Jersey Week November 2019 Crowd Levels

[disneysteve]

We were in AK today from about 10am until 2:30pm. The crowds weren't unreasonable. It was busy but nothing crazy. Single rider for Everest was 20 minutes. We did FPs for Everest, Nemo, and Primeval Whirl. There were no FPs available for Safari and standby was 45 minutes so we skipped that.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We were just in DHS from about 4 pm until after JBJM. Crowds were very reasonable. ToT had a 30 minute wait. Aliens was 30 minutes. SDD 75 minutes. We had FP for ToT, SDD and RNRC. The crowd wasn’t massive for JBJM. DD even commented that it was “empty.” We were there Sunday morning and Monday evening and today was definitely the lowest crowds.

 

[cel_disney]

We were are MK Friday. We had expected the holiday weekend crowds have started to roll in and it just felt busier. It was an EMH morning and a party night.

We were off property this time - so our usual routine of walking from BLT to EMH didn’t work today...we ended up arriving at TTC at 8am. We got thru bag check (ghost.town!!) and hopped on the ferry. We were strolling down main street watching the street performers at 8:30 which I thought was pretty good. At 8:40 we got in line for the Adventureland rope. We knew we wanted to head to Splash /BTMR first thing. After the drop at Pirates we kept walking and ended up at Splash.

Apparently somewhere (maybe Resort guests?!) there was another HUGE line of people also heading there...luckily we were ahead of them and ended up as the very first guests of the day on Splash Mountain. Fun family memory! Exiting Splash we went straight to BTMR - it had a posted 30 min wait - we ended up waiting 45 min and it was 10:20 before we were done with both rides. Not bad but also a sign that it was going to be a bit busier (and we didn’t really have the ‘first hour’ benefit that you can get with ropedrop of these rides on a non- EMH day). At 9:26 when we got off Splash and onto BTMR the wait was posted at 25 min for splash but the line extended out of the ride all the way to the gift shop so not sure it was correct either.

The walkways were more crowded today than we saw at other parks this week and I felt people were sitting on the curbs essentially all day long.

We headed to Gaston’s and sat at a table with some cinnamon buns and LeFeaus Brew and then at 10:50 finally headed towards 7DMT for our 10am FP. Stopped for some photopass pictures first too! After 7DMT it was time for our Space Mountain FP. The posted wait was 70 min at 11:20 or so. At 11:40 we went on people mover which had a legit backup and 5-7 min wait. And after that we did COP before our Buzz FP.

At 12:22 we got to Buzz - the FP line was snaking thru THREE rows outside! I had NEVER seen that before - they must be giving out more FP for this ride now or something. Our FP wait was over 5 minutes just to get to the touchpoints outside and then longer inside.

I checked via modify FP availability around 11:50 and there were still many many options. At 12:30 I began the tap, grab, modify approach but the options were much much less. I ended up splitting our FP and just getting them in groups of 2 for the rest of the afternoon. The kids went on Barnstormer, Tea Cups, Little Mermaid and Speedway with FP between 1 and 4 and we also watched Laugh floor. With the modify technique - I did have a chance to get Pirates FP but we didn’t want to walk all the way down there and once or twice Buzz popped up too. Buzz seemed to have a fairly consistent 35 min stand by wait during mid day which seemed reasonable. Dumbo also had very low (10-20min) waits today and always had FP available in the afternoon and we visited all 4 of the characters at Pete’s with 15 min waits also.

At 4 we went to watch the Move It Shake It parade and found that it was also scrubbed today for the holiday taping. The Holiday Taping meant no real opening show, no castle show, and no move it shake it. If these are important to you - don’t go during a taping week!! That said - the tapings are a bit of an attraction all their own - watching the process of how long it takes to get a 5 minute segment filmed is kind of neat.

We headed out from here as the party crowds were arriving in droves - looked like it would be a busy night!

Touring Plans predicted a 3 and their ‘actual’ for MK was a 4. But at times it ‘felt’ busier. The other parks had actuals of 6 - which is what I would expect for a Friday of a Holiday weekend but was again higher than predicted.

Overall - the day worked for us as frequent park goers who weren’t looking for a dumbo or die day, but it might not work for everyone else. That said - a crowd level of 4 seems pretty reasonable to me if the short hours work for you!!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We got to Epcot today at 11 am. Started in France. Very empty of course. Had lunch at VN and we’re done by 12:20. Crowds were picking up but nothing crazy. Stopped for music in Morocco and once we left the crowds were insane. We could barely walk by Germany. It felt like HEA crowds. All kiosk lines are at least 25-50 people deep.

We decided earlier in the week that eating at the kiosks wasn’t for us. Waiting in line for Tiny morsels of food that costs $5-8. The one afternoon i spent about $60 before i was full. No thanks. So we skipped all that today and just explored the countries which wasn’t bad. It’s when you try to walk to the next country that is crazy.

We just got to our room. We will rest until 4 pm then head to AK with FP+ at dinosaur, EE and FOP.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

The line for Germany.






From the bridge facing the U.K. as we were leaving to go to our room at the Boardwalk.

 

[ClapYourHands]

So - to me - that says Monday’s business was because of the CM party and that’s not always the same week every year....

Absolutely the CM party was a huge driver in the crowds. But it also shows how easily crowds can go from busy-but-managable to insane because of a single factor or two.

And it can also go the other way. We went to evening EMH at DHS on Sunday night. EMH were 8-10, but with 8:30 fireworks there were still lots of people there. We decided to hop last minute from MK, and arrived a bit before 9. It was POURING! Sheets of rain. We had no raincoats with us. By the time we got from the bus to the entrance, there was no point in a poncho because we were drenched through our underwear and couldn't have been wetter if we jumped in a pool. We rode SDD twice, AS2 twice, and TSMM once - all in an hour! Last ride of the night, we waited for one group to load ahead of us on SDD before getting on. Between the size of the raindrops and the speed of the ride, it felt like being hit by hail. It was crazy and sometimes uncomfortable, but also exhilarating and fun! Originally, I didn't plan to go because I figured we wouldn't get much done during evening EMH, which I expected to be packed, but the rain changed the wait times drastically.

Also, although the CM party is not always the same date, most of us plan way in advance of knowing the CM party dates. I know my tickets were booked before the park hours were announced. And even when you know about the party, it can be hard to predict exactly how that will affect crowds elsewhere. None of the crowd calendars predicted Epcot to explode with people, and they're the 'experts' on weighing the factors. Plus, DHS and AK didn't receive a proportional bump in attendance on Monday, but in a different year, they could.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We’re at AK right now. Been here since 4 pm and crowds are very manageable. We’re about to hop to MK. I snagged an extra FP for BTMR. Wish us luck with the EMH crowds!

 

[Mambo Junkie]

We chose to go to MK this past Monday BECAUSE of the CM party. We parked easily, bag check - we were the only ones at the table. straight in with the MB line. (We got there around 10:00) I had gotten fps for 7DMT and Peter Pan the day before. We were checking out and leaving so this was our last blast/what would you like to do one last time? day. We went straight back to Merida, then to Teacups, Carousel, Belle, Ariel, Dumbo, Barnstormer before our PP fps. After PP, Philharmagic, IASW, lunch at Cosmic Rays, 7DMT, Speedway, People Mover, Buzz Lightyear, Stitch. Hit the Emporium and out. We did the other side of the park at MNSSHP, and we had 2:00 appointments at Ivy Trellis then dinner at Park Fare and met princesses on another day Most of the attractions we did on Monday were repeats, except Merida, People Mover and Stitch. We like hopping and half days; it works for us.

 

[armerida]

So, I was optimistic about the Epcot crowds...We are AP holders, come ~4 times per year...I have never seen Epcot as packed as it was today! It was a sea of humanity, pretty miserable. Couldn’t believe it, crowds packed in like sardines, incredibly looong lines at F&W booths, very difficult to move. I think we’ll stick to April and August! P.S. Mariachi Cobre was amazing, as always!

 

[Dracarys]

We just got back from our trip from Nov 3-10. Crowds felt manageable and not overwhelming for the most part. The only day that was hard was our Epcot day on Monday, the 5th. It felt very crowded. Probably busy due to MK closing at 4:30 that day.

For the past 3 years we have come in various times of October. This week did not feel that much different, maybe slightly more crowded. We just had a touring plan in place and didn’t wait longer than 20 minutes for rides.

 

[PlutoFan10]

We just left. Have been there for Jersey week in the past. It was more crowded this year, particularly EPCOT World Showcase. We actually left early one night due to crowds there. Overall, it seemed busier to me and, in fact, was a topic of conversation on one bus ride from others who also frequently visit during Jersey week. It was also hotter than other years at this same time. You just never know in Florida.

 

[disneysteve]

We are in MK today and it’s jam packed. It was packed last night too. Very busy all around.

 

[bizeemom4]

Stuck in traffic on a Disney bus just trying to get into the Epcot drop off area. That’s probably a foreshadowing of some bad crowds ahead of me. The line of cars waiting to go thru the toll booth is extremely long

 

[disneysteve]

Stuck in traffic on a Disney bus just trying to get into the Epcot drop off area. That’s probably a foreshadowing of some bad crowds ahead of me. The line of cars waiting to go thru the toll booth is extremely long

Yep. It was backed up for ages when we passed it before 10 this morning. I’m sure the park is a zoo.

 

[BMAEC]

We went to Epcot Friday 11/9. Went straight to meet Anna & Elsa and then do our FEA FP. Got to walk through a few countries of the (closed) world showcase with very little people but lots of pretty picture opportunities. Good thing we enjoyed it because by noon the WS was a zoo. I’ve never been before so I have nothing to compare it to but it was packed. We had lunch and headed to Future World for more FP. Getting back to dinner at Akershus was difficult. We then did our Soarin’ FP and tried to use up our snack credits and by the time we got to the monorail it was about 8. We thought it wouldn’t be too crowded because illuminations was at 10 and MK had the Christmas parties so we expected to beat the crowds. It took us over an hour to back to the Contemporary. Not sure if that’s typical. We chose November because we thought the weather would be cooler and we were avoiding the holidays. We didn’t know when we booked about Christmas parties, food and wine, Jersey week, etc. It ended up being what it sounds like an unseasonably warm/humid week because a CM told us it had been cooler and now it’s suppsoed to be cooler this week too. With the heat and crowds we had I think we will choose a different time of year if we go again.

 

[JJ2017]

We just got back from our Jersey week trip. This was our third year going and we had some interesting observations. It was our first year going to HS and EP.

Can anyone tell me what the actual touring plan crowd level was for these days below? I’m so curious what they actually were so I have an idea how crowded it actually was. When we went last year to MK we experienced a 10 level crowd and I swore never again.

11/7 Epcot
11/8 AK
11/9 MK
11/10 HS and MK
11/11 EP

 

[Letsgo77]

We just got back from our Jersey week trip. This was our third year going and we had some interesting observations. It was our first year going to HS and EP.

Can anyone tell me what the actual touring plan crowd level was for these days below? I’m so curious what they actually were so I have an idea how crowded it actually was. When we went last year to MK we experienced a 10 level crowd and I swore never again.

11/7 Epcot
11/8 AK
11/9 MK
11/10 HS and MK
11/11 EP

I would love to know this as well.
We just returned from our 3rd NJ week
Visit & our observation was that it was much more crowded this trip. (Previous visits 2013 & 2015)

Yesterday we did AK in the morning and MK in the evening.
We used our FP+ at AK and had a nice morning but last night at MK was an absolute mob scene. Honestly it wasn’t enjoyable, you couldn’t walk, people were packed in like sardines everywhere, wait times were 75-80+ mins for most things and longer for Peter pans flight, 7DMT, etc, & there were no fast passes available.
We waited about 30 mins for the Peoplemover, ate dinner with and ADR and had to get out of there

 

[hereforthechurros]

I have a Touring Plans subscription but can’t seem to find past dates beyond yesterday. Clearly I’m doing something wrong but according to them, yesterday 11/11 at Epcot was a 7/10, MK was 8/10, AK was 6/10 and HS was 7/10.

 

[K567]

Can anyone tell me what the actual touring plan crowd level was for these days below? I’m so curious what they actually were so I have an idea how crowded it actually was. When we went last year to MK we experienced a 10 level crowd and I swore never again.

11/7 Epcot
11/8 AK
11/9 MK
11/10 HS and MK
11/11 EP

Epcot 5
AK 5
MK 4
HS 6, MK8
EP 7

 

[King Dominic]

Epcot 5
AK 5
MK 4
HS 6, MK8
EP 7

How do they tabulate these numbers? Is it actual data from Disney, like gate numbers? Or do they have a formula based off of FP/dining availability?