Just returned 2/12. There are CHEERLEADERS everywhere and will be for another month or so for competitions. Should delight the young males visiting WDW.
The only real crowd problems were on Sunday after the Super Bowl and on Monday evening 2/7 at Spectro. Other than that, most rides in the MORNINGS were 'walk-on' at MGM, AK & Epcot with limited waiting at MK. Fast-Passes were open in the afternnons sporadically, but hardly ever on most mornings.
After this trip, I can honestly say there is NO WAY I would EVER go to WDW during the busy season! I am not fond of crowds and, even though the weather was chilly some days and DOWN RIGHT COLD
for Florida (high of 58 but a wind chill of 46) on others, there were still a lot of people. Yep, we are going to stick to February and October for our future travel dates!
Had LOTS of magical moments on this trip - really surprising, special things happened, some I had not heard of in any reports. Ever had a CM actually chase you down to give you Fast Passes for Space Mountain?
He passed by our group of 6 at the Tomorrowland entry rope early Sunday morning. He stopped and chatted with us for about 5 minutes and asked which ride we were heading to - which was Buzz Lightyear (we're all in our upper 50's + so it was more our speed). He presented me with a lanyard pin (NOT TRADED - GAVE) when he saw my "Dumbo: Star of the Show" name badge and found that I had organized, coordinated and was group leader of our little band. Then he bid us good morning and away he went.
About 20 minutes later we were leaving Buzz heading back to the bridge & Big Thunder Mountain when I heard my name being shouted. There he was running toward us saying "boy, you guys are hard to catch up to. Here, these are good all day. Enjoy!" and off he went.
As it happened, 4 of our group did not feel up to riding Space Mountain after our breakfast at CRT. So, Kathy (DHs cousin) and I went by ourselves. We decided to 'share the dust' as it were and walked along the now 60 minute standby line looking for a group of 4. After 4 attempts, I found a young couple with 2 boys 12 & 8 and asked them if they would like to ride NOW instead of waiting. The mother jumped up and down and said yes about 10 times. Guess we made their day - just smiled, handed them the passes and went on in. We got out slightly before them and the rest of our group was waiting. The family found us and came over and gave us hugs and thanked us again. What a nice start to our day!
Oh, and at the CRT breakfast, it was Jim's 60th birthday. At the end of our breakfast the hostess brought him a white box with "Happy Birthday" and a message handwritten on the top. Inside, carefully wrapped, were 2 champagne flutes stamped with a creast around which were the words "Cinderella's Royal Table".
There were very nice glasses and we were QUITE surprised by them. I personally have never read of this happening - anyone else know anything about it?
..A friend of mine, who is also going, was also concerned about this and called and spoke with a Disney rep. She told her that all the value resorts were full because people who go at this time of year are looking to go inexpensively. But that we should be fine. I will tell you though, that the Cheerleader National Championships will be going on at Wide World of Sports, so you will probably see them for the next couple of weeks. They stay at Sports and CB (I think). We usually go this time of year and find that the crowds are minimal. The biggest obstacle is the weather. It is cool (about 50) when you leave in the am, heats up to about 70, and then gets cool again. Lots of extra packing to take layers. 
), and when we booked, Pop Century was totally full~ 5000 rooms!! I am worried about the crowds too!
