Here now (1/2 - 1/4)

[MickeyWaffles]

Here now for a quick visit! Some thoughts:

BUSY!
- Yesterday (1/3) was by far the most crowded I have ever seen MK, even including other traditionally busy days we have been there before (late December between Christmas and New Year’s, Easter Sunday, etc.) We were here at this same time in 2016 and this was considerably crazier.
-We were there 8:15am - 7:45pm. Park opened at 9.
-Around 11 am, PPF’s FP return line was to the carousel.
-IASW’s standby line consistently hovered around 65-75 minutes throughout the day. We tried to go a little after 10 and it was 60+ minutes. Oops!
-Our Country Bears show was full with people turned away - people were waiting to get into the lobby. That’s when you know ...
-There were way more people at rope drop than I have ever seen, even compared to traditionally much busier days than 1/3. Lines backed up fast.

CAST MEMBERS
-Our CM interactions have been excellent. Friendly, helpful and pleasant.
-Bathrooms were very clean given that every one we went to was jammed. Custodial kept up very well and I didn’t see any overflowing garbage, etc.

MEMORY MAKER
Photos my husband took are not showing up for me and visa versa. We are linked just like we are for every visit and for some reason we aren’t seeing each other’s photos. Visiting guest relations today to sort it out.

For us, a busy day at Disney is better than a normal day anywhere else, so we still had a blast! And we really did a lot of things, considering the crowds.

Off to Epcot today!

 

[jthornton94]

Funny, we are here as well and didn’t think it was bad at all. We hit Pandora first thing and left AK by 8:30 and headed to MK. We never waited more than 30 minutes for anything until the Jungle Cruise at 9pm. That was due to boat issues though. We walked straight in the Country Bears at about 4pm.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

BUSY!
- Yesterday (1/3) was by far the most crowded I have ever seen MK, even including other traditionally busy days we have been there before (late December between Christmas and New Year’s, Easter Sunday, etc.) We were here at this same time in 2016 and this was considerably crazier.
-We were there 8:15am - 7:45pm. Park opened at 9.
-Around 11 am, PPF’s FP return line was to the carousel.
-IASW’s standby line consistently hovered around 65-75 minutes throughout the day. We tried to go a little after 10 and it was 60+ minutes. Oops!
-Our Country Bears show was full with people turned away - people were waiting to get into the lobby. That’s when you know ...
-There were way more people at rope drop than I have ever seen, even compared to traditionally much busier days than 1/3. Lines backed up fast.

FWIW, we were at MK rope drop the day before - 1/2 - and your description is pretty much spot on with how I’d describe things as well. We’ve been in all sorts of crowd times and this was easily the most crowded rope drop morning I’ve personally experienced.

I could tell by the number of people at every Hub spoke before the opening show that it was going to be stout.

And yeah, IASW was posted 70 mins when we rode around 11am and it looked it. Our FP wait was a breezy 8 mins. People say “you don’t need a FP for IASW”... well sometimes you really do!

Still had a fun morning though, we just adjusted as needed.

Thanks for the report OP.

 

[Disneylover99]

Holiday crowds are definitely still here as we expected. It was the same in 2017, last time we were here right after new year’s. Weather has been a treat though!

We were in AK on Jan 2nd and Epcot/HS on Jan 3rd. Long waits for standby late afternoon til closing and shorter park hours. We’ll hit MK this afternoon.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Here now for a quick visit! Some thoughts:

BUSY!
- Yesterday (1/3) was by far the most crowded I have ever seen MK, even including other traditionally busy days we have been there before (late December between Christmas and New Year’s, Easter Sunday, etc.) We were here at this same time in 2016 and this was considerably crazier.
-We were there 8:15am - 7:45pm. Park opened at 9.
-Around 11 am, PPF’s FP return line was to the carousel.
-IASW’s standby line consistently hovered around 65-75 minutes throughout the day. We tried to go a little after 10 and it was 60+ minutes. Oops!
-Our Country Bears show was full with people turned away - people were waiting to get into the lobby. That’s when you know ...
-There were way more people at rope drop than I have ever seen, even compared to traditionally much busier days than 1/3. Lines backed up fast.

It looks like you may have left too soon. The posted wait for Small World was down to 10 minutes by 8:30 pm. Peter Pan below 20 mins at 10:30. 7 Dwarfs 30 minutes at 8:30, etc.

It seems like rope drop has become the busiest time of the day, especially during peak crowds. The good news is that most of those early arriving guests will also leave earlier, leaving the wait times pretty manageable in the evening.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

It looks like you may have left too soon. The posted wait for Small World was down to 10 minutes by 8:30 pm. Peter Pan below 20 mins at 10:30. 7 Dwarfs 30 minutes at 8:30, etc.

It seems like rope drop has become the busiest time of the day, especially during peak crowds. The good news is that most of those early arriving guests will also leave earlier, leaving the wait times pretty manageable in the evening.

Our 2 & 3 years olds are best in the morning and afternoon so evenings aren’t really in the cards for us right now. Someday we’ll be evening parks people again!

We’ve learned to always expect the unexpected We did expect it to be crowded based on other trips but yesterday was very different. We rolled with it

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Our 2 & 3 years olds are best in the morning and afternoon so evenings aren’t really in the cards for us right now. Someday we’ll be evening parks people again!

We’ve learned to always expect the unexpected We did expect it to be crowded based on other trips but yesterday was very different. We rolled with it

All kids react differently at WDW. My fondest Disney memory is chasing my then 3 year old daughter back to the entrance of Space Mountain moments before midnight with her screaming "One More Time Daddy" all the way.

20 years later, she still trying to get on one more ride before they shut those gates.

 

[nkereina]

-Around 11 am, PPF’s FP return line was to the carousel.

We experienced this during the last week of August, when its a less busy time of year. Took us maybe 15 minutes to get through. Not as fast as other FP+ lines, but not as bad as some may perceive. The FP+ queue itself for Peter Pan is relatively short, and the ride is slow-loading which makes the line build faster.

 

[Timmy Boy]

MEMORY MAKER
Photos my husband took are not showing up for me and visa versa. We are linked just like we are for every visit and for some reason we aren’t seeing each other’s photos. Visiting guest relations today to sort it out.

Try going to Photo settings and selecting "View All" instead of "Only Mine". I know it seems dumb and I'm not trying to make you seem that way, but it's something that is always set that way.

 

[MinnieMSue]

FWIW, we were at MK rope drop the day before - 1/2 - and your description is pretty much spot on with how I’d describe things as well. We’ve been in all sorts of crowd times and this was easily the most crowded rope drop morning I’ve personally experienced.

I could tell by the number of people at every Hub spoke before the opening show that it was going to be stout.

And yeah, IASW was posted 70 mins when we rode around 11am and it looked it. Our FP wait was a breezy 8 mins. People say “you don’t need a FP for IASW”... well sometimes you really do!

Still had a fun morning though, we just adjusted as needed.

Thanks for the report OP.

My daughter’s band spent the day at MK on 1/2 and she called and said she had never seen crowds like that in all her dozen trips. They rode small world at 11:15 so you all might have passed in line! They had a blast but rode very little. Most of those kids - it was their one and only ever day at Disney. We live in a very poor area and they soaked it up. The best thing was my advise for her to get a spot in the plaza garden opposite the dessert party area for herself and her friends around 6:30 (hoping it wasn’t all roped off) when the hub was packed already for 8pm fireworks. They had perfect views and room to breathe for pretty much the only time all day. No FP for them either as my daughter was only one with MDE (with AP) and the other kids got their tickets as they exited the bus. She asked a CM and he said they almost reached phased closure but not quite. I wasn’t surprised that touring plans had it as a 10/10 on historical crowd calendar the next day (as opposed to the predicted 9 )

 

[MickeyWaffles]

Try going to Photo settings and selecting "View All" instead of "Only Mine". I know it seems dumb and I'm not trying to make you seem that way, but it's something that is always set that way.

This was it! I didn’t have time to stop at guest relations today and just checked the settings. So strange! That’s never happened to me before. THANK YOU!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I was just in WDW for one night from 1/2 - 1/3. I spent the evening of 1/2 in EP and MK and the afternoon of 1/3 in EP. EP definitely felt less crowded than Christmas week when simply walking around the park, but, boy, FP+ lines were LONG. It took me almost 30 minutes just to get on Soarin'. The FP+ line for Spaceship Earth was the longest I'd ever experienced as well. On a positive note, there were a ton of great spots for Illuminations still available up until 10 minutes prior to showtime and the wait time for Frozen at 8:50 pm was only 15 minutes! (first time I've ever done standby for FEA!). Hopping over to MK in the evening, it was still crowded but, again, super easy to walk around and I managed to get a FP+ for small world for 10:25 pm that night - I know, doesn't sound like a major feat, but given I pulled it at 10 pm after a busy day at MK, I felt pretty lucky to get it! All in all, compared to a Christmas week, it was really enjoyable, plus most of the Christmas decorations were still up which was a bonus! I would definitely consider a post-NYE trip again!

 

[jworthy]

We were at MK today (1/4) and rode:

PP. Barn. SM. 7D. HH. PoC. SpM. IASM. UtS. BLSC

And watched the parade, HEA, CBJ, ESwB, and LF

Oh and played SotMK for 30 min.

 

[czmom]

I was just in WDW for one night from 1/2 - 1/3. I spent the evening of 1/2 in EP and MK and the afternoon of 1/3 in EP. EP definitely felt less crowded than Christmas week when simply walking around the park, but, boy, FP+ lines were LONG. It took me almost 30 minutes just to get on Soarin'. The FP+ line for Spaceship Earth was the longest I'd ever experienced as well. On a positive note, there were a ton of great spots for Illuminations still available up until 10 minutes prior to showtime and the wait time for Frozen at 8:50 pm was only 15 minutes! (first time I've ever done standby for FEA!). Hopping over to MK in the evening, it was still crowded but, again, super easy to walk around and I managed to get a FP+ for small world for 10:25 pm that night - I know, doesn't sound like a major feat, but given I pulled it at 10 pm after a busy day at MK, I felt pretty lucky to get it! All in all, compared to a Christmas week, it was really enjoyable, plus most of the Christmas decorations were still up which was a bonus! I would definitely consider a post-NYE trip again!

We did Soarin twice with FP on 1/2 and the line did take forever both times!! At least it was quicker than standby, but still....

 

[Disneylover99]

MK was crowded Jan. 4th mid day. We were only there from noon to 3:30pm, so peak crowds.

We found it as crowded as Christmas week. That being said, we were still able to make additional fp’s, same as Christmas week.

 

[cygnusx1jg]

Was wondering how crowded the parks were yesterday, 1/4/19, since we are Florida residents and have the Weekday Select Annual Pass. Thought it strange that the first day available to go back after the seasonal blackout was a Friday rather than just start it back on Monday the 7th.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

Was wondering how crowded the parks were yesterday, 1/4/19, since we are Florida residents and have the Weekday Select Annual Pass. Thought it strange that the first day available to go back after the seasonal blackout was a Friday rather than just start it back on Monday the 7th.

We went to Epcot yesterday (1/4). It seemed very crowded but manageable.

We got there at rope drop, did Wreck it Ralph/Vanellope meet & greet, Nemo twice (once with FP - my kids LOVE it, Imagination, Spaceship Earth (FP 2) slowly walked to the Jasmine meet & greet in Morocco, stopping at countries along the way, FEA (3rd FP), A & E meet and greet, and Gran Fiesta Tour before lunch at 12:30. Got quick service in China and it was manageable.

Explored the countries some more then booked a 4th FP for the Land and did that. My daughter just hit 40” and Soarin standby was 70 minutes around 3:00 pm. Since she was tall enough, and she said she was up for for waiting, we did it. I didn’t think she would actually be tall enough this visit so I hadn’t worked Soarin into our game plan. Honestly I expected the wait to be longer than 70 minutes based on how many people were in the park. Spaceship Earth was 60 minutes at that same time. We did a rider swap so she could also ride with my husband after. It was worth the wait, and she LOVED it.

It then started pouring, we walked back to BWV and hit the road.

A (busy) but really wonderful visit. Can’t wait to go back, as always.

 

[epcotty]

Unbelievably busy sounding. Was bad in the days coming up to Christmas but this sounds even worse. Wonder if small world/Country Bears are getting a resurgence of popularity or if it's a residual effect of an unusually crowded Christmas season

 

[epcotty]

FWIW, we were at MK rope drop the day before - 1/2 - and your description is pretty much spot on with how I’d describe things as well. We’ve been in all sorts of crowd times and this was easily the most crowded rope drop morning I’ve personally experienced.

I could tell by the number of people at every Hub spoke before the opening show that it was going to be stout.

And yeah, IASW was posted 70 mins when we rode around 11am and it looked it. Our FP wait was a breezy 8 mins. People say “you don’t need a FP for IASW”... well sometimes you really do!

Still had a fun morning though, we just adjusted as needed.

Thanks for the report OP.

during the holiday season you need a fp for iasw. We walked past it several times on the way to other attractions then finally were willing to go the fp route

 

[JFox]

Anyone know what the current options are for the refillable popcorn buckets? Not the special one but the regular plastic buckets. Holiday, generic, etc.