It's late Jan...why so crowded?

[Colleen27]

we just got back from a trip spanning January 27 - February 4 and we were VERY SUPRISED at how CROWDED the parks were! at MK on Saturday the 28th it was VERY BUSY, 30+ minute waits on all rides, 50+ all headliners....these were the same crowds and wait times ive experienced in JUNE!!!!

AK on sunday the 29th was so busy it was difficult to even walk around!

We did those two parks on the opposite days - AK on Sat and MK on Sun - and experienced a lot of crowded walkways but not unusually long waits. 30min on Everest mid-afternoon, 40 on the safari, <10min at Primeval Whirl and Dinosaur. MK felt packed by about 1pm but the ride lines didn't reflect that - the lines were mostly slow-season normal, with a bit longer than usual at the two open mountains (esp. at Space, which was closed for part of the day).

MK on a Saturday when the weather is good is the worst place to be IMO, because of the locals who come over for the day. Many of them follow the conventional wisdom about avoiding EMH days if you aren't eligible, so Sat is more attractive than Sun for an MK visit.

We did see more Brazilian groups than on our past Jan visit but none were rude, loud, or otherwise problematic. I actually enjoy seeing them because unlike a lot of American guests these days they always look to be having a blast and the kids aren't walking around the most magical place on Earth with their noses in iPods/Nintendo DSes/cell phones. And my teenage son really appreciated the "scenery" of some of the Brazilian girls staying at Pop, if you know what I mean.

 

[cjnix29]

just got back today...we were surprised at crowds too! The middle of the week wasn't too bad, but beginning and end was crowded!!! But...fastpass is our friend! We even managed to get in all four parks in one day, but then again, we don't feel like we have to do everything in one trip. But crowds were definitely heavier than expected!

 

[RayaniFoxmur]

It's not busy at all.

Come back in July.

Yep!! We've been happy with the lack of crowds lol. Just wait until Spring Break and July/August!

 

[GenevieveRaqs]

We just got back, and we thought the crowds were really pretty light.

DH and I kept commenting to each other that Epcot seemed practically empty on 2/1. It was fabulous! We walked on Soarin' first thing, 15ish minute wait for Test Track (posted at 20) then received FPs from another guest for Soarin' again and rode TT with about a 10ish minute wait (again, posted at 20) later in the evening. All the other rides were walk-on.

MK felt crowded on 2/2. There were some Brazilian groups, but they seemed well-behaved and we were never in line behind any of them. We didn't see the dance groups in the park, but many were staying at the All-Stars where we were. However, the wait times were quite low. The longest we waited for anything was about 20 minutes for Space Mountain. I think the construction definitely affected the feeling of the park--the walkways are smaller, things are closed, etc. But we wouldn't hesitate to go at this time again. We had a GREAT time!

I do think Disney needs to rethink some of their stroller parking choices right now. The walkway between IASW and Peter Pan in fairly narrow as it is--why on earth would you put a sea of strollers there? Especially when you could move them a few feet down, next to the wall where the Skyway/stroller parking used to be, and vastly improve crowd flow. But, that's really a minor thing--just something that made me wonder about the decision.

 

[henrylovespooh]

We were there 1/26-1/31 and thought the crowds were pretty light. The lightest day was MK on Tuesday, 1/31 - it was pretty empty. We walked onto Buzz Lightyear around noon with a 5 minute wait. My husband needed to kill some time while my daughter and I watched the castle show, and they walked into the Barber shop and got my son a haircut with practically no wait.

Sunday in MK was more crowded than Tuesday, but not too bad.

I wonder if free dining has brought more people in....

 

[Tropical Wilds]

We were there from Jan 30th until Feb 2nd. We thought the crowds were ridiculously low. We were able to get reasonable FP's for headliner rides, walk onto the rest. The longest wait we had was for RRC, which shutdown while we were in the line (and then shutdown again when we were on it, leaving us in the tunnel by the exit for about 30 minutes), and Soarin' where we waited in the FP line for about 20-30 minutes (all we were told was the ride had to close temporarily causing the delay). The rides with long lines normally still had waits... It was 40 mins for TSM on Monday the 30th at about 3pm, Peter Pan had a 40 min wait at like 2ish on Tuesday the 31st (made longer by a temporary shutdown), Soarin was averaging 40-50 minutes, same for TT, RRC I can't say how long the wait was since it shut down twice... It was about 30ish minutes before it was closed but like 60ish after the shutdown... ToT was a 10 minute posted wait on Monday at 5ish though the actual wait was walk-on until RRC went down, then it was like 20-30. The only real bump we saw in standby waits was when a tour group hit... We saw a few, all from South America/Europe... But the CM's were REALLY good about telling people as they went through that the posted wait was shorter than the actual wait... And in some cases handed out free FP's to visit later.

But otherwise... It was empty. We walked the World Showcase at like noon on the 2nd and we passed maybe 2 dozen families. Heck, we even got prime viewing for Illuminations on I think the 31st by Japan without having to camp out a spot. They just started and we were right there.

We had nothing but an amazing experience. We will never go in any time but late Jan I think. LoL!

Here is some pics:

EPCOT, Jan 30th, 8:21pm

AK, Jan 31st, 10am... We left at about 12:30p, we rode Dinosaur 3 times, Everest 3 times in about 20 minutes (walk on every time), and the Safari.

MK, Jan 31st, 5:32pm

MK, Feb 1st, 1:22pm

MK, Feb 1st, 1:24pm, Main Street

MK, Feb 1st, 1:36pm

At 2:17, we arrived at EPCOT and walked over to Stitch for a M&G, he was just standing there and nobody was around him or Daisy. After using the bathroom and seeing he was still lonely, we walked over for pictures, no waiting.

I have pictures on the 2nd of Japan at 11:57am, nobody there but us.

 

[Starlilly]

Im actually really relieved to see other DIS'ers that were in Disney World the EXACT SAME WEEK as us and had good crowds!

Im a bit bummed I chose the worst days to visit MK in the span of time I was there, as I really wish I could have had a better experience there...its my favorite! .... but, honestly, makes me feel a lot better, I was feeling somewhat deflated about "crowds durring the slowest time of year" , but I think the combination of Dance event going on that friday the 4th and being there saturday the 28th were a fluke in an otherwise quiet time!

I will say that Epcot on Tuesday the 31st and Hollywood studios Wednesday Feb 1 were very light and it was very pleasant at those parks those days

 

[jclark5735]

We just got back and I thought the crowds were low. We were there 1/30-2/6.