Is it just me or does it seem the parks arexpacked?

[ilanakan]

Been here at disney world since the 17th. Came at a "slow" time of year and planned all the parks according to the crowd trackers. Magic kingdim is packed! Hollywoid studios too. It's 9:00 am and we're in line to toy story mania and it's already over 30 min. wait.
If these are 1or 2 crowd levels waht are 4,5 or 9 levels like?

 

[4kids4karen]

Been here at disney world since the 17th. Came at a "slow" time of year and planned all the parks according to the crowd trackers. Magic kingdim is packed! Hollywoid studios too. It's 9:00 am and we're in line to toy story mania and it's already over 30 min. wait.
If these are 1or 2 crowd levels waht are 4,5 or 9 levels like?

There is no "slow" time anymore, just like there is no "off season."

 

[AmyB2006]

Actually a 30 min wait for TSM at 9:00 isn't half bad. I'd say that's pretty good. It's usually at least an hour. LOL

 

[dani7776]

Could be because of free dining going on now

 

["Cinder" Ella's Mom]

We were there in the parks from Sept. 11-14 and never waited more than 15 minutes for anything. We arrived at HS and were let in around 8:45. We went to Toy Story and walked right in. There was a slight delay since they didn't start operating the ride until 9:00, but it went fast once it got going. Remember, most parks (not MK) are opening even earlier than the stated 9:00.

 

[Patience]

Been here at disney world since the 17th. Came at a "slow" time of year and planned all the parks according to the crowd trackers. Magic kingdim is packed! Hollywoid studios too. It's 9:00 am and we're in line to toy story mania and it's already over 30 min. wait.
If these are 1or 2 crowd levels waht are 4,5 or 9 levels like?

Not just you. We were there from the 14th to the 19th and I felt the parks were pretty crowded too.

 

[eangel12]

Been here at disney world since the 17th. Came at a "slow" time of year and planned all the parks according to the crowd trackers. Magic kingdim is packed! Hollywoid studios too. It's 9:00 am and we're in line to toy story mania and it's already over 30 min. wait.
If these are 1or 2 crowd levels waht are 4,5 or 9 levels like?

We went at this time 2 years ago and we felt the same way. A crowd level of 2 at HS and the line waiting to get in was past the area to get into the park. It was crazy, but once inside the ride waits were about 30 minutes and we used fast pass to our advantage. The day we were at HS, TSM was PACKED and we scored fast passes but when we went to get more the return time was 6pm and we were planning to head back to our hotel before then so we skipped doing it a second time!

 

[camimh]

We were there from the 13-17 and only used one set of FPs, for TSM. Everything else, aside from meeting Jack Skellington was less than 20-25 mins. And most of it was pretty much walk on. So we were very happy with the crowd levels

 

[JessiMommy]

Those of you who found the parks to be crowded this past week are doing something wrong. We just returned from 8 days, Sept. 14-21 and never waited more than ten minutes, if that for anything. We do rope drop, rest in the heat of the day and return at night. We also use fastpass when needed. The only crowds we saw were Thursday night September 19 at MK when we went for parade and fireworks. With MK closing early a lot of nights that was expected. We only went for the nighttime entertainment, we saved MK for other less crowded days... Tuesday & Friday.

 

[JessiMommy]

Most recently we have visited in mid November 2012, late January 2013 and late February 2013. This past week was hands down the least crowded I've seen in years. Other than the heat September wins the award for low crowds. You do still need a plan, you have to be one step ahead of everyone else. For the poster who said TSM had a 30 minute wait at 9 AM that is because that park opens 15-20 minutes early almost every day. By 9 AM my family had already waited 5 minutes, rode and moved on. There is no zero crowd time anymore, you still need a plan but you will not find a time much better than September for lower crowds.

 

[Patience]

Those of you who found the parks to be crowded this past week are doing something wrong. We just returned from 8 days, Sept. 14-21 and never waited more than ten minutes, if that for anything. We do rope drop, rest in the heat of the day and return at night. We also use fastpass when needed. The only crowds we saw were Thursday night September 19 at MK when we went for parade and fireworks. With MK closing early a lot of nights that was expected. We only went for the nighttime entertainment, we saved MK for other less crowded days... Tuesday & Friday.

Well, I don't think we did anything wrong. We were in the parks September 14-September 19. We were at the parks at rope drop, took an afternoon break and returned for the evenings. We used our magic bands and fastpass+ and also pulled regular fastpasses with our cards. We rode everything we wanted to. I was just surprised by how crowded the parks felt, especially since the parks were mostly 1's and 2's for our days. As an example, we ate at Columbia Harbour House in the Magic Kingdom during an off time (around 1:30) and the lines were very long. Our longest waits seemed to be for meals (had a fastpass+ for Be Our Guest though so no wait there) and for character meets (the ones we didn't have fastpass+ for that is). We waited 20 minutes to see Sully and Mike and almost 30 minutes to see Princess Sofia at Hollywood Studios and we were there on a recommended day according to easywdw.

We had a great time and, as I said, did everything we wanted to do but I still wouldn't call the parks uncrowded. I think a lot of people see crowd levels of 1 or 2 and expect not to have to navigate through crowds. It's not true, at least according to what we experienced. We are going again in two years in early October and I am prepared for the parks to be more crowded then.

 

[larryz]

As an example, we ate at Columbia Harbour House in the Magic Kingdom during an off time (around 1:30) and the lines were very long.

That's one of the most well-known "secrets" to a pleasant day at MK -- eat at "off times" before or after the noon hour.

 

[Missyrose]

Been here at disney world since the 17th. Came at a "slow" time of year and planned all the parks according to the crowd trackers. Magic kingdim is packed! Hollywoid studios too. It's 9:00 am and we're in line to toy story mania and it's already over 30 min. wait.
If these are 1or 2 crowd levels waht are 4,5 or 9 levels like?

DHS had probably been open for 20-30 minutes by then (it opens before the posted time now). So like PP said, 30 mins isn't a bad posted wait time for that time, they usually kick it up to 45 mins or an hour pretty quickly during higher-crowd times.

 

[Mommy2Corinne]

Well, I don't think we did anything wrong. We were in the parks September 14-September 19. We were at the parks at rope drop, took an afternoon break and returned for the evenings. We used our magic bands and fastpass+ and also pulled regular fastpasses with our cards. We rode everything we wanted to. I was just surprised by how crowded the parks felt, especially since the parks were mostly 1's and 2's for our days. As an example, we ate at Columbia Harbour House in the Magic Kingdom during an off time (around 1:30) and the lines were very long. Our longest waits seemed to be for meals (had a fastpass+ for Be Our Guest though so no wait there) and for character meets (the ones we didn't have fastpass+ for that is). We waited 20 minutes to see Sully and Mike and almost 30 minutes to see Princess Sofia at Hollywood Studios and we were there on a recommended day according to easywdw.

We had a great time and, as I said, did everything we wanted to do but I still wouldn't call the parks uncrowded. I think a lot of people see crowd levels of 1 or 2 and expect not to have to navigate through crowds. It's not true, at least according to what we experienced. We are going again in two years in early October and I am prepared for the parks to be more crowded then.

I actually agree with you. While I posted in another thread that I loved September (which I do!!) and that we rode every line using FP- or FP+ with no waits at all (which we did), I do agree that it "felt" crowded at times. It seemed like there were a lot of lookey-loos in congested areas and restaurants. A lot of people just milling around seeming to not know where to go or what to do, lol.

It was hard to navigate the crowds at times on certain days. For example, our first day at Epcot (9/14) seemed crowded and tight on all the walkways and Malestrom had a 45 minute wait midday (we used FP+ so it didn't matter to us, but still...that's a long standby line for September), while on our second Epcot day (9/19) it was much better and seemed less crowded overall...even during midday.

So I do understand what you mean. I honestly cannot even imagine going during "peak" periods. You couldn't pay me to suffer through those crowds.

 

[AndreaA]

Free dining was going on which explains the restaurant waits.

We were there from the 14th-21st and other than Animal Kingdom walkways being PACKED (I swear, Disney is trying to replicate actual African and Indian city conditions by putting those "entertainment" stands right in the middle of busy thoroughfares) we didn't find it to be very crowded. We had a GAC for one of our sons, but only really needed to use it for Peter Pan and BTMRR, and even those waits weren't too bad (20min or so) just longer than he can tolerate unfortunately.

 

[mesaboy2]

To quote Josh: "Feels crowded".

 

[GaBelle]

Those of you who found the parks to be crowded this past week are doing something wrong. We just returned from 8 days, Sept. 14-21 and never waited more than ten minutes, if that for anything. We do rope drop, rest in the heat of the day and return at night. We also use fastpass when needed. The only crowds we saw were Thursday night September 19 at MK when we went for parade and fireworks. With MK closing early a lot of nights that was expected. We only went for the nighttime entertainment, we saved MK for other less crowded days... Tuesday & Friday.

I agree wholeheartedly. We were there the same dates and I thought it was less crowded than 2 yrs ago when we were last there.
The only times that "felt" crowded were around parade times in MK on Main Street.

 

[Mommy2Corinne]

To quote Josh: "Feels crowded".

This.

 

[dpswift]

The time it REALLY felt crowded was Villians Night Sept13. Other than that it was not bad except the next night when Wishes let out before the park closed. It was a bear fighting everyone exiting. No one was walking on the right just pushing their way through.

 

[scrappinannie]

Actually a 30 min wait for TSM at 9:00 isn't half bad. I'd say that's pretty good. It's usually at least an hour. LOL

I'd jump up and down for 30 minutes at 9am! Last time we were there we waited almost 2 hours!! 2 hours!! We were kind of stupid that trip...LOL. Didn't plan our day well and spent the first Saturday of SSW in HWS. It was way crowded and lines were awful. Didn't get FPs ( I think they were gone by the time we got there). At least most of the line is inside in the AC.