Here now. What is with the crowd level?

[disprincessjh]

We are here for five days starting yesterday. Began yesterday at HS, and found the crowds to be much higher than expected, but we assumed that was due to th Osborne lights extension. Today at Magic Kingdom we found wall-to-wall people. Complete gridlock at the end of the day. While waits didn't seem that much higher than expected, crowd levels seem ridiculous. We have been to Disney many times over the years, usually during the middle of the summer, and we have all agreed that this is the most crowded we have ever seen. I was here for a brief trip during December 2012 and found it to be MUCH more manageable, and then again during summer 2013 and the crowds were nowhere near this bad. Anyone have any idea what's going on?
We talked to another guest who says she's been coming this week for 10 years and has never seen it this bad. Surely it can't be marathon crowds. Any ideas?

 

[soniam]

There's also the marathon which starts later in the week and is mostly next weekend. I have gotten the impression that marathon time can be busy.

 

[han22735]

I'd 2nd the marathon crowds arriving.

 

[meliss8599]

Some schools don't return from winter break until tomorrow as well.

 

[FirstDown]

I keep reading posts like this all the time. September was the busiest it's ever been! Then it was October! You name it. Just change the month.

Crowded all the time. That's all.

 

[disprincessjh]

We considered marathon crowds too, but the crowd calendars we had consulted factored those in and still had low-moderate for this week. Didn't know about the schools though. I'm sure they both have an effect, but man, today was brutal.

 

[Dug720]

As has been pointed out numerous times, there really isn't a "slow" time anymore.

 

[Miskey]

My daughter was in Magic Kingdom today. At one point, Space Mountain had a 180 minute wait. She was not expecting the crowds to be so heavy

 

[Aggiegrl]

We were at AK today. At 11 am when we arrived, everything was 10 minutes with the exception of EE at 30 mins.

We've been here since Dec 30. I actually feel like the parks are quite manageable. The big stuff had huge waits last week, but there were plenty of 10-30 minute waits to be had, even in MK on NYE night.

 

[Aggiegrl]

I will say, the crowds this past week seem to be older children and adults and less younger kids (like you will find later this month). So the coasters and such are mobbed, but Dumbo and similar are not.

 

[cruisingtwins]

We waited 45 minutes for tomorrowland speedway which was ridicolous but my DS mad we were not going to go on it so we bit the bullet. We did get bunch done before/during/after fireworks.

 

[nemodeb]

Did the local/seasonal blackout dates end, thus the mass exodus back to the parks?

 

[pooh4evr]

We are still on Christmas break, maybe a lot of people haven't gone back to school yet?

 

[AngiTN]

The crowds are ever increasing
Folks need to adjust what they picture when a crowd calendar shows a 5
It could still well be a mid level crowd

 

[BuckeyeBama]

They were wrong about MK today. We were there and the crowds were double that anticipated by the calendars or park management. But the other parks had lower than anticipated crowds. I think that the unplanned extension of the Osbourne Lights has thrown off people's schedules, thus the predictability of the crowds until that ends later this week.

 

[lugnut33]

A 10 from 5 years ago is the new 5

 

[FunkyLamb]

I can't speak for the past 7 years. My wife and I are back right now after a 7 year absence. We are both WDW vets and got married at Sunset Point at POLY. We both agree with OPs summary of the current situation. Our prior 2 trips in '08 and '09 in January were nothing like the crowds we have seen in the past 3 days. We both agree that we have not seen volume like this in years even during the Fall and Spring in the mid 90s and early 00's. Wait times have been crazy and the worst part is that the crowds are, for lack of a better term, rowdy. There is absolutely no 'decor', meaning, people will run you over to get to a certain place. I observed several times this evening CMs having to tell guests to not stand on railings during MSEP and Wishes. The only saving grace for the evening was that we were able to go to Trader Sam's when it was 21 and over. A welcome respite from the insanity.

The only night of the trip that was typical of the time was Sunday when is was 55 degrees and raining. We had packed gear for it and rode all the rides that night at AK and DHS because everyone else left. I spoke to another Vet tonight at CBR and he has told me that this is the new norm. I'm kinda bummed and it's not because I feel I want the place to myself. It's just that the people who are coming from off property are just so rude.

Times have seemed to change.

 

[agavegirl1]

Many schools do more breaks with a shorter summer break in order to help students retain more information year to year, effectively, year round school schedules. The holiday/December break is longer at some schools now. I also believe the extension of the Osborne Lights attracts more locals to the parks. In addition, if you read these boards often, there are fewer and fewer "slow times"....effectively none. If you happen to live near Orlando and can go on a weekday where it is raining or cold during February, you may experience a "low crowd day".

 

[Accident]

There's also the marathon which starts later in the week and is mostly next weekend. I have gotten the impression that marathon time can be busy.

That's why we picked the week after the princess half marathon next month to visit. It was the only week we saw in February that might be lowest crowds and we're not sticking around for the weekend.

 

[Islamom]

Here now as well! Agree with the rainy day (Sunday) crowd being lowest this week. We persevered in MK & braved the rain to be rewarded with short waits! AK Monday was wall to wall! Have been going to WDW since 1977.& have never seen this crowd level before in January! Also, while experiencing many kind considerate CMs have also experienced a few very rude ones. I was actually yelled at because I misunderstood what I was told to do in a line waiting to get on the launch to Poly. Today we will brave the crowds to EPCOT. I have also noticed many international visitors at the parks BTW... Perhaps this is a prime time for international travel.