How Bad are the Crowds, Really?

[DisLiss]

I think part of the reason they close early is because it reduces maintenance costs. If attractions operate 3 or 4 more hours per day they wear out and need repairs more often.

With how things have gone for them recently, maybe they just need more maintenance hours!

 

[rjb123]

I was there on President's day weekend with my two girls (13 and 10). We had gone down for my older DD's gymnastics meet and so this was just a quickie to tide us over to our big trip at the start of June. We generally are in the parks once a year, and I have been going yearly (at least) for my whole life (and Im 44!). The crowds were crazy! We did the one and half days on the spur of the moment- decided to get AP for our summer trip and just use them for this time too. So no FP, no real plans at all. We hit 3/4 parks - HS, EC, ML and all of them were wild. That said, we had a ball and were able to do a LOT. We picked up some FP at MK for the afternoon, got an early breakfast reservation and hit Soaring twice before park opening! Wandered to HS via the skyliner and did a walk about and TSMM, then hit MK and did quite a bit (but no BTMRR, etc). We did get jungle cruise, HM, carousel of progress, goofy, SW, - that sort of level. The thing is that you really have to make your own fun. Do I LOVE the crazy crowds? No, but if you make the most of it you can really do a lot and have a great time even when it is nuts there.

 

[JayBaileys]

My wife and I were down there from Feb 18th -21st. Parks were really crowded but they have been every year we've done a Presidents Day week trip, this was our 4th in a row. Works for us though because we get our dinner reservations 6 months out and do FP's at 60 days. I get up and workout, she sleeps in, and we head over to the parks around 11. We ride our FP rides and if there is a show or something we do that. If the lines aren't long we ride something else, but they usually are over an hour for most of the stuff we like. This year in MK we watched the guys on Main Street doing the glass blowing for probably over an hour. Never saw them before. The crowds are definitely crazy that week and we may change our week moving forward. For what its worth we've been told by locals and CM's the amount of foreign visitors now has really changed the crowds. We have gone with our kids in October for Halloween or the 2nd week of Dec. in the past and even those times aren't as good as they were 5 or 10 years ago. I don't see the issues with strollers, but we were those parents before, so that doesn't bother me. We enjoy our trips for sure, we bought into DVC in 2012 at AK and recently bought GF. We took more cabs this year to/from HS and once more from Disney Springs, because the busses are hit/miss. Our kids are 13 and 16 now and can't wait to go back to do the Star Wars stuff, so we will be back again soon. I'm thinking the days of riding everything we want multiple times are probably over, but you can still enjoy the parks/resorts/restaurants we don't have here at home. Boards like this help you prepare and make the most of your trip in my opinion, we love Disney and will continue to go even though it's not like it was 10 or 20 years ago.

 

[Jonfw2]

This is starting to get very compelling...as we race headfirst into spring break, Flight of Passage currently has a fifty minute wait time. FIFTY. Okay, maybe everyone's at HS, right? TSMM is a half hour, RnRC is 45 minutes, and TT is walk on.

I mean...this HAS to be Coronavirus fear, right?

 

[andy_dangg]

This is starting to get very compelling...as we race headfirst into spring break, Flight of Passage currently has a fifty minute wait time. FIFTY. Okay, maybe everyone's at HS, right? TSMM is a half hour, RnRC is 45 minutes, and TT is walk on.

I mean...this HAS to be Coronavirus fear, right?

The parks do seem REALLY slow today. Everything in EP is under an hour except for Frozen which is at 65 minutes.

I'm not sure if it's so much coronavirus fears as its a little early for people to be cancelling trips IMO but I just think its the early March lull after President's Day but before Spring Break season.

I was at MK this past weekend and while it felt crowded lines were very manageable.

 

[AmishGuy91]

This is starting to get very compelling...as we race headfirst into spring break, Flight of Passage currently has a fifty minute wait time. FIFTY. Okay, maybe everyone's at HS, right? TSMM is a half hour, RnRC is 45 minutes, and TT is walk on.

I mean...this HAS to be Coronavirus fear, right?

I think the Spring Break season really starts next week so we'll know more then. The past few weeks have been unexpectedly busy so I think this is just a short correction. Regardless we'll know soon.

 

[Heather07438]

This is starting to get very compelling...as we race headfirst into spring break, Flight of Passage currently has a fifty minute wait time. FIFTY. Okay, maybe everyone's at HS, right? TSMM is a half hour, RnRC is 45 minutes, and TT is walk on.

I mean...this HAS to be Coronavirus fear, right?

I think it's a lull exacerbated by Coronavirus fears. It's likely to impact attendance even more as the weeks pass.

 

[finedice]

I haven’t had to wait in long lines for QS or bathrooms but the trick is to eat at slightly earlier/later times and mobile order, as well as use bathrooms that are more off the beaten path. If a line is long open the app and chances are there is a restroom only a few steps away without a wait. Obviously this might not work with little kids but I found a lot of great restrooms this way.

Yes, I agree with a qualification to my post - Lines for bathrooms were there, but not overwhelming. I only know what DD and DW reported - a short line inside most of them... And yes, QS was do-able too...it was peak times when it was insane. I don't have crowd complaints per se, but I do recognize the trends. Originally UT's calendar had a few of our days rated as 3/10 which was way off - we definitely did not see much less than 6.5-9 during the peak of the day. Nights were more empty than I remember, but the weather wasn't prime with cold windy evenings and one warmer night with rain. - EPCOT PM EMH was very quiet (and TT opened 2 days early for it! - can you say relative walk-on?), as was MK in many areas on Wed night. I think PM EMH is currently very affected by RotR BG necessities of being up and IN by 8 AM. That may be affecting a large portion of later day enthusiasts

 

[DisneyGirlMI]

I think it's a lull exacerbated by Coronavirus fears. It's likely to impact attendance even more as the weeks pass.

I imagine there are a lot less international visitors coming right now too. That may continue for a while until the threat dies down.

 

[disneyseniors]

Crowd levels are subjective, but I'll give you our take on Feb 25 thru today (3/4). Just returned today. We have been at this time of year several times, but this time was definitely more crowded than before. It is expected at HS, but everywhere, anytime, was crowds, crowds, crowds. That's my opinion, so. Maybe I'm getting a little disneyed out with the increase in crowds, don't know? We were able to do our 3 fp's and did a couple of 45 min standby's. We enjoyed what we did get to do, but I have to admit that I'm getting sick of the crowds which never end. wE're thinking of going to Disneyland the next time with a trip out West included. Maybe a change of scenery will help.

 

[finedice]

Here is a take from the crowd experts: https://touringplans.com/blog/2020/03/02/crowd-calendar-update-for-march-coming-soon/

Spoiler alert they say the crowds are “unprecedented”

And more frightening they indicate that they may adjust their numbering to make some of these 10s into 9s and 8s (lending credence to the “that’s just how it is now” crowd).

I don't totally agree. The crowds are there, but different - the flow is different - strategies are evolving, but we had all we wanted in a week. You have to be MDE and planning prepared for sure. But we were able to get minimal-wait, walk-in spots in some of the best TS restaurants, multiple rides an all e-tix rides, plenty of shows and rest / resort time too. Granted, we are informed and prepared...

 

[mom22boys]

Confession, I haven't read the whole thread, but here is my take. We did yearly trips when the kids were little from 2005-2009 all with low to moderate at best crowds. We did an Easter trip in 2012 which at the time I thought was crowded. We then took five years off and have now done trips in 2017, 2018, 2019, and just Pres. weekend in 2020. These past couple of years the crowds have just kept increasing making the Easter 2012 trip look like nothing (seriously, when I look at pictures I ask myself where were the crowds?).

So here I sit, just coming off of the Pres weekend trip, and the crowds seriously have me asking if I need a break (and, that is coming from a someone who loves Disney). I think it is my memory of the lower crowds and lower price of admission in the 2000's which makes it difficult for me. I think about how much it costs for a family to get into the parks these days, I look at how much the resort costs, and how much the food costs, and I can't help but feel the parks are too saturated to justify the cost, at least for me.

I truly think my family is going to take some time off, and let Disney finish some construction projects. Maybe, we'll save our money and plan a trip for 2022 or later.

 

[Heather07438]

Maybe, we'll save our money and plan a trip for 2022 or later.

We're planning on not going as often too. We'll wait longer and then visit for more days. Comes out cheaper and the extra days make it easier to compete with the crazy crowds without getting burned out.

 

[disneycat321]

I confess I haven't read this entire thread, but to answer you, OP, it's definitely gotten more crowded. DLR is our home park, but we visited WDW in June 2010, May 2013, and July 2019. We were really surprised by the crowds this past July, especially in Magic Kingdom. The fact that you really cannot ride much of anything (or anything at all, at parks with less rides) standby is a big change to us. Sure, we had a great trip - went in prepared, used FP+ well, rope dropped, etc - but still, hard ticket extra cost events (3 DAHs) were a huge part of why we had such a great time. We were especially surprised by how crowded the evening EMH at MK were. Those had been fantastic on our other trips!

To me, DLR is a lot more manageable these days because of Max Pass. Their consistently longer park hours don't hurt, either.

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

We’re here now and have been pretty disappointed for the past 4 days - extremely crowded at every park, very limited success with decent 4th FPs, long lines for all quick service restaurants including Starbucks, just lines, lines, and more lines. At one point my DH said it brought back memories of going to Great America where we were lucky to get on 3 rides in one day. There isn’t much ‘magic’ here lately.

Please don’t tell me to stop and appreciate the theming and little details - Disney took away a lot of the benches where we might like to sit and do so!

Sorry to rant, but this WDW is not what it used to be and while some of the new rides & experiences are awesome, the long lines and crowds at all times of the year ( not to mention the expense) detract from the experience of ‘happiest place on earth’.

We learned how to deal with the crowds Christmas week 2018. We learned a lot so we decided to go back Christmas 2019 and though crowded, we were able to ride everything we wanted and ate at all the places we wanted to eat. We went in with expectations that it would be crowded which I think makes it easer to manage and had such a great time we booked Christmas 2020. We are going this April for spring break which I know will be crowded but early FP+ and late pool time make for a great vacation at "The most magical place on earth".

 

[mom22boys]

I just got back from a week long trip last week, one thing is for sure, if I had never been there before I would never go back. They really need to put back the longer hours. HS closing at 8pm is ridiculous when they have installed 2 new massive areas, MK closing at 9 when the place is packed all day long is lame. I didn't even make it to AK because when that place is crowded there is no where to walk.

Agree, on our recent trip HS was just starting to become bearable at 7 p.m. If the park would have stayed open until 9 p.m., instead of closing at 8 p.m., it would have made a huge difference.

 

[Lovetherodent]

I’m here now and was bracing for shoulder to shoulder, and....it really hasn’t been too bad. i check TP to see how close their predictions were, and so far every day those week, actual crowds have been below the prediction. Good for me, I guess!

 

[Heather07438]

I’m here now and was bracing for shoulder to shoulder, and....it really hasn’t been too bad. i check TP to see how close their predictions were, and so far every day those week, actual crowds have been below the prediction. Good for me, I guess!

Coronovirus is just beginning to affect attendance. Some people aren't willing to go on planes now, or in large gatherings.

 

[xipotec]

Coronavirus is a temporary thing, and once people get over the panic mode , it will be business as usually for travel related businesses. So it’s not really worth mentioning.

Disney wants crowded parks and Wall Street wants their profits.
So crowds will continue to increase over the next decade until the value vs price drops significantly.
For long time WDW visitors, that point is a lot closer than most other people, because we remember better days. Days of strolling the parks without crowd dodging, eating at restaurants without planning 6 months out and doing special events without a 100 dollar a person add on.
Having been lucky enough to visit well over 100 times in my life, I would say the magic is dying, and its not because of the park itself, but the experience is not as relaxing , fun and easy to have a good time.

The next trip we take is going to be DL in CA and that’s to save money and try something different.

 

[Heather07438]

Coronavirus is a temporary thing, and once people get over the panic mode , it will be business as usually for travel related businesses. So it’s not really worth mentioning.

Disney wants crowded parks and Wall Street wants their profits.
So crowds will continue to increase over the next decade until the value vs price drops significantly.
For long time WDW visitors, that point is a lot closer than most other people, because we remember better days. Days of strolling the parks without crowd dodging, eating at restaurants without planning 6 months out and doing special events without a 100 dollar a person add on.
Having been lucky enough to visit well over 100 times in my life, I would say the magic is dying, and its not because of the park itself, but the experience is not as relaxing , fun and easy to have a good time.

The next trip we take is going to be DL in CA and that’s to save money and try something different.

It's going to be more than a momentary blip.