It’s January!!! This is crazy!!! The crowds are insane. Hi

[Texans_loyal]

Was it the night of DAH? 1/17? DAH was 8-11pm that evening.

1/8. *3 weeks ago not 2. sorry

 

[hereforthechurros]

I don’t think today is a good judge for the parks due to the rain.

We’ve been here during Pro Bowl week in the past, but that was just when they first started having it in Orlando.

Again, we’ve been coming in January for the past 12 years. I know that times have changed and the walk-on days of January of past are gone. I was just not prepared for the “can’t even walk” situations we encountered in Epcot and MK on Friday and Saturday.

And the monorail lounges just couldn’t even handle a full bar/seating areas properly.

We love it here. We understand it’s crowded. We expected it after last January, especially. I’m just kind of surprised that there isn’t more in terms of staffing where people want to spend even more $$.

Same experience here. Poly was a ZOO on Saturday. Line for the monorail was backed up to Kona. FPs were hard to get and FP lines made it clear the inventory was very reduced. Lines were long which I believe is due to understaffing. We just kept moving to avoid crowds whenever possible.

Epcot Sunday night was a ghost town though which was fun and water logged. We got into Rose & Crown and right up to the bar without any issue. Walk on for every ride. But yeah service was an issue across the board, I think CMs are run very thin this time of year.

 

[hereforthechurros]

Local passholder. We went to MK Saturday and thought it was less crowded than a normal Saturday. Arrived around noon, stayed til the fireworks were done. Booked fp in the car on the way over and more in park after we used the first three. Didn’t do standby for anything except People Mover since there is no fp. There were a few long fp lines, some because a nearby ride was down, but the cm kept it moving fast; we didn’t wait more than 10mn for anything. We even got a second row spot for the parade about 15 mn before it started. People Mover was about a ten minute wait too but Space was down. We stood halfway back Main Street for the fireworks and there was a lot of empty space. Walkways had plenty of room except at choke points and in the main part of Fantasyland, as always.

Funny, we did standby on more rides than we ever have because pulling FPs was an issue all day. Waited an hour for BTMR, 45 for Splash among others.

 

[only hope]

Funny, we did standby on more rides than we ever have because pulling FPs was an issue all day. Waited an hour for BTMR, 45 for Splash among others.

You must be from up north to do Splash on such a cold day
I was wearing 4-5 layers all day Sat, plus a beanie that covered my ears part of the day.

We literally never do standby unless it’s 15mn or less, maybe 20 once in a rare while, no matter the park or attraction. We use FP for nearly all the rides we do, if it offers fp. I just constantly refresh til I get something that’s nearby, as we also try not to backtrack much. Rarely do I not have something secured to do next by the time we are boarding the ride vehicle for our current fp. Saturday we used 7 fp total. Even got extremely lucky and got a 7DMT that was perfect for after dinner- if it weren’t for that and having a bit of time to kill as a result before dinner, we would’ve used 8 fp. I did notice some refreshes had little to offer, which isn’t typical until a few hours from park close.

 

[NileNellie]

It was also raining all day long yesterday.

We have been coming for years this time of the year and just got back from a 11 day trip yesterday. We rode what we wanted but had to work at our fastpasses. It was really busy some of the days. I think it might be a every other year thing now for us. Time to bank the DVC points. We had fun but wasn't as enjoyable having to constantly stare at phone to work for the fastpasses. We actually left parks early many days and hung out at the hotel. The next step is probably start spending a few days off property and we are ok with that.

This is part of what takes the fun out of it for me as well. I know everyone says in order to get FP you just have to refresh the app, but I'm on vacation. I don't want to be staring at my phone every 5 minutes.

 

[DisneynBison]

I yearn for the insane crowds of the last few weeks we were in Florida and the looking at the phone and dodging people every where. It was so much better than home as it is 56 below zero wind chill.

Yes -56!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[DisneynBison]

I yearn for the insane crowds of the last few weeks we were in Florida and the looking at the phone and dodging people every where. It was so much better than home as it is 56 below zero wind chill.

Yes -56!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whoever pissed off Elsa please go apologize its getting cold up here in the North

 

[CAPSLOCK]

It was so much better than home as it is 56 below zero wind chill.

Ugh

 

[hereforthechurros]

You must be from up north to do Splash on such a cold day
I was wearing 4-5 layers all day Sat, plus a beanie that covered my ears part of the day.

We literally never do standby unless it’s 15mn or less, maybe 20 once in a rare while, no matter the park or attraction. We use FP for nearly all the rides we do, if it offers fp. I just constantly refresh til I get something that’s nearby, as we also try not to backtrack much. Rarely do I not have something secured to do next by the time we are boarding the ride vehicle for our current fp. Saturday we used 7 fp total. Even got extremely lucky and got a 7DMT that was perfect for after dinner- if it weren’t for that and having a bit of time to kill as a result before dinner, we would’ve used 8 fp. I did notice some refreshes had little to offer, which isn’t typical until a few hours from park close.

I was in shorts on Saturday while riding Splash! It cooled down at night but the days were nice. I’m currently looking at a high of -1 tomorrow so yeah, different tolerance levels!

We typically never do standby if it’s more than 20 minutes but this trip was totally different. We bought APs and just never felt rushed, we just wanted to do certain rides and were fine waiting. We did 100 minutes for SDD on Friday!

Mine train was the one FP we pulled at the end of the night, 10:20 pm. It was quite the shock but we were grateful. FP availability seemed much lower than other trips. Not just from our ability to pull them but the length of FP lines were shorter than I’ve ever seen.

 

[Kylenick]

We were there January 13th-19th and was surprised to see quite a few tour groups with flags. Crowds weren't that bad but we normally see those groups during the summer. Groups that size can definitely change wait times.

 

[StarSeven7]

Its interesting how people have such different perspectives! We were in MK on Friday, Jan. 25 and while it seemed a bit busy, we didn’t find it bad at all. We waited a few minutes in line (maybe 5 minutes each) during the 3 rides we did during EMH - Space x2, and Buzz, then we got held up at Big Thunder for 40 minutes at 9am which was unusual. But after that we did t wait ins single line the rest of the day, we were able to fastpass everything! I think we ended up grabbing 6-8 fastpasses after our initial 3 were up and that was t until 2:30pm. We did 7 Dwarfs with FP at 2:30 and the standby line was 95 minutes which seems pretty average and we didn’t wait long in any fastpass lines! We stayed for a bit after the fireworks and the park wasn’t crowded at all!

 

[aristocatz]

We were just there 1/14-1/19 & crowds were very very low until our last day there.

 

[hereforthechurros]

Our stay 1/24-1/28 can be summed up as low park crowds but high wait times for rides and low FP availability. Resort crowds also seemed higher than we’ve ever experienced but that could have been due to the weather. More people staying close rather than going out. Or hopping over to Poly, WL, GF, BC/YC to warm up and have dinner rather than staying in the parks all day.

Edit: and the theme across all parks, resorts and restaurants seem to be that CMs were worn out and running thin. On more than one occasion a CM told us what they were doing wasn’t their normal job so they were just hacking it basically. Maybe locals can shed light on work force viability in the winter? Seems that summers run like a well oiled machine because of the college labor.

 

[ccbloom]

I was in shorts on Saturday while riding Splash! It cooled down at night but the days were nice. I’m currently looking at a high of -1 tomorrow so yeah, different tolerance levels!

Same! We didn’t think it was too cold until Saturday evening. It got a little chilly on Monday night, but today, Tuesday, was perfect!

The crowds have lessened a bit today for Epcot. A bit busy at Animal Kingdom, but we only ever do our FP there and then leave, so that was no big deal.

It may be our perception of crowds, and I know as the years have gone by, the crowds have increased every January. That being said, I do expect a bit more upkeep based on the crowds. We went into the Toy Story bathrooms yesterday and in front of the waste bin, there was a 2ft pile of used paper towels. Just an example. I don’t blame the workers, but I do blame Disney, the company, for not having more workers to keep up with the crowds. In the past, I remember cast members always cleaning up messes in the walkways. I stepped on piles of popcorns, spilled drinks, a pile of cotton candy - all within a couple of hours in the same park. I understand it’s busy, but even with the crowds, the cleanliness and upkeep was something I always loved about Disney, and I hate that the messes seem to be becoming the norm like Six Flags.

I do also agree with the previous poster about how rides didn’t seem to be running at capacity which may make the parks seem busier than they are. Honestly, if 7DMT was at 180 minutes, what is it during the “busy” season?

 

[Haley R]

I yearn for the insane crowds of the last few weeks we were in Florida and the looking at the phone and dodging people every where. It was so much better than home as it is 56 below zero wind chill.

Yes -56!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We just got here yesterday and I’m so glad because the wind chill at home says -50. I’ve never in my life seen anything that cold. We planned this trip last minute but didn’t know we would be dodging that bullet.

 

[Haley R]

Our stay 1/24-1/28 can be summed up as low park crowds but high wait times for rides and low FP availability. Resort crowds also seemed higher than we’ve ever experienced but that could have been due to the weather. More people staying close rather than going out. Or hopping over to Poly, WL, GF, BC/YC to warm up and have dinner rather than staying in the parks all day.

Edit: and the theme across all parks, resorts and restaurants seem to be that CMs were worn out and running thin. On more than one occasion a CM told us what they were doing wasn’t their normal job so they were just hacking it basically. Maybe locals can shed light on work force viability in the winter? Seems that summers run like a well oiled machine because of the college labor.

We were in Epcot today and it didn’t seem too bad but the wait times were high. I’m assuming because they are running less on rides or are using less cms

 

[kathy884]

We did three Disney Parks this last week: Epcot on Tuesday (crowd level 6 per touring plans), Animal Kingdom on Thursday (crowd level 4 per touring plans), and the MK on Saturday (crowd level 9 per touring plans) -- only decided to go on Sunday due to missing a cruise. Projected crowd levels and actual came out the same for Touring Plans.

Epcot and AK overall I thought felt quite pleasant in terms of number of people walking around etc. We were at Epcot Tuesday from 12-6 -- had secured a FP for Test Track, stand by line was about 35 minutes for Frozen, pleasant crowds for touring countries, stand by line was 50 minutes for Soarin and we waited for that, and then it was 10 minutes or so for Test Track due to our Fastpass -- nice day. At AK it rained in the morning. We got there at rope drop and stayed till 4 p.m. -- walked on to Navi River, then we hit Lion King and Nemo shows, used a FP for Dinosaur to make it walk on, did the trails: Discovery and River Falls were light crowds, Maharajah was packed (maybe with weather clearing up people were finally arriving). Next we waited 50 minutes stand by for Safari, but it seemed to go fast and used our FP for Everest. The park seemed quite pleasant except for the packed Maharajah trail and of course, as always FOP was a long line and we didn't attempt it due to no advanced FP. There was a mad rush of people going there at rope drop. I have to say that our day at AK was really pleasant too -- weather cleared up and we had nice sun in the afternoon also.

For the MK (We were there from rope drop (saw opening show) till maybe 9:30 p.m.). The first hour was great and we did four attractions without FPs in that first hour -- Buzz, Dumbo, It's a Small World, and the Little Mermaid ride. Haunted Mansion was about a 15 minute wait after that too. Next we stopped for lunch and after lunch we noticed increased crowds for sure and by evening the place felt absolutely packed (huge number of people for the 3 p.m. parade and fireworks). It felt like a crowd level 9 as reported. It was still a good day, but we sure would have liked fewer people. We next waited 35 minutes for Pirates standby, did Philharmagic (quick line, but full theatre that I don't usually see), used a FP to walk on Splash, checked out Main Street USA stores and got a spot to see the parade with the masses, used a FP for Big Thunder - so happy to have one (stand by lines were crazy for that by then - over an hour, did stand by for Carousel of Progress (walk on, but almost every seat was taken), waited 10 minutes for People Mover, used FP for Space Mountain. In line at Casey's Corner was one of my longest lines ever for there - like 35 minutes to get food. But then DS wanted to get something too and did the mobile ordering and his was ready in about 7 minutes for immediate pick up (separate line and the way to go for sure). We watched the projection show and Happily Every After with the masses. Then we went to Arial's Grotto (about a 20 minute wait), but still huge numbers of people for so late (lots left after fireworks, but tons of people were still there). We left after seeing Arial and picking up some photos - long line for that too. The overall feel at the Parade, Tomorrow Land, Casey's, and the evening shows was that of insane heavy crowds, unlike the very pleasant morning (just too many people - my perspective). Lines in the afternoon and evening for so many attractions were reported to be really high for standby by Disney and the Touring Plans line app, but fortunately we had the FPs for the mountains and just did those and minor things that are usually walk on.

With our good touring plan and fastpasses our lines at the MK weren't bad at all, but the insane part was the sheer number or people (overall feel of being crowded) and the crazy stand by lines late afternoon and evening that we didn't do. I would seriously try to go to the MK on a lighter day for future if I could swing that. It's tough to find a time that's not crowded, and sometimes you pick something projected to be light and actual is a heavy crowd. We do love the MK though and DS always likes to go there on our last day. Except for Christmas week (I've done five of those and don't do those any more), this was the most crowded feel I have had at the MK. This was the one park day that felt insane to me as OP alluded. Maybe this a typical for Saturday? Maybe it was the Pro Bowl that attracted extra people?

We did SeaWorld on the MLK holiday and Busch Gardens on Wednesday and those didn't seem too bad in terms of crowds either. It was just our busy Saturday at the MK (the busiest park in the world) on a high crowd day that seemed over the top in terms of crowds for us.

 

[MrsInsG]

Our stay 1/24-1/28 can be summed up as low park crowds but high wait times for rides and low FP availability. Resort crowds also seemed higher than we’ve ever experienced but that could have been due to the weather. More people staying close rather than going out. Or hopping over to Poly, WL, GF, BC/YC to warm up and have dinner rather than staying in the parks all day.

Edit: and the theme across all parks, resorts and restaurants seem to be that CMs were worn out and running thin. On more than one occasion a CM told us what they were doing wasn’t their normal job so they were just hacking it basically. Maybe locals can shed light on work force viability in the winter? Seems that summers run like a well oiled machine because of the college labor.

This was the story for us last year during the same time period. We had been in January previously and really thought we'd be in a low-crowd time; FALSE! It was insane! We've been going in August lately and that seems better for crowds; the world is truly upside down!

 

[DSLRuser]

One bartender, one waitress and they just can’t keep up with the demand. We are willing to throw our money their way, because it’s pouring and there is nothing else to do, but everyone here seems to be waiting for service. Not the waitstaff’s fault. Just poor management.

it is unpossible to staff for rain. weather forecasts are usually just suggestions. what happens when they staff 4 bartenders, and 4 servers, because there was supposed to be rain. but the rain never shows......now you have 8 upset workers with nothing to do and no tips to be had.

 

[disneyseniors]

I yearn for the insane crowds of the last few weeks we were in Florida and the looking at the phone and dodging people every where. It was so much better than home as it is 56 below zero wind chill.

Yes -56!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ha! a measley -56!!! We are -61 right now with up to -71 expected today! Coldest place in the US, I bet. Northern Minnesota.
Never seen it so cold, and believe me, we are used to -30!!! Brrrrr……………….rather be in a "chilly" Florida than here!