Here now. What is with the crowd level?

[tlmadden73]

It is a self-fulfilling prophecy:

Sites like these and sites with "crowd calendars" have been saying year over year that January is a low crowd time. Everyone wants "low" crowds so more and more people choose to vacation during the slow times (thus not making it very "low"). Add in special events like marathons and ever increasing incentives from Disney to book packages during "slow" times .. and voila ..

Busy ALL the time.

Plus .. let's face it .. MK has about as many "attractions" as the other three parks combined .. so everyone is ALWAYS going to MK.
AK, DHS, Epcot .. at least one is usually skipped by some families, but rarely is MK.

Though I would say that crowds this week are just hangovers from New Years .. I would expect Late January/early Feb to be about as low as you could get all year due to:
1) Most kids in school (like state above .. it is not as much of a factor for elementary aged children though .. I would easily take my elementary aged children out of school a few days to go on vacation).
2) Low temps
3) A lot of rides closed for refurb
4) No special events

 

[wdw&sonny]

A 10 from 5 years ago is the new 5

I predict crowd levels will soon reach 11. (Nigel Tufnel).

 

[dlavender]

It is a self-fulfilling prophecy:

Sites like these and sites with "crowd calendars" have been saying year over year that January is a low crowd time. Everyone wants "low" crowds so more and more people choose to vacation during the slow times (thus not making it very "low"). Add in special events like marathons and ever increasing incentives from Disney to book packages during "slow" times .. and voila ..

Busy ALL the time.

Plus .. let's face it .. MK has about as many "attractions" as the other three parks combined .. so everyone is ALWAYS going to MK.
AK, DHS, Epcot .. at least one is usually skipped by some families, but rarely is MK.

Though I would say that crowds this week are just hangovers from New Years .. I would expect Late January/early Feb to be about as low as you could get all year due to:
1) Most kids in school (like state above .. it is not as much of a factor for elementary aged children though .. I would easily take my elementary aged children out of school a few days to go on vacation).
2) Low temps
3) A lot of rides closed for refurb
4) No special events

I agree. And since the "low" seasons have gotten progressively busier, the discounts have decreased during these times. DW and I were discussing this the other day. We have decided with the diminished discounts, coupled with the increased crowd levels, we might as well plan our next trip for summer, so we can fully utilize pools and the WP's. I'm not sure the "low" seasons are worth sacrificing these "perks" anymore. Now if tiered pricing comes to fruition, we will need to have another discussion....

 

[anniemae]

As others have said, this is the new normal. Disney is always crowded. There is always some school on break, a holiday, a special promotion, free dining, year round homeschooling, marathon etc. Disney has become masters at filling the parks year round. What would have been a 9 or 10 years ago is now a 4 or 5.

 

[tlmadden73]

I agree. And since the "low" seasons have gotten progressively busier, the discounts have decreased during these times. DW and I were discussing this the other day. We have decided with the diminished discounts, coupled with the increased crowd levels, we might as well plan our next trip for summer, so we can fully utilize pools and the WP's. I'm not sure the "low" seasons are worth sacrificing these "perks" anymore. Now if tiered pricing comes to fruition, we will need to have another discussion....

Right . .and if the parks STILL keep getting full they will keep rising prices .. because .. supply/demand. Eventually (one would think) that the cost will be too high for what some perceive is "not doing much" because of crowds and just not find it worth it anymore.

At this point .. as a repeat visitor, I don't mind as I've done it all before and just enjoy my "time" there walking around, riding some rides and taking it all in.

But, I hesitate to encourage first-timers (or people who haven't been in ages and want to go with their new family) (like my sister and her family) to go there now. It is a big cost for a long trip and they want not find it "worth" it if they are fighting crowds and waiting in long lines every day.

I guess it just depends what people consider "crowded" as well.
I find it "crowded" when it is shoulder-to-shoulder and you can't even take a full stride trying to get through Main Street or Fantasyland (no matter the wait times on rides). Standing in lines can be controlled .. but just having to push through crowds to simply get from point A to point B .. is quite frustrating.

But again .. if I remember back to when I went when I was a lot younger (the 80s) .. I don't remember the parks being super crowded (like shoulder-to-shoulder in the bottlenecks like I've experienced recently), but I do remember waiting a REALLY long time in lines for rides (maybe because there were less rides and they were newer .. maybe what I considered a long time then isn't really that long) .. like Backlot Tour or Star Tours or Spaceship Earth or Muppets or Haunted Mansion or Small World.

 

[colarey]

For me, it doesn't really matter what the crowds look like, but I do want to be prepared. I fully understand that crowded is the new normal but if all of the calendars are predicting my day to be a 3, I'm going to budget level 3/4 wait times for all the rides while I plan. If we get there and it ends up being a 10, well, I guess we'll end up missing a lot more. So I don't necessarily think people are overwhelmed by the crowds as much as they are not knowing how to prepare for any given day. At least that's how I'm seeing it, planning for our trip in a few weeks! Tuesday's MK waits worried me a bit, looking at the wait times vs. predicted. The parks do seem to all be a little more in line with predictions now though.

 

[2boysmommy]

I'll throw this out there since my husband and I were discussing it earlier today...

Does the new FP+ make it feel more crowded? And/or make the stand-by lines longer? Or is it truly and increase in the number of people visiting?

Our last WDW trip that included parks was in November/December 2011 (and it was amazing, crowd-wise!) so we don't have experience with the new system. However, prior to that we had too many trips to count and had the old system down to a science. We have done DL 3 times and 4 DCL trips since then and have frankly been "afraid" to go back to WDW. But our trip scheduled for late May has me searching the boards again. I'm seriously worried we will hate it! (And since we are DVC members...that's not a good thing!!)

 

[epcotty]

We do try to avoid the most crowded days, and always we just do what we can. We don't plan out attractions too much and are flexible (but we still get everything we want done and often more)

 

[Harambe]

^^But can you "not" plan out your attractions any more, with everyone else using FP+? My co-worker is going at the end of March and just yesterday showed me all his Fastpasses for his trip on his Disney MyAccount page. So if others are grabbing Fastpasses months in advance, what chance do you really have of ever finding a "short" non-FP+ ride line?

We used to love strolling around the parks after an intense EMH morning of riders at most parks, and if we could jump on a few smaller rides, great! If not, that would be fine. But we are also planning on this time for our vacation next year and since we haven't been in many years, we will want to go on everything almost as if we're first-timers all over again. I am mostly struggling with the new "absolutely no spontaneity" part due to the crowds - forcing us to do lots of ADRs and FP+s.

 

[Dis_08]

I guess it just depends what people consider "crowded" as well.
I find it "crowded" when it is shoulder-to-shoulder and you can't even take a full stride trying to get through Main Street or Fantasyland (no matter the wait times on rides). Standing in lines can be controlled .. but just having to push through crowds to simply get from point A to point B .. is quite frustrating.

Yup, this. We were there 1/1-1/6 and there was barely a moment you could comfortably walk around MK. We were always clinging to each other's hands walking single file, dodging and stepping around while getting knocked around by crowds. HS was the worst, but most areas of MK were that way most of the time. As a short person, I didn't feel like I even "saw" much of those parks, just backs and shoulders. And I saved a ton of money because I never even entered most of the shops I love to browse because of the crowds (never visited either side on main street, or my favorite - the shops along Sunset in HS).

 

[Accident]

There has been a lot of changes the last few years and disney has sort of perfected filling up the place when it's forecast to be lower.... There is lower crowd times but it's become rare for a low crowd time and that's just going to keep getting worse as all these new things and whatever isn't announced yet starts to come into effect.... Factor in changes to AP prices and blackout dates, seasonal events running longer, great last minute discounts, beloved attractions closing and you have this whirlwind of better than average crowds and you can almost count the low crowd weeks on 1 hand these days. It's really those gaps inbetween things but thats even getting less and less as more events that appeal to a wider range of people happen in multiple parks now...

It's crowded, it's going to keep getting more crowded. time to check out disneyland and other international properties.

 

[Cadaverous Pallor]

FP+ has a ton to do with why it's feels so crowded now.

Rides that previously didn't offer legacy FP are now offering FP+, bumping up wait times as standby lines are held up to allow people with FP+ onto the ride.

2015 saw approximately 4% more people visit WDW than in 2014, yet lineups at rides like Pirates, Small World, Haunted Mansion, Movie Ride, etc etc etc have increased way more than that in the last 2 years since the advent of FP+.

 

[Disneylover99]

Does the new FP+ make it feel more crowded? And/or make the stand-by lines longer? Or is it truly and increase in the number of people visiting?

I think if you're at home and you're looking at wait times, you might think, wow, it's really crowded. But when you are there and the wait times are high, it doesn't necessarily feel more crowded walking around. The stand by lines at rides/attractions that didn't offer fp in the past are noticeably longer now in the middle of the day. But from what I gather attendance is up too.

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

It is a self-fulfilling prophecy:

Sites like these and sites with "crowd calendars" have been saying year over year that January is a low crowd time. Everyone wants "low" crowds so more and more people choose to vacation during the slow times (thus not making it very "low"). Add in special events like marathons and ever increasing incentives from Disney to book packages during "slow" times .. and voila ..

Busy ALL the time.

Plus .. let's face it .. MK has about as many "attractions" as the other three parks combined .. so everyone is ALWAYS going to MK.
AK, DHS, Epcot .. at least one is usually skipped by some families, but rarely is MK.

Though I would say that crowds this week are just hangovers from New Years .. I would expect Late January/early Feb to be about as low as you could get all year due to:
1) Most kids in school (like state above .. it is not as much of a factor for elementary aged children though .. I would easily take my elementary aged children out of school a few days to go on vacation).
2) Low temps
3) A lot of rides closed for refurb
4) No special events

I don't think that enough people pay attention to any of the crowd calendars to really affect traffic patterns. I do agree that Disney has gotten very good at scheduling events to keep the parks busy year round.

I think a lot of families are finally taking vacations again since the recession ended, so there was some pent up demand and the weaker U.S. dollar was encouraging foreign guests to travel. It will be interesting to see if that changes now that the dollar is stronger. I also wonder if at some point people will start to hold off on travel until something big like SW/TSL/Pandora opens.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

We went to MK Tuesday and it felt bonkers bananas busy. We have gone many times for NYE and stayed through the first week and never felt crowds like that after 1/1 or 1/2.

Wednesday morning at AK and evening EPCOT were fantastic. Crowds were about how I expected them to be.

Thursday at MK was less crowded than Tuesday. Still felt crowded, but not as bad as Tuesday.

Friday morning at EPCOT was a bust due to rain - we didn't do much so I don't feel one way or the other about crowds. Hollywood Studios last night seemed pretty busy but not out of control for before EMH.

All in all, we did everything we wanted to, but the crowds at MK did seem crazier than normal.

 

[kandb]

The last week of August was strangely the slowest point of the year (by far), although the week before and after it were busy. And it wasn't the weather.

It was because a hurricane was predicted and if you were watching the weather channel, they seemed very sure that it was going to hit the Orlando area and there was supposed to be rain for 5 days straight. We went that week and I was almost in tears, a few channels showed rain/hurricane/wind for 6 or 7 days. I think a lot of people changed their week based on that.

 

[kandb]

I think the crowds will remain high unless the economy tanks.

 

[anniemae]

The last week of August was strangely the slowest point of the year (by far), although the week before and after it were busy. And it wasn't the weather.

It absolutely was the weather. Hurricane Erika was bearding down on FL and many many people cancelled. I remember sitting on our bed at the CBR obsessing over the weather. The weather forecasts were all over the place, but at one point they had Orlando taking a direct hit. At that point they issued a state of emergency and all chaos broke loose. On the news they showed shelves cleared of water and food, lines at gas stations.

I remember looking at my DH and asking if we should try to leave, I did not want to get stuck in Orlando. We decided to stay, but talked to many cm's at our hotel and the parks who told us there were a high number of cancellations due to the forecast. Thankfully the hurricane did not hit FL, but it was scary for a couple of days. I think many postponed to the following weeks, making those weeks crowded.

 

[TideWDW]

We were there from 1/1 till 1/8. Mk on 1/1 was crowded, but with some flexibility..we had a great day. Went back to MK on Tuesday and it was less crowded..but still plenty of people. MK on Thursday was awesome to us. We were there at rope drop and left at closing. Got to ride everything multiple times (even throughout the day) and had a wonderful time.

The other days were fine as well, got to ride everything we wanted at all the parks. The best day was yesterday at AK, the park was empty at opening. Rode the Dinosaur ride 3 times in a row (my kids love that ride). Rode EE back to back as well. We left when it started raining (had to drive home yesterday)...so did a lot in just a couple hours or so.


All in all...a wonderful time to go. The trick for us was arriving at each park at opening and having fast passes start later in the day. That way we got to ride the popular rides early and then had fast passes to go back when the lines got longer.

 

[Shanti]

I'll throw this out there since my husband and I were discussing it earlier today...

Does the new FP+ make it feel more crowded? And/or make the stand-by lines longer? Or is it truly and increase in the number of people visiting?

Our last WDW trip that included parks was in November/December 2011 (and it was amazing, crowd-wise!) so we don't have experience with the new system. However, prior to that we had too many trips to count and had the old system down to a science. We have done DL 3 times and 4 DCL trips since then and have frankly been "afraid" to go back to WDW. But our trip scheduled for late May has me searching the boards again. I'm seriously worried we will hate it! (And since we are DVC members...that's not a good thing!!)

There are more people.