Just back and my views on the hours

[coachv]

Just got back from WDW and we had a great time! But it was really crowded!!! From Wed to Fri last week it was wall to wall people. I think Disney missed its crowd projections by a lot. Wed was the worst--- we had 10:00 breakfast ps at CP. I arrived at the parking lot at 9:00 and it took me over an hour to reach CP. It was a nightmare!!! I have never seen so many people in an amusement park. After our meal we left and fought our way back to the front gate and then headed over to AK. It was packed!! I have a big problem with the safari fast pass system. They were out by the time I got there around 3 and decided to stand in line for the ride at 4:00. It was posted a 45 min wait. We stood there for 80 mins to ride but the fast pass was messed up to. We counted about 500 people in 15 mins go through the fast pass line. It had a backup of about 20 mins. We stood in line in one place while they loaded truck after truck of fast passers. I love the fast pass system but it did not work on this ride very well. It was hot the first part of the week and then rained everyday all day the last half of the week. Now to my post subject. They need to extend the hours during the summer every year. The people will come and there will be lot of them. Wed was the only spectromagic scheduled that week and it was very crowded but it was cancelled because of the rain. The economy is not that bad and the proof is at WDW. IT WAS CROWDED!!!!!!!!!!

 

[PamCo88]

The crowds were probably due to scholl getting out. Most schools up here in NE ended last week.

Hope you had a good trip anyway.

 

[Paris]

The hours ARE being extended in some cases. Today we were at Blizzard Beach, even as the sign out front said that the park would close at 6pm. We arrived at 4pm, to take advantage of the buck locker rentals that they do during the last two hours of the operating day only to be told that the park was going to close at 7pm.

Not sure if this extra hour will be on for the rest of the summer but the park was PACKED. Granted, it was a beautiful day for a change, but usually folks tire and head out late in the day. Not today.

 

[OneMoreTry]

MK was very busy on Wed the 18th. They should have scheduled 2 Spectromagic Parades. As it was, the parade was delayed twice due to weather and after a VERY UGLY mob scene on main street, it was finally cancelled -- again presumable due to weather.

There was actually one point when I was nervous for my family's safety. Security was totally out of control of the situation. It was BAD. The magic definitely broke down that night. I couldn't even enjoy the fireworks after what I saw. Quite sobering.

On the other hand lines were not too bad, although we waited an hour to get on space mtn because we had wasted our fast pass on Buzz and couldn't get another for 2 hours. Then the wait time for Buzz dropped to 25 minutes and the wait for SM increased at the same time. Otherwise, we used fast pass and it worked well and we never waited more than about 10 minutes for anything.

Epcot was not busy on Monday the 16th.

Typhoon Lagoon was empty on the 19th due to a constant slow rain, which didn't spoil our fun. There was ZERO WAIT for all slides so we rode them to our hearts' content. Not one flash of lightning or rumble of thunder the whole day. Just grey and rain.

We didn't do parks on the 20th -- needed a break.


I'm sure Disney management will be reviewing the night of the 18th and how to prevent a recurrence. What a nightmare.

 

[WDWfanatic288]

Originally posted by coachv
They need to extend the hours during the summer every year.

exactly!!

we went June 2000 and it was WONDEFUL! The parks were open every night until 10 or 11...there was THREE Fantasmic! shows almot every nite(where the latest one was at 11....we saw the show 3 times that trip!). I remember at least one night when MK was open until midnight WITHOUT it being an E-nite!!

I wish those hours would come back!

 

[buzz5985]

My family and I ate an early lunch at MGM's Sci Fi theatre. last Feb 2002. It was around 11:30 am. We found out from our server, that because of the crowds that had entered MGM in the morning, Disney had added on another Fantasmic Show and extended the parks hours.

So Disney does change hours with the flow of the crowds.

 

[peachgirl]

We experienced similar crowds during our trip 6/9 - 6/15 when the hours were even shorter. The crowds at the MK during parade and fireworks times were as heavy or worse than they were during the week we were there at Christmas, and they weren't particularly friendly either.

We were very disappointed with the long waits to get into the park and the slow security checks. At Epcot during EE, the line just to get past the security check was horrible. There were hundreds of people in line and only 2 security guards to do all the checking!

Bus service from OKW was slow and unpredictable. Many trips to the the MK and MGM studios were standing room only. Several times there was staff from OKW at the main bus stop trying to solve transportation problems such as why there were no MK busses for EE and why were there no busses for MGM for EE..


I realize WDW may not be back to pre- 9/11 levels, but with the reduced staff, park hours and parade/firework schedules, you'd never know it. We've learned our lesson and will not be planning any trips so far in advance again. We just assumed that because the hours weren't extended that there wouldn't be a lot of people there. That wasn't the case at all. Our next trip will be when WDW is operating at full tilt again.

 

[NCBUZZ]

What happened on the 18th?

 

[Ratpack]

Yeah, what happened? Please tell.

 

[Geoff_M]

peachgirl,

Perspective is amazing. We did EE at MK on 6/12 and found the park to be "busy", but we were able to ride everything we wanted with less than a 5 minute wait (except Splash once with a 25 minute). We left the park around 4:30 PM feeling satisfied with what we had accomplished. We rode:

Dumbo, Peter Pan (twice), Cindy's Carousel, Space Mtn (twice), Buzz (twice), Alien, Jungle Cruise, POTC, Haunted Mansion, Splash (twice), MTMRR, took time out for a Dole Whip, and watched the "Dream" parade. We also did a lot of shopping and had a nice leasurely lunch at Tony's to boot.

I've been in the parks when it's been so crowded that we've opted to "bail-out" for the resort, and we never experienced a crowd like that this time around. We were at WDW from 6/11 to 6/15. But it sounds like the crowds came rolling in after the 15th!

 

[Fizban257]

Me too... what happened on the 18th?

 

[phorsenuf]

Me too...me too.....I want to know!!!!

 

[nativetxn]

Welcome back. I hope you were able to have some fun

 

[peachgirl]

Perspective is amazing. We did EE at MK on 6/12 and found the park to be "busy", but we were able to ride everything we wanted with less than a 5 minute wait (except Splash once with a 25 minute). We left the park around 4:30 PM feeling satisfied with what we had accomplished.

We also did MK EE on the 12th. I found things to be just about as you described them, although it would have helped some had a bus arrived at OKW early enough to get us to the MK at the EE opening time. We were at the bus stop by 7am, so it wasn't a matter of missing the bus....it just didn't come until nearly 8am.

I don't think it's a matter of perspective, but a more of a matter of when you're at the park and what's scheduled to happen that day.

Since we were at WDW last year before, during and after Christmas day and New Year's Eve, I can compare the crowds from this last trip to that time period. There were times when it was just as crowded on this trip as it was then. The problems we encountered weren't due to lines for rides. It was during parade and fireworks times. Since WDW had cut back to a bare minimum on these, the crowds were nothing less than horrific during those times.

The difference between the two trips is that during the holidays, WDW was fully staffed and the parades/fireworks and other shows were presented much more frequently so that even though there were a greater number of people there, the crowds were easier to avoid.

Oh, and I want to know what happened too!

 

[mommystieg]

We were there 6/7-6/15 and with the exception of MK on the nights that SM and FITS were scheduled we didn't find the crowds to be too bad. We went to MK one night for SM and FITS and it was horrible--it took at least an hour to get out that night. We were also there during the day on Wednesday when SM and FITS were scheduled and it was very crowded. However on Friday when the park closed at 7:00 it was wonderful. We rode most rides 2 or 3 times that day and crowds were fairly light. I wonder which park the masses decided to hit that day? We went during the same time last year when SM and FITS were scheduled every night and it was busy but nothing like we saw this time.

 

[Geoff_M]

I'm sure that not getting the bus was frustrating. On 6/12 we took the boat from WL to CR and rode the monorail around to MK. We stepped off the monorail around 7:45 AM and saw that the area in front of the turnstiles was almost full. We usually go in January, and throught we were in trouble crowd-wise. But like I said, we were surprised at how "easy" the park was. As for the parade, we stepped out of the Main Street Emporium 10 minutes before the 3:00 PM parade and there were still a number of spots left to sit on the curb. We again were surprised and plopped down to watch the show.

 

[luvaladdin]

I really don't think you can be argued with here, the hours should definitely be longer in the summer. I was surprised that during the month of March, spring break time, the parks closed so early. That year MGM's hours were extended due to crowds (an announcement was made while we were in the park) so I happily went over to the Mermaid show only to discover it was closed. The only part of the park that MGM kept open was Sunset Blvd, with RnR and ToT open only. If you had small kids, you were out of luck.

During summer and peak times like spring break, the parks should definitely be open later. The rides are different at night.

What I don't understand, however, is why everyone rushes out of the park exactly at closing times or at the end of a parade. One night we stayed in the MK until they told us it was time to leave, it was magical. A bunch of characters came out from the castle and only a few people were there to pose with them. I got a photo of my kids in front of the castle with about 8 characters at once. Even though we couldn't go on any rides, it seemed that we had the park to ourselves.

 

[letfuller]

Again, I reiterate a matter of perspective. We were childless this trip, so MK was not a priority, especially since we were going to do an e-nignt. The longest wait we had was 40 minutes on ThunderMountain. Other than that 10 or less minutes. We kept commenting on where the crowds were.

What did happen on Wed the 18? We were at Hoop de Doo that night and then went to MK to watch the fireworks. Main street seemed normal.

 

[dzneprincess]

Ok I have to know, please what went on during the 18th?

 

[d-r]

When they only have the parade and fireworks at magic kingdom one week night during the week, everyone in the entire walt disney world resort shows up for that day and the crowds are pretty big.