Crowds today- really that bad?

[lorilclevelandrn]

I’m not sure how much of an impact this actually has on crowd levels and by no means trying to get political, but I’m n the medical field and this past week I saw close to 10 patients (almost 2/day) who have never been to Disney and are now able to go bc of tax reform. It is my understanding they either received bonuses or saved from additional dollars added n their paycheck. I know this has not impacted everyone; however, people travel more when economy improves... just a guess.

 

[mousefan73]

I’m not sure how much of an impact this actually has on crowd levels and by no means trying to get political, but I’m n the medical field and this past week I saw close to 10 patients (almost 2/day) who have never been to Disney and are now able to go bc of tax reform. It is my understanding they either received bonuses or saved from additional dollars added n their paycheck. I know this has not impacted everyone; however, people travel more when economy improves... just a guess.

True this is why we have been able to go yearly since 2013. The economy. Not specifically to tax reform ( didnt help us as we are foreign; though many friends saw their tax gains eaten by property tax / health increases) anyways... but stocks took a jump starting in 2012ish with a dip in 2014 maybe?? Our trips are paid for specifically on selling parts of our mutuals/iras off when payment comes. I must have done something right in picking the right funds.

 

[Withnail]

Is it true that the parks are packed year round now? I haven't been to Disney World since I was 7, and we went in October or November and there were no crowds. There were maybe a couple of rides we had to wait a while for, but mostly we were on everything in five minutes, if that. What kind of waits am I in for if we go in early October this year? If it's still a lot, is Disneyland like this now too? How about Universal Studios? I really hate crowds. I wouldn't wait two hours for an organ transplant, and definitely not a ride.

 

[mousefan73]

when you were seven? how many years ago was this? Oct/nov are busy times now. oct has become a favorite month for many. special weekends/ thanksgiving. fall breaks. cooler weather. food and wine. etc. free dining was more restrictive showing higher crowds. 5 min wait times for headliners is a rarity. can happen it very lucky. but count on it. FP + changed alot too. since standby is much higher

 

[Withnail]

I guess it was 15 years ago now. We never used Fastpasses at all when I went. We never needed them. We had to wait a little while for Big Thunder Mountain, but everything else we got on really quick. What's the best time now, and what kind of waits would I be in for?

 

[kylenne]

I guess it was 15 years ago now. We never used Fastpasses at all when I went. We never needed them. We had to wait a little while for Big Thunder Mountain, but everything else we got on really quick. What's the best time now, and what kind of waits would I be in for?

It may not necessarily be packed year round, but there’s really no slow times anymore. Disney has become adept at luring guests to the parks year round with marathons, special events, discounts, etc. Also, with the sheer amount of data they collect, they can staff up or down accordingly so “low” crowds don’t necessarily correlate with lower wait times. The “best” time to go is a really subjective thing now imo and there’s no right answer for everyone. It depends on your preferences and needs. eg some say September is the closest thing to slow these days, but the weather may not be to your liking. There’s a lot of variables to consider.

Have a halfway decent touring plan, utilize FP+ and you’ll be alright, though. Most guests are like my boss and clueless about the need to plan. Reading the boards is half the battle already won in that respect. There’s a wealth of knowledge here and on blogs/vlogs/podcasts. It’s entirely possible to go during a busy time and not be miserable waiting in awful lines all day. Just be prepared and do your homework. Managing your expectations is also helpful.

 

[KGolf31]

I was there June 23-30th (sitting at the airport right now).

I don’t think it was crowded at all. We were able to ride everything we wanted at least twice, even 3 times for rides we really liked.

With using FP, we had 5-8 FPs per day (even with mid-day breaks for pool, resting, storms). Refreshing was very easy to get what we wanted.

Sure, lines were long but on the worst case we stood in line for 35 minutes (posted 50) for Splash Mountain prior to fireworks. Any other line we were in not FP was less than this.

 

[hertamaniac]

Walked by SSE a couple of days ago and saw 45 minutes for SB line. That's the highest I have ever seen.

 

[MomOTwins]

This week is just going to be nuts not because of Fourth of July but because of Toy Story Land opening. This has been hyped to the max by Disney all year long and is very well beloved cartoon.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Let's all go crowd watching!

 

[wgeo]

We'll be there next week, expecting huge crowds, hopefully a good touring plan will balance it all out. So excited, I'm trying to convince hubby to go down a day earlier - he's laughing at me in that "i'm not sure if you're joking or not" kind of way.

 

[Tomh]

I do think there was a lull in the overall crowds the past 2 years and there is a pick up in them this year. It's not just TSL either, they've been up since well before TSL was on the horizon. Not sure what exactly has contributed to the increase. Probably not one thing

I thought that the opening of Pandora last year brought in significantly higher crowds. It certainly felt busier when I was there in August than it did in 2016.

 

[FastPasser.]

I thought that the opening of Pandora last year brought in significantly higher crowds. It certainly felt busier when I was there in August than it did in 2016.

According to TEA, nearly 1.7 million more people visited AK in 2017 than in 2016.

 

[HopperFan]

LOL... tend to forget this is not a world wide Holiday. Sorry about that

One year we decided to go President's Week because up north we got off school that week. It was SO CROWDED!! And there were so many Europeans there totally confused why that week was so bad, we explained the holiday and how many schools closed for the week (by us the parents pulled their kids if school wasn't out for ski vacations). They all said they needed to pay better attention to our holidays when they booked since they could easily have come before or after.


I remember the old days when summer was one of the worst times to go. Then it seemed be less an issue of crowds but more of heat. Then Disney started opening things for the summer, so guessing they are trying to pull crowds back in those months. Against my better judgement we are going in three weeks for a few days in the middle of beach run. If I hadn't already told DS1 he was going, I might have cancelled based on reports.

 

[grumpy28]

Here now. Went to MK opening at 8. Knocked out HM, Carousel, Winnie, Tea Cups, Dumbo, Barnstormer, Little Mermaid, PeopleMover, Buzz,Peter Pan (FP), Small World (FP), Mine Train (FP),half a dozen photopass photogs, a little shopping by 12.

 

[grumpy28]

Crowds were awesome IMO. Everyone was at HS.

Did more shopping, lunch and dessert at the Plaza. Rain came. Did Pirates, watched everyone freak over getting wet outside. Back at hotel by 4.

 

[bastraker]

We've been here since Wednesday and we are having a great time! The crowds seem normal to me but we really try and use FP as much as possible. The rain the last 2 days has helped clear out the parks .

I can't believe how easy it was to get a FP for FOP today. We weren't able to get one initially since I booked around the 50 day mark. Yesterday I was refreshing to try and get one for today and it was there! It was also for the morning which worked perfect. I was able to secure Navi today too as a 4th FP!

Having a great time!

 

[KrisM]

We were there June 17-20. It was our second trip and we thought it was more crowded than over spring break 2014.

We spent way more time in lines than we wanted. Getting additional FP was tough. We could get them for things like Small World, but not for rides we actually wanted to do. Or we could get them for 1-2 people but not all 5 of us, so we were splitting up a lot. And the posted times seemed way off on quite a few rides. We got in stand by for Everest and it said 25 min. At the 80 minute point, we had about 10 people in front of us and they closed for weather. We waited for it to open and ended up being 2 full hours for us to get on. Ugh. Space Mtn said 30 min and it took 50. We tried FOP at closing and it was a 2 hour wait still. We did have good luck with early morning times and low crowds, but anything after lunch was not good.

We did have fun and got on much of what we wanted to do. And the kids rode Everest 8 times one morning. But, the crowds and lines were not fun.

 

[Withnail]

It may not necessarily be packed year round, but there’s really no slow times anymore. Disney has become adept at luring guests to the parks year round with marathons, special events, discounts, etc. Also, with the sheer amount of data they collect, they can staff up or down accordingly so “low” crowds don’t necessarily correlate with lower wait times. The “best” time to go is a really subjective thing now imo and there’s no right answer for everyone. It depends on your preferences and needs. eg some say September is the closest thing to slow these days, but the weather may not be to your liking. There’s a lot of variables to consider.

Have a halfway decent touring plan, utilize FP+ and you’ll be alright, though. Most guests are like my boss and clueless about the need to plan. Reading the boards is half the battle already won in that respect. There’s a wealth of knowledge here and on blogs/vlogs/podcasts. It’s entirely possible to go during a busy time and not be miserable waiting in awful lines all day. Just be prepared and do your homework. Managing your expectations is also helpful.

Well, what's the lowest crowd time, and what kind of wait times would I be looking at then? I can deal with any kind of weather.

 

[kylenne]

Well, what's the lowest crowd time, and what kind of wait times would I be looking at then? I can deal with any kind of weather.

September is the closest thing there still is anymore. Obviously you want to avoid holidays and other times when kids are out of school. Just keep in mind that “lower crowds” in 2018 means something different than it used to. And even during those times, don’t expect wait times to necessarily go down much. Wait times were heinous early this year during traditional “slow time”. The guy from Touring Plans went into it on a podcast. MyMagic+ data lets Disney staff down.

That’s why I’m trying to tell you it’s most important to have a good plan, because that will help you more than trying to find a mythical time of year when everything is walk on. There’s a lot of things you can do to minimize your time spent waiting in Standby lines regardless of when you go.