Early May 2022 crowds

[chaoslobster]

I was looking just a few weeks back and May was all green on the calendar. I was trying to put a last minute trip together for the 2nd week of May but then switched to the 16-20th(better avail.) I was able to get what I wanted as far as ressies go but the dates filled up quick. I too bought through a third party and was sweating receiving my ticket resv. # to input into the MDE to secure reservations. From what I'm reading on the boards reservations do pop up on morning of due to cancellations. I sure miss the good old days of just going to the park you want to ...on the morning of. Good luck with your Mk tour.

Yup, May was completely empty until a bit over a week ago. I am going 18th - 28th and I kept checking and checking in the past few months to see if it was still open. Finally bought my base tickets since it wasn't filling up and May is always a slower month, plus crowd levels on these days historically have been very low. Once I had the tickets literally within days it filled up. Just to spite me I'm sure.

As people are saying, it's the weekdays that are crazy -- problem is my first-timer friend will only be there from 23rd - 28th. That's a Monday to Saturday. So there is almost nothing available while he's there. I've been stalking the ADR text-alert sites and paid for two different ones plus the Touring Plans site, so I've managed to get some reservations, just mostly not the ones we wanted. I did have the presence of mind to get Cirque tickets months ago, so that's something, but I'm so bummed about missing Keys to the Kingdom, I do that tour every year and I was so excited to bring my friend.

It is what it is, I'm just disappointed overall. So much has changed since 2018 and ALL of it's for the worse. There were 5 things on my MUST DO list, so far it looks like we'll miss on 4 of them. I realized early on how difficult it is to get on RotR at all, let alone when you're limited to the day you have reservations for HS. I don't mind waiting on line for hours, but from what I've heard there is no standby line, the only way is to be hitting the LL buttons the instant 7am strikes and pray you're faster than the other ten thousand people doing the same thing. I won't be faster; my fingers are slow and stiff.

 

[roctavia]

Yup, May was completely empty until a bit over a week ago. I am going 18th - 28th and I kept checking and checking in the past few months to see if it was still open. Finally bought my base tickets since it wasn't filling up and May is always a slower month, plus crowd levels on these days historically have been very low. Once I had the tickets literally within days it filled up. Just to spite me I'm sure.

As people are saying, it's the weekdays that are crazy -- problem is my first-timer friend will only be there from 23rd - 28th. That's a Monday to Saturday. So there is almost nothing available while he's there. I've been stalking the ADR text-alert sites and paid for two different ones plus the Touring Plans site, so I've managed to get some reservations, just mostly not the ones we wanted. I did have the presence of mind to get Cirque tickets months ago, so that's something, but I'm so bummed about missing Keys to the Kingdom, I do that tour every year and I was so excited to bring my friend.

It is what it is, I'm just disappointed overall. So much has changed since 2018 and ALL of it's for the worse. There were 5 things on my MUST DO list, so far it looks like we'll miss on 4 of them. I realized early on how difficult it is to get on RotR at all, let alone when you're limited to the day you have reservations for HS. I don't mind waiting on line for hours, but from what I've heard there is no standby line, the only way is to be hitting the LL buttons the instant 7am strikes and pray you're faster than the other ten thousand people doing the same thing. I won't be faster; my fingers are slow and stiff.

There is a standby line for ROTR, you can also rope drop it if you are an early enough riser to get there in time (if you are staying on site).

As of right now, everything has a standby line, currently no virtual queues so if you are willing to stand in line, you can. ROTR is the paid ILL, and opens to resort guests at 7, so people on site have a better chance of getting the paid skip the line. G+ is the other rides and opens for all guests at 7am.

 

[MickeysHouse224]

I think some of it might be lower staffing. My understanding is that sometimes they close off reservations to keep staffing lower. So, it might not be that it is going to be as busy/busier than other days, just that they don't want to put more staff on.

 

[Funtimeswithteenagers]

We were in animal kingdom and Hollywood yesterday for our first trip ever and had the best day ever!!!
Avatar 45 mins. Everest 5mins. Slinky dog 20 mins. Rise of resistance 20 mins. (At closing!)
I believe both parks were sold out too. Never felt crowded. I also bought the fast pass genie plus thing and used it 7 times. I felt we got our moneys worth. I stacked Mickey and minnie railroad and toy story mania for evening and it was perfect.