For those of you who *hate* heavy DL crowds and went during heavy crowds...

[KelliLee702]

What time would you leave the park after a crowded day morning. To try and be back by 4 or 5 in the afternoon?

I am interested in this, too. If we go early in the morning . . . what time is best to leave the park for a break? AND what is the best time to return later in the day?

 

[KalamityJane]

I am interested in this, too. If we go early in the morning . . . what time is best to leave the park for a break? AND what is the best time to return later in the day?

We always leave about 11 or so, even when we go during not busy times. Basically, 2-4 hours in the morning at the parks and we are good until later.

 

[RemainSeatedPlease]

I am interested in this, too. If we go early in the morning . . . what time is best to leave the park for a break? AND what is the best time to return later in the day?

I have tended to leave somewhere around 1pm. I usually have lunch either in the parks, just before leaving, or I take the opportunity to have a meal in DTD on my way back to the hotel. Or better yet, I grab some food to go and eat it in the room. I find it impossible to take naps, so really I just lay in bed watching TV while others nap, then head back to the parks around 3-4pm.

 

[Niltiac]

If you've never gone during a busy time, don't take it for granted that crowds will drastically change your overall trip.

The first trip I planned, I painstakingly planned it for the lowest crowds I could manage without too many refurbs, and we ended up going for mid-week at the end of September/beginning of October. It was great. But then my second trip was a last minute trip on Thanksgiving weekend, and because we were driving in we would only have a day and a half with no option of early mornings. I was convinced that it would be so different from last time because of the crowds, and I resigned myself to just enjoying decorations and skipping a lot of favorite rides. But it turned out it wasn't bad at all. Ride waits weren't really affected much because we used FP, so we were able to go on everyone's favorites and most multiple times. It was a little more difficult to find places to sit down, and I'm sure we wouldn't have been able to do walk-up TS meals, but really the experience wasn't much different and I didn't notice the increased crowds unless I tried to notice them (the exception to this being main street during parades/FW).

Maybe it was a fluke and TG weekend wasn't so busy when I went, but honestly I think we all tend to make crowds sound like a bigger deal than they are. All I know is that I normally hate crowded places but I wasn't bothered nearly as much as I thought I would be at DL. My next trip will be during Candlelight Processional weekend, so I guess I'll find out soon if I was just lucky last time. I'm not too worried though.

Once piece of advice I can give is that if anyone in your group has problems being in crowds due to anxiety, have a plan in mind in case it starts bothering them. This happened in my group (strangely enough on the non-busy trip), but I knew it might be a problem so I had already decided that we would go to Tom Sawyer Island if needed. We walked around there for about an hour and all was well again. Animation Academy or the Pier area are good options for DCA. I will have to try to find a good option for when TSI is closed at night for this trip...

 

[TalkDisnerdytome]

Sorry, should have specified!

11:30 is much better as that is when most counter service places open for lunch. 11:30 will have no line or a small line. 12:30 will almost certainly have a long line during busy times.

Thats what I do! I go to early breakfasts when people are still asleep. Then I go to early lunch when people are still normally full from breakfast. Then for dinner its normally a little earlier than 5. Also getting something to eat on Main Street right after the park has opened can be a bad idea. It's better to venture off to a different land to get something to eat, most people stop in Main Street to get there breakfast.

 

[clambert1273]

even living here and with our pass... we still hate it lol this has just been a busy year and we will drop in on a day at like 8am and bail around 4pm... it is just all I can take of craziness... I am also not a fan of the paper fastpass here.. pull (Wait 2 hours) pull again.. by the time we can pull one its usually timed for after we leave lol

We are going the 19th to take the little one to see the decorations, parade and fireworks and that is it... not even going to fight that mess lol After that, we will be done until mid January and hopefully with all the closures it will start to slack up some...

 

[TalkDisnerdytome]

even living here and with our pass... we still hate it lol this has just been a busy year and we will drop in on a day at like 8am and bail around 4pm... it is just all I can take of craziness... I am also not a fan of the paper fastpass here.. pull (Wait 2 hours) pull again.. by the time we can pull one its usually timed for after we leave lol

We are going the 19th to take the little one to see the decorations, parade and fireworks and that is it... not even going to fight that mess lol After that, we will be done until mid January and hopefully with all the closures it will start to slack up some...

I really hope the closures and the fact that next year the 60th anniversary will be over, will make the crowds much smaller.

 

[clambert1273]

I really hope the closures and the fact that next year the 60th anniversary will be over, will make the crowds much smaller.

we can only hope right... otherwise might be forced to give up our passes when it comes time to renew which sucks because I was really excited about the inclusion of the photopass

 

[ArchOwl]

Thats what I do! I go to early breakfasts when people are still asleep. Then I go to early lunch when people are still normally full from breakfast. Then for dinner its normally a little earlier than 5.

Exactly! You gotta zig when everyone else is zagging. This is really the true secret of going during busy times. I take friends/family during summer, holidays, whenever. It works if you do the opposite of what all the large crowds are going to do. For those times when you want to do what the crowds are doing, such as parades or shows, just realize it is going to be crowded and show up early.

During busy times you can't really show up to the parks at 11am and be upset when the wait for Space Mountain is and hour and a half. That is literally what everyone else is doing. If riding a lot of rides and seeing lots of shows is your goal, you gotta get there early. And you should also be there late. Because everyone else is going to show up late morning and leave in the evening. So if you can be there when they aren't, you get the benefits of that.

It is a numbers game, really.

 

[ArchOwl]

I am interested in this, too. If we go early in the morning . . . what time is best to leave the park for a break? AND what is the best time to return later in the day?

Now with the ability to monitor FP return times via the app, I would keep an eye on return times in the afternoon and come back while there are still FPs to be had for the evening. This is a great update because prior to this you kinda had to guess based on FP return times before you left the parks and how busy it was.

I have also sent the most antsy person to the parks to gather FPs in the afternoon if needed. In a large group someone is usually the active one who can't calm down, lol. And we stay within walking distance, so it works out.

 

[ArchOwl]

I really hope the closures and the fact that next year the 60th anniversary will be over, will make the crowds much smaller.

Cross our fingers, but I am not hopeful.

 

[TalkDisnerdytome]

Also if you are not really interested in going to parades or shows, make sure you get on rides during those times. I used to always ride the most busiest ride during the fireworks. Also (although you might not want to do this in December) the ride for Splash Mountain is basically nothing at night, My family has a ritual of riding Splash Mountain or Grizzly River Run last it is the absolutely last thing we do at the end of our night and then we go straight to the hotel to shower and sleep. That way we aren't haveing to walk around the park wet or have to leave during the middle of the day to go change.

 

[KalamityJane]

Exactly! You gotta zig when everyone else is zagging. This is really the true secret of going during busy times. I take friends/family during summer, holidays, whenever. It works if you do the opposite of what all the large crowds are going to do. For those times when you want to do what the crowds are doing, such as parades or shows, just realize it is going to be crowded and show up early.

During busy times you can't really show up to the parks at 11am and be upset when the wait for Space Mountain is and hour and a half. That is literally what everyone else is doing. If riding a lot of rides and seeing lots of shows is your goal, you gotta get there early. And you should also be there late. Because everyone else is going to show up late morning and leave in the evening. So if you can be there when they aren't, you get the benefits of that.

It is a numbers game, really.

Well that makes me feel better! We tend to do this naturally anyway

 

[JennyN]

We tend to go in around opening time, do as many rides as we can then have lunch either in the park or DTD and head out about 1-30 ish. Then it's time for a couple of hours shopping and then back into the park in the evening for a couple of hours ( we are to old to stay too late). Of course one day we go back into the park earlier for the parade. Anyway hopefully this is our plan for 7 til 12 December.

 

[luulu1999]

I am interested in this, too. If we go early in the morning . . . what time is best to leave the park for a break? AND what is the best time to return later in the day?

We also usually leave about 1 or 2 depending on what we are doing and how tired we are

 

[ArchOwl]

What do you all recommend for nights? We usually go during slow times but will be there Dec 9-16, so I'm reading this and taking notes!

Do you mean how to plan your nights? If so, it really depends on if your night plans include any shows. If so, you will be in some crowds. I try to mitigate this by understanding in advance where I need to be and what time to be there. I also don't mind utilizing dinner packages and such to at least help a bit with crowds.

If I am not planning on any shows, I keep in mind when the shows are and where the crowds will be going and stay away. I know I do not want to be anywhere near the NOS area to Frontierland after Fantasmic, so I might plan on being in Tomorrowland during this time. Or we may skip DL entirely in the evening and go to DCA, because it is much easier to avoid the WOC area.

It all depends on your plans for the evening, but I highly recommend staying after all the entertainment is over and watching the park empty out. Once all the entertainment is over, Main St becomes much more manageable. The stores are a different story, so busy with last minute purchases, but you can navigate through the area.

 

[ArchOwl]

Well that makes me feel better! We tend to do this naturally anyway

You are already ahead of the crowds, lol. Good luck and I am sure it will be great. Of course, with that many people you will be with crowds at some point. Just be patient and take a break if you need to. GCH is great for this, we pop over there for a snack or drink and to use the nice restrooms.

 

[luulu1999]

Thanks for the replies so far, I can manage expectations but it's the not being able to walk around like a normal person is what's hard to think about. Plus the other times we've gone we've never had to bother with Early Entry etc., we've had enough days to do what we want and be lazy and slow. The crowds, having to get up super early (for us), possible cranky husband to boot. It's making me worry. Funny, before I was worried about weather, now I am more worried about crowds.

If it weren't for all that stuff closing next year, I probably would just cancel the trip. We've never been at xmas time (always wanted to), never seen F! (always wanted to) and even reserved a BB F! reservation for this trip. I will gladly eat $200 cancel fee to keep husband less cranky though. I thought going during the 60th would be a neat bonus. ha!

Please keep posting if you have any experience and I will keep talking to my family. See if they would still be into it if it were very busy, and I will keep reading about how it actually is to be there when it's that busy. Pragmatic advice, etc.

I def wouldn't cancel! if your husband doesn't like getting up in the mornings go without him let him meet up with you I have a cranky boyfriend also but I don't let him ruin our time we go when we want and when he gets ready to join us he does, I haven't been this year but we went a few years ago Christmas eve, Christmas day and the day after it was our first trip we just got on rides with short lines and made the best out of it, we also went last summer (2014) End of July it wasn't horrible and we got a ton done using mornings, we would usually get there about 30 mins after opening and still got a ton done. I think you might be freaking your self out a little to much

 

[JadeDarkstar]

so 1-4 sounds good for our brake time. I was kind of leaning this way already.
we do nap but normally while my boys nap i'm in a bath. I will rest for about an hour and then get up ready to go back to the park.
We will stay till after fw and some times till 11 or midnight seeing there will be more than few of those days too.

I admit the crowds are freaking me out a bit but I keep on just telling my self go in with a plan and change it as needed.

 

[Congo Queen]

I have visited many times in all seasons over the years. Only twice have I regretted being at Dland due to crowds, and we found a way each time to deal with it and have fun any way.

Once was about 5 years ago in June. I had thought it would be a manageable crowd as the date was before most schools let out, but what I hadn't foreseen was that it was the very last day before all local APs were going to be blocked out for the remainder of the summer (so stupid of me not to look at that.) We arrived at 3pm just as a parade was starting, and as you can imagine, Main Street was off-the-hook, wall-to-wall bedlam. It was like a tidal wave of humanity was crashing down upon us. We ducked into the Emporium and snaked our way up the shops and out and around into the Tiki Room garden. Over some Dole Whips we took stock. It was our first day of a five day visit so we decided to bag it and go right back to our hotel (DLH) and had a grand evening playing in the pool until they made us stop at 10pm. The next morning in the parks was much much better.

The second crazy crowded experience was Dec 2014; so just last year. I had not been during holiday time in years and wanted to see the decorations. Well, again, the crowds were just massive and insane. It took your breath away. We did our best w FP and zigging while others zagged, but it was rough. We did not have much fun that day until about 9pm when we found ourselves in a fairly deserted Bugs Land in DCA. It was such a relief not to be mashed up against strangers. We decided to hang out there and wound up having a blast. My kids are teens so we had never really been in Bugs Land much prior to that evening. We had just a super silly fun time on all the kiddy rides and chasing each other around in the dark. My kids still talk about how their fastidious grandma (who was with us) did a huge sloppy spit-take on the lady bug spin ride when it started up and startled her just as she was taking a sip from her water bottle. Ah good times....