How crowded is it this month (Mar)? Wall to wall people when walking around?

[DoleWhip]

I have seen some reports that WDW has been having record attendance levels in the past few weeks.

Is that true? Is it really that bad?
I might be going this weekend, and was worried from the reports here. But all people said was it's "crowded", and I know everyone has a different definition of "crowded".

I don't care so much about the ride wait times. I'll be using Fast Pass, and I go to WDW often so the rides are not the main attraction for me. So, 90 min waits for the E-tickets and 30 min waits for smaller rides... that's no big... I can work with that.

However, the one pet peeve of mine is when it's so crowded that you can't walk around the park without bumping into people, or having your feet run over by a stroller, and get stuck behind huge groups of slow moving people.

I tend to walk around at a quicker pace than most people... it's a habit from commuting in NYC. So, as long as I can walk around at my pace w/o feeling like I have to slow down due to "traffic jams", I'm happy.

The weird thing is, I've been to WDW in March before in 1999, and I don't remember feeling it was crowded at all. Have things changed so much that 5 years later the crowds are that much worse?

Anyway, if people could please report on how crowded the parks are, specifically in terms of walking around the parks, I would appreciate that.

Also, I love the parks after dark, and since the park hours are later this month, will be taking advantage of it. Is it still really crowded during the later hours at the parks?

Thanks!

 

[moinab]

When we were there two weekends ago (which a CM said was the beginning of an anticipated month of busy crowds) it was fine for the first two hours, but started thickening up after 11. By 1 PM, we were stuck walking at a snail's pace in the crowd. This was at MK on Saturday and AK on Sunday. I don't know if we just hit bad spots. We left when it got too crowded for our taste. We hopped to Epcot on Saturday afternoon, and that wasn't bad at all, but we left before nightfall.

 

[slp87]

We just returned from our trip 3/10 - 3/21 and it was crowded, but manageable for the most part. I have now proclaimed Fantasyland "Stroller Hell". Only because it is so crowded from the parked strollers everywhere. They need to start valet parking in that area. AK is the only other place we saw huge crowds. I know the saying is "Natazu", but with the crowds we saw, that's exactly what it was like. Despite that, we had a wonderful time and are already planning for the same time in 2 years!! Since you're familiar with FP, you'll manage well.

 

[kilee]

We were just there 3/9-3/16. It was very crowded. Comparable for me to Easter Week a few years ago. Don't count on FP as your "plan of attack". For the major attractions they were gone by late a.m. some days. So While we able to get FP's for a few things, by the time our 3rd or 4th "window" opened up many of the machines were already closed for the day.

The crowds really picked up Friday 3/12 and from then on. Within 15 min of opening RNRRC was over a 90 min wait. Or so they estimated, the line was already well beyond the alcove of the ride. When I was getting a FP for this ride, the CM said he hadn't seen crowds like this since Christmas, that this was crazy!! It was also weekday (non EMH)!!!! I've never expierence MGM in a crowd. It wasn't great. We kept getting turned away from the shows (like Indy and Mermaid) that do FP's, because they were already packed solid. Over at MK-- was the same story. Thankfully we hit this up once already at the beginning of our trip before the crowds built up. But the 2nd time, was pretty much a no go. Any major attraction had a 90-120 min wait and no FP's left (this was by lunch time!!!). As well as getting seats for the 1st Spectro-- had to grab them almost a full 2 hrs out if you wanted to "sit". There was 8 showings of this in a 4 day time span, so it's not like it was the only chance that week!!!

Anyhow, I was really shocked. I figured it would be busy, but not mobbed!! Won't go in March again as we did a lot of people watching, not wanting to wait in those horrid lines.