Here now, crowds are worse than I had expected :/

[Princess_taffy05]

We Always go in early December (heading there on Sunday for honeymoon)- It is less busy this time of year. Rides like Soarin and Space Mountain will have long waits no matter when you go. I remember going as a kid every year in July. Anything is less busy compared to that!

 

[Postal68]

I am totally agreeing with thw the wall to wall people. Its insane! And with FP+ it's hard to change our days around. I know in theory we can chane FP+s but in reality there's nothing really left if we try to change.

Yep, and that is why FP+ is going to ruin any enjoyment of WDW. Naive people think "this is great, I have my attractions booked /3 months in advance". When the reality is you get to the Park on that day and you basically can't do anything else because of horrible crowds, and now you have will have basically zero flexibility if you need to change on the fly because you were roped into that Park for the day 3 months earlier.


WDW is selling you flexibility that will be non existent once everyone is online with FP+.

 

[Jenamy1013]

I'm at Pop Century so I can't even get anymore fast passes per day. This system is making the lines ridiculous. Don't get me wrong, my alloted passes have been great with no real wait, but after that our day is spent wandering through crowds trying to find something to ride under 30 minutes. It's disney so I'm just grateful I'm able to bring my kids here but the crowds just may kill me and my patience. The Christmas vibe is nice, but if I ever make it back it won't be this time of year. I'll stick to February where the last time it was practically a ghost town with walk ons for all rides.

 

[Princess_taffy05]

When in February? I was there mid feb and it was busier than early December!

 

[Postal68]

I'm at Pop Century so I can't even get anymore fast passes per day. This system is making the lines ridiculous. Don't get me wrong, my alloted passes have been great with no real wait, but after that our day is spent wandering through crowds trying to find something to ride under 30 minutes.

BINGO

What I've been saying was going to happen all along.

 

[wisblue]

I'm at Pop Century so I can't even get anymore fast passes per day. This system is making the lines ridiculous. Don't get me wrong, my alloted passes have been great with no real wait, but after that our day is spent wandering through crowds trying to find something to ride under 30 minutes. It's disney so I'm just grateful I'm able to bring my kids here but the crowds just may kill me and my patience. The Christmas vibe is nice, but if I ever make it back it won't be this time of year. I'll stick to February where the last time it was practically a ghost town with walk ons for all rides.

What park were you in?

If you had a hard time finding posted standby lines under 30 minutes then the wait times posted on MDE were off.

One of my daughters is leaving tomorrow to visit her CM sister, so I was looking at the waits today, and they seemed pretty low.

 

[wisblue]

BINGO

What I've been saying was going to happen all along.

Seems like we have some significant differences in reports from different people.

 

[pigletto]

Seems like we have some significant differences in reports from different people.

But that is how these threads always go for all the years I have been here. It's 50% expectations. If you went expecting busy it won't seem so bad. If you went expecting quiet .. you're in for a surprise. Then there is past experience. If you've only ever been in September, anything else will appear crowded. Then add in misinformation. People who went the first week of December years ago post through the year about what a great time to go that is. However, go back to this week last year and take a look for all the threads with people who said it was mobbed. It's just not as quiet any time of year anymore.
Then add in this fastpass+ nonsense and the restrictions it places on regular touring and you get some pretty stressed out guests.

It's a combination of factors, but perception is everything and one persons "moderate" crowds can be another persons "too crowded"

 

[wisblue]

But that is how these threads always go for all the years I have been here. It's 50% expectations. If you went expecting busy it won't seem so bad. If you went expecting quiet .. you're in for a surprise. Then there is past experience. If you've only ever been in September, anything else will appear crowded. Then add in misinformation. People who went the first week of December years ago post through the year about what a great time to go that is. However, go back to this week last year and take a look for all the threads with people who said it was mobbed. It's just not as quiet any time of year anymore.
Then add in this fastpass+ nonsense and the restrictions it places on regular touring and you get some pretty stressed out guests.

It's a combination of factors, but perception is everything and one persons "moderate" crowds can be another persons "too crowded"

I know, and that's why the argument that today somehow proves that FP+ is making standby lines dramatically longer is ridiculous. If the parks are wall to wall people, then the standby lines are inevitably going to be long.

On the other hand, if the reports that standby lines are low for all but the obvious headliners are accurate, then that pretty much shows that FP+ by itself does not produce larger than usual standby lines.

The posters who are salivating over the opportunity to say "I told you so" should probably wait for more data.

 

[OurDogCisco]

When I was there Thanksgiving week all apps showing wait times were off. I remembered we looked one day at undercover tourist and app said that pirates had a twenty minute wait but when we got to the ride the posted time was 50 minutes. I didn't find any of them useful. After a while I stopped checking as it ate up battery life and I was tired of looking at my phone all the time.

 

[BenbowInn]

What park were you in?

If you had a hard time finding posted standby lines under 30 minutes then the wait times posted on MDE were off.

One of my daughters is leaving tomorrow to visit her CM sister, so I was looking at the waits today, and they seemed pretty low.

Waits are low this week. The wait times are much less than they were last September during the "slowest time of the year". This week has been great!

It does feel crowded and congested which is normal, the actual lines haven't been bad at all.

 

[BenbowInn]

When I was there Thanksgiving week all apps showing wait times were off. I remembered we looked one day at undercover tourist and app said that pirates had a twenty minute wait but when we got to the ride the posted time was 50 minutes. I didn't find any of them useful. After a while I stopped checking as it ate up battery life and I was tired of looking at my phone all the time.

The touringplans app has been right on within 5 mins. I've been constantly checking and it's been very accurate so far.

The only time it was off was at Spaceship earth when a HUGE Brazilian tour group got in line as we were walking up to it. But can't fault an app for something unexpected like that.

 

[jimandami]

We're here today and were at MK. It was AWESOME! It didn't even feel crowded We were at AK on Sunday and it was also very manageable. However, we were at Epcot yesterday (which was recommended on easywdw.com) and it seemed very crowded. Soarin was at 70 min at 10:30 am and FP out to 6:30 - 7:30. And world showcase was a fiasco. The line for Candlelight Processional was backed up from American Adventure all the way to the boat dock at the Germany Pavilion. When the show let out, it was wall-to-wall people all the way back into future world. I'm hoping it was just due to Neil Patrick Harris narrating and that it will be less crowded when we go back later in the week

I agree with this! WS reminded me of the last weekend of Food & Wine last night, just completely packed. We loved the CP though! Idk if it will get less crazy, though, because we came through Sunday when Gary Sinise was there, and it was the same situation.

 

[redsbe]

What we also do not know about many of these posts is what time they entered the park and the impact that had on their ability to find rides with low wait times or if they actually expected to use FP- several times a day or simply walk onto most popular attractions with no wait - or repeatedly throughout the day.

Are they getting to park mid day only to discover to their surprise that the park was busier then expected and no FP available and 30+ wait times for the most popular rides?

And if they are regular or frequent visitors to WDW and thus had the experience to know what to expect with crowds and wait times that have changed over last several years, and not just related to FP- and FP+ availability.

 

[shana398]

We are here now, arrived sat. Nov 30. We did MK Sunday and HS Monday and Epcot today. We did MVMCP last night. We used EasyWDW crowd calendars and it has been great. We hardly even need our FPs. We rode just about everything multiple times at all three parks with wait times no more than 15 minutes max. The crowds for us are very manageable. In fact, the Christmas party had the longest wait times for rides than any of the other parks with regular crowds. We are traveling with a two year old and so far everything has been wonderful, our best trip so far out of four trips! We did do rope drop for MK and HS but only arrived about ten to 15 minutes early. We stayed in both parks all day. Yesterday we did Downtown Disney in the AM, also very manageable crowds, then took an afternoon break and then MVMCP. Today we went to Epcot, arrived about ten due to last night's late night, and rode everything easily. We are back for a break now and will do WS tonight. Just wanted everyone to know the crowd calendars are working like a charm for us!

 

[Brian_WDW74]

Per the Looking for the Live Report and Just Back Threads? sticky thread, I have moved this to the Disney Trip Reports board.