Crowds right now?????

[carol-lamb]

I just got back from Disney World this past Tuesday (6-14 thru 6-21) and parks were very crowded. I usually go in June so I know what to expect crowd and weather wise. I've seen much hotter Junes, but don't get me wrong - it was hot during the day, but you can always get out of the sun in a flash!! This year I thought the evenings were really nice weather wise. Last June was terrible at night (there was never a breeze), but this year I loved the evenings and hated leaving the parks earlier because the temps cooled down a bit and there were nice breezes. This past monday the crowds were very heavy at MK - almost unbreable. We made the best of it and stayed for the extra magic evening hours and the crowds really thinned out and we had a great time. We were lucky as far as rain. Poured last Sunday night at MGM and it rained for about an hour on Monday. Only had 2 real quick showers last week. At MK on Monday while it was raining we found a spot to rest by where the Mike Fink Keel boats used to be and I actually took a little cat nap, but I think helped me make it to 2:00 a.m.!!!

 

[DVC-Don]

........
Use EMH evenings to your advantage....and avoid them. They're very crowded and will likely be packed in for the rest of the summer.
...

Talked with my buddy just a few minutes ago again via cell. He said last night they did EMH at Epcot and the park was packed!! I leave to meet up with him in 2 days.

 

[RoseNJ]

We are leaving in just 4 hours. Thanks for all the great info. We have raingear in hand. I have experienced July 4th crowds and survived so I'm sure we'll be OK. We have always found that getting up early and hitting the parks when they open is a great strategy. I am still amazed that people sleep in at Disneyworld. I have been awake since 3 am in anticipation.

 

[PixieDust32]

Thank you for the info!!

We always go there with that in mind!! Crowds, Crowds!

 

[WishinOnaStar]

I think this thread is a great idea! Please, Please, those of you who started this thread and are going soon would you please post your observations when you get back? I'm sure the people who go the first couple of weeks in July would be grateful for your information. We are going July 19-29 (leaving the 17) and it would be helpful to know. If you are going to be there the first couple of weeks in July and back before I leave please post for all of us end of July vacations. I promise to do the same for the people in August. Those of you getting ready to leave--pixie dust to you all.

 

[WishinOnaStar]

I think this thread is a great idea! Please, Please, those of you who started this thread and are going soon would you please post your observations when you get back? I'm sure the people who go the first couple of weeks in July would be grateful for your information. We are going July 19-29 (leaving the 17) and it would be helpful to know. If you are going to be there the first couple of weeks in July and back before I leave please post for all of us end of July vacations. I promise to do the same for the people in August. Those of you getting ready to leave--pixie dust to you all.

I guess I should have added that I think posting to this thread would be the best so we don't have to keep opening up new ones.

 

[dvcgirl]

WishingOnaStar,

Plan for big, big crowds. I can tell you that without a doubt it will be very crowded this year. In previous years, early to mid June hasn't been too bad as many schools in the Northeast aren't out yet. This year is very busy. July is very, very busy normally, and crowds are up this year.

Does this mean that you won't have a great time? Of course not...it's Disney World...you'll have a great time. It just means that people who visit boards like these and heed the advice of those who have visited recently (or live here) will make out a little better.

EMH evenings are being billed as a "perk" for on-site guests and in most cases, they are not. Folks who are saying "it was great in January", or even "it wasn't too crowded in May". Don't listen....you'll be there in July. EMH evenings aren't even necessary in January because you can accomplish everything during regular hours. EHM evenings in July and August will be packed every night...every park.

They'll be packed because the Disney hotels will be at full capacity, and EMH evenings are free to on-site guests....so lots and lots of people are going. They're also packed because there are some people who are choosing to save money and are buying non-hopper passes....meaning that they can only go to one park per day. So many are choosing the park that has EMH evening hours to get the most hours for their money. This is why these parks are so crowded...even early in the day. This is why it's best to avoid them altogether. If I was vacationing on-site I'd even avoid the morning EMH park and choose a park that has *no* EMH going on at all.

But aside from EMH, attendance is up at WDW, and so that's why it's important this summer to have PS if you have any favorite restaurants you'd like to hit.

I hope you have a wonderful time....

 

[hockeymom52]

We just got back June12-23, yes it was crowded but not nearly as bad as I imagined. We did a couple of EMH nights they were OK, at MK we did Splash Mountain, peter Pan,Pirates, Philharmagic, Pooh, Snowwhite in a span of two hours. The best bet is to get to the park very early, We accomplished more in the first 2 hours than the next 4. Don"t forget ponchos, we learned the hard way more than once. We had a wonderful time, this was our third trip, one in Jan., one in oct. I think this was the best- you just have to go with theflow.

 

[disneyjulie]

Wow alot of good info!!!

 

[rgo772]

We also just got back. We were there from 6/13-22. We live in Texas and have a Six Flags here so I was really worried about what everyone was saying about the crowd levels. I don't think the crowd levels were all that bad if you do the parks right. The best advice I think I could give anyone is to skip the evening MK EMH go to bed early and get up early the day after to go to MK. We were there for 2 evening EMH and we just walked on rides for the first few hours. We hit all the major attractions in the early morning then hit the less popular ones in the afternoon when it started to get crowded. Out of all the parks I found the rides at epcot the most crowded. The last day we were there we went to the parks to ride our favorite rides. Luckily I had an old fastpass we didn't use early that week for Test Track because the wait was 100 minutes. I know some people don't think it is right but if we wanted to ride a ride later in the week we would go get a fastpass some other day when we were leaving that park to use later. Not one CM would not let use them. In fact one time my fastpass time was real late so I went the next day early to ride I showed the CM and said it was yesterday’s fastpass and she said ok no problem. So as you can tell I was pleasantly surprised about the whole trip. If you what any more info about last week feel free to PM me.

 

[carol-lamb]

We were told by more than one Cast Member that they will honor your fast pass anytime after the return time - you just can't show up before the return time or you will be told to come back later. I never knew that - I thought you had to return during the hour window that is printed on the pass. A man overheard my son and I talking about this and he was the one who told me about being able to return any time after the return time. I wasn't sure if I believed him so we asked a couple of Cast Members working at the fast pass stations and they confirmed it. We never had a problem. Fast Passes really worked well for us on this trip. There were times when we had passes for 3 different attractions!

 

[WishinOnaStar]

Anyone just back want to share their opinion on the crowds and what worked best for them?