Here now...Heavy Crowds!

[Gina Starr]

I was at MK Sunday as well and it seemed crowded. Didn't really wait too long for rides but like someone else mentioned, there was a lot of people walking around. Went to Universal yesterday and it seemed really crowded to me but a worker said they had 18,000 there that day and "busy" is 35,000+

 

[Postal68]

Here now! Crowd levels according to Easywdw was a 4 today. Crowds seem more like summer crowds to me. What happened to the light crowds in May? Still having a good time but I think everyone is now reading the disboards and checking sites like touring plans and easywdw so now everybody wants to go on the days when they say low crowds until these are no longer light crowds any more. Anybody else here getting the same vibes?

Probably 90% of the people at WDW never heard of a crowd calculator.

 

[mrzrich]

Probably 90% of the people at WDW never heard of a crowd calculator.

Lol. As an aside, last night I was getting in line for IASW. Lady behind me asks the CM...

"What is this ride?"

I kinda giggled to myself that some people plan their trips down to the minute including bathroom breaks, others never heard of IASW.

 

[momtosam]

We were there this week last year and crowds were bigger than I expected, especially as the week went on. It was not SWW yet. It was the near end of F&G.

 

[princessesandpascal]

We are also here now! Started in EP and then hopped to MK till just before MSEP. Crowds were absolutely nuts all afternoon in MK, we nearly got run over by about 70 strollers and people are everywhere (walking is like playing Frogger!) but by the early evening it had calmed down a bit. Epcot was a zoo this morning at RD, so much so that we are trying to get a new ADR at Via Napoli Friday night because the EMH crowds were nuts. (We usually have really great luck at EMH so we were pretty blown away!)

That said, there was tons of FP availability (even Anna and Elsa for 2 people later tonight!) and we had a wonderful day! Patience and stopping for ice cream make all the difference.

 

[AngelaVHull]

I know there were a bunch of cheer/dance groups down there for summit. That might have contributed to the larger crowds.

 

[Trinity88]

We're here now and don't find the crowds too bad. MK did seem busy when we got there yesterday around 6pm, but like someone else said, we walked on to splash around 9:30. So it cleared out quickly. Today we were at HS and it was fine. Rode rockin roller coaster twice this morning with little wait. Toy story was 50 min at 4:30 which isn't summer levels.

 

[maryj11]

If the first week in May is crowded I wonder what it will be like in August when we go

 

[wisblue]

We were at EPCOT this morning for EMH and at MK for a few hours this evening.

Because we are accustomed to dealing with holiday crowds, today seemed like a literal walk in the park at both parks. Touring Plans predicted today as a crowd level 5 at Epcot and I will be surprised if they report it as actually being that high.

Here is a (not very good) picture of the line at Spaceship Earth as we were leaving the park around 2:30. The posted wait time was 15 minutes, but the end of the line was halfway up the ramp (past the FP checkpoint) and moving steadily into the boarding area. In other words, a walk on. This line is shorter than it was when we rode in the morning with a posted and actual wait time of 5 minutes.

The ride board at this time said Soarin was at 60 minutes, which would be unheard of in the middle of the afternoon on a really busy day. BTW, it was a thrill being able to Soar on Flight 5505 on the 10th anniversary of its official opening.

 

[wisblue]

BTW, here was our EMH experience at Epxot this morning.

We arrived at the bus stop at SSR at 7 AM, but a bus didn't arrive until 7:25 and it was being driven by the world's slowest driver. I swear it took 10 minutes from the time the bus went through the parking gate until the bus was parked and we could get out. So, by the time we got to the gate they had already let people in and were holding them to the right of SE. Because we were a little further back than I would have liked, we just missed being on the first cycle at Soarin. No big deal. We were out of Soarin by 8:25 and walked over to TT where there were exactly 6 people ahead of us in the single rider line. We were out of TT and at MS by 8:55 and there we walked right into the first preshow room where they closed the doors behind us with only 4 of the 10 numbers covered. It is not physically possible to get through that ride any quicker than we did. After leaving MS we did SSE (5 minutes), Nemo (posted 10, actual walk on), and Figment (posted 5, actual 5 because of brief ride breakdown) in short order before heading off to look at butterflies and flowers.

Not my idea of a big crowd.

 

[subtchr]

Patience and stopping for ice cream make all the difference.

You should put this on a t-shirt....

 

[soniam]

DHS might be crowded due to May the Fourth Be with You, yesterday, and Revenge of the Fifth, today.

OP what park were you at?

I am kind of glad that we have only gone when it's crowded. That way, unless we go on crazy days, like July 4th, Thanksgiving, or Xmas, we won't be disappointed by or unprepared for crowds.

 

[karm12]

Here now too...

RD for MK...started getting crowded late morning through the afternoon. Hopped to EP around 5pm...walked on to all the smaller rides including Spaceship Earth. Twenty minute standby for TT around 6pm, 30mn for Soarin' at 8pm (it was only 10mn when I was leaving ~8:30pm). Hopped back to MK at9pm...most rides were walk on except 7DMT and Peter Pan. My daughter and I rode the Barnstormer and Dumbo alone!

 

[PolynesianBlueJay]

Hi there,

We just returned yesterday and found that the crowd levels were better than the time we usually go (2nd week of May). We were there from April 26th to May 5th. The wait times were not extreme (unless it was for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train which was immediately a 45 minute wait). Everything else we did not need fastpasses for and everything we did get a fastpass for we were able to get on it within 15 minutes. It was a great experience. I do agree that everyone has a different definition of crowded. It appeared to get a bit busier during the middle part of the day but that died down around the evening time.

 

[DrivenByDisney]

I know there were a bunch of cheer/dance groups down there for summit. That might have contributed to the larger crowds.

^^^^ This

DHS might be crowded due to May the Fourth Be with You, yesterday, and Revenge of the Fifth, today.

^^^^ And this

The last two weeks/weekends here have seen mega cheer leading/dance competitions so that could explain some of the crowds at EPCOT especially since that is where the contest were being held.

Had friends at EPCOT yesterday and they did not think it was overly packed, though a bit larger than "normal" for May. The CFHLA (Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association) publishes numbers for the previous years hotel occupancy and in 2014, May was the lowest occupancy month as far as hoteliers are concerned in Orlando.

We were in Downtown Disney last night at Raglan Road and it was slam packed. So was everywhere else there actually. But, it was Cinco de Mayo so that played in to it as well I'm sure.

 

[ABE4DISNEY]

We were there last year, the last week of June. Those wait times would be about three times what the OP stated, so although it feels crowded to you, it is nowhere near summer crowds.

Just remember zig when others zag.

 

[nilla]

"Crowded" and "slow" are relative terms, and very subjective.

 

[Miss Monorail 1971]

The last two years we had to go during summer. The first week in July to be exact and yes it was crowded and crazy hot but with Josh's plan of attack our longest wait was TT and it was 45 min. The rest was maybe 20 min tops. That being said, I am really looking forward to mid November crowds this year. Hopefully more time to relax and enjoy the little things.

 

[mombrontrent]

We are here now and found the crowd level to be just as we expected and are used to at this time of year= very manageable. On Monday this is what we did:
10:30-arrive at animal kingdom, wander through discovery island
11:00-used FP+ for safari
12:00-saw FOLK
12:30-ate popcorn and dole whips
1:00-walked trail by safari
1:45-watched Flights of Wonder
2:15-used FP+ for Kali River Rapids
2:30-walked trail by rapids
3:15-used FP+ to ride Everest, rode again using single rider
4:00-watched Nemo
4:45-rode Primeval Whirl
5:00-Triceritops Spin
5:15-played carnival game
5:30-met Donald
5:45-rode Dinosaur
6:00-met Minnie and Mickey at outpost
6:30-ate dinner at Rainforest Cafe
9:00-arrived at MK just as Electrical parade was starting
9:15-rode Buzz
9:30-rode Stitch (my crazy DD likes this ride)
10:00-watched Wishes from Tomorrowland Bridge
10:30-rode IASW
10:45-rode HM
11:00-rode Pooh
11:15-rode tomarrowland speedway
11:30 rode Space twice
midnight-exited park

It was a long day but fun and very productive. We only used our allowed 3 FP+ and never waited in line more then 10-15 for anything else. Most things we rode were a walk on. Yesterday we spent the day at Blizzard Beach and every slide was a walk on. My kids rode Summit Plummet with no wait at all, nobody was ahead of them. We went to DisneyQuest last night with no waits for games. Today is MK (BOG lunch) and HS (Sci-Fi dinner). It after 9am now and 2 out of the 5 of us are still sleeping!

 

[UncleMike101]

We went over Memorial Day weekend last year.
People were complaining about the crowds.
Compared to the years past, when we went over the 4th of July, the Memorial Day crowds were a piece of cake.