Here now, super crowded but very manageable!

[kstgelais4]

My hubby and I are on day 2 of our 9 day anniversary trip. I gotta say, we are following Josh's recommendations from EasyWDW, and are still very surprised with the amounts of people. The walkways are extremely crowded, the lines are long for food, and the wait times are crazy.
However, I have found that with MDE and FP+ it has been very manageable! I was worried because of all the negativity on the board that they would both be horrid. We have had absolutely NO issues with our magic bands, they have been working beautifully. We changed some dinner reservations easily on the MDE app, as well as some FP+ times with no issue. And even though the wait times reached crazy lengths mid day, we were able to accomplish plenty by getting to the park for rope drop, and utilizing our FP+ in the afternoon. We haven't waited over 20 min for anything, and the FP+ lines were practically walk ons each time. Easy peasy. Just wanted to give a bit of positive feedback. I'll update as our vacation continues.

 

[Rjmdds]

Sounds great. Very reassuring. Thanks. Enjoy the rest of your trip.

 

[fairy8i8]

SO glad you are enjoying your trip! Hope the whole 9 days goes smoothly for you!

 

[GovieMom]

I gotta say, we are following Josh's recommendations from EasyWDW, and are still very surprised with the amounts of people. The walkways are extremely crowded, the lines are long for food, and the wait times are crazy.

It's been our experience that Josh tends to underestimate crowd levels; many times he's waaay off. And he actually said MK was "highly recommended" today, reason being Mardi Gras wouldn't have an impact on crowd levels because it was before spring break. Yeah, right. That being said, glad the MDE and FP+ are helping out.

 

[MrsBlovesDisney]

Thank you for posting!! Sounds encouraging!!

Hoping we have the same experience in a couple weeks!

 

[donnajherren]

That's good to hear!

 

[jenninaustin]

Thanks for posting and yes - keep us posted!

 

[fiversmama]

Just wanted to add our positive vibes, too. We are here now (DH, DS11, DS5 and me). I wasn't prepared for "Disney Gras," as it does seem the entire state of Louisiana was here.

Everything we've attempted has gone very smoothly. FP+, MagicBands... our only glitch was that BOG dinner ADR was delayed about 35 minutes, edging out our FP+ window for Enchanted Tales with Belle, but when we got to Belle after dinner, it was a small group, no line, no wait and my DS5 was selected to play THE BEAST! He was thrilled and so were we, so even our glitch worked out.

All of this said, the rain moves in today. I'm hoping that doesn't change crowd predictions or shift things too too much.

 

[JanaDee]

It's been our experience that Josh tends to underestimate crowd levels; many times he's waaay off. And he actually said MK was "highly recommended" today, reason being Mardi Gras wouldn't have an impact on crowd levels because it was before spring break. Yeah, right. That being said, glad the MDE and FP+ are helping out.

He really said that? Wow.

 

[MrsBlovesDisney]

Just wanted to add our positive vibes, too. We are here now (DH, DS11, DS5 and me). I wasn't prepared for "Disney Gras," as it does seem the entire state of Louisiana was here.

Everything we've attempted has gone very smoothly. FP+, MagicBands... our only glitch was that BOG dinner ADR was delayed about 35 minutes, edging out our FP+ window for Enchanted Tales with Belle, but when we got to Belle after dinner, it was a small group, no line, no wait and my DS5 was selected to play THE BEAST! He was thrilled and so were we, so even our glitch worked out.

All of this said, the rain moves in today. I'm hoping that doesn't change crowd predictions or shift things too too much.

Thx for adding your update!!.

Here's hoping that due to the rain today you experience LOWER than expected crowd levels!!!

 

[wiigirl]

Glad to hear!

 

[HM]

A couple years ago I was there the week after Easter. The parks were SO crowded (esp MK), but the waits weren't all that bad. People just seemed to be milling around the walkways with no purpose.

 

[Karbase8]

This is what Josh said and yes it still would be busy midday, it's still not a crowd 9 or 10 today as it isn't Easter Break week, but you are still going to find more crowds due to the kiosks for FP plus in the walkways and midday when crowds are the highest.

Magic Kingdom is highly recommended and an excellent choice if you don’t want to wait until tomorrow to visit. Epcot’s morning Extra Magic Hours and Hollywood Studios’ Fantasmic will help draw crowds away and a lot of people will have visited yesterday for their first full day at Disney World. Still, it’s more important to arrive prior to Park opening and head straight for Fantasyland (Enchanted Tales with Belle, Journey of the Little Mermaid, Ariel’s Grotto, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh), the headlining Mountain rides (Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain), or other priorities. You may want to fit other time-sensitive attractions like Tomorrowland Indy Speedway or Astro Orbiter in there as well, along with Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, and other quick attractions that will have decent afternoon waits. Characters that will have long lines in the afternoon and don’t offer FASTPASS are also a priority. Consider taking a break from 1pm to 5pm or so when crowds are heaviest and wait times are longest to rest up for the evening entertainment. Magic Kingdom will also be the most recommended Park tomorrow, so you may want to hold off until then if you have other plans today. If you’re trying to decide between today and tomorrow, then I would go with tomorrow because it’s in the middle of the week and even more people will be ready to visit another Park. However, today will be nearly as good if you tour efficiently in the morning, take a restful break, and return in the evening for Wishes and some late night attractions.

 

[kstgelais4]

Just wanted to add our positive vibes, too. We are here now (DH, DS11, DS5 and me). I wasn't prepared for "Disney Gras," as it does seem the entire state of Louisiana was here. Everything we've attempted has gone very smoothly. FP+, MagicBands... our only glitch was that BOG dinner ADR was delayed about 35 minutes, edging out our FP+ window for Enchanted Tales with Belle, but when we got to Belle after dinner, it was a small group, no line, no wait and my DS5 was selected to play THE BEAST! He was thrilled and so were we, so even our glitch worked out. All of this said, the rain moves in today. I'm hoping that doesn't change crowd predictions or shift things too too much.

Lol! We noticed that there were an awful lot of LSU fans too I was talking to one on the bus and he mentioned that the kids have The day before Mardi gras off, as well as Mardi gras itself and the Wednesday after. I guess most people have work off as well. That would explain the influx of Louisiana-ans.

We are at Epcot today, and the crowds were nuts because of flower and garden. We walked to world showcase a few minutes before it opened and worked our way through there mostly crowd free. We were still able to do test track x2, soarin' x2, sum of all thrills, and mission space, plus all of the fillers. Over all a great day even with the crowds!

 

[Love Tink]

It's been our experience that Josh tends to underestimate crowd levels; many times he's waaay off. And he actually said MK was "highly recommended" today, reason being Mardi Gras wouldn't have an impact on crowd levels because it was before spring break. Yeah, right. That being said, glad the MDE and FP+ are helping out.

You obviously have some issues with comprehension regarding the easywdw calendar. Maybe that is why you think the levels are sometimes "waaay off." (We have found just the opposite.)

Josh predicts his park days based on how popular each park will be compared to other days that week (taking EMH, entertainment, hours, trends and special events into consideration). In other words, he recommended MK today because he predicted that MK would be less crowded today than it was Monday or will be Saturday. His day-to-day predictions have nothing to do with overall crowd level across WDW.

His recommending a park does not mean that a park will be empty. If you go during spring break, you are going to face crowds. So the mention of Mardi Gras had nothing to do with MK specifically, despite your apparently reading it that way, but more as a prediction that there wouldn't be a huge spike in crowds overall at WDW because of Mardi Gras this year.

As for whether he is right or wrong, and whether it more crowded or less crowded than he predicted....as with every single other week of the year, that has to do with people's expectations, people's touring style, and what they consider "crowded."

 

[kstgelais4]

You obviously have some issues with comprehension regarding the easywdw calendar. Maybe that is why you think the levels are sometimes "waaay off." (We have found just the opposite.)

Josh predicts his park days based on how popular each park will be compared to other days that week (taking EMH, entertainment, hours, trends and special events into consideration). In other words, he recommended MK today because he predicted that MK would be less crowded today than it was Monday or will be Saturday. His day-to-day predictions have nothing to do with overall crowd level across WDW.

His recommending a park does not mean that a park will be empty. If you go during spring break, you are going to face crowds. So the mention of Mardi Gras had nothing to do with MK specifically, despite your apparently reading it that way, but more as a prediction that there wouldn't be a huge spike in crowds overall at WDW because of Mardi Gras this year.

As for whether he is right or wrong, and whether it more crowded or less crowded than he predicted....as with every single other week of the year, that has to do with people's expectations, people's touring style, and what they consider "crowded."

We go mostly from Oct. Through Feb. These crowds rate a little higher than those months. In the past Josh's predictions were spot on. I don't really want to know what the non recommended parks were like. I trust hid predictions, and even if they were off, we used his touring style and plans, and things are working out beautifully.

 

[judaloo]

I need a little advice! Typically I make our plans based on attending the non-morning EMH park of the day. This trip (6/1-6/6) We are going with my sister and her family and she insists she did morning EMH and it was great. That being said, we've now turned our entire trip on it's head and based a couple park days on morning EMH. After making dinner reservations etc. accordingly, I look at EasyWDW and literally every day we are planning on visiting the most non-recommended park! Not sure how these predictions are with FP plus at this point. Any thoughts? I am worried and just want to call my sister and convince her to do regular rope drop instead...and cross our fingers that we can still get some decent dinner reservations if we switch!

Thanks so much everyone!

 

[MCC Retired]

Just returned today from 3 day stay .
Parks were extremely crowded , more so than any Peak Season visit that we have ever encountered in the
30 years we have visited WDW .
Insane lines .
I feel sad for those who visited at this time if it is their first & only visit to the parks .

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[jenninaustin]

I need a little advice! Typically I make our plans based on attending the non-morning EMH park of the day. This trip (6/1-6/6) We are going with my sister and her family and she insists she did morning EMH and it was great. That being said, we've now turned our entire trip on it's head and based a couple park days on morning EMH. After making dinner reservations etc. accordingly, I look at EasyWDW and literally every day we are planning on visiting the most non-recommended park! Not sure how these predictions are with FP plus at this point. Any thoughts? I am worried and just want to call my sister and convince her to do regular rope drop instead...and cross our fingers that we can still get some decent dinner reservations if we switch!

Thanks so much everyone!

It's my understanding (correct me if I'm wrong, folks) that EMH mornings can be a good plan if you do the EMH rope drop and then take your break once the parks get crowded. But the parks are almost always going to be non-recommended just b/c tons of people will go there on EMH days (but not necessarily at the EMH time, first thing in the morning if it's a morning EMH)

Is that right?

 

[kstgelais4]

We are home, and in summary everything went pretty well. There were only 2 things that aggravated me all trip. First was the fact that the FP+ system was down a couple times and we couldn't access the system to change or view our selections. When I called the number provided on the app, the CM "couldn't help me". Pretty frustrating.
Second, since it was just me and DH and he doesn't ride coasters, I chose TSM for our FP in DHS over RnRC. I assumed I could just ride from the single rider line. Unfortunately they don't open it while the standby line is really long, and it was never opened while I was there. They really need to do away with the tiered FP in Epcot and DHS.
Other than that everything ran very smoothly, and we really enjoyed ourselves. We are looking forward to our family trip in September!