just back - AWFUL crowds

[maciec]

Great you guys are totally freaking me out here. We leave on Saturday the 23rd and I haven't been worried, but now I am starting to.

We are only planning on doing 4 days in the parks plus one night at MNSSHP.

This is my parents first trip and I am still praying that the crowds aren't so bad that they are turned off and we are miserable.

 

[JimmyBlaze]

I was there all this past week(Mon-Thurs) It was absolutely awful. I was expecting low crowds, boy was I wrong. I didn't have much fun fighting the huge crowds in every park I went to!

 

[Mamu]

I may have to re-think this week for 2005. Wasn't expecting to hear this, thought the weekend after Columbus Day would have been less crowded.

Maybe this is not a good week.

 

[empkuzco]

We were there from Oct 11-15 (Mon-Fri). What we found was:
Monday (Oct 11) - Animal Kingdom - It drizzled much of the morning and this seemed to keep the crowd down. In the afternoon it POURED for at least a half hour. This probably sent folks home early. All in all, the park wasn't that crowded. With fast passes we did Kilm Saf twice, Prim Whirl twice, and everything else once.
Tuesday (Oct 12) - Disney Quest - We started for Epcot but it was already drizzeling pretty good, so we decided to switch up days and go to DQ. It actually stopped raining shortly and turned out to be a nice day. DQ wasn't too crowded. We did the Pirate simulator 4 times (best darn thing there by far).
Wed (Oct 13) - Epcot - Sunny, and a little cooler. The park was a good bit more crowded. We did most everything (Test Track twice) but by the afternoon the crowds were tough at the big rides. We tried to go back to Test Track at 3pm. The line was all the way out the door and fast passes were giving 5:20pm as the return time.
Thursday (Oct 14) - Magic Kingdom - Another nice, cooler day. This was EE day, and things did seem a little crowded. But, with fast passes we did everything (included Splash M twice) without bad waits (nothing more than 10 minutes).
Friday (Oct 15) - MGM - Alot cooler day, but sunny. It POURED down rain about 10am, but quit after about 20 min. The park was a little crowded but manageable. With Fast Passes we didn't wait long for anything (< 10 min). I believe we did everything but RRC.

In short, if you use the fast passes, you can easily do everything once and several things twice. Go early (early entry), knock out a few rides in the first hour, and always get your fast passes (get one during EE for something later). Do the popular rides early, save the not-so-popular rides for later. Get fast passes for things you want to do a second time while you are doing the not-so-popular things. Also, check the wait times. Long lines don't necessarily mean long waits. Most wait times are also overestimated. Hope this helps.

 

[LibertyBelle]

Originally posted by Mamu
I may have to re-think this week for 2005. Wasn't expecting to hear this, thought the weekend after Columbus Day would have been less crowded.

Maybe this is not a good week.

The weekend after Columbus Day is usually a good time, Don't let this year determine your plans for 2005. We had different circumstances this year. As I have mentioned with Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne many people had to pospone their vacation, the easiest week to come was this week because it meant one less day off from school and work (thanks to the holiday). This is not the typical October crowds, this is the displaced Hurricane had to re-book crowds...

 

[jwfla422]

I too agree that it was probably busier than normal this past weekend due to many rescheduling trips from the hurricanes as well as the Food & Wine festival.

We just got back last night as well. While I did find all of WDW to be rather busy I guess it really just depended on where you were. I personally (if we can help it) will never go to MK on a Saturday because it is the busiest day of the week. This past Saturday was a BEAUTIFUL DAY!!! We were in AK and it was pretty busy and then went to DTD which we didn't find busy at all. SO I guess everyone was at MK? If you had a PS for dinner you were fine.

I still found it MUCH MORE CROWDED when we were there in early June. Plus it was so horribly hot then. I would much rather go back this time of year than June anyday even with the crowds from this weekend. Except for a few hours on Friday the weather was fabulous!!

 

[fiveforall]

In 2002, we went during that time period and the crowds were very light. Last year they were moderate to heavy(MK). I live in Alabama and almost all of our schools are out for fall break during that week. I wonder if that is the case with other school systems? Maybe everyone is reading the guidebooks and now those "less crowded" times will be crowded.

 

[xyymom]

I wouldn't blame the F&W festival at all....we were there Oct2-9 and Epcot was EMPTY. We couldn't believe it. We were there twice that week, Wed. night and Thursday and were so shocked at how few people were there.

We found minimal crowds that first week of Oct. except for the MNSSHP on the 8th, it was crowded. Everywhere else was terrific

 

[Magickndm]

Originally posted by LibertyBelle
Without posting numbers I will tell you that capacity is way more than 44,000 at MK (way more)... and that it takes a 45,000 day to run 3 trains, there were only 2 out yesterday so it was not as high as you were told...Illuding the direct question...Yes, but that is what I can give you

Why is capacity limits a secret?

 

[LibertyBelle]

Originally posted by Magickndm
Why is capacity limits a secret?

Disney just does not like to give those type of numbers out.

 

[2Disneybuggs]

We were there the 9 to the 16. I thought it was very crowded. I was dissapponted with MNSSHP on the 12th. There were so many people and I was expecting low crowds. We spent a lot of time getting autographs so I didn;t get to do all that I wanted us to do. I just can;t pick a good week to go- last year it was Jersey Week! We still had a good time, it's just that DH doesn;t realize all I had hoped we would do. He is a little oblivious because he told me he thought the MK was empty!!

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

LibertyBelle: Sorry for all the questions! but here's another one, lol! We are planning on Sat. in MK because it's dd's birthday and we told her she could pick what we did. Otherwise, I would never be there on a Sat. I'm glad to hear that it probably won't be that busy during the day. We have a ps at LTT at 6:40 that night. Will that get us out of the crowd do you think? I was hoping to eat dinner then just walk out and watch the parade. Is that doable?

 

[LibertyBelle]

Originally posted by 2Disneybuggs
. I was dissapponted with MNSSHP on the 12th. There were so many people and I was expecting low crowds. We spent a lot of time getting autographs so I didn;t get to do all that I wanted us to do.

I was at the Party on the 12th and thought it was pretty empty. The longest line we waited in was for Buzz Lightyear and that was 5 minutes. Although we did not wait in line for candy, characters or the photo, those lines were long...the lines for the rides were walk on (even haunted mansion). We did the first parade and got a prime spot on Main Street right in the center hub facing down MS so that the Headless Horseman was heading right for us (sat down about 7:10 for the 8pm parade).


KIRSTIN'S MOMMY: You will be fine with a 6:40 LTT PS as far as getting there, but for the parade, it will be crowded. If you walk out to watch the parade you will probably be a few rows back with not such a good view.

 

[gshoemate]

Seminole county was on their fall break last week also so some of the crowd could of been locals. I know we took advantage of no school.

 

[MamaLema]

crowds or no crowds, here we come!

 

[Laralyn]

Originally posted by LibertyBelle
Disney just does not like to give those type of numbers out.

That sort of information would come in really handy for the folks at Universal and Sea World. I'm sure they get the information anyway, but at least Disney can make 'em work for it.

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

LibertyBelle: That's what I was afraid of. I didn't really want an early dinner since we are having a big breakfast at Whispering Canyon that morning, and not too late because we're ordering dd a birthday cake and want her to be awake to eat it, lol! I guess we'll find an empty spot wherever we can when we're done with dinner! Maybe we'll see some dis'ers there!

 

[tiggerzpalz]

Wow, we were there the 8-17th and we really only found 1-2 days crowded. We usually go end of June early July and this in our opinion was much less crowded. We used fast pass and really waited no more than 15 minutes for popular rides. In fact we went into the Magin Kingdom Friday afternoon around 12 and got a fast pass for both Splash Mountain and Big Thunder only 15 minutes apart. We also went to the MNSSHP on the 14th, found no lines, walked onto everything and had great seats for the parade. Maybe we were just spoiled because summers are just so crowded.

 

[2Disneybuggs]

Libertybelle I didn't find any walk ons probably because we spent so much time waiting to see characters. Fantasyland was crowded during the firewoks and we only got to see the second parade from Frontierland cause we got caught in the rain. I probably sound like Im whining but seriuosly I'm not!

 

[SamanthaL]

Is it slowing down any? I am set to arrive on the 24th-29th. I am hoping to hear that things are dying down a bit! Please!!