I haven't been since May 2012 so I can't speak for how current crowds are (give me 15 days and I will, WOOHOO!) but I will say that in June 2009 the parks were insanely crowded thanks to WDW running the 4/3 promo. Thank God for this board b/c it helped me plan so much better. Did we have some snafus? Yes - our AK day sucked completely. It was too hot and too crowded. Also one of our MK days it was crazy so we GOT OUT and enjoyed the resort. Our May trip was so much better and in fact we felt like we had too many days on our ticket because we had done everything we wanted to do in about 5 days (had 8 day tickets). Do I think WDW is broken? Nah, but again I might change my mind after being there in February. I have not enjoyed the extra work and planning it has taken to get both ADRs and FP+ that's for sure. And
MDE is a giant pain with it constantly screwing up, showing ghost FP+ and the like so that is extremely annoying.
Also I think this is an excellent point:
"But if you look at the entire package, the thrill rides, the family rides, the shows, then there is more than enough in all the parks to fill the day. Personally, I think amusement parks are better geared to the thrill faction than theme parks are, because their focus IS on thrill rides and not necessarily the overall experience of the park."
I live in Ohio and we have two amusement parks, well actually 3 b/c I live near WV/PA as well within driving distance: Cedar Point, Kings Island and Kennywood
None of them compare to WDW when it comes to the OVERALL EXPERIENCE. Now thrill rides/other rides - even Kennywood almost blows WDW away but the entire experience, no way. If I take a break at one of those parks, I sit on a bench and stare at a giant ride, trash on the ground, or one giant metal attraction after another. I will say Kennywood is the nicest of the three parks in terms of "prettiness" but it still doesn't come close to WDW. No way. There is no comparison. I can take a break at MK by watching Philharmagic or Monsters Inc. At AK, I can watch Bug's Life, DHS - Beauty and the Beast show, and Epcot there's always Ellen, LOL! Those things just aren't at these other amusement parks. Well there are a few shows here and there that generally stink or that you don't have time for because you spend about an hour waiting in a neverending line to ride coaster after coaster after coaster. Also the tickets for these parks are not cheap:
Cedar Point - one day $50 adult/$35 junior or $88 for two day ride & slide adult/$53 junior
Kings Island - $41/$37 one day; two days $58
Kennywood - $34/$28 one day
I realize these are cheaper than 1 day at WDW but I still wouldn't call them cheap.