Here now and leaving today 1/25-1/30

[happypaws]

Today concludes another great family Disney vacation. Writing this from the airport. A few thoughts on our park experience.

We visited Magic Kingdom almost everyday and for the kids in our group, ages 7-1, this was a huge hit. We stayed on the monorail, so this was super convenient. Security seems to have all its kinks worked out and was pretty seamless. We had park hoppers and this worked well for our family.

All parks seemed extra crowded this January. Apparently Brazil has school break during this time frame, flags and school groups everywhere! Wait times in general were fairly long for the headliners, 7DMT had average of 80-120min and Flight of Passage was 180-220min. Some rides had occasionally short waits; Haunted Mansion, Pirates and BTMRR were often below 30min Adults of the group did a lot of single rider a lot.

We tried rope dropping Flight of Passage and failed, 2 hour wait despite getting to rope drop 1/2hr ahead of time. We had fast passes for River Journey (should have listened to my cousin, who recommended Flight of Passage instead).

Saturdays at Epcot seemed to be filled with many bar crawlers. Went back Monday for a few hours and it was a completely different experience, much less crowded. Festival of the Arts was really enjoyable/lots of unique food options.

Magic Band system was down yesterday resort wide for purchases for awhile and we lost some pictures as well unfortunately. Space Mountain was also down during our FastPass window, road the people mover and got to see a pretty unique view of the tracks.

Lastly, Astro Orbiter is our new favorite during fireworks, kids loved it! A magical end to a great trip.

 

[Davey Jones II]

Thanks for the trip report. We always skip the Astro Orbiter. Maybe we'll try it during the fireworks next time. You can see the fireworks well from inside the ride vehicles?

 

[sharonabe]

We tried rope dropping Flight of Passage and failed, 2 hour wait despite getting to rope drop 1/2hr ahead of time. We had fast passes for River Journey (should have listened to my cousin, who recommended Flight of Passage instead).

Sorry you had incorrect information on this one. To cut down on that wait at rope drop, you have to be AT THE GATES of AK at least one full hour before opening.

 

[heidijanesmith]

Thanks for the report, I too thought that the crowds were huge!

The big tour groups must have just started when I was there. I only saw 2-3 in each park.

 

[ChristineOH]

Disney is awesome about finding photos in their system.

https://mydisneyphotopass.disney.go.com/help-and-support/lost-media

I try to avoid Epcot on Saturdays too. I'm glad you got back on a different day. Glad you had fun!

 

[E.Jane]

So glad you enjoyed your trip! It's a little sad that WDW seems to be crowded all year round now. I remember our first visit in January, taking a picture of my kids at 10 am, standing in the middle of Tomorrowland, and literally not a single other person was in sight. Guess those days are long gone!

 

[Surgie2]

Thanks for the report. My husband and I were there at the same time as you and went to parks on Jan. 26-29. Oh my goodness, Saturday the 27th at MK was like nothing I've seen! SO MANY people! We had long ago booked a KTTK tour for 8:30 am so we were committed to MK. But once the hours expanded to 8:00 am - midnight I knew we were doomed LOL! It was still a fun trip and I was glad for the FPs we were able to book at 30 days out since we stayed offsite. 4th and beyond FPs for anything we cared to ride were pretty scarce, even for just 2 people and even with frequent checking and refreshing. We went the last week of January 3 years ago and it was nothing like this year's crowds.

 

[ckb_nc]

We were there as well - did Epcot Saturday evening. It was busy but nothing like Food and Wine. Did not seen nearly as many drinking groups. We had great fast passes plus did the DVC party in the rain Sunday evening and Disney after Dark. It was crowded for sure but I am beginning to wonder if an offseason exists

 

[happypaws]

Thanks for the trip report. We always skip the Astro Orbiter. Maybe we'll try it during the fireworks next time. You can see the fireworks well from inside the ride vehicles?

It was great for fireworks, plus you can see them from the platform while you are waiting to ride. Can't see the castle overlays, as expected though given the location.

Sorry you had incorrect information on this one. To cut down on that wait at rope drop, you have to be AT THE GATES of AK at least one full hour before opening.

I had a feeling this was the case. Our family would never have been ready that early, same reason we can't commit to morning EMH. Will definitely FP that one next time.

Thanks for the report, I too thought that the crowds were huge!

The big tour groups must have just started when I was there. I only saw 2-3 in each park.

I exaggerated a bit But our HS day we did spot about 15.

Disney is awesome about finding photos in their system.

https://mydisneyphotopass.disney.go.com/help-and-support/lost-media

I try to avoid Epcot on Saturdays too. I'm glad you got back on a different day. Glad you had fun!

Thank you for this! My sister has our memory maker account, so will forward along

So glad you enjoyed your trip! It's a little sad that WDW seems to be crowded all year round now. I remember our first visit in January, taking a picture of my kids at 10 am, standing in the middle of Tomorrowland, and literally not a single other person was in sight. Guess those days are long gone!

Wow, sounds amazing. Yeah, two years ago we all went in early December it crowds were much lighter then too. Does seem like "off-season" is no more.

Thanks for the report. My husband and I were there at the same time as you and went to parks on Jan. 26-29. Oh my goodness, Saturday the 27th at MK was like nothing I've seen! SO MANY people! We had long ago booked a KTTK tour for 8:30 am so we were committed to MK. But once the hours expanded to 8:00 am - midnight I knew we were doomed LOL! It was still a fun trip and I was glad for the FPs we were able to book at 30 days out since we stayed offsite. 4th and beyond FPs for anything we cared to ride were pretty scarce, even for just 2 people and even with frequent checking and refreshing. We went the last week of January 3 years ago and it was nothing like this year's crowds.

I went back to MK that same day at 10pm to stay till midnight, only time the hub was fairly empty was just after midnight. I know what you mean about the additional FPs, with 8 people we pretty much just stuck with our original 3.

We were there as well - did Epcot Saturday evening. It was busy but nothing like Food and Wine. Did not seen nearly as many drinking groups. We had great fast passes plus did the DVC party in the rain Sunday evening and Disney after Dark. It was crowded for sure but I am beginning to wonder if an offseason exists

I have never been during Food and Wine, but can only imagine the crowds! I think I was just stuck in Mexico at the wrong time, that area always bottlenecks.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

When staying on the monorail line you go through security before getting on right? Do you have to go through again a the park gates?

 

[heidijanesmith]

When staying on the monorail line you go through security before getting on right? Do you have to go through again a the park gates?

For MK, you only have to go through the security before the monorail.

For EPCOT, you have to do both.

 

[WEDWDW]

And once inside Epcot,if you hop to Magic Kingdom later via Monorail,there is NO security check at all-it feels awesome!