Here Now - Magical Weather...Not so Magical Crowds!

[mtmbyck]

Just a quick update live from SSR (1st time and it is absolutely the most beautiful place we have ever stayed in Florida and at Disney!).

So we've only been to HS and DTD thus far, but I would say the crowds have begun! It's busy....got to HS for rope drop so we did most of our favourites before noon and then we left to go hang by the pool. The guidemaps and even the weekly schedule you get on the oarks at checkin said the park closed at 9pm but once in the park, everything was open until 10pm and they added a later Fantasmic show so that was a surpirse.

When we came back to HS at 6pm, every big ride was 60 min plus, all fastpasses gone and the shows and characters all leave at 6pm so really not too much to do! We did take in the finale show (7pm) of American Idol from the street outside the theatre on the jumbotron with a cold beer and it was fun! There are hundreds that camp out on the street to watch.

Headed to EPCOT tomorrow so I will update again.

WEATHER is the best I have ever had in March! Mid to High 80's with a breeze, and evenings stay at around 70 (lows of 60 overnight). No rain forecasted until at least Wed and then just isolated! Pools are nice and warm.

And thought I would also post that buses have been amazing at SSR and rooms are spotless - like new (we are in Congress Park).

 

[dianeschlicht]

Great report! I'm not surprised about the crowds. Many schools are having spring break right now. It will be getting gradually worse now until the week after Easter, and then it will calm down a bit for awhile. We will be there Mother's Day week, so hopefully it will be a LOT quieter by then.

 

[Disney Princess]

Thanks for sharing! It sounds like you are having a great time. We start spring break today but sadly we are going to Washington state where it will be cold and snowing. I'd rather be in Florida!!! Enjoy your trip. Keep the updates coming.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Wow! I am glad to hear about the great weather and I hope it holds. We had one gorgeous day in Ohio this week, but now we're back to cold.

Bobbi

 

[vandy]

Thanks for the report. We are heading down on Wednesday for our 25th anniversary. Looking forward to the warmer weather, although we will be in the 50's and 60's in Iowa then. We usually go in June/July so hopefully the crowds are no bigger than at those times. Plan on taking it easy though, seeing parts of the parks we don't see when with the whole family. We requested Congress Park at SSR as well so glad to hear the busses are running good and the room was spotless. I look forward to updates.

 

[cobbler]

My mother is down there right now and she hasn't experienced the crowds just yet. She said she hasn't noticed that many - of course she hasn't done much but float around Stormalong Bay

But she did say she was surprised that last night there was only a 40 minute wait for Soarin' and there were still FP avail. This was about 5pm.

What bothered her the most is that Epcot closes at 8.

 

[DonnaL]

Hopefully things do calm down into May as they usually do....we're also there Mother's Day week.....and it usually IS very calm and less crowded. However, that said, we're also always there the first full week in January (usually from the 3rd or 4th until the 10th or 11th) and this year from the 3rd thru the 11th the parks were VERY BUSY compared to previous years. Reports I've been hearing have indicated the parks and resorts are busier than usual due to the B4G3 promo, however, people are not spending extra money anywhere........just taking advantage of the lodging package promo.

 

[MnMomW3Boys]

Hopefully things do calm down into May as they usually do....we're also there Mother's Day week.....and it usually IS very calm and less crowded. However, that said, we're also always there the first full week in January (usually from the 3rd or 4th until the 10th or 11th) and this year from the 3rd thru the 11th the parks were VERY BUSY compared to previous years. Reports I've been hearing have indicated the parks and resorts are busier than usual due to the B4G3 promo, however, people are not spending extra money anywhere........just taking advantage of the lodging package promo.

We are there also the week of Mothers Day, I am hoping for low crowds but after the winter we have had in MN I just want some warm weather and sunshine.

OP - I hope the rest of your vacation is wonderfu.

 

[DVC Mike]

WEATHER is the best I have ever had in March! Mid to High 80's with a breeze, and evenings stay at around 70 (lows of 60 overnight). No rain forecasted until at least Wed and then just isolated! Pools are nice and warm.

And thought I would also post that buses have been amazing at SSR and rooms are spotless - like new (we are in Congress Park).

I agree that the weather is great. We're moving from BWV to SSR tomorrow, and I'm crossing my fingers for a nice room.

 

[carol1231]

The weather is beautiful there, we arrived home yesterday afternoon. I could tell that the crowds were picking up. On Thursday we pool hopped to the poly and took the bus to MK and then the monorail to poly, coming back at 1:30 there were people everywhere in front of MK. It wasn't like that when we went to MK on Monday.

Mike: good thing you'll be staying a little longer! We flew in to Raleigh yesterday afternoon and it is cold and raining and isn't supposed to stop for a couple more days. Just stay where you are!!

mtmbyck: have a great rest of your trip!!

 

[alldiz]

Glad to hear your 1st SSR visit is going so well. It is so awesome when the weather cooperates. I can't wait to see the AI attraction....are the contestants good?
Enjoy the rest of your trip.....wish I was there
Kerri

 

[granmanh603]

My mother is down there right now and she hasn't experienced the crowds just yet. She said she hasn't noticed that many - of course she hasn't done much but float around Stormalong Bay

But she did say she was surprised that last night there was only a 40 minute wait for Soarin' and there were still FP avail. This was about 5pm.

What bothered her the most is that Epcot closes at 8.

It closed at 8 on Friday but is open for Extra Magic hours so is open til 11

 

[DVC Mike]

Mike: good thing you'll be staying a little longer! We flew in to Raleigh yesterday afternoon and it is cold and raining and isn't supposed to stop for a couple more days. Just stay where you are!!

I just checked the weather in Charlotte, and it's 38 degrees and raining!

Here in Orlando, it's sunny and 72 degrees, with a high of 84 expected!

 

[DISNEYFOURME]

Here in Orlando, it's sunny and 72 degrees, with a high of 84 expected!

ahhh.. make it last, we wil be there in a few days!!

 

[Anal Annie]

We're going to SSR on Memorial Weekend for the first time...I was surprised when I looked at the park hours...most evenings everything shuts down at 7:00 unless it's at MK or EMH. I thought for sure that for a Holiday weekend they would've extended the all of the park hours by then?! Isn't that weekend kind of the "unofficial start" of summer? Anybody else know if that is normal or if it's just more cut backs??

 

[eporter66]

My wife ran the Disney Princess Half Marathon last weekend, she went down with my sister. They loved the event and both finished!!!!!

My wife got there on Friday March 6th and they just went to DTD for dinner. She said Rainforest cafe was no wait (we always have some little wait at least), but said T-Rex was packed, so they must be getting a lot of business because they are new

Sat they just hung out by the pool to relax before the big race. Sunday they ran early, and went to HS in the afternoon @ 4:00. She said it was extremely quiet and light crowd. By 7 the park was only open to those who participated in the Half Marathon, so they rode the big rides all night and stayed for fantasmic.

On Monday they went to EPCOT, and again it was a very light crowd. So - do things really die off between Presidents Week and before Spring Break???

 

[dianeschlicht]

We are there also the week of Mothers Day, I am hoping for low crowds but after the winter we have had in MN I just want some warm weather and sunshine.

OP - I hope the rest of your vacation is wonderfu.

Yes, that's what we are hoping too! We also will be there for the week of Mother's Day.....LOVE the F&G festival! We still had a low of -9 last Wednesday!!! When we were down to WDW in January, we had 5 days where temps got below freezing, so we didn't even get a respite on that vacation!

 

[jblrn2b]

Have fun. Wish I was there -send pictures please and thank you.

 

[mtmbyck]

Ok, so did EPCOT today - chose it as the tourist website said it was the lowest crowds and it was not a ME day. HOLY SMOKES! It was BUSY!! Listen, I come every March and I have to say this is busier than I remember. So by 11am, Soarin and Test Track were 60 minutes. But you could walk on the Nemo ride and Spaceship earth - seems to be lots of college kids. There were tons of dancers/cheerleaders in EPCOT today. Park is open until 9pm but we bailed at 3pm as it was TOO HOT - yes, you heard me correctly.

Florida is actually complaining that they have not had rain since March 1st and they have had 9 consecutive days of over 80 degree weather!! AWWWWWW.....How Awful! They are certain to have at lest 2 more days of 80's and then a 20% chance of rain on Tuesday and "dropping" to 79.

Have you ever seen that puppet dog joke about Hawaii weather - this reminds me of that!! This is dream weathert to any other state and certainly Canada!

There were some neat things at EPCOT I had not seen before....in preparation for the flower festival they have made Disney characters out of moss all over the park. These are amazing and make great photo stops. It has not begun yet but you can tell it will be beautiful.

This evening it is 75 and humid. Lots of kids in the pool and lots of walkers. DTD is packed as usual for an evening weekend night.

We had lunch at Le Cellier - I know, boring considering we are Canadian but had to try since it gets such rave reviews. I had the cheddar cheese soup - which I have NEVER seen on a menu in Canada FYI (delicious) and the filet Mignon on risotto rice - it melted in your mouth like prime rib!! And the bill for 3 adults and 2 kids was only $98 which wasn't bad considering the day before we dropped $140 at T Rex which wasn't near as good!

Tough to do the parks in the sun and heat (sorry if that sounds like Floridian complaining....poor me having to deal with this weather for another week!). We are thinking of veering from the schedule and doing Blizzard Beach tomorrow to keep the kids cool. Still have to do MK and AK and dreading those crowds!!

So that's the latest from the sunny south......I'll be back again in a day or 2.

 

[dis-happy]

I just checked the weather in Charlotte, and it's 38 degrees and raining!

Here in Orlando, it's sunny and 72 degrees, with a high of 84 expected!

We drove from WDW to Charlotte yesterday....wearing shorts! The car gauge said 77 degrees when we left and 42 degrees when we got home. I was so cold I had to take a looong hot bath and today the heat is set at 75 and the gas fireplace has been running the whole day. Plus, we missed the space shuttle launch, now scheduled for tomorrow instead. Where's the pouty face???


Hope y'all continue the fun for me.....