Here Now And Boy Is It Crowded!!!

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Not sure about today but we were in WDW for a week through yesterday and the tremendous crowd levels never let up. We were in Epcot Friday (10/17) and Wrld Shwcs was the most crowded I've ever seen (7 trips in 3 years). 25 minute waits (!) for El Rio del Tiempo(!!). As someone said in a previous post, Toy Stry Mnia's Fast Pass line itself was 20 minutes at Hollywood Studios on Wednesday and yes, 80 minute waits for standby. Just masses of people everywhere, every park. But it didn't deter us as we still had a great time and got to see everything we wanted to. Although being packed in like sardines at MNSSHP Thursday night, we still enjoyed it. But there's never enough hours in the night for those!!! Hope this helps. I'll post a short Trip Report soon.

Does anyone know why this is (these huge October crowds)? I thought it may have been free dining, but that ended on the 11th.

 

[rie'smom]

Schools in south Louisiana had their Fall break last weekend. This Fall Break holiday started last year. It was canclled because of the hurricanes but many schools said they'd forgive abscences because trips had been paid and people would lose money.

 

[EpcotQueen]

We're here now and EPCOT is the most crowded we've ever seen it. We're frequent flyers with at least 2 trips a year. It was hip-to-hip at EPCOT last night and tonight. On the other hand we walked right onto Safari today at Animal Kingdom. Very light crowd there in the afternoon.

 

[traci]

Monday is a 7 out of 10 crowd on UG.......

 

[nuzmom]

Monday is a 7 out of 10 crowd on UG.......

Yeah - WHY??????

(we've been here since the 12th - can't believe the crowds)

 

[leeh1530]

Greeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaattttttttttttttt ................

 

[tink4ever]

Hi there....

Is anyone out there who is down now who can weigh in on whether the crowd levels have come down at all?

Any examples of wait times from today (from any park!) would be awesome!

Cheryl

Hi as I have been reporting since I arrived on Oct 11th the crowds are awful. I just got back from MK and you could not walk down main street. Literally it was stopped. Couldn't believe it. It was soooo packed you could not even walk. We managed to get to Caseys and walk thru the shops that way. It worked but the stores were packed too. I am very disappointed. I have been every other month but October and I was sooo looking forward to a nice quiet vacation and it was not slow or quiet at all. I will never come back in October. I think it was better in June and August. Good luck everyone!!

 

[mollygirl13]

DH and I just came back from WDW.
I have been to WDW 35+ times and I can honestly say I have never seen the crowds so high. I agree with another poster: you couldn't even walk down Main Street!
BUT....
We did have a fantastic time and made sure we had all of our breakfast/lunch/dinner reservations before we left. I cannot imagine not having any ADR's at this busy time.
We also had to have a plan for the parks: we got there early, utilized Fastpass and went to EMH at MK one evening (EMH was our best night at MK. It was open until 1am and by 11:30 or so the park had really emptied out!!).
That worked like a charm for us! We were able to do/see alot without having to wait in the long Standby lines.

**You know its crowded when It's a Small World's line is out by Peter Pan's Flight!**

 

[tink4ever]

Leaving tomorrow. Any crowd updates from today???

Yes we just got back from Magic Kingdom and you could not walk down main Street. It was stopped. I could not believe it.

 

[traci]

you have got to be kidding me.

 

[tink4ever]

One thing I did notice was a lot of Brazil yellow buses all around the resort areas. There were a lot of tours and I guess they were staying all around the Epcot area because I saw them all week. Another thing I noticed was that there were a lot of conventions. I just have to say I am very disappointed with this past vacation.

 

[mollygirl13]

Yes, there were a ton of "tour groups." Huge groups of them!

 

[oybolshoi]

My husband and I just returned from WDW yesterday - we were there for nine days and also commented on the unusually high crowd levels. We've been to WDW every October for the past six years and have never seen this many people there. We also noticed several tour groups and there was also a massive convention over at the Swolphin.

We had a good time but also made a conscious decision to bypass almost all the rides and attractions because we weren't interested in 40-80 minute stand-by wait times. We focused on the F&W Festival at Epcot but even that was pretty busy on most days.

Be sure to take your patience and have a good time!

 

[applechips]

gosh I am so stunned to hear how bad the crowds are and have increased over the last week. I'd really love to know why the huge change. Could it really be tour groups? I am so sorry to all who have been affected! Crowds and heat are no fun! That is exactly why we avoid June and July and August!!!

Crossing my fingers for a change ASAP!

 

[WDWCPAlumni]

What is with the tour groups??
My sister inlaw said she was surprised to see them everywhere last January too!!!
Does anyone know who they are or where they are from??
Maybe we can get the schedule to work out the crowd changes in the future.

 

[eddieras]

Monday is a 7 out of 10 crowd on UG.......

UG also had last week (the 8th thru the 12th) a 4 and 5 - and it was packed!

Can anyone tell me how the crowds the 8th thru 12 (of Oct) compared to a mid june crowd?? i can't imagine going if it's worse than last week - and June may be our only time - i'm dying to know--- anyone???

 

[parmtoo]

Does anyone know why this is (these huge October crowds)? I thought it may have been free dining, but that ended on the 11th.

There are people with free dinning all the way through Dec. 23. I wonder if this is part of the crowd problem

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

There are people with free dinning all the way through Dec. 23. I wonder if this is part of the crowd problem

According to Mousesavers, the free dining ended on the 11th of October and doesn't restart until mid November. That's why I can't understand the huge crowds this late into October.

 

[traci]

Monday is supposed to be busy...I am curious to hear how things are mid week, say, by Wednesday. Keep us posted those who are there, pretty please

 

[ILuvCrush]

I was there Oct 13-18. I did no parks on the 18th. I was VERY suprised at how busy it was. UG had crowd calandar listed as 4-6 (w/ 7 on Columbus day) I honestly thought it was way busier than when we went during Jersey Week (which was also the last weekend of F&W) when the crowd calandar was 6-8 all week.

I was also suprised at how packed MNSSHP was.

I've gone this same week in October before, and it wasn't nearly so busy. Now all that being said.... I did not wait in any lines> 15min. I went early, left in afternoon, did evening extra magic hours, utilized FP very well, and really became to LOVE the single rider lines.

I was solo...so I could move around pretty easily....however, the crowds have made me rethink the Thanksgiving trip for next year. Bigger crowds and big touring parties are a tough mix. I may try to get everyone to bump it back 2 weeks

Paula