Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[craedaisy12]

wait didn't Disney start a park reservation system some time ago to control the amount of people in the park? isn't it suppose to allow for a more enjoyable experience? were you maybe in the park on a day they weren't using the reservation system? cause if they were everything should have been very manageable cause the reservation system should control the amount of people allowed in the parks?

I think it started as a way to control crowds now it’s for that and also making sure they have enough staff.

Also some attractions haven’t reopened so the crowds aren’t dispersed as they usually are.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

Not surprised, we thought the same thing in March but we go so often that we have only a set of must-dos and we have plenty of time to accomplish them. We like going in the evenings and rope drop, the middle of the day is usually reserved for the resort and just hanging out in general. If you ever see a family sitting at a table with drinks and snacks and playing Rummy, that is us just letting crowds thin out a bit and relaxing! LOL
We head back in 15 days and are spending the first week just relaxing at the resort, doing a Monorail crawl, Segway tour and the like.

 

[jimim]

I think it started as a way to control crowds now it’s for that and also making sure they have enough staff.

Also some attractions haven’t reopened so the crowds aren’t dispersed as they usually are.

actually lets rephrase "making sure they have enough staff". . . more like know how many people to keep home so they save money buy not overpaying for people to be not busy.

what isn't open isn't going to change how busy the parks are right now. people are going and they are letting them in the reservation system is a joke.

 

[jimim]

Thank you for your post. I will be going down on the 22nd and i plan to just take my time and enjoy myself. We are there for two weeks with our 1 year old with some family also joining.

I’m in the mindset that this is all because of ‘revenge vacationing’ and people who had trips in 2020 are making up for it now or have credits to use. I’m thankful for my trip in March 2020 that ended a day before everything shut down!

We try to go every other year and hoping in 2024 things are closer to normal.

last time we were there was June 2019. I have cx'ed. . . lets see 6 trips. Only reason I'm going in November is cause my kids and wife are on my back. We haven't missed 2-3 trips per year since man 2000. . . I just don't have much of a desire to go with all the changes, but we are going for 12 days so we will see how it is. I'm trying to stay positive cause Disney was a huge pat of our lives, but since covid and all the changes my priority on where I travel and when I want to retire has drastically changed. our plan is to just kinda go with the flow. all we really want to accomplish in those 12 days is Star Wars land cause it wasn't open in June of 2019. the mickey and Minnie railroad, ratatouille, and guardians. other than that, what shall be will be.

 

[craedaisy12]

last time we were there was June 2019. I have cx'ed. . . lets see 6 trips. Only reason I'm going in November is cause my kids and wife are on my back. We haven't missed 2-3 trips per year since man 2000. . . I just don't have much of a desire to go with all the changes, but we are going for 12 days so we will see how it is. I'm trying to stay positive cause Disney was a huge pat of our lives, but since covid and all the changes my priority on where I travel and when I want to retire has drastically changed. our plan is to just kinda go with the flow. all we really want to accomplish in those 12 days is Star Wars land cause it wasn't open in June of 2019. the mickey and Minnie railroad, ratatouille, and guardians. other than that, what shall be will be.

Totally agree with how much it has changed. This will make my 18th time since 2001 all but 2 trips have happened after 2007. We love being in the Disney bubble but while they keep adding new things it’s hard to have the same mindset because so much is new and we’ve gotta try it. My next trip my only must do is Guadians because that has opened since I last went.

I hope you have a good time!

 

[DisneyFive]

Where to begin? Well I guess I should get the worst over with...the crowds. They are truly awful. There are just way too many people. Early entry, Genie+ and ILL have been awesome. We've ridden everything we've wanted to (sometimes more than once) without waiting for more than 20 minutes. But once the crowds pick up, the fun ends. The throngs are overwhelming and all we want to do is ESCAPE to somewhere quiet where we can move around without having to dodge a sea of strollers. I love Animal Kingdom and World Showcase but it was impossible to explore and enjoy the atmosphere. Then there is the expense. I was prepared for and resigned to the expense but it is difficult to justify spending so much and needing to leave after a few hours because of how crowded it is. If it weren't for Genie+ and ILL, we'd be truly miserable. Do I regret coming? Mostly no. There have been many fun moments and it's been a decade since my family and I vacationed together. But I can promise you all this...I won't be coming back to Disney. They would have to seriously cap attendance or build a couple more parks or dozens more attractions to spread out the crowds to tempt me to return. We're off to USO tomorrow and I'd be happy to post an update of our experience for comparison there if anyone is interested.

wait didn't Disney start a park reservation system some time ago to control the amount of people in the park? isn't it suppose to allow for a more enjoyable experience? were you maybe in the park on a day they weren't using the reservation system? cause if they were everything should have been very manageable cause the reservation system should control the amount of people allowed in the parks?

Actual overall crowd levels (from touring plans historical crowds) the last week of this September were 4, 4, 6, 5, 7, 3, 4. (out of 10). If you haven't been in 10 years, I can see how crowds felt heavy but it's still a slower time than most. I wish we could go back to 2012 crowd levels, but those days have been gone for the last 5+ years. The only thing that could drastically change that now is another major recession, which is what reset those crowd levels so low in the 2009-2013 timeframe. (not that I'm wishing for a major recession)

We were in WDW for 8 nights this late July and it felt like any other late July, early August, trip that we've taken over the last 5 years. (measured 5's. 6's, 7's)

Dan

 

[mrd7896]

can anyone share their experiences relatively recently on how overestimated wait times are?
I know it's always a gamble, but in preparation for our upcoming trip (yes we chose a HORRIBLE time to go because of Columbus day), i'm trying to get a game plan for some of our days.
MK won't matter because we have party tickets.
We are going to pay for Genie+ for HS since that seems like a nightmare almost every day--hoping to rope drop tower, rnrc and then head to TSMM before official park open with a genie selection for MMRR on the lineup. I'm crossing my fingers that we can get tower and RNRC in the 30 minutes because people still rush to rise or slinky????

Basically for AK and EP, are the wait times still being over estimated to manage expectations and force people to buy Genie+? Seeing a 60 minute wait for Soarin right now has me a bit spooked...
We go annually which is why we are going to avoid some of the big headliners aka slinky, rise, seven dwarves or frozen

(admittedly i always get like this before a trip and we are able to navigate things relatively well, but it's never fun looking at current wait times and everything, even some of the...C list attractions..are 35 minutes!)

 

[VAtink]

Actual overall crowd levels (from touring plans historical crowds) the last week of this September were 4, 4, 6, 5, 7, 3, 4. (out of 10). If you haven't been in 10 years, I can see how crowds felt heavy but it's still a slower time than most. I wish we could go back to 2012 crowd levels, but those days have been gone for the last 5+ years. The only thing that could drastically change that now is another major recession, which is what reset those crowd levels so low in the 2009-2013 timeframe. (not that I'm wishing for a major recession)

We were in WDW for 8 nights this late July and it felt like any other late July, early August, trip that we've taken over the last 5 years. (measured 5's. 6's, 7's)

Dan

To be fair, 5+ is historically not normal the last week of September. I just checked the touring plans historical crowds for this past week vs the same week in 2019 to compare to pre-pandemic levels for the same parks/same days we just did this year and across the board it jumped from 1 and 2 in 2019 to 5+ in 2022 (mostly 6 and 7). We typically go the last week in September, only year we missed was 2020, and it definitely felt a whole lot more crowded this year than it ever has before for that week.

 

[DisneyFive]

To be fair, 5+ is historically not normal the last week of September. I just checked the touring plans historical crowds for this past week vs the same week in 2019 to compare to pre-pandemic levels for the same parks/same days we just did this year and across the board it jumped from 1 and 2 in 2019 to 5+ in 2022 (mostly 6 and 7). We typically go the last week in September, only year we missed was 2020, and it definitely felt a whole lot more crowded this year than it ever has before for that week.

Was it more busy than other years in late September? Yes. However it's still a relatively low crowd time when looking at an annual crowd calendar.

I agree, 5+ is not normal for the last week of September, and 5+ wasn't the average this year either. For the last week of September, looking at average crowd levels there were four 4's, one 5, one 6, and one 7. It was not mostly 6 and 7, rather mostly 4's. The rest of Sept averaged about a 3 with a few 4's, 5's and 6's sprinkled in.

This late September was busier than past late Septembers, but not busy when considering high and low crowd times of the year. People's perceptions of crowd levels can vary highly, and it can also depend on if you happened to pick the busiest park on a given day. For example, on Sept 25th, MK was a 3, but EP was a 7

Dan

 

[VAtink]

Was it more busy than other years in late September? Yes. However it's still a relatively low crowd time when looking at an annual crowd calendar.

I agree, 5+ is not normal for the last week of September, and 5+ wasn't the average this year either. For the last week of September, looking at average crowd levels there were four 4's, one 5, one 6, and one 7. It was not mostly 6 and 7, rather mostly 4's. The rest of Sept averaged about a 3 with a few 4's, 5's and 6's sprinkled in.

This late September was busier than past late Septembers, but not busy when considering high and low crowd times of the year. People's perceptions of crowd levels can vary highly, and it can also depend on if you happened to pick the busiest park on a given day. For example, on Sept 25th, MK was a 3, but EP was a 7

Dan

Well, yes, it's not as crowded as say Christmas, but having the parks be at 6 and 7 is not low crowds. It felt about equal to and in some cases more crowded last week than it has during our spring break trips. The weeks leading up to the last week of September were generally low crowds comparatively, but not the last week. Note, I'm looking at the individual parks we actually went to last week not the average, and yes I get that this is a case of zigging when others zagged, and we didn't do that well this trip (how did we manage to be at the most crowded park each day?!? ), but all but two days of our 10 day trip (really 8 days with the hurricane) the parks we were at were at 6 and 7, the other two days were 5s.

Funny enough, the least crowded park day seemed like Epcot on the 1st for the 40th...guessing maybe because everyone was in line for the merchandise!

 

[Jrb1979]

Was it more busy than other years in late September? Yes. However it's still a relatively low crowd time when looking at an annual crowd calendar.

I agree, 5+ is not normal for the last week of September, and 5+ wasn't the average this year either. For the last week of September, looking at average crowd levels there were four 4's, one 5, one 6, and one 7. It was not mostly 6 and 7, rather mostly 4's. The rest of Sept averaged about a 3 with a few 4's, 5's and 6's sprinkled in.

This late September was busier than past late Septembers, but not busy when considering high and low crowd times of the year. People's perceptions of crowd levels can vary highly, and it can also depend on if you happened to pick the busiest park on a given day. For example, on Sept 25th, MK was a 3, but EP was a 7

Dan

A lot of that also has to do with things not open yet. Some shows and places to eat. Those help eat up crowds.

 

[SLThomas318]

To be fair, 5+ is historically not normal the last week of September. I just checked the touring plans historical crowds for this past week vs the same week in 2019 to compare to pre-pandemic levels for the same parks/same days we just did this year and across the board it jumped from 1 and 2 in 2019 to 5+ in 2022 (mostly 6 and 7). We typically go the last week in September, only year we missed was 2020, and it definitely felt a whole lot more crowded this year than it ever has before for that week.

Sept 2019 was when galaxy’s edge opened but they announced the opening kind of last minute if I remember? I thought that early fall was slower then usual with a lot of people waiting on the opening announcement. They also had those amazing early park hours! I know Hurricane Dorian was labor day weekend that year (we were there). I don’t think fall 2019 was the norm?

Eta… I also wonder how much they are staffing based on park reservations now so that low crowd days don’t really feel low cuz they aren’t running at full capacity. Just a hunch…

 

[only hope]

Eta… I also wonder how much they are staffing based on park reservations now so that low crowd days don’t really feel low cuz they aren’t running at full capacity. Just a hunch…

There was an article about that awhile back. Some people made some detailed observations of how many rides were running at less than full capacity. On days with less attendees, less CM’s work to the point where ride capacity is sometimes reduced, which means wait times aren’t lower even though the crowds are. I don’t remember who wrote the article or I’d link it. Obviously this only applies to rides with separate loading areas like Thunder Mountain or Star Tours, not omnimovers.

 

[DisneyFive]

A lot of that also has to do with things not open yet. Some shows and places to eat. Those help eat up crowds.

You are absolutely right about that. We noticed a marked improvement this summer ('22), versus last ('21), regarding crowd flow. When those shows, parades, and other venues aren't open guests just spill out into the walkways everywhere. This year was much better. Hardly anything isn't open anymore. I'm looking at you Fantasmic! That's a show that has a lot of nostalgia for us, and I can't wait to see the new version based on the rumors of what they are cutting and adding.

Dan

 

[CarolynFH]

There was an article about that awhile back. Some people made some detailed observations of how many rides were running at less than full capacity. On days with less attendees, less CM’s work to the point where ride capacity is sometimes reduced, which means wait times aren’t lower even though the crowds are. I don’t remember who wrote the article or I’d link it. Obviously this only applies to rides with separate loading areas like Thunder Mountain or Star Tours, not omnimovers.

That also happened before Covid-19 too, at less-busy times like January. BTMRR might have only two trains running instead of three or four, Soarin’ only one or two theaters open instead of three, etc.

 

[only hope]

That also happened before Covid-19 too, at less-busy times like January. BTMRR might have only two trains running instead of three or four, Soarin’ only one or two theaters open instead of three, etc.

I think the article pre-dated Covid.

 

[Tom_E_D]

Sept 2019 was when galaxy’s edge opened but they announced the opening kind of last minute if I remember? I thought that early fall was slower then usual with a lot of people waiting on the opening announcement. They also had those amazing early park hours! I know Hurricane Dorian was labor day weekend that year (we were there). I don’t think fall 2019 was the norm?

Eta… I also wonder how much they are staffing based on park reservations now so that low crowd days don’t really feel low cuz they aren’t running at full capacity. Just a hunch…

Another reason that the Galaxy's Edge opening did not produce the attendance pick-up that Disney was anticipating is that the land opened without Rise of the Resistance. Many Disney fans who had been postponing their trips waiting for Galaxy's Edge to open decided they could wait a few months longer for its super-headliner ride to be available.

 

[jimim]

Actual overall crowd levels (from touring plans historical crowds) the last week of this September were 4, 4, 6, 5, 7, 3, 4. (out of 10). If you haven't been in 10 years, I can see how crowds felt heavy but it's still a slower time than most. I wish we could go back to 2012 crowd levels, but those days have been gone for the last 5+ years. The only thing that could drastically change that now is another major recession, which is what reset those crowd levels so low in the 2009-2013 timeframe. (not that I'm wishing for a major recession)

We were in WDW for 8 nights this late July and it felt like any other late July, early August, trip that we've taken over the last 5 years. (measured 5's. 6's, 7's)

Dan

A USA recession won't change cloud levels. Non USA travels prob outnumber us 3-1 or more.

I haven't been there since the June before COVID. Nov is our return to the land. Before COVID we did 2-3 trips for 20 years plus. Oh I have seen how it's changed.

 

[Tom_E_D]

A USA recession won't change cloud levels. Non USA travels prob outnumber us 3-1 or more.

I haven't been there since the June before COVID. Nov is our return to the land. Before COVID we did 2-3 trips for 20 years plus. Oh I have seen how it's changed.

I think your ratio of domestic to international travelers is wrong. Moreover, there are many countries besides the USA that will be impacted by the next global recession.

 

[jimim]

I think your ratio of domestic to international travelers is wrong. Moreover, there are many countries besides the USA that will be impacted by the next global recession.
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Well if the internet says it who am I to disagree.

I don’t know when I’m there it deff feels us state folk are deff not the majority.