How are the Crowds?

[MLAinVA]

We check in to the AKL tomorrow for 4 nights! YIPPEE Anybody just back that can tell me how crowded the parks are?

 

[COACHSTING]

We just got back from a ten day trip ending July 1. I would say that, for the most part, the parks were packed. The exception was EPCOT. The Magic Kingdom was jammed every time we were there. We did find that we were successful getting on what we wanted to if we did it commando-style in the morning. Using fast passes and having someone run out ahead of us to get the passes, we were able to do Space Mountain (2X), Buzz, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Pirates and the Haunted Mansion before the big rush came.

Around 11:00 or so, the crowds at the Magic Kingdom made for 60 minute waits in the heat. This is a good reason why it's such a good idea to hit the park early, go back and sleep/rest/swin for a while and return later in the afternoon or evening.

MGM was crowded as well, the waits as usual were bad mid-day, but early on and late afternoon, they were in the 20-40 minute range.

Animal Kingdom was also best done early. Fast passes here helped a lot.

EPCOT was not a problem with the exception of Test Track, where the wait was upwards of 45-60 minutes by mid-afternoon. Some people got sneak previews of Mission Space whole we were there.

Downtown Disney was mobbed...kinda like Macy's on the day after Thanksgiving, but it made for a festive evening.

Transportation was really good on our trip. Motels were pretty full. Weather was hot but rain free, though they had 10 inches of rain the four days before we arrived.


We had no real problem getting good seating for most restaurants, if we were a little flexible. If you don't have a reservation for the popular meals now, it will be difficult when you get there.

Any more questions...ask away.....

 

[glo]

moving this to theme Parks, where you ll probably get lots of responces

 

[Aunt K]

We just got back July 2 and we didn't think the parks were as crowded as they should have been - which just goes to show you that one's person's "crowded" is another person's "not bad." One night seemed really crowded in MK but that was when a 9pm parade was showing that evening, so we credited the crowds to that. We waited until the 11pm parade and had no problem getting a seat.
We went to MK for an early entry day and found the crowds no longer than 20 minutes for all the rides up till about 2pm when we left that day. We even rode Buzz twice in a row due to the fact that there were no lines. One day at Epcot (not early entry) we were able to ride Malstrom after a 7 minute wait and The Land had about a 15 minute wait. We also got a table at Le Cellier that evening w/o a PS after only about a 10 minute wait. All in all we felt the crowds were light. Oh, I almost forgot, on the evening of 7/1 we went to MK about 8:30pm and rode BTMRR twice in a row, Splash Mtn. (some boats only had 3 people on them) and walked right on Pirates, and did a few more things w/ no problem. We were really surprised at how light the crowds were there for that night b/c there was a 9pm parade AND e-night started at 10pm so we figured it would be pretty packed w/ people coming in for that. It was a Tuesday night - go to MK on a Tuesday night if you get a chance.

 

[mrsR123]

Thanks for the updates!

Any news since FTP began? We leave in one week, and I'm dying to know what to expect.