Here Now And Boy Is It Crowded!!!

[hellokitty86]

We just got back from a quick weekend trip. We went to Epcot on Saturday and it was REALLY crowded! Starting around 5pm it got unbearable in World Showcase, really hard to walk. Lines for the F&W booths were super long too. On Sunday we wanted to go to Downtown Disney before we drove home but World of Disney was so packed I was close to having a panic attack and had to leave right away!! I've never seen Downtown Disney like that. It took us 30 minutes to find a parking space. Hopefully it will be less crowded when we go in January. I hope it calms down for those going soon! My advice for those wanting to enjoy the Food & Wine Festival is to go during the week and go to the countries in the early afternoon. We got alot more accomplished that way.

 

[vital]

We'll be arriving the 24th for a week as well. I hope it gets better than it sounds right now.

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

I asked this question on the Disney Mom's Panel today and this is the response that I received for any who may be interested:

Question:

My friend was at WDW from Oct. 2-12.Disney's website said this was a great week to visit for low attendance, but she said it was PACKED!Was this b/c of free dining?I'm going Nov.9-16 and picked those dates b/c the site said low crowds.Now I'm worried.

Answered by Beatrice R.:

Hi! While I can't speak to the reason for your friend's experience with crowds recently, I can tell you confidently that the week you are visiting (November 9 - 16) is a great time to visit. As a frequent visitor to Disney (I live here in Florida so its a bit easier), the weeks in November before Thanksgiving are relatively light compared to nearly all other times of the year.

In addition to lighter crowds and lines, another terrific reason for traveling is the weather. November is just beautiful. So worry not -- I think you will find you chose a really good time of year. Enjoy your trip!

 

[jaurban]

Does anyone know if the Florida schools were out for the Jewish Holidays, which is what I am suspecting added to the crowds - as many families would make it a five day weekend. (A previous poster said they were out TH and F).

 

[applechips]

Does anyone know if the Florida schools were out for the Jewish Holidays, which is what I am suspecting added to the crowds - as many families would make it a five day weekend. (A previous poster said they were out TH and F).

Yes, that is what I was told. I spoke to a Florida mom at the park who told me that the public schools were off because of Yom Kippur, and then said that she didn't know what they officially said in the public schools, but they had off Thurs and Fri. Yom Kippur was Thursday (began sundown on Wed).

I noticed a TON of school aged kids at the MNSSHP on Thursday night and wondered what the heck was going on. But I also noticed a lot of tourist groups from Brazil, on Wed Oct 8 at MK.

Next year Yom Kippur won't coincide with Columbus Day so it shouldn't be an issue again, if indeed that was the case. Yom Kippur is at the end of September in 2009.

 

[tink4ever]

Tonight we were at Epcot by 5:30 and we walked around World Showcase and it was not too crowded but I think that was just because it POURED most of the night. We were sooooo wet. But we had great food, great wine and champagne so it didn't really matter. I am just hoping starting tomorrow (tues) it will start getting better. I will keep everyone posted.

 

[traci]

Disney crowds are interesting. Last year we went the beginning of Sept. (after the holiday). Crowd predictor was *supposed* to be 3's and 4's. It was not. I would read reviews on the Dis that the park was dead. It was far from it We happened to be there during Night of Joy fest and it was packed with teens and young kids. Still the crowd predictor was 3's and 4's (I found it more packed than that)! Anyway, the year before we went the end of October and had 6's predicted. The crowds were lower than our Sept. trip that year. We rode Barnstormer 7 times without getting off one day.

So, I guess you really don't know until you get there! But, hey being in Disney with crowds is better than sitting on your computer typing about it huh!

Happy Travels All

 

[PEANUT1]

I think that there are very few "slow" periods in disney anymore. Just realize that there are going to be crowds...make a plan and enjoy the ride

 

[BadgerGirl84]

Arriving on Saturday so I am subbing as well.

I did three trips in mid-late October in the 90s and I thought there were pretty minimal crowds. I have since gone during Spring Break in April (crazy busy) and in January (pretty slow, but too cold!). Looking forward to another October trip, but I'm telling myself that the crowds won't be as low as I remember.

I don't think it's a new thing that schools often have several days off of school in October, so I'm not sure that would lead to the crowd levels increasing. I'm guessing that after so many years of people saying that October is a great time to go, many others are catching on!

 

[LilLisaLou]

We arrived right after park opening and went immediately to fastpass Midway Mania. Our fastpasses were for 11:30. Things just got busier and busier.

We decided to see what kind of seats we could get for Fantasmic and at 6:50, the place was almost completely full. The crowd was better at doing "the wave" than I'd ever experienced before. It was also a EMH so that also impacted the crowds. We headed home as soon as Fantasmic was finished. <yawn> We came home to giraffes on the savannah! It seemed like even the lobby was crowded.

 

[Goofy Guy]

...
Hi! While I can't speak to the reason for your friend's experience with crowds recently, I can tell you confidently that the week you are visiting (November 9 - 16) is a great time to visit. As a frequent visitor to Disney (I live here in Florida so its a bit easier), the weeks in November before Thanksgiving are relatively light compared to nearly all other times of the year.

In addition to lighter crowds and lines, another terrific reason for traveling is the weather. November is just beautiful. So worry not -- I think you will find you chose a really good time of year. Enjoy your trip!

That's what I'm hoping for! Thanks for the advice. We'll be there Nov. 7 -14 and we are trying to skate in after F&W and will avoid the MK during the xmas party events. I forget when Jersey week is supposed to take place but I have a feeling that wouldn't be too much of an impact.

Crossing my fingers!

 

[Tampa Mousekeeter]

We live in Tampa and no counties near us had any days off of school for the Jewish holidays or Columbus Day but they do have off this Friday !! I know quite a few people who are going over to Disney this weekend for a 3 day holiday because of this ...

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

That's what I'm hoping for! Thanks for the advice. We'll be there Nov. 7 -14 and we are trying to skate in after F&W and will avoid the MK during the xmas party events. I forget when Jersey week is supposed to take place but I have a feeling that wouldn't be too much of an impact.

Crossing my fingers!

Jersey schools will be out from Nov. 6-9th. Check out this link on Touring Plans. They have the Jersey days listed as 7's and 8's which is pretty crowded. It now has your dates of travel listed in the free section (you won't have to subscribe to see them) and you can see what the crowd level indicators are. Hope that helps!

http://www.touringplans.com/tp2/UG2_index.php?PageID=14

 

[Maxwell]

We were there this past weekend for Food and Wine. It was packed Saturday and long lines for the food booths but they went quick. The most we waited was about 10 min. Sunday was much less crowded with hardly any lines at all. My wife and several others swear they saw Joey Fatone in line in front of us at the San Francisco kiosk. Anyone else see him?

 

[Tampa Mousekeeter]

Joey Fatone does live in Orlando so it probably was him...but I don't think I would know him if I bumped right into him !!

 

[FLAngie]

We live in Tampa and no counties near us had any days off of school for the Jewish holidays or Columbus Day but they do have off this Friday !! I know quite a few people who are going over to Disney this weekend for a 3 day holiday because of this ...

We are over near Cocoa Beach and none of the schools here have any days off for the Jewish holidays /Columbus Day either. The kids did have this friday off, but it became a hurricane make-up day instead.

 

[BlueDumbo]

I don't think it's a new thing that schools often have several days off of school in October, so I'm not sure that would lead to the crowd levels increasing. I'm guessing that after so many years of people saying that October is a great time to go, many others are catching on!

I agree with this...the word is out that Sept - Oct are slow times of the year. Same with the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. More and more people are taking advantage of it to avoid the crowds, which then creates more crowds. It was certainly our motive to go in Sept this year because all the books tell you this is a slow time. We also factored in our past experience in going during Sept-Oct in 2001 and 2002 at which point it was very empty compared to what it was this year.

Disney is also doing much more in terms of promotional gimmics to draw people in. Business wise, they are smart...but they are trying to fill the parks even during the slow times; ie...F&W, MNSSHP, free dining, a chance to stay in the castle, etc... You see more commericials on TV and now the free birthday promotion for 09, not to mention the continuous free dining. Disney doesn't care about the crowd levels...they just want our business. And they're getting it! They want it this way year round. Even with the economy the way it is, people are still going because Disney makes it too attractive not to. Smart for Disney business...but bad for us who wish for lower crowds.

Does anyone know if Disneyland in California has the same problems with crowds?

 

[BoardWalkBelle]

<Does anyone know if Disneyland in California has the same problems with crowds>
yes, they do.

 

[tink4ever]

I just wanted to update that we spent the morning yesterday (wed) in Animal Kingdom and it was PACKED!!! Hard to walk packed!!Just like summer!! So we have decided we will not come to Disney in October again. Its just like summer!! Crazy!

 

[MommaluvsDis]

We just got back and yes, the MK and Epcot crowds were horrible!

What I don't understand, is why were the Brazillian tour groups there? I'm used to seeing them in June and July but October? Anyone know what's going on with that?