Here now and very crowded

[judi]

We were there last week also, I was a bit surprised at the crowds. We also did kttk on Sat., we went to the parks late each day and didn't ride as much as normal, thats ok, we will be back in June. Even with the crowds we still enjoyed ourselves.

 

[Tiziminchac]

I was at EPCOT yesterday when they opened and I closed the place out. I was amazed at how manageable the crowds were. I expected much worse. But I was pleasantly surprised. After EPCOT closed I went to MK and closed that place out too. When I got there Wishes was just going off and afterwards the place just emptied out. So I had great day as far as crowds go. Maybe they were all in MGM?

 

[mdoc]

I just got back today; we were in the parks from 3/25 through yesterday. It was indeed crowded. If you did standby for the big rides, it was generally 50-80 minutes. However, if you have a plan, you can avoid the lines. I found that the crowds made it difficult to get around, but not to get onto the attractions I wanted to do. I found MK and AK to be the worst in terms of sheer number of people blocking my way; on the other hand, when we were at MK we were able to do all of the Fantasyland rides (some more than once) in less than an hour with very little wait time.

 

[cruislovin]

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!

Are FastPasses available every hour now? It used to be every 2 hours. I hope so as more FP = more rides for us!

 

[ttfn3]

Don't rule out March. We were at WDW March 17-24th. We are normally off season travelers. I was surprised how manageable the crowds were. I really think people are buying the passes without the hoppers - and if they are staying onsite, they plan to go to the park with EMHs. We avoided the parks with EMH, got there at opening, took a break in the afternoon, and returned at night. I was pleasantly surprised how much we were able to do - especially just before the night parade time at MK. We had a ball riding BTMRR at dark during Spectro - no lines! We did venture to MGM for evening EMHs to catch the second show of Fantasmic. AVOID pm EMHs at MGM. Way too crowded. Of course, if you are a teenager - that's where they all were in the evening.

 

[sarahlovesmickey]

We were there last year from March 8th thru March 21st and it was not crowded at all. We walked onto a lot of rides. We had a good plan of attack (getting there when the parks opened and utilizing the FP system). We never waited for more than 20 minutes for anything.

 

[I'm No Fool]

Are FastPasses available every hour now? It used to be every 2 hours. I hope so as more FP = more rides for us!

When we were there the last week of March you could get a 2nd FastPass 5 minutes after the return time of the first pass began.

 

[lynlam]

We were there last week as well - 24th thru the 31st. I HATE crowds..let me state that first off. That being said, the ONLY time I felt overwhelmed by the crowds was at Animal Kingdom on Monday the 26th. I hated that park with a passion...though I LOVED Everest. Crowds were so bad at AK that day that I was in constant fear of losing my children. We stuck it out, but there were may moments where I was ready to just call it quits and go back to POP to swim the rest of the day. I honestly don't see myself ever going back to AK unless we go in the middle of January or something.
The rest of the parks were busy, yes. Some areas were worse than others...particuarly croweded at MK back around BTMRR and SM...yet other parts weren't bad at all. Of course we utilized the heck out of FastPass and the Rider Switch (we had 3 young kids with our party, so we did "Exploit" the rider switch at times )
Now, that being said, the traffic driving down from OH SUCKED bad. I swear to you, TN and GA were one huge traffic jam....in the middle of the night no less. So, while I will not hesitate to go over spring break again, I will hesitate to DRIVE next time.

 

[terribm]

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.

Thanks so much for the encouragement. We head down tomorrow and I am trying not to get discouraged. My plans echos what you suggest. I am planning to get to the parks early. I warned DH, when Mickey (or Stitch ) calls, be prepared to get up and at 'em!! No time for sleeping in on this vacation. I am going to stay positive. I believe the main way to work with large crowds is to be aware and to have a plan of attack Besides that, if we miss out on anything due to crowds, just another reason to head down again and soon.
Terri