crowds so far this week...

[5wdwnutz]

Looks like we might be in Florida for Thanksgiving next year. My Aunt lives about 45 minutes away.

Curious how the crowds were this past weekend and how they are the beginning of this week.

Thanks for the info.

Missy

 

[JESW]

just got back yesterday - 11/21. Crowds were larger than normal last week but still ok. Things started picking up on friday and by saturday you could see a big difference in the crowds and in the people arriving at the resort. (YC)

It's still warm so pack your shorts and your sunscreen. Have fun!

Jill

 

[5wdwnutz]

bump

 

[Rozzie]

we just got back, nov 15-22. 15, 16, 17 were awesome. A lot of walk ons. (never saw TOT with 5 min wait after lunch!) but 18, 19, 20, 21 were each day getting more crowded. Againist all common sense we went to MK on sat and sun, and of course it was nutso. We always go in sept, and avoid WDW like the plague in summer months, so that might influence our opinions. Stitch was 115 min on sat....now that is nutso!!!!!
days it was crowded were did a lot of hopping, did 3 parks in 1 day on the 21st. lots of fun! we were determined to not let it ruin our last day.....

 

[littleprincessmom]

from a fun and quickie trip...

In the parks 11/19 through 11/22 a.m.

11/19- MK - busy, but not unbearable. Plenty of open seating for early dinner at Crystal Palace (DD5's birthday). Park closed fairly early (7:30) for the FantasyLand Ride-A-Thon. Best time to ride was b/w 6:30 and 7:30 - crowds really died down.

11/20 - Epcot (our first time ever with small kids for anything other than dinner - they enjoyed it!) Crowds were low for everything but MS and TT. 30-45 min. waits for standby lines for those rides. Many hours out for FP for TT (didn't try to FP MS). Closed Test Track down at 6:00 p.m. due to a mechanical problem and weren't sure it would open again that night. Overheard girl complaining that it was the 2nd time during trip they'd come to Epcot to ride TT and it was shut down.

Went to CG for dinner and were able to move our 8:10 ressie to 6:10 with no problem but CG was becoming very crowded as we left.

Took DD5 back to MK from 8:30 p.m. until 10 p.m. (then stayed around for 2nd SpectroMagic parade and hot dog at Casey's (to let crowd die down). We rode Goofy's Barnstormer twice (no line), Peter Pan (no line), Pooh (minimal line), watched Philharmagic (absolutely no line during Wishes) and rode Race Cars (never can remember name of those - 5 minute wait) in 1 1/2 hours. If you don't mind missing the fireworks or parades, those are definitely the times to hit the rides! It goes without saying, but also catch the 2nd SpectroMagic parade. It is usually much less crowded than the 1st.

11/21 - MGM. A little weird. Park itself was very crowded but the waits weren't bad. Again, bear in mind we were doing kiddie things. Fewest people I've ever seen in line for Playhouse Disney (watched twice) or stand by Little Mermaid. Beauty in the Best was not full either. Stand-by lines for TOT and RnR were less than an hour. Walked on to the Great Movie Ride with no wait. BUT... there was a 2 1/2 wait to eat at Sci Fi Diner...all the restaurants were extremely busy.

11/22 - MK. Honestly, it was the busiest I can remember seeing it. People were waiting to get into the Swiss Family Robinson tree house if that gives you any indication. We tried to get a last minute ressie for LUNCH (not breakfast) at Chef Mickey's and it was totally booked for every seating. O-hana's and Chef Mickey's were totally booked for breakfast for every seating.

At noon, FPs for Splash were for 3:30-4:30. However, we got 2 FPs for BTMR at 11:00 for 12:20 and rode with only a 10 minute wait (in FP line).

Though crowds were big, people seemed to be in the holiday spirit and fairly festive. The weather was BEAUTIFUL our entire trip. Even a crowded week at WDW beats a normal day at work, right???

Have fun and good luck to all who are going. My advice is nap during the afternoon and go back late - that's when the crowds seem to thin.

 

[turnerx5]

On the morning of 11/20, EVERYTHING broke down at Epcot (well, not really everything but it sure felt like it).

The Land - closed while we were on the ride, 10 minute wait,

Mission Space - closed down for 20 minutes while we were in the fastpass line,

Test Track - closed down for 25 minutes while in the fastpass line

Space Ship Earth - shut down mid-ride for 10 minutes - we were facing backwards near the end - ugh!

Disney's making enough to keep these rides better maintained. It was a very frustrating experience.

Cheers, Tx5.

 

[jokan]

My family and I were there last week (Nov 14-20) We have never seen the crowds that heavy this time of year. Monday the 15th at MK was horrible. There was people everywhere, luckily Disney had cranked up all the rides in preparation for this weeks crowds and there was no wait times on the rides. It was just murder getting to them. The crowds were down Tuesday and Wednesday but picked right back up on Thursday and Friday. We were at AK on Friday for only a couple of hours because it was so crowded we couldnt move around.


On a side note: It must have been Boston week last week cuz it seemed like every other person was from Boston.

 

[Feralpeg]

I went to DTD for lunch. I had to wait for a parking space. This is unusual at mid-day during the week. I went to McDonalds and had to sit at a table with another group. The place was packed. I am going to MK tomorrow and expect it to be gridlocked.

 

[danny1649]

That crowds are up this year,still looking forward to our upcoming trip.

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

Originally posted by turnerx5

Space Ship Earth - shut down mid-ride for 10 minutes - we were facing backwards near the end - ugh!

Disney's making enough to keep these rides better maintained. It was a very frustrating experience.

Because it's a constantly moving attraction, SSE has to stop to load guests with disabilities. Since all the cars are pretty much linked, there's no way to stop just the cars in the load zone, so everyone gets to stop for a few minutes. This is most likely what you experienced, and not a ride breakdown.

As far as ride maintenance, you might be surprised by just how much maintenance is done to every ride every night.

 

[Time4disney]

Originally posted by turnerx5
On the morning of 11/20, EVERYTHING broke down at Epcot (well, not really everything but it sure felt like it).

The Land - closed while we were on the ride, 10 minute wait,

Mission Space - closed down for 20 minutes while we were in the fastpass line,

Test Track - closed down for 25 minutes while in the fastpass line



Do you remember about what time you were standing in the fastpass line for TT when it broke down? We walked right up with our fastpasses but then waited to enter briefing room #1 for about 15 minutes. We then decided to leave. This was a little after 10:00 a.m. Or maybe you were on the boat ride at The Land at that time because when we left the fastpass line at TT we headed to the land and that is where we waited another 15 minutes and didn't see any boats coming so we left that too.

 

[lmack6654]

We were also in Epcot on the 20th, and it did seem to be a bad day for the 2 big rides. We were in line for MS when it broke down in the morning. They did give us passes to ride later, which we did. We got a FP for TT but it was not good until 5:30 and this was at noon or so. We decided to go back to resort and swim and then return to Epcot to use our FP. Got back a little early so we rode MS. My DH was waiting in the play area with our 2 youngest and when he went to ride the ride was shut down again. Went over to TT to use our FP and were almost ready to board when they shut that down also. We couldn't hang around and wait too long because we were leaving very early the next morning. We had some pretty disappointed kids on that last day.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

We just got back from 5 days in the parks. Here is my take on crowds

Saturday (11/20) MK -not too bad; Stitch was busted at park opening so we doidn't get to do it -by later in the day there were 90 minute waits

Sunday (11/21) AK -crowded, but everyone left after the parade; MK -busy, but we wtill got FP for Splash about 90 minutes out

Monday (11/22) Epcot -if it was crowded I didn't notice it. We didn't spend too much time around M:S or TT (only rode TT once with a FP). The only long line we stood in was for Living with the Land -the sign said 20 minutes but it turned out to be 50. grrrrrr

Tuesday (11/23) MGM -crazy crowds (80 minute line for ToT by 9:30am; 60 minute line for GMR by noon; Backlot Tour was very crowded by early pm -sign said 25 minutes but it looked more like 60 minutes to me -we skipped it) However, Start Tours was a walk-on at mid morning. MK -crowds definitely strating to build, but HM was a walk-on and FP for Space Mountain was only 90 minutes out

Wednesday (11/24) MK - This was the first time I have been in MK when it was unpleasantly crowded. We were waiting around for a 2:15 FP for Space Mountain and I honestly wished we would have just left. Tommorowland was shoulder-to-shoulder at midday. I really dislliked that feeling. Epcot -not too bad in the evening (I suspect everyone was at MK or MGM for first nite of Osborne lights)

I overheard CMs talking about how wild it was going to be around the parks Thursday-Sunday. Nover thought I'd say this, but I am sooooooo glad to be home and not down there now if the crowds are as big or bigger than they were at MK on Wednesday.

Here is the bright side (just in case I sound too negative): If you use FP, know how to get around from point A to point B, and ride while others are eating or parade-watching, you can get everything done. We did.