How Bad are the Crowds, Really?

[Dizzy-Wizard]

I don't get to go to Disney World as often as I would like to, due to financial restraints. The last time I went was 6 years ago for my wife and my honeymoon. (Never will you catch me doing a June/July trip again, I can promise you that.
We love Disney World to the point where there's really only 2 or 3 other travel destinations we would want to check out! But as I watch videos on planning, living vicariously through the people who work and live close enough to go all the time, or can afford to go whenever they want, I notice in their footage how ridiculous the crowds seem to be getting. Lines going on for hours, extending well past their queue, and just shoulder to shoulder crowds of people no matter what time of year.
As someone who doesn't care for crowds (obviously you make exceptions for the most magical place on earth right?) I would hate for that to be the reason that I stop going, or never end up taking my kids when we have them.
So I guess the question is for people who go pretty often. How bad would you generally say the crowds have gotten over the past few years?

 

[Brett Wyman]

Yes its getting more crowded. Can you go in early September? If you aren't afraid of the rain its an amazing time to go, crowds and cost wise.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

It really depends on the time of year you are talking about - one thing seems true - the times of year that used to be considered 'quiet' for crowds are more crowded than they used to be. In some ways, Disney was very shrewd here. They also knew the slower times - so they started adding festivals at that time, and adding road races at that time - they did what a good business does. They added reasons for people to not stay away during quieter times - and they've become less quiet. Throw in some new attractions along with the upcoming 50th anniversary celebration, and it seems like crowds could remain higher for awhile. But you never know for sure!

 

[Dizzy-Wizard]

We've actually got a vacation booked for October this year through Dreams Unlimited, but yeah, I have considered September before I just don't like the rain. But hey, it's Florida, and it's not like I'm not used to rain in Louisiana right?

 

[skippytx]

I've been every year the last 5 years and the parks have been busier every single trip. Spring Break 2016 was a cake walk compared to last week. I was just there from Feb 13 to 22 and it was hands down the busiest I've seen it. I've never visited during Christmas, but I'm not sure how much worse it can get. 45 minutes for the peoplemover, 7D and FOP kissed 4 hours a few times while I was there.

There are still some slower times, but even then those are a toss up due to shorter hours and reduced staffing/ride capacity. We went Feb 23rd to Mar 2nd last year, and during the week crowds weren't as bad, but we ran into issues like only half of the trains running on BTM which resulted in an artificial wait of 30 minutes or longer. It would have been a walk on if they would have fully staffed the ride, but cost savings have hit hard. Omni mover rides like Buzz though were great as staffing doesn't really affect those rides.

Crowds will stay solid through 2022 and the 50th celebration unless the economy tanks hard.

From what I've read your best bet for lower crowds revolve around periods of time where parents are loathe to take kids out of school. Mid May, Mid Sept, Early Nov. It's getting harder though. We thought we were slick taking the kids out of school in 2018 around Columbus day. Went Oct 5th to 13th. Parks slammed. Turns out some south/mid east US states have a week long fall break around the first couple weeks of October. Kentucky Blue and Tennessee Orange as far as the eye could see.

My advice is to go when the weather is good and the park hours are a little longer. I wish we would have taken this trip this year during Spring Break instead of trying to do Presidents day weekend and the following week. The crowds were so rough, we're actually considering a June WDW trip next time.

 

[cutigerlady]

Yes, it has gotten bad. We use to go 8-10 per year. The last few years, we went 1-2 time per year and only went to a few parks. We just got back from a week long trip (we had timeshare points expiring that had to be used by the end of February). At one point my husband said to me, this is nuts, it’s not fun anymore, let’s get out of here.

Now for years I did all the work to figure out which park to go on what day to have lower crowds and arranged our FP to make it seem so easy for my family. The problem is that now everything gets so crowded so fast, it’s hard to get as much accomplished. I think the key is having the right expectations, more planning and knowing when to throw out the plan and do something else!

We ended up at Epcot one evening with EMH and the park was dead! I would normally have avoided that park, but we rode everything we wanted in a few hours. We also bailed out of HS and rode the Skyliner to Epcot (yes, walking would have been faster) but my son loves transportation and this was new. We went to have lunch at the deserted Boardwalk and could reset before returning to HS.

When my kids were small, they were thrilled with watching ducks, riding the merry-go-round and watching the stage shows. They loved the little slides (didn’t even realize they were there before I had kids) in MK.

My issue is that the number of attractions you can accomplish in a day has gone way down and the price of the tickets continues to rise. So getting value out of the tickets is driving people to feel the need to stay longer and then tensions flare over crowds, tired feet, hot/sticky weather, etc.

My kids will tell you their favorite thing we did on our trip was go golfing, swimming and the NBA Experience (they both basketball).

 

[Dizzy-Wizard]

Do you think they want it to be packed so full like it is? From a business stand point obviously it makes sense to pack the park as full as you can. But at some point you'd have to think that the bubble would burst, that the prices and the crowds, and the lack of staff on some attractions would cause people to stop going right? Another thing that really bothers me is we all know Disney can afford to hire more staff. So, while yeah the parks will only ever be able to accommodate a certain amount of people comfortably, there's no reason to be short staffed or offer anything less than perfect customer service. (Note that I in no way blame ANY CM for bad experience unless they like, really do a bad job. In my opinion that definitely falls on Disney.)

 

[Queen2PrincessG]

I feel like there is min. common sense sometimes. During Spring Breaks hours should be extended to meet the crowd level. Closing at 8pmis silly when folks are coming in. Close at 10 add earlier and later EMH. Thin the crowd out a bit.

 

[CastAStone]

the times of year that used to be considered 'quiet' for crowds are more crowded than they used to be.

This. Summer is actually somewhat less crowded than it used to be. Parts of Fall, and most of Winter and Spring have become crazy town, especially the week before and after any holiday at all (Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, MLK, President's Day, Ash Wednesday, Spring Break, Easter, Memorial Day).

It has been BUSY the last 30 days or so. Crazy town. TouringPlans has measured Actual Crowd Levels at MK at a 10/10 13 times this month in 27 days; in theory, a 10/10 should happen 3 times in an average month.

 

[CastAStone]

Do you think they want it to be packed so full like it is? From a business stand point obviously it makes sense to pack the park as full as you can. But at some point you'd have to think that the bubble would burst, that the prices and the crowds, and the lack of staff on some attractions would cause people to stop going right? Another thing that really bothers me is we all know Disney can afford to hire more staff. So, while yeah the parks will only ever be able to accommodate a certain amount of people comfortably, there's no reason to be short staffed or offer anything less than perfect customer service. (Note that I in no way blame ANY CM for bad experience unless they like, really do a bad job. In my opinion that definitely falls on Disney.)

I think they will measure guest satisfaction scores from the past 3 weeks and determine they need to fix something. My Aunt and Uncle went a few weeks ago and came back swearing that they will never, ever go back to WDW because of the crowds/lines (and I don't think it's bluster).

 

[jabrabu]

We used to go in January (my wife's birthday month) and September, and the crowds were low and weather was great. But now it seems to be crowded all the time. I was at the parks Monday and Tuesday this week, and I've never seen EPCOT so crowded as it was on Monday. The line at the France Boulangerie went through the seating area and out into the courtyard, and the line at the tequila bar in Mexico also went halfway across the pavilion. I've never seen those lines that long before, and was really surprised to see those crowds in February.

On Tuesday I started at DHS, hopped to EPCOT for awhile, and then back to DHS to ride RotR. After that I hopped over to DAK, which was also very crowded.

I'm going again for a couple of days in April, and even at 60 and 61 days out I couldn't get FastPasses for the most popular rides. So the parks just seem to get more and more crowded and it gets harder and harder to get good FastPass selections.

We used to go as a family every year or two, but with the crowds and price increases it's now more like every 5 years. I still do regular solo trips, though, since I regularly travel to FL for work.

 

[skippytx]

I think they will measure guest satisfaction scores from the past 3 weeks and determine they need to fix something. My Aunt and Uncle went a few weeks ago and came back swearing that they will never, ever go back to WDW because of the crowds/lines (and I don't think it's bluster).

If they bother to ask. The only survey I got post trip was about transportation, which parks I visited each day, and how I got from park to park. Basically looking for Skyliner information. Not a single survey about park experience.

 

[Nebraska_Disney]

I agree that different times of year will have different crowds, but "quiet times" are a thing of the past. In the last 10 years, we have been limited on when we can go by school and activity schedules. Before that was an issue, early October was a favorite time to go. Another favorite was right after a big holiday week. Yes, capacities are lower on rides, but if you plan accordingly, you do what you want to do and move on. It is amazing, even today, when you find the park dead and you do so much so fast. 2 summers ago (end of July trip) we hit MK after dinner and we literally did 1/2 of the park in about 3-4 hours. Amazing how many rides we just walked on. It can happen still, so for every "rule" there is an exception.

 

[CastAStone]

If they bother to ask. The only survey I got post trip was about transportation, which parks I visited each day, and how I got from park to park. Basically looking for Skyliner information. Not a single survey about park experience.

I think they have a few dozen surveys live at any one time and most people only get 1 or 2, so as to not bombard you.

 

[tiggerunner]

We've actually got a vacation booked for October this year through Dreams Unlimited, but yeah, I have considered September before I just don't like the rain. But hey, it's Florida, and it's not like I'm not used to rain in Louisiana right?

We have been going in Sept for years and just work around the weather. Having lived in Louisiana myself and now TX, just watch the weather, carry ponchos and be flexible. We go early morning a lot and then fit in other things as the day sees fit. Disney Springs has great lounges as do the resorts, so bop around. Just fun to see the layouts and many have musical entertainment. It is a bit quieter and a slower pace for us. Make it what you want. It’ll be good any way.

 

[Doublea]

The last time I went was 6 years ago for my wife and my honeymoon. (Never will you catch me doing a June/July trip again, I can promise you that.

I'm curious, is this due to the weather or the crowds that you saw 6 years ago?

I've gone at different times of the year, but I'd say the time of year I've gone the most is in the summer months due to schedules and what not. I've seen the crowds get lighter in the summers recently. My observation is also supported by seeing other people say the same thing and Disney having free dining in the summer last year. I know last year probably was an anomaly though because it was right before SWGE. We'll see how this summer season will go. They released very limited free dining so it will be interested to see how it goes.

Unfortunately most times that have been lighter crowds are starting to be busier because everyone wants to avoid the crowds. When you can't increase the capacity and the demand continues to grow that's what we get.

 

[Dizzy-Wizard]

We were there right before Fourth of July, and I just couldn’t do it again in the heat. But if it meant significantly lower crowds I might consider it.
I know low crowds will never really be a thing, but I had always hoped that the addition of so many new lands would disperse people better. Seems like it doesn’t though.

 

[RememberWhoYouAre]

If they bother to ask. The only survey I got post trip was about transportation, which parks I visited each day, and how I got from park to park. Basically looking for Skyliner information. Not a single survey about park experience.

We were at epcot on Sunday and Monday (went specifically for the Disney on Broadway concerts). I then received a survey via email. It was a long survey asking detailed questions about our experience at epcot and Festival of The Arts on 2/23 only.

 

[Remy is Up]

I think they will measure guest satisfaction scores from the past 3 weeks and determine they need to fix something. My Aunt and Uncle went a few weeks ago and came back swearing that they will never, ever go back to WDW because of the crowds/lines (and I don't think it's bluster).

But the people who go back over and over arent the largest percentage of guests. This is about business and they are making money and the parks are slammed. They are not changing things for 3% who post on message boards. It's best to realize the parks are crowded and plan accordingly because the people complaining are in the large minority

 

[erc]

Probably time to think about building another park. I'm pretty sure they own enough land for it. Really, a whole Marvel themed park would be cool. But with enough traditional Disney to keep non-Marvel fans happy.