Here now - MK is packed

[Minischnaumom]

It isn't hard to understand at all. I don't know why some people continue to argue about it.

Exactly. Some people will never believe until they are the one standing in SB and experiencing and seeing it happen before their own eyes.

 

[magicbob]

Exactly. Some people will never believe until they are the one standing in SB and experiencing and seeing it happen before their own eyes.

And possibly not even then.

 

[khaleesi]

its completely because of the weather. nobody left their hotel either wednesday or thursday.

I was in Magic Kingdom on Wednesday, and by my standards it was packed. I can't possibly blame it on FP+ though. There were a LOT of people there with small children. My guess, based on nothing but that observation, is that people with children who are younger than school age realized that President's week is very busy because of kids being out of school, so they planned their vacation the following week.

 

[Sandy Fisher]

I can't begin to tell you -- and many wouldn't give a rat's behind anyway -- how close I come to calling and cancelling our trip (2 months away) and paying whatever penalty I have to for cancelling.
Or at the very least, changing our 5-day tickets to 3 and doing whatever we can at Disney and then going somewhere else.
Breaks my Disney heart.
Whatever the reason, and we've studiously avoided crowded times at the parks just about forever, if it's that kind of crowded, it's no longer fun. Certainly not relaxing.
Some of us have lower tolerances to the kind of waits described here -- for things we never waited for, or only waited a minimal amount of time.
Boo hiss.

 

[Q-man]

This is about the third year in a row I've heard of unusual crowds on Mardi Gras week. Louisiana schools are out and at WDW in force. The crowd prediction sites need to start factoring it in.

 

[Mad Hattered]

And possibly not even then.

Just being allowed to be in the parks is fabulous enough for some, I suppose.

 

[Thetechguy4you]

Hey Kidd_freeper when are you going in July?

 

[*disgal*]

I can't begin to tell you -- and many wouldn't give a rat's behind anyway -- how close I come to calling and cancelling our trip (2 months away) and paying whatever penalty I have to for cancelling.
Or at the very least, changing our 5-day tickets to 3 and doing whatever we can at Disney and then going somewhere else.
Breaks my Disney heart.
Whatever the reason, and we've studiously avoided crowded times at the parks just about forever, if it's that kind of crowded, it's no longer fun. Certainly not relaxing.
Some of us have lower tolerances to the kind of waits described here -- for things we never waited for, or only waited a minimal amount of time.
Boo hiss.

This is us. For some who have never gone and don't know any difference (like the friend I just helped plan her trip) or those who have never felt the need or want to ride the big rides more than once, the new system is a cake walk probably. But when you've had a decadent 7 layer chocolate cake before but now someone is handing you a brownie, it's disappointing. It's not that the brownie isn't good..I happen to love brownies. But it's not what you've always had and you're used to getting the other. Why do I always have to think of dessert examples? It's probably because I'm low carbing.

 

[Don Disney]

I can't begin to tell you -- and many wouldn't give a rat's behind anyway -- how close I come to calling and cancelling our trip (2 months away) and paying whatever penalty I have to for cancelling.
Or at the very least, changing our 5-day tickets to 3 and doing whatever we can at Disney and then going somewhere else.
Breaks my Disney heart.
Whatever the reason, and we've studiously avoided crowded times at the parks just about forever, if it's that kind of crowded, it's no longer fun. Certainly not relaxing.
Some of us have lower tolerances to the kind of waits described here -- for things we never waited for, or only waited a minimal amount of time.
Boo hiss.

We have cancelled our trip....supposed to be there now.Too much going on...FP+ this,SB line that,prices constantly higher than the rate of inflation(which has really put me off),not any significant added attractions etc.... We love WDW,but really,for all that,we'll pass....for now,and stay home for Mardi Gras. Half of my DD's school class and dance class are there now,as well as a few of DW co-workers....I'm sure they all will have a great time...I will be quite interested to hear how things went.

 

[khaleesi]

I was there last week Sunday through Thursday.... and while MK was very crowded on Wednesday (and the rain wasn't what I had hoped for), I had an amazing time, maybe the best time I've ever had. I didn't notice any real problems with FP+. There are more people there... but I wouldn't trade this past week for anything.

 

[leebee]

Every person from south Louisiana is running away from the madness called Mardi Gras!

Expect to see a lot of LSU gear!

Geaux Tigers!

This is actually a possibility. My sister lives in New Orleans (DD and her boyfriend fly down tomorrow but I stay home… how is that fair) so I know that MANY who work in the New Orleans area have at least Monday and Tuesday off from work, and the schools are closed from Friday (2/28) through Wednesday (3/5). The city is so crowded that many, many residents flee for the week. It's not that long a drive from New Orleans to Orlando, so this could be part of the reason for the crowds. Also… DD is going to NO because her University is on break for the next 2 weeks!

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

I was there last week Sunday through Thursday.... and while MK was very crowded on Wednesday (and the rain wasn't what I had hoped for), I had an amazing time, maybe the best time I've ever had. I didn't notice any real problems with FP+. There are more people there... but I wouldn't trade this past week for anything.

Kaleesi...how were the crowds at the other three parks?

 

[bcrook]

Which was my point. A higher percentage of park guests are getting in rides which would explain longer lines.

This is only your assumption.



What you cease to realize is that Disney took people out of the SB line and moved them to the FP line.


Old system:
Ride capacity = 100
FP line = 25 people
SB line = 100 people
At the end of the hour, per your example (3SB to 1FP), all of the people above are on or have ridden the ride.

For your argument you have to consider the possibility. And it is a possibility. And if it is your logic is off.

 

[bcrook]

It isn't hard to understand at all. I don't know why some people continue to argue about it.

I wonder this too. The dynamics have changed. It is obvious to see.

 

[mousehockey37]

Don't forget that along with Mardi Gras and Spring Breaks, the weather over the northern 2/3 of the country has been brutally cold. If people are able to, I'm willing to bet that there are just people who are there to get away from the bitter cold of the north as well.

I like how PPs explained how the FP+ is working. The big explanation was great, and the example citing about how cars merge on the road can really send it home.

Now to throw a variable into those examples, and we've all had this happen, if everyone merged 1:1 the line moves. When you get fire police or whoever out directing traffic and they see a "longer line" they don't follow a true X:Y car ratio. This is what people are experiencing and this is also leading into other threads of "non-Magical CMs" because they're being badgered by people while they're trying to keep the lines moving.

The only thing I wonder is this: Why haven't they capped the number of fastpasses per hour, knowing that there will be a standby line?

The only thing that I could think of for this is that you have people who were late for their window, people who are on time and people who jumped in line early for their FP window and this is creating that super long FP line. As well as they have to let some of the SB line move.

 

[hill6]

Most schools up north were out the week before with Presidents Day weekend so I don't think a lot of northern school kids were there.

 

[khaleesi]

Kaleesi...how were the crowds at the other three parks?

They were fine... it was only the MK that seemed crowded. And I wouldn't even say the waits were all that long. Jungle Cruise seemed to have a really long wait for some reason... almost always 40+ minutes, but I was able to practically walk right on to PoTC. Enchanted Tales also had a huge wait, but it was down for part of the day. I never checked Space Mountain, since I don't do coasters. But I'd be curious to know what the wait there was since it seemed like so many people with little kids.

The biggest problem I ran into as far as waits go is that every time the sky opened up and it started raining, people just jumped into whatever line was closest to get out of the rain. Because of that, the Winnie the Pooh ride wound up being a relatively long wait... but I don't think the majority of people actually intended to ride it originally. Same with Small World.

TSMM had a very long wait for the majority of the day (Tuesday). But the park itself didn't seem crowded at all. Same goes for AK and that was a morning EMH day (Monday). Epcot (Sunday) was a bit busier, but the marathon (half marathon?) was there that day.

MK was actually the only park where I felt that I needed to use all three of my FPs. I didn't use all of them at the other parks... just pretty much hopped on whatever I wanted, whenever... with the exception of TSMM and Soarin'. And like I said... I don't do coasters.

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

They were fine... it was only the MK that seemed crowded. And I wouldn't even say the waits were all that long. Jungle Cruise seemed to have a really long wait for some reason... almost always 40+ minutes, but I was able to practically walk right on to PoTC. Enchanted Tales also had a huge wait, but it was down for part of the day. I never checked Space Mountain, since I don't do coasters. But I'd be curious to know what the wait there was since it seemed like so many people with little kids.

The biggest problem I ran into as far as waits go is that every time the sky opened up and it started raining, people just jumped into whatever line was closest to get out of the rain. Because of that, the Winnie the Pooh ride wound up being a relatively long wait... but I don't think the majority of people actually intended to ride it originally. Same with Small World.

TSMM had a very long wait for the majority of the day (Tuesday). But the park itself didn't seem crowded at all. Same goes for AK and that was a morning EMH day (Monday). Epcot (Sunday) was a bit busier, but the marathon (half marathon?) was there that day.

MK was actually the only park where I felt that I needed to use all three of my FPs. I didn't use all of them at the other parks... just pretty much hopped on whatever I wanted, whenever... with the exception of TSMM and Soarin'. And like I said... I don't do coasters.

Yup...that's what I thought. The other three parks need to add significant attractions so that the MK isn't the only inundated park.

Spread the resources Disney...why have four parks when the vast majority of guests are only attracted to *one*?

Just sayin'?