Don't stress the crowds

[roselark]

Just wanted to share what a great time I had over a quick trip this weekend. I went down a couple of days early to get in some park time before a work conference. I was a little concerned because I was planning on going to F&W on a Saturday and MNSSHP on what was likely to be a sold out party on Sunday. I knew these were both going to be very busy days, and reading the panicked and frustrated DIS threads about how busy it has been did not help.

I got to ASM about 5am Saturday morning due to major flight delays. I slept about 4.5 hours, then headed to Epcot. I had already planned my FP+ for an afternoon break, so that was still fine. I got to Epcot about 10:30 and headed to the F&W Festival Center. Got a booklet and checked everything out, then headed to the F&W booths. The lines were long right at 11, but they moved quickly. I was able to visit most of the booths I wanted, plus took breaks in Future World and some of the pavilions and left feeling satisfied about 6pm. The only reason I did not try everything on my list was because I was stuffed and decided to quit before I made myself sick. After reading the very negative reports about going to F&W on a Saturday, I was very pleasantly surprised. Yes, it was very crowded and the lines were long, but it was very doable with just a little patience. I will admit that it certainly helped that the weather was beautiful that day.

Sunday was great as well. The first thing I noticed when I got to MK right at the opening show was the sign indicating that the party was sold out. Well, I guessed that it would be, so no surprise. I got lots of rides in the first few hours, both with and without FP+. I ate lunch at Pecos Bills (the new menu was awesome!!), rode another ride and did a little shopping, then headed back to ASM around 1:30 for a nap. I must have still been tired from my adventure in flight delays and slept almost 2 hours! I headed back to the park and got there about 4:30. The park was getting very crowded by that point with the party crowds coming in. I rode a couple of rides, ate dinner at Cosmic Ray's and did lots of people watching. The costumes were great! People are super creative! Once the party started, I got LOTS of trick-or-treating in, watched the parade, fireworks, and Hocus Pocus show and had a great time. The lines for trick-or-treating were very long, but moved quickly. Meeting characters is not important to me, so I did not need to do that, but I did notice the lines and some of them were crazy long. Others were not so bad. I did everything I wanted to do and got 3 bags of candy by the time I left at 11:15.

So...yes the parks were very busy, but since I went in with realistic expectations, I was able to do everything I wanted and have a fabulous time! Don't stress the crowds! If your schedule only allows you to visit parks at peak times or on "Nor Recommended" days, that is ok! You can still have a great time.

 

[jessicamouse]

Great advice! Thanks!

 

[Planogirl]

This looks like another confirmation that MK tends to be quieter on party days. I like it!

 

[Chelle's Belles]

LOVE this perspective! Thanks!

 

[100acreHiker]

Thanks for sharing your report and positive approach! So easy to get caught up in worrying leading up to a Disney trip.

 

[igk]

We were at World Showcase last Saturday evening. Despite advice to avoid we had an 8:30 ADR at Tokyo Dining and didn't want to cancel it. We arrived at Epcot at about 6pm, rode SE FP+ (10 min SB wait), SoaT (10 min wait), MS green (no wait), then TT with FP+ (big SB wait). Around WS it was crowded and there were long lines at many of the booths, and we did observe a couple of drunk looking prople, but generally the atmosphere was good-natured and party-like. Nothing that us or DD16 found at all troublesome.
What surprised us was that after leaving the restarant at about 9:30 was how much it had all quietened down. Everything was open until 10pm that night but it was getting really empty by 9:45.

 

[Dis703]

We just did a sold out party on Tuesday and found the crowd level to be completely manageable. We rode about 9 rides all but one with a 10 minute or less wait and even that was 30 minutes for 7DMT so not bad at all. We had little to no wait for Photopass pics, got great spots for each of the shows and the parade with little to no waiting. Did a bunch of trick or treat spots. We did everything we wanted to do and more.

What I find interesting is on another Disney site I belong to there are a half dozen people from the same night who had the completely opposite experience. They felt the crowd was wall to wall, couldn't find parade spots even 40 minutes ahead of time, said ride lines were ridiculous, etc. One person said they didn't get to see a single show.

So thankful for the disboard and past experiences because our plan worked beautifully.

 

[kj2mom]

Sounds like you had a great time! I feel similar about the 4th of July. Some twin friends of my children were born on the 4th of July and wanted to celebrate with MK fireworks so off we went. We knew we were going to be with thousands of our sweaty friends and we went in with very low expectations. We made our FP selections, had an ADR, figured we would stake out our claim for fireworks and anything else was a bonus. Boy did the day completely exceed anything we could have imagined. I know many, many people say they will never go near MK on the 4th of July but we are on the opposite side of the fence there and would love to go again!!

 

[loves to dive]

Thank you for your positive thread, it just goes to show if you go in knowing you are going to have to possibly wait and make a few compromises, you can enjoy yourself. I've never understood the whole too busy to go thought process. We never mind waiting in lines and figure if we miss a few rides, so what, we still have a good time.

 

[lustergirl]

 

[Micca]

Nice post Jeanette! I think doing some research, having a plan, and remaining a bit flexible ensures a terrific day at WDW. For folks who become too anxious over large crowds, WDW may not be your best vacation choice.