Here now and very crowded

[Starrin]

here right now waiting for fantasmic .... all the parks are way freakin crowded ... I don't know what capacity looks like ... but I don't like this

got a fastpass for tot at 12 ... had to come back at 5 ... that should give an indication ... pool at akl is soooo crowded and cannot find a place to laydown ....

 

[danny1649]

Update,I've heard crowds are way up.

 

[dixiedizfan]

Thanks for the info. I really think TouringPlans.com is underestimating the crowd level this year. When we were there three months ago the days were listed as 7's, but really should have been 9's. Today is listed as a 7, and the next two days are listed as 8's, so good luck!

 

[mkpat]

Aren't kids starting their spring breaks now??? That may explain it...

 

[disneyfreakjackie]

got a fastpass for tot at 12 ... had to come back at 5 ... that should give an indication ... pool at akl is soooo crowded and cannot find a place to laydown ....

WOW!!! That's just CRAZY!!! I feel bad ...

 

[newholidayx2]

When I first arrived 3/24 I also thought it was extremely crowded. I didnt get to MGM till early afternoon though. Lunch at Brown Derby and went over to EpCot.
Sat 3/25 I took the KTTK tour so didnt get to Epcot till midafternoon.
Sun 3/26 after early brkfst at O'Hana's (they were able to get me in 2hrs earlier than my AR) I went over to AK. It wasnt that bad since it was earlier in the day. I managed to get on EE three times - once w/FP, twice w/Singles line.
Mon 3/27 got to AK during their early hours. FP for EE, rode Safari, rode EE once w/FP, twice w/Singles. Saw FoTLK, remainder of park and left by 3pm
Tues 3/28 got to MK by opening. Did all the big rides, birthday lunch for my friends DD in the castle w/the princesses, left midday, pool brk at WL, back to MK at night.
Wed 3/29 at EpCot for their rope drop. Actually we were literally ahead of the drop/opening show and had to wait. Rode TT and Space, etc. Lunch in Mexico. Checked into BWV, pool while waiting for room. Back to EpCot at night
Thurs 3/30 - BW pool till 1pm. Back to EpCot, lunch in LeCellier, stayed in EpCot till Illuminations time.
Fri 3/31- MGM rope drop. Rode RnR, ToT, RnR, StarTours, LMA show, B&B show, lunc in Prime Time.
So after the 3/24-3/26 wknd the crowds were definately manageable for us. And we had pool time every day at either WL or BW pools.

Would I pick this time to go to WDW? Probably not but that was when the cheerleading competition was going on that my friend and her daughter attended during my solo wknd.

 

[Leota]

Well, I knew it'd be crowded. But, better to be in WDW in crowds than to not be at all!
Guess this trip will be about lounging by the pool & eating good food as much as anything else.

 

[TwingleMum]

THanks for the heads up!!

 

[GC&S]

We were there last week and the crowds were insane. We normally go in the fall so we were really taken back by the crowds. Fastpasses were gone really early and we didn't realize you could only get one fastpast per hour. We had planned on getting FP's for 3 different rides but could only get one each hour. We still had a good time but skipped many attractions due to the wait. Fantasmic was standing room only 10 minutes after they started letting people in. We did get to see Tink fly at Wishes though and we had never seen that so it was a bonus!

 

[byoung]

To crowded for me this time of year.

 

[sweetinmaine]

We were there last week and couldn't believe how crowded all of the parks were. Next year we'll do our spring trip earlier in March!

 

[Poohbear123]

To WDW anytime in March or April due to Spring Breaks!

 

[Vivianne]

Can you imagine working there at this time of year?

 

[DisneyDadof3]

Can you imagine working there at this time of year?

Overtime ought to be good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Karnak]

Thanks for the info. I really think TouringPlans.com is underestimating the crowd level this year. When we were there three months ago the days were listed as 7's, but really should have been 9's. Today is listed as a 7, and the next two days are listed as 8's, so good luck!

Don't know about TouringPlans.com, but if you check the current dates in the Unofficial Guide, for crowd levels you will note that Saturday, April 1 is listed as a "10."

 

[Vivianne]

Overtime ought to be good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'd be nice to hear from some CMs. To see if its worth it for them.

 

[goldengirl71]

I live in a town about an hour south of Atlanta. Traffic southbound I-75 was bumper to bumper all day yesterday. My FIL owns a gas station at one of the exits. It was swamped yesterday so I went in to help. I talked to atleast 80 families that were headed to Disney. That was just at our one little store. Spring Break is this week in Georgia.

 

[valeriekc]

I am really surprised by everyone's astonished reactions to the crowds.
Folks you are in FLA. during SPRING BREAK!
From early March to the end of April is ALWAYS going to be crowded because of all the breaks for schoolkids and families during that time.
If you were not aware of this fact then your surprise is understandable...if that is the case, sorry.
REMEMBER FOLKS SPRING BREAK WILL BE CROWDED regardless of what any silly touring guides may or may not tell you.

 

[Kycha]

Don't know about TouringPlans.com, but if you check the current dates in the Unofficial Guide, for crowd levels you will note that Saturday, April 1 is listed as a "10."

Actually, the "Unofficial Guide" website is Touringplans.com. And they list April 1st as a "7". We just returned today from a week at the world and I find that the crowd level table at touringplans.com was right on target. Our week is listed as mostly 7's and a couple of 8's. That means a wait time of 65 - 84 minutes. The longest wait time I found was for Space Mountain yesterday, April 1st, which was for 80 minutes. The longest we waited for a ride was 50 minutes for Rock N Roller Coaster on Tuesday and Kali River Rapids on Friday. We arrived last Sunday and arrived at Epcot around 12 noon. I figured at that time that all the fast passes would be gone. But, I was able to get them for Soarin' with a return time of 4pm. Then on Friday, at Animal Kingdom, we rode Expedition Everest 2 times within 1 1/2 hours and would have been able to ride 2 or 3 more times if my husbands motion sickness hadn't got the best of him. If you want to maximize your time at the parks, GET TO THE PARKS AT OPENING TIME!!!! And definitely use morning EMH if you are staying onsite. We stayed offsite this time, so we didn't have that benefit. But, we were still able to see all the attractions and rides we wanted by getting to the parks early.

 

[I'm No Fool]

We were there last week and though AK was a bit crowded we had no trouble getting on the rides. Here's an approximate breakdown of our wait times for the popular attractions:

Monday: AK

Kilimanjaro: 1 hour FP.
Everest: single rider line. In line and off the ride in under 10 minutes.
Dinosaur: Standby said 40, wait was 20

Tuesday: Epcot (Morning)

Test Track: 20 minutes standby

Magic Kingdom (Afternoon)

Buzz Lightyear: 1 Hour FP. Jungle Cruise: 1 hour, went to Haunted Mansion; standby 30 minutes
BTMRR: 1 1/4 hour FP.

Wednesday

MGM (Morning and Afternoon)
Didn't do anything that took Fast Pass, no long waits

Thursday
Epcot

No wait at all for Living with the Land
Less than 5 minutes for Maelstrom

If we had wanted to ride the rougher, wetter rides our results would have been much different.