Here now and WOW the lines are crazy

[pinkgirlmommy]

I don't think next week will be shorter because it is Thanksgiving!

 

[china mom]

we were there last week and thought it was crowded. In the past, we would make our FP selections the night before or even m I ring of. This trip, the night before strategy had us shut out of anything worth doing at Epcot. We switched to HS to meet up with family and that wasn't much better. Getting to the park early was the only way the kids got to ride anything.

 

[RustManFan]

I have waited 25 to 30 minutes at most of the Fantasyland attractions in year's past and not during summer or holiday times. Normal for us.

 

[Kristine316]

Party nights are suppose to be the best days to go to MK according to crowd calendars.
So what the heck happened yesterday, is this just a fluke?? Just some odd ball day with no real explanation or is it that as more people follow these crowd planning websites, more people use the advice and flock to the most recommended parks and in turn actually make those parks much busier?

Epcot was a least recommended park on Sunday and the wait times at that park looked very reasonable compared to MK.

I still think yesterday could have been just a fluke, obviously we would need to see some kind of pattern going forward to change thinking here.

 

[DrivenByDisney]

Funny to me, again ... I've replied to several threads on how busy the parks seem to people. Weekends are always busy, not sure why people are surprised. As locals, we avoid the parks on weekends, so we may have a different point of view of these crowds.

I just booked FP's for tomorrow before I started posting and were able to get Space, Splash & Thunder from 12:00 to 2:45. So in less than three hours, we can hit three of our favourite attractions then head to other rides. Then, head to EPCOT for dinner at Chefs de France with an ADR that I just booked for 8:10 p.m. as well -- All with day before "planning".

We went to EPCOT and AK last week (Wednesday) and thought the crowds were not that busy, even with the Food & Wine crowds, we were still able to visit five kiosks for samples, ride Mission:Space and Test Track (twice). Made FP's on the way to Animal & were able to get all the ones we wanted including riding Everest three times ... One with FP and two other times via the single rider queue.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

Honest question, not at all meant to be snarky. Yesterday was Sunday, right? I don't know that I'd expect crowds less than that on any weekend, any time of year. Am I wrong?

 

[tlmadden73]

And people wonder why Disney raises ticket prices and annual price passes.

If they don't .. the parks would be even MORE crowded.

I wonder (as most suspect) if next comes tiered pricing ... more expensive tickets during the most popular times to go (making it theoretically less crowded then and more crowded in the traditionally less busy seasons).

 

[Kristine316]

Honest question, not at all meant to be snarky. Yesterday was Sunday, right? I don't know that I'd expect crowds less than that on any weekend, any time of year. Am I wrong?

Well I see your point but, yesterday was a party day at the MK and according to most experts party days are some of the least crowded days ever at MK.
I think people are complaining about MK being so busy yesterday and the over all resort crowd predictions were only a
"5" (easywdw had a preidiction of 6, which was more accurate) I think if I recall correctly. That's not exactly crazy summer type crowds yet, some were saying it sure seemed like summer type crowds.

If the logic that every weekend is just super busy why are these planning sites giving lower to moderate predictions for a weekend?? If every weekend is just super busy why are there months like September and January where you have predictions that are quite low even on a Saturday?
I always thought WDW was not a resort heavily affected by locals, which like in CA drives up weekend crowds. Maybe I misunderstood that.

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

Well I see your point but, yesterday was a party day at the MK and according to most experts party days are some of the least crowded days ever at MK.
I think people are complaining about MK being so busy yesterday and the over all resort crowd predictions were only a
"5" (easywdw had a preidiction of 6, which was more accurate) I think if I recall correctly. That's not exactly crazy summer type crowds yet, some were saying it sure seemed like summer type crowds.

If the logic that every weekend is just super busy why are these planning sites giving lower to moderate predictions for a weekend?? If every weekend is just super busy why are there months like September and January where you have predictions that are quite low even on a Saturday?
I always thought WDW was not a resort heavily affected by locals, which like in CA drives up weekend crowds. Maybe I misunderstood that.

Party days have traditionally had lower crowds and been recommended. This year though, even they have been busy. Touring Plans predicted MK to be a 4 and a Easy WDW had MK as the most recommended park yesterday. The actual crowd level was an 8.

 

[maxiesmom]

I usually plan my park days by looking at Easy WDW's recommendations. But doing that is just the start. Even if you show up to the recommended park at 10 am it is going to be busy. Picking which day only gets you so far. Arriving early is still key, and barring that having a plan, or even following one of the set touring plans is the way to go.

I'm curious too. Where are you all getting the actual park level for each day after the fact?

 

[J'Adore Disney]

Slow days in WDW is a thing of the past. 25 minute wait time is a dream come true! And in my opinion (and from experience) best day of the week to go is on a Wednesday and Thursday.

 

[DisneyFive]

Hope things go better for you OP! I guess rope drop, and prioritizing rides is going to be needed.

Also, if you are willing... we found the single rider line on attractions like Rockin Roller Coaster and Test Track to be awesome. Standby wait could easily be 90+ minutes, and we'd be on the ride in 10. No kidding. Many times we were seated either next to each other, or just behind each other anyway.

Dan

 

[hershey2014]

Thanks for all the replies. The parks have been managable up until today. We went to Epcot and there was a 90 min wait for soarin 30 min after it opened. We just walked around and enjoyed the scenery since its our last day here. Most rides in epcot have been 45min to 2hrs plus. Magic kingdom around the same time frame.

We had lots of fun tho. Were waiting for the electrical parade to start.

 

[MataHari22]

I usually plan my park days by looking at Easy WDW's recommendations. But doing that is just the start. Even if you show up to the recommended park at 10 am it is going to be busy. Picking which day only gets you so far. Arriving early is still key, and barring that having a plan, or even following one of the set touring plans is the way to go.

I'm curious too. Where are you all getting the actual park level for each day after the fact?

Touring Plans has a "How We Did" post everyday. Shows what was projected vs the actual crowd levels and times. I have a subscription, so I'm not sure if that is required in order to access that data.

 

[Bullseye]

OP, as the Brits say you're "on holiday" during holiday week, so not really surprised Crowds aren't going to die down, they will get worse tomorrow and the next day for sure . But at least you're there, it's Thanksgiving Week and you're in WDW . Go to Frontierland and have a churro on me, just tell em to put it on my tab.

 

[Planogirl]

We went during Thanksgiving week many years ago and the crowds were pretty light until Thanksgiving itself and the days after. I'm not surprised to hear that that is a thing of the past

 

[mds88]

Are the wait times on MDE usually accurate? ToT was 190 minutes when I checked earlier, no way I can imagine waiting in that kind of line for any ride!