, etc. I wish I hadn't wasted energy on stressing over crowds! It was so much better than I had expected.

 

[Cat0727]

I was there the 25th to the 30th and the crowds were the worst I've ever seen. By 10:00am waits for all rides were 30 minutes and over.

 

[kateydid]

i was there the 21-27th and crowds were about what i expected. the parks seemed to get more crowded as the week went on. crowds were a little unpredictable though, fastpasses for toy story ran out around noon but at the same time we walked RIGHT on tower or terror in the middle of the day. on average we waited 10 minutes and found most waits to be shorter than were posted. any attraction with more than a 20 minute wait was fastpassed. i think the longest we waited was 35 minutes all week. the biggest crowds we experienced were at HS on the 25th, a fantasmic night. we heard from a cast member that 15 minutes after the doors opened for the first fantasmic showing the theater was full and standing room only. luckily we had avoided the park that day and had just come over at night for the show. overall the crowds were higher than ideal but still manageable.