Crowds NOW

[biz410]

I was at DW last year from 12/5-12 and there were no waits for anything.

This year it seemed everyone was concerned that there were no rooms for this week and that crowds would be huge.

So how is (was) it this year? I want to make sure the "secret" isn't out before I book for next year.

 

[OhhBother]

Hi -- we just got back from a Dec. 2-8 trip. We utilized Tour Guide Mike's advice and didn't wait in any line longer than 10 minutes. With that said, though, I did see long lines -- we just weren't in them. On Monday mid-morning, Soarin had a 75-minute wait. Wait for EE was 60 minutes Sunday mid-morning, and the waits in Magic Kingdom were 30 to 50 minutes for FantasyLand attractions on Tuesday and Friday.

Thanks to TGM, we rode Soarin four times, Dumbo three times, etc. We walked right on EE, the safari, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain and all the other top attractions.

The MVMCP Thursday night was crowded, as well.

The parks had a lot of people in them -- more than when we've been in September or January. I'd compare the crowd level to May.

We had a glorious time and will be using TGM again for our upcoming May trip.

 

[chesirechik]

I was there Dec 2-8 and I have to say that there were a lot more people there than I expected, especially on Dec. 2 & 3. It was MUCH less crowded when we went at the end of January, but it was nothing compared to August.

We went to MVMCP on Tues Dec. 5th and it was pretty crowded - I heard/saw lots of people snapping at each other. MVMCP was fun but I doubt I would do it again.

 

[nutty4wdw]

i too was there dec 3-8. it was more crowded than i remember this time of year. i went in jan 2005 and it was much much less crowded.

as poster above i went to dec 5th MVMCP. it was crowded but i think that's now due to the fact day guests do not have to leave the park. it's a wristband event. unfortunately many day guest stayed as i saw many many people without the bands watching the parade, shows and fireworks. this system has to change because it no longer keeps the crowds low and i heard many say "look at the people who paid extra to do the same things we are doing". it's unfair. unfortunately many will take advantage of this. many people were not being checked by the cm's for wristbands

 

[dvcnewgirl]

I went the 3rd-7th we didnt wait in any lines.

 

[phantom728]

We just got back. We were there starting on Dec 1st. We saw some crowds on the weekend (2nd-3rd), but most of the other days were fine. We also utilized many of TGM tips and had minimal to no waits, so that was probably why we didn't notice the crowds.

We had to go to the Dec 4th MVMCP and didn't find this one to be that crowded. We got to do all the shows, the parades, the rides and our photo with Mickey. The party was fantastic and really sparked my Holiday spirit.

No worries about going during this time again. Happy and sad to be home already

 

[Robo]

Just got back: Nov. 29-Dec. 9.

Very crowded near and on weekends, all parks.

Mid-week, very comfortable crowds.

Talked to many "regulars" who said they thought it was much busier this year at this normally "slower" time.

 

[makinorlando]

EPCOT was pretty crowded today. Only the second time I have ever had to wait in line to get into the parking lot. Could be that we arrived at 11:10, when we normally arrive before WS opens or later in the afternoon.

It seemed pretty busy to me - DD was gone 50 minutes for one ride on Test Track, she does single rider line, and most times can do 2 rides in that amount of time!

SOARIN was 60 min wait at 11:20, around 1pm FP for SOARIN were for 6:15 I overheard someone say in line for lunch. Maelstrom was 30 min wait at 5pm.

We missed all the crowds with the exception of Test Track. DD played in Innoventions for hours today in the plastic robot game & ToonTag, we also visited China for the Storyteller & acrobats, and Norway (twice) for their story teller. She also spent some time coloring in Norway.

 

[Renysmom]

We got back a few hours ago, we walked on to everything in all the parks except Epcot. We went yesterday (on a Friday) and it was packed. We arrived for Soaring at 10:30, waited 45 minutes because the Fast Pass lines were already up to 3:00 and we didn't know if we would make it back.

We were at MK on Wednesday and everything was a walk on but that may have been because the party was the night before, we went to that also, it was fun but I don't think we will do it again.

Up until yesterday weather was fantastic, shorts 3 of our days there but yesterday was freezing in the AM, tolerable midday and about 30 by 5:00.

New Nemo ride was an absolute waste of time. Long cue with little to entertain you while you wait and the ride was loud, moved way to fast and we found a bit boring. It was the big disappointment of the week.

I must note that Characters were everywhere, in all the parks, and not just the regulars were out and about. We saw Sleeping Beauty, Mary Poppins, Beast, Chipmunks girlfriend, Ugly Duckling, Stuart Little and all all the regulars as well. New Character area in Epcot was not crowded at all, we did 6 characters in 15 minutes.

 

[trypnotic]

The longest line we waited in today was for the ToT FP line Everything else was sub-20 minutes.

Something else that's noteworthy is we went to the Wonders of Life and saw Body Wars which has been closed a lot recently. That was walk-on. I have a feeling that very few people know that it's open.

We raced to EE this morning and only waited two mintues I was actually kind of bummed - I would have liked to have spent a little more time than we did in the queue to see everything.

The Streets of NY were NUTS when the Osborne lights were turned on. We were so exhausted by the end of today that we gave up and walked away by the time we got near Sci-Fi.

 

[bytheblood]

So glad to hear it was not terrible. We are going Dec 7th - 14th in 2007 and hope it is light as well. I can handle a wait here and there and I love FP.

How was the weather overall? Although it is hard to compare Florida weather each year.

 

[chesirechik]

Our weather was all over the place. When we got there is was HOT (to me at least!) Sunday was warm, Mon-Thurs was fairly comfortable, but Friday was considerably cooler. We were in jeans and t-shirts/sweatshirts most of the week.

 

[CHIPSTER]

Just got back 20 minutes ago from a trip 12/2-12/9 - I thought it was more crowded than past years when we go at this time. I was terribly disappointed in the decorations. They had no garland across Main Street until this morning. No Christmas Country Bear Jamboree, no tree when you enter Main Street. Other than on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom there were no decorations in other areas of the parks. I seem to remember Pointsettia trees as you entered Tomorrowland and some decorations on the light poles in other areas of the park. Same goes for Epcot - they have several topiaries with small Christmas trees (the lights on half of the trees didn't work) when you enter and the tree and archway when you enter World Showcase. Grand Floridian was not decorated to the hilt as in past years. Small areas of Christmas swat on every other floor. We stayed at Old Key West and at the Hospitality Bus Stop I thought it odd to see about 3 pointsettias mixed with petunias. No lights on the poles when you entered the compound. Nonetheless, we still had a good time but you had a hard time knowing it was the Christmas season.

 

[nutty4wdw]

chipster, i thought i was just getting old. i was telling my wife i too did not think WDW was decorated as it use to be. it was much less decorated when i went several years back. i swear it was much more decorated back when.

 

[SuperTink]

as poster above i went to dec 5th MVMCP. it was crowded but i think that's now due to the fact day guests do not have to leave the park. it's a wristband event. unfortunately many day guest stayed as i saw many many people without the bands watching the parade, shows and fireworks. this system has to change because it no longer keeps the crowds low and i heard many say "look at the people who paid extra to do the same things we are doing". it's unfair. unfortunately many will take advantage of this. many people were not being checked by the cm's for wristbands

Maybe we should write Disney about this.

 

[digskat]

We just returned from our November 24-December 8 trip. We found the parks fairly quiet, and by using FPs, we never waited more than 15 miniutes for any ride. On December 4th, we did MVMCP, and had front row for the parade (Fronteirland), and no wait for any ride. We were stopped a half dozen times, for wrist band searches, and were asked when we went for cocoa. However, we skipped the parks on the weekend, and relaxed at the resort (or shopping).
As for temps, we wore jeans and sweaters to the MVMCP, but shorts and tees the rest of the time.
Our EPCOT day, we had Cranium Command to ourselves, walked directly to the training room on Test Track, and waited 10 minutes (with FP) for Soarin. Most of the trip, we were able to get off a ride, and walk right back through the que to ride again ( we nicknamed our son 'Back to Back', because he continuously wanted this). We received Dream FPs at MGM, and never had to use them, since we walked directly into the studio on RnR, twice.

 

[FigNewton]

When we were there on the 28th we saw several people checking for wristbands up and down mainstreet. Maybe they were being lazy on the 5th?

 

[chesirechik]

I noticed the same things as the other poster during the MVMCP on the 5th. I had a sweatshirt on covering my writstband and I wasn't asked to see it once. We waited in line to see the 8pm show of Twas the Night before Christmas and talked to the security guard a lot and he commented that since "we're Disney" we can't tell people outright to leave if they don't have a ticket - we can suggest but that was about it. I had never been to one, but it really was crowded - so much so that I doubt I'll ever go again.

 

[nutty4wdw]

who exactly do you write to. i don't want it going somewhere and then getting lost in the shuffle. also would like to write to express my disturbance over the MVMCP system. too many people (day guests) without wristbands were enjoying the same things i paid extra.

 

[bytheblood]

If you send it to the general comments link on the disney "contact us" section, it will be forwarded. You could also call CRO and ask to speak with a supervisor and they will send the message to the correct place. When they do that, you will more than likely receive a phone call from another supervisor from the correct department.