Getting pretty freaked about the crowd reports

[momtotwolittleones]

We're going to be in the park M-F of next week. I have never gone to DL in the summer. I've gone probably 15 times in my life, but always in the off season. I consider 30 minutes a long wait, and we're used to just kind of cruising around, eating whenever we want, grabbing a bench in the shade to rest for a bit, etc.

I've read everything about early mornings and FP and have as much of a plan as I can. However, I am worried about getting my kids up and out early (they get pretty cranky if they don't get enough sleep), and I'm feeling like it's just going to be wall to wall people and just miserable. My MIL was the one that chose these days, and as she's paying for much of the trip, there wasn't much I could say about it!

It won't be that bad, right?

 

[blackjackdelta]

We're going to be in the park M-F of next week. I have never gone to DL in the summer. I've gone probably 15 times in my life, but always in the off season. I consider 30 minutes a long wait, and we're used to just kind of cruising around, eating whenever we want, grabbing a bench in the shade to rest for a bit, etc.

I've read everything about early mornings and FP and have as much of a plan as I can. However, I am worried about getting my kids up and out early (they get pretty cranky if they don't get enough sleep), and I'm feeling like it's just going to be wall to wall people and just miserable. My MIL was the one that chose these days, and as she's paying for much of the trip, there wasn't much I could say about it!

It won't be that bad, right?

In my opinion the only way it can be bad is that you did not plan well and go into it with a bad attitude. I will most likely be hot and very busy. Get going early, give the kids and you some midday restime, eat when you want and stay well hydrated. August time is an adventure.

Jack

 

[pixarmom]

Joining you here on the "scared about crowd reports" thread. It's been nearly 30 years since I've been to DL and it's our boys' first visit. We're WDW vets and can do WDW just fine in the crowds - but DL is a whole new place!

 

[Michelle2]

Joining you here on the "scared about crowd reports" thread. It's been nearly 30 years since I've been to DL and it's our boys' first visit. We're WDW vets and can do WDW just fine in the crowds - but DL is a whole new place!

I truly think that if you can handle crowds in WDW, you will probably do just fine in DL too! I used to only go at off-season times, but now I am the opposite and only want to go in the summers. I NEVER thought I would say that.
Hope everyone has a great time!

 

[PinkBudgie]

I'm going next week too and I'm not worried. I've been during very crowded times and still never waited more than 25 min for a ride (with the exception of TSMM- I just can't find a way around that one).

There are two options:
A) Get to the parks at opening. You will just have to get the kids up early. Sleeping in will mean you miss the light morning in the parks. Come back to the hotel in the afternoon and take a nap/rest everyday.

Once you are up early, you can start collecting FPs. Certain rides we just don't go on without FPs. Once the crowds build up later in the day, you can use your FPs and also do things like POTC, Mark Twain, etc. Collect Buzz FPs once the other FPs are gone or too late for you. You then be able to ride that one over and over with just a five minute wait. We never wait longer than that for this ride.

Or...
B) Sleep in, relax and don't stress. Know that it will be crowded and resign yourself to wait and going on less rides. Look for things that you might not otherwise do or notice.

Ok, actually, one more plan:

C) Do plan A one day and plan B another. In my opinion the worst thing to do is worry about the crowds and time of year. I really wouldn't worry about it.

Have a fun trip and be sure to look for my LGMH I'll be wearing!

 

[brenda1966]

They way I look at it is this: do I really want to be in the parks in the heat of the day? No! So, it's a perfect time to go nap. Really, if you get up early and are hot and tired, it's pretty easy to nap. collect those FP's all morning and then use them when you go back at night. Early mornings are wonderful in the park. You'll be glad you got up early!

If you need to sleep in a bit, then make that your CA day. Sleep in and head over there around 9 or 9:30.

If you have a plan I think you'll be fine. Know what things you can do that are not busy during peak time (pirate, HM, Tiki, carousel etc.) Collect FP for the big items (space, buzz). Hit fantasyland one early morning.

 

[Mugglemama]

We were there for M-F from 7/5-7/9.

If your reservations about crowds is that you are worried you will not get on enough rides, there are ways to ensure that you do. You have to have a plan, and you have to plan strategically, but you can get on just about everything without waiting more than half an hour. You will have to navigate through heavily crowded space in order to do it, but it can be done. And if ride wait times are what make or break your experience, then you should still be ok most of the time.

HOWEVER, if your reservations about crowds is that you just don't want to be packed into a very, very crowded space, then you may not love your experience.

Also, just from my personal experience a few weeks ago, I would NOT suggest getting up extra early to arrive an hour before opening on your MM. In fact, I wouldn't even suggest ATTENDING your MM! We woke up at 4:30am (I had treated my in-laws and 2 little nieces to this trip, so we had a total of TEN people to get to the parks in the morning, 5 of which were small kids - read: a LOT of work!). We were at the security tables an hour before opening several days, and first in line at the gate 3 days, including MM. There were easily 3 times more people there than had been at our other non-MM openings, plus they didn't open the park on time, so it ended up feeling like a massive waste of time and effort. To me, anyway.

As long as the crowded atmosphere isn't something that is going to make you miserable, and all you care about is getting on lots of rides, then you should still be able to do that.

If you want to ride PP, Matterhorn, Toad, Storybook Land Canal Boats, or Alice, without waiting in very long lines, you will need to get there early on at least one morning (my suggestion would be M, W, or F). The other Fantasyland rides, and all the other rides in the park can be managed with fairly short lines and/or FP's the rest of the time. That's just for Disneyland, though. We encountered ridiculous lines at California Adventure.

Still, by the time it was all said and done, I would estimate that we were able to ride approximately 100 rides during our 5 days.

 

[mrswh]

August is hot and crowded, there is no way around it! I agree with the PPs that your best bet is to arrive early and leave when it gets too hot and crowded for an afternoon break. But, that doesn't mean you need to be standing at the gates at 7:30. If you get there by 8:30 or so it still isn't too bad (or wasn't last August, anyway!) and you can get a lot done. If DCA is opening at 10, you can go over there a few minutes before 10 (when DLR lines are getting long anyway), grab a Soarin' FP, and go down to TSMM right at rope drop because it's the only time of day you won't have to wait 45 minutes.

There are so many things to do at DCA when it is hot and crowded. (Our policy is to escape DLR when it starts getting uncomfortably crowded.) Tons of indoor shows - Aladdin is fantastic and you don't have to line up that early for it. Animation Academy is fun, Turtle Talk with Crush, walk through the Animation Building and check out the Beast's library. I don't know how old your kids are - Playhouse Disney is a nice cool break too. Kids love the carnival games on Paradise Pier. Make some dining reservations for character dining and you'll have a place to eat, take a break and cool off without a long wait.

Look at every attraction and ride on the map and Times Guide. We have discovered many fun things to do that we otherwise would have overlooked, but tried because it was crowded and they had short lines.

You can have a great time if you go in with a plan to avoid the heat and crowds. I don't think that means you have to be militant about getting there right at opening and following a strict touring plan. Just think about what you'd like to do and have a flexible plan. With kids I find that having a plan for meals helps, too. Or bring in snacks so nobody gets cranky if they have to wait a while for a meal.

Have fun!!

 

[brenda1966]

I would NOT suggest getting up extra early to arrive an hour before opening on your MM. In fact, I wouldn't even suggest ATTENDING your MM! We woke up at 4:30am

Yikes! I would never recomment that either! It is not necessary to be 3rd in line at the gate to get a lot out of your MM. Our MM opened at 7am and we were just at the security line at 7am. We got through security quickly and through the line quickly and were back to Peter Pan by 7:15 or 7:20.

We also had DD sleep in her clothes. I took my shower the night before. All we had to do was get up, brush teeth, hair, do makeup, and eat a bite (or grab something to eat while you walk over). We got up at 6:30.

 

[Mary09]

August is hot and crowded, there is no way around it! I agree with the PPs that your best bet is to arrive early and leave when it gets too hot and crowded for an afternoon break. But, that doesn't mean you need to be standing at the gates at 7:30. If you get there by 8:30 or so it still isn't too bad (or wasn't last August, anyway!) and you can get a lot done. If DCA is opening at 10, you can go over there a few minutes before 10 (when DLR lines are getting long anyway), grab a Soarin' FP, and go down to TSMM right at rope drop because it's the only time of day you won't have to wait 45 minutes.

There are so many things to do at DCA when it is hot and crowded. (Our policy is to escape DLR when it starts getting uncomfortably crowded.) Tons of indoor shows - Aladdin is fantastic and you don't have to line up that early for it. Animation Academy is fun, Turtle Talk with Crush, walk through the Animation Building and check out the Beast's library. I don't know how old your kids are - Playhouse Disney is a nice cool break too. Kids love the carnival games on Paradise Pier. Make some dining reservations for character dining and you'll have a place to eat, take a break and cool off without a long wait.

Look at every attraction and ride on the map and Times Guide. We have discovered many fun things to do that we otherwise would have overlooked, but tried because it was crowded and they had short lines.

You can have a great time if you go in with a plan to avoid the heat and crowds. I don't think that means you have to be militant about getting there right at opening and following a strict touring plan. Just think about what you'd like to do and have a flexible plan. With kids I find that having a plan for meals helps, too. Or bring in snacks so nobody gets cranky if they have to wait a while for a meal.

Have fun!!

I agree. Do the low-interest stuff in the busy afternoons. The vast majority of park visitors have no plan, they just mill around. Just by doing the popular stuff in the morning and the Mr. Lincoln type stuff in the afternoon, you'll be fine.

I also agree about not getting up at dawn for MM. We showed up a few weeks ago only 15 minutes before the general park opening, on a Saturday, and still did FL with short lines.

 

[Sherry E]

I think everyone has given some great suggestions. What Mugglemama said is particularly on point - if it's getting on rides when it is busy is the concern, there are ways to handle that. If the issue is simply being uncomfortable in heavy crowds, it may not be an optimal experience but you can still take things in stride, take mid-day rest breaks, etc.

I've not been to DLR smack dab in the middle of summer in a very long time. However, because holiday time is my favorite time to visit DLR, I encounter large crowds then. I was a little taken aback last December (2009) at the sheer volume of people milling about when I was there, and it was clearly much more crowded than it had been on that exact same weekend in 2007 and 2008. I always expect Christmas season to be busy, but I was really surprised to see how much busier it had become in the course of a year. DL reached capacity fairly early in the day. Haunted Mansion Holiday had a line that was 45+ minutes long before 11:00 a.m. The POTC line was longer than I had seen it since the '80s or early '90s (even though it moves very fast). The whole area between the POTC line and the Rivers of America was just a wall of people. I later learned (here on the DIS, from HydroGuy) that 2009 was the busiest holiday season at DLR in 10 years - and I can believe it based on what I experienced!

I found that the crowds also put a damper on my other plans (not involving rides). I wanted to take a lot of photos and look in many shops. The back alleys of NOS were sooooo packed with people that I was daunted and didn't even attempt to get back there to claw my way into the shops. I didn't get nearly as many photos as I wanted because there were just too many people around and it was too difficult. I think if I had mentally prepared myself for that level of crowds, I would have been less annoyed by it all once I got there. Instead, I think I had it in my mind that 2009 would be similar to 2008 and 2007 and that it would be very manageable!

So whatever you do, just mentally prepare! Expect the worst, and then anything less than that will seem like a breeze!

 

[Funball]

And totally use the resources that Disneyland has, single rider and fast pass or child swap when ever possible! It will make having to wait in line much easier and with a fast pass you can just do other things till the time that you have to come back for that particular ride.

 

[Funball]

The key word is planning! Make sure you read your map and get to know the rides that have the FP system..and another thing…. Let’s say you and your family get FP’s for INDY, and it says on the ticket to come back between 1:00pm and 1:30pm, well anytime after 1:30pm you will STILL be able to use that fast pass—they still honor it!

 

[Mister Toad]

I am leaving Saturday and will be at the parks Sunday, lets hope that it isn't all that busy cause I would like to be able to get a ton done. I think we all just need to be positive, I just think a few people are reporting it being absolutely nuts and it may not be that bad (One person was there July 5th, day after a major holiday, which was probably why it was so crazy).

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Also, just from my personal experience a few weeks ago, I would NOT suggest getting up extra early to arrive an hour before opening on your MM. In fact, I wouldn't even suggest ATTENDING your MM!

Aw ~ bummer. We had 2 great MMs and our 2 non MM days were great as well ~ our 1st 2 rides three of our four days were PP followed by Dumbo *we treated our Monday like a MM day ~ noone had an advantage over us* We lined up for park opening no later than 20 min. prior to opening ~ those MM days were hard *7am opening* but it was so worth it.

OP ~ DD and I visited over the 4th of July weekend - we had a fabulous time.

 

[Dobie]

Also, the weather forecast for next week is for mid to high 70's, so it shouldn't be too terribly hot.

Have a magical trip!

 

[Disney Dreams]

There will be a lot of people there. Just know that going in and don't worry about it. You're at Disneyland. Enjoy!

 

[PHXscuba]

We were just there last Friday. Based on how busy I thought it would be beforehand, I thought it was definitely less crowded the first two-plus hours after the park opened at 8 a.m. While doing Fantasyland, my husband collected our first FP at 8:05 (Space Mtn), then at 8:45 for Thunder Mtn, then at 10:00 for Splash Mountain when we arrived in New Orleans Square. So three sets in our first two hours -- that helped immensely as the day got hotter and more crowded.

So I would say it is worth getting up early at least a couple times to hit low crowds in Fantasyland and start collecting FPs. By using the FPs, the longest ride line we had that day was about 25 minutes WITH FP for Indiana Jones mid-afternoon (when the standby line was 75-90 minutes). We waited about that long to take the railroad in NO Square (big mistake) and for our food at Golden Horseshoe!

PHXscuba

 

[Michelle2]

I think if I had mentally prepared myself for that level of crowds, I would have been less annoyed by it all once I got there. Instead, I think I had it in my mind that 2009 would be similar to 2008 and 2007 and that it would be very manageable!

So whatever you do, just mentally prepare! Expect the worst, and then anything less than that will seem like a breeze!

I totally agree! I always have to prepare my expectations every time I go, and I always plan and expect the worse. But when I do this, then I never have any disappointments.

 

[pixarmom]

I truly think that if you can handle crowds in WDW, you will probably do just fine in DL too! I used to only go at off-season times, but now I am the opposite and only want to go in the summers. I NEVER thought I would say that.
Hope everyone has a great time!

Thanks for the encouragement! We just returned from WDW and it was super hot and crowded shortly after EMH each day, but we had an absolutely wonderful time.

We were at the front of rope drop each morning and just walked onto rides everywhere and it was really easy to move around then. (Our boys are up early anyway - not hard to do at all.) We had ADRs for all lunches and dinners so that we always had a cool place to sit and eat and didn't have to wait in line for food ever. We swam in the afternoon, and when the parks got too crowded at night, we bailed and went back to the Beach Club to swim more or get ice cream.

So for better or worse, we are applying these same strategies next month at DL (substitute GCH for Beach Club.) But based on the advice here, sounds like we need to reduce expectations.