Is there a reason the parks are so crowded right now?

[ExcitedSam]

We are here this week, today we went to California adventure, got there about 9:20, they opened the gates about 9:30, I went and lined up for RSR FP while DH took the girls to Midway mania, they did have to wait until rope drop at 10. I was around the corner just past Carthay in line, by 10:15 I had FP for 12:20 and walked down to Midway mania and a few minutes later DH got off. We rode screamin with a 5min wait next and did the rider swap for 4yr old. Also rode Mickeys fun wheel, Ariels, grizzly river rapids and shopped a bit and then hit RSR at 12:20, waited about 10-15 min maybe? I felt really bad for everyone in line as it was a 70min wait for standby line. We probably could have done more in that time, but we are so overwhelmed by it all ATM!

 

[DisneyDuchess]

I agree that Cars Land has been attracting a lot more guests then recently. I usually go every year during August-Oct and this year just seems extremely more crowded than usual. Also, I think the recent scorching heat may give us the illusion that the park is extremely crowded than it normally is. Just my take.

 

[I❤MICKEY]

We just finished a week long trip to Disneyland this past week (9/17/12 - 9/21/12) and the parks seemed very crowded. However, I would like to point out the even though they were crowded they were deceptively crowded.

What I mean by deceptively crowded is that even though many areas of the parks were jam packed with people trying to maneuver through tight spaces the wait times for most of the rides were shockingly manageable. For instance, New Orleans Square was nearly bursting at the seams with people but the average wait time for the Haunted Mansion was about 15 minutes or so. There were times where it shot up to an hour but for the most part we got on it in less then 15 minutes even though we had to navigate the hordes just to get to the ride's entrance.

In Tomorrow Land it was quite busy as well. Trying to get from the entrance back to Space Mountain required nimble feet and quick reflexes just to avoid running into people, especially in front of Star Tours. However, the wait times for Space Mountain seemed to hover right around 15-30 minutes the whole week we were there. What was really surprising was that when Space Mountain was packed Star Tours was practically empty and vice versa. It was quite nice to be able to deviate from Space Mountain to Star Tours while waiting for the hordes of people to get off of the ride.

In California Adventure most of the people seemed to congregate in Cars Land which left the rest of the park almost empty. Several of the rides had 10 minute or less wait times the entire week. We spent hours at Pacific Wharf just going between the various rides over and over. In fact, we were allowed to stay seated on 'Mickey's Silly Symphony Swings' five times in a row because there was nobody in line. We were also able to ride 'Goofy's Sky School' three times in a row without getting off because there was nobody in line. Regardless, 'Radiator Springs Racers', 'Toy Story Midway Mania' and 'Luigi's Flying Tires' always seemed to be flirting with 60 minute wait times.

Another ride that I was surprised was so easy to get on was 'Tow Mater's Junkyard Jamboree'. I don't think we waited more then 10 minutes each time we rode it. In fact, I believe most of our wait times were right around 5 minutes or so. The 'Tower of Terror' was also surprisingly easy to get on. The wait times seemed to fluctuate between 15 and 30 minutes the whole week we were there. We rode it 4 times with less then 10 minute wait times.

Overall, we had a great experience with this trip and were able to manage the crowds very well. Not once did I get stressed out about the wait times or not being able to ride a particular ride. Maybe it was because we decided to use a 'path of least resistance' method when selecting which rides to wait for or maybe it was the fact that we just accepted the fact that we might not be able to ride certain multiple times. Regardless, we didn't paint ourselves into a corner with a predetermined plan and just rode the rides that the crowds (or lack of) dictated we ride. If we were on our way to Splash Mountain and we saw that 'Pirates of the Caribbean' had a less then 5 minute wait we deviated from our plan and took advantage of that particular ride.

We had the same experience and I agree with the deceptively crowded comment. Yesterday we got fast passes for RSR. Waited 30 mins for Toy Story Mania. 30 minutes for Luigi's but every other ride/attraction in CA that we went on was about 10-20 mins all day. The weather also seemed much more pleasant. Hoping that carries to today.

 

[onecutemouse]

In short? Most likely the new Cars Land, everyone wants to check it out. I was there when the new Tomorrowland opened and California Adventure, it was SUPER busy.

 

[ArchOwl]

It seems as though the parks have more people in them, no doubt due to Carsland. But also because fall isn't much of an off season anymore. But the parks seem better able to handle the crowds, and while there were a lot of people, ride times were reasonable outside of Carsland.

But the heat was unreasonable!

 

[Luliemouse]

I think it's several of the reasons people here have posted....
CarsLand
SoCal passes being unblocked
Halloween decor

For those who have been AP's for a while have noticed that September has been getting busier and busier each year...

The days of old are gone! I remember when we use to go after work at about 5:30 in September and it was deader then dead.

 

[disneegrl4eva]

I think it's several of the reasons people here have posted....
CarsLand
SoCal passes being unblocked
Halloween decor

For those who have been AP's for a while have noticed that September has been getting busier and busier each year...

The days of old are gone! I remember when we use to go after work at about 5:30 in September and it was deader then dead.

right?? I would say end of the 80's throughout the majority of the 90's, way before I started getting an AP and was able to frequent the parks more often, we went every year in Oct. and it was deader than a doornail. Never had any waits or crowds..man i loved that...then after they started bringing the halloween party to DL, I noticed that every year gets more crowded and more crowded...now it can get pretty bad...especially on a friday and a monday which I do try to avoid like the plague but unfortunately now that they only have the parties on Tues and Fri., and I can only go on a Friday..Im stuck

 

[Luliemouse]

right?? I would say end of the 80's throughout the majority of the 90's, way before I started getting an AP and was able to frequent the parks more often, we went every year in Oct. and it was deader than a doornail. Never had any waits or crowds..man i loved that...then after they started bringing the halloween party to DL, I noticed that every year gets more crowded and more crowded...now it can get pretty bad...especially on a friday and a monday which I do try to avoid like the plague but unfortunately now that they only have the parties on Tues and Fri., and I can only go on a Friday..Im stuck

I've been an AP since the Late 90's.... I would say... the best period for AP's in terms of crowds was right after 9/11... Talk about dead. That Fall, We would go at 10pm on a Saturday night, There would be about 30 people wondering Main Street. It was great! LOL!

 

[disneegrl4eva]

I've been an AP since the Late 90's.... I would say... the best period for AP's in terms of crowds was right after 9/11... Talk about dead. That Fall, We would go at 10pm on a Saturday night, There would be about 30 people wondering Main Street. It was great! LOL!

ohhh yeah i forgot about that one...I was just talking about overall in a timeframe....but that reminded me of one time when we went over Superbowl weekend..Im trying to say it was 1998?? OMG the entire weekend was D E A D!!!...there was N O B O D Y in the park and barely any men...back then they had the Neon Cactus sports bar at the DLH and it was way crowded in there lol...and which i stayed farrrrr away from...that was like the best weekend EVER...

 

[Eddygirl]

We were there last week, Sept 15th to 23rd. It was busy but manageable.

Last Sunday afternoon/evening was NUTS but we were expecting it to be. A CM told us it would get busy after 1 with the AP holders and it did!!! We went early, rode a lot of rides and used FP's. We went back to the hotel mid afternoon for a swim and dinner, then headed back for some evening fun and fireworks.

The rest of the week was okay! It was busy.... Lots of people but other than Cars Land it was not crazy, KWIM? It seemed to be busier crowd wise than it was when it came to wait times. We went early every day. Started collecting FP's as soon as we could an saved them for later. FP's were needed (for us anyways) for Splash Mountain-always 60 mins +, Grizzly River- again 60 mins +, Ghost Galaxy in the afternoons, Star Tours in the afternoons, and we loved Big Thunder FP's in the evenings. BTMR FP's are practically walk on when the stand by lines are 45 mins +.

POTC was never more than 10 mins for us. Haunted Mansion was usually under 20 mins. We rode Matterhorn a lot in the mornings... Never more than 15 mins, but by noon the line was long. We rode Nemo and Autopia with no lines before noon as well. The afternoon's they were a long wait... 45 mins+ for Nemo. Star Tours was usually under 30 mins until mid-late afternoon. BTMR was never busy until evenings. Our kids are a bit old for Fantasyland.... We did walk on Mr. Toad, Snow White and Pinocchio when we happened by and there was no wait. We rode Peter Pan at the tail end of our MM because I wanted to.

Screaming was never over 30 for us, usually 15-20 during the week. Goofy Sky School, Zephyr and Swings were all practically walk ons. Toy Story was almost always 45 mins or more. We found the line moves quick though. Soaring was hit and miss line wise, but never busy before noon.

It seems the crowds are balanced with CA all finished. In fact CA always felt busier than DL people wise. I am glad we did not go expecting it to be dead. If we went relying on Touring Plans predications we would have been frustrated and disappointed!

 

[Luliemouse]

I was at the parks on Sunday, We got there at park opening... Walked on to most everything... I would say it starts getting crowed about 11 am. We walked on to Haunted mansion in the morning.... At 12ish it was already 30 min wait. NUTS... It was too HOT to stay so we ended up leaving at around 2:00.

I think I'm going to start going in the mornings at park opening and leaving around noon.

 

[Aust]

We're here now, have been here since the 20th - it is definitely more crowded than the same time 5 years ago when we were here. And I think the heat makes it feel worse - I know we are exhausted after just 4 or 5 hours trawling through the crowds in the heat, whereas last January my sister, neice and I managed 9 or 10 hours at a time. The weekend was crazy, I really didn't enjoy myself much at all, Monday and today are better (slightly cooler and less people, but still a lot).

 

[disneegrl4eva]

We're here now, have been here since the 20th - it is definitely more crowded than the same time 5 years ago when we were here. And I think the heat makes it feel worse - I know we are exhausted after just 4 or 5 hours trawling through the crowds in the heat, whereas last January my sister, neice and I managed 9 or 10 hours at a time. The weekend was crazy, I really didn't enjoy myself much at all, Monday and today are better (slightly cooler and less people, but still a lot).

yeah but you cant compare the differences between Jan and Sept....Sept is always a warm month and Jan is usually either cold or nice during the day and cold at night....any time you go somewhere when its really hot you are not going to get as much done as doing it during a cooler month...

 

[CSAColl]

We've been here since Sunday night. Our two park days, so far, were Monday and Tuesday.
I've not found the crowds overwhelming at all, and the heat has been warmish, but after the awful summer we've had in the PacNW it was very welcome.
Today was actually a great day, we spent the whole day at DCA until 6:30 when we headed over and got a great seat on the parade route at DL. The longest we've waited for anything was Toy Story Mania, and it was about 40 minutes.

 

[fctiger]

Hey was there for two days this week, Sunday and Monday to see a friend! A TAD busy, but fine! Yes, I imagine its busier than a typical day in September, but nothing was over 30 mins except RSR which jumped to 2 hours on Sunday. But everything else was fine.

And people, I can't stress this enough, this is DLR BIGGEST expansion since DCA opened 12 years ago. Disney is advertising this thing all over the place. NOT just in North America, but also all over the South Pacific, Asia and parts of Europe! There are people ALL over the world coming to see it! My friend came from Australia! In fact we met quite a few Aussies this week which is now their spring time! Its not just Apers, its people everywhere. CL is barely 3 months old, its going to be busier!

And yes, a lot of people did postpone their trips to September from summer, which at the end of the day is not a bad thing. Sure its 'busier' but still less busy than the summer. RSR is basically an hour now. Not bad for the 3-4 hours it had all summer. Of course summer was FINE IMO considering all the ridiculous hype and you got longer hours and a lot more shows to boot.

But yes, not a shock its a little busier. This is a new era for DLR and people all over the world and America is checking it out! Its still relatively slow compared to the high season and if you plan it right you can still do everything you want. And I imagine with Halloween now here, things will only get busier between now and October!

But don't sweat it, you're at Disneyland! Just get there early and enjoy yourselves!

 

[Mary09]

Here in Phoenix they're running TV commercials every night for the Halloween stuff.

 

[jsebsirois]

But don't sweat it, you're at Disneyland! Just get there early and enjoy yourselves!

Amen to that! This is what I always tell myself when I get frustated about something in one of the Disney Parks!

 

[krispin41]

Here in Phoenix they're running TV commercials every night for the Halloween stuff.

Here in northern California too.

 

[ethanwa]

I really hope next week (Oct 2, 3, 4) aren't very crowded! EVen though it will be hot, I'm hoping mid-week beginning of October is manageable at least.

 

[CrazyDuck]

If you ever have to ask "Why is it so crowded?" just ask yourself "Why did I decide to go now?" and whatever your answer, there are probably 5,000 other people there for the same reason!