Just back! Don't CROWD me...

[idinagirl]

Yah, I don't really know what I'm saying with that subject line....

But, I have just got to say: HOLY CROWDED Batman!!

I was in Disney from the 17th to the 24th, and I was amazed with the massive crowd levels I experienced. I was smart- avoided most EMH days, went to parks on the recommended low level days, and went EARLY-- but still, found myself ducking & dodging big blue strollers and motorized wheelchairs, along with person after person after person... at every turn!

It felt that crowded during the last few days, every inch of every building, in every park was PACKED. Ride waits weren't that bad if I played my cards right and used fast passes, but just walking around was the problem. Wowzers.

Did anybody else go this time, and if so, did you find it crowded? Was it crowded but not as bad as it can get? If that was the predicted "lower level" crowds, then I would hate to see the high ones.

Don't get me wrong though, we had an AWESOME time (a few extra hundred thousand people can't rain on my parade!), but I'm just curious to get some other opinions...

I will be writing a trip report soon... got to get some Pop Century gripes off my back. But also give props to Cast Members and the Liberty Tree Tavern!

ciao ciao danielle

 

[bizeemom4]

We were there 5/19-5/23. It sure felt crowded to me. Animal Kingdom was empty on Friday morning and MK was decent on Saturday morning. Other than that, I thought it was busy.

 

[diathoney]

We were there 5/23-26. Yesterday (5/26) the wait time for standby on Soarin' was 160 minutes. The wait time for "fast pass" was 40 minutes - not so fast after all! School's out and I expect it will only get worse.

 

[momto2inKC]

We were in the parks from the 15-20th and really thought it wasn't too busy. The 20th was probably the most packed day we had. The only rides we noticed with long wait times were Soarin',Kali River Rapids, Dumbo, Peter Pan, and the mountains. Everything else we usually never waited more than 10 min.

 

[Vivianne]

We were there May 15-20. Yes, I think the crowds are increasing every year. We saw a lot of school groups, etc. lots of school age kids. I still found it doable. This year we didn't have any bad experiences with strollers or motorized wheelchairs. The word's out, May is slowing becoming a popular time.

 

[debbiedoo]

looks like the weekend will be crowded--I arrive tomorrow

 

[UrsulasMyHero]

looks like the weekend will be crowded--I arrive tomorrow

Yes, I expect this weekend will be very busy... why? It's Memorial day. Schools are out for Florida (As of yesterday) and everyone wants to be in the park. 3 weeks ago, I couldn't find a room on line, It looks like some were released recently, so you might be able to get lodging, if you didn't arange it already.

Have a good time... but remember, everyones there to enjoy themselves... even if it means standing in line

 

[TravelingTots]

We were there May 20-24, and we found the crowds very managable. The only areas we found to be very crowded were the Star Tours area on Saturday AM and Africa in AK on Monday AM. We were in MK Sunday, and most of the rides were walk-on or minimal waits. Granted, I have never been to WDW in May for comparison, but we were pleasantly surprised.

 

[Sthronds]

We were there from the 18-23 and found it to be bad in some areas. Thursday at MK was great, very little wait for anything, Friday at MGM was awful. Long lines and way too many people, Saturday at AK wasn't bad but it was an EMH so there was a good amount of people there, and Sunday at Epcot was crazy. Long lines for everything!

 

[debbiedoo]

Yes, I expect this weekend will be very busy... why? It's Memorial day. Schools are out for Florida (As of yesterday) and everyone wants to be in the park. 3 weeks ago, I couldn't find a room on line, It looks like some were released recently, so you might be able to get lodging, if you didn't arange it already.

Have a good time... but remember, everyones there to enjoy themselves... even if it means standing in line

my lodging was booked 11 months ago--DVC member not all schools are out in FL--where I grew up -- east coast --- they still have 1 more week -- there last day is June 3rd

 

[idinagirl]

and Sunday at Epcot was crazy. Long lines for everything!

Yes!! Oh my, Sunday at Epcot was insane! We were also there... lucky we'd gone EMH night a few days earliar or we'd never been able to ride Soarin' or Mission Space!

 

[3mickeys&me]

We were there May 11-15 then on to our cruise . It did not seem really crowded to us. It had its moments but no more than any other time we've been. Fast pass worked well when we needed it too. Never waited more than 10-15 minutes for a ride. I think just being there gives me such a high I could care less if its crowded or not. Beats being at work or in cold weather

 

[Ilovestitch]

We were there 5/8-5/17 and I thought it wasn't bad at all, lots of rides were walk ons, we used fast pass maybe twice.

But several times I felt like there were so many people walking around in the park, yet short lines- it was weird.

 

[Ronda93]

We were there 5/13-5/21 and while the parks seemed to be bustling, we were never in a queue for more than 20 minutes. There were a couple of rides we picked up fast passes for and it didn't matter (RnRC and ToT were both this way).

Had a great time. We were there with another family and their girls had a blast (10 and 14). Wonderful location at Pop Century (building 3, could see Illuminaions from our window ; ).

Not too bad for us.

 

[mom2riceboys]

We were there 5/18-24. We didn't think the crowds were bad at all. We only had to use Fast Pass twice -- once for Peter Pan at MK and once for Kali Rapids at AK. We were at MK on 19th when park opened and left around 2:00 PM for a break. We returned around 6:00 PM. We walked on most rides that day. I believe the longest wait was ten minutes. We were at MGM on the 20th. We walked onto RNR and TOT. The only area that seemed crowded was around Star Tours. No problems at AK either. We arrived at park opening and had done everything we wanted to do by 2:00. We didn't do Epcot. I had been reading the boards before I left and was concerned about the projected crowd levels. We were pleasantly surprised and had a great vacation!

 

[Vivianne]

We were there May 15-21. Although some days the parks were crowded, we had a great time. We were glad we did morning EMH for Epcot we breezed through Soarin' and Test Track. The evening Soarin we skipped since there was a 60 minute wait at 11:00 pm. We still had a good time overall.

 

[idinagirl]

But several times I felt like there were so many people walking around in the park, yet short lines- it was weird.

Yes.. that I wanted to stress... ride waits were surprisingly fast? Walked on tea cups, Peter Pan, and most other Fantasy Land rides in afternoon- even though the park was bustling.

hey, hey... no complaint here

 

[Tink0513]

We were there May 19-26.....I never saw so many screaming children in pajamas WEDS at EMH at MK!!!!!! I was just in awe!!!!!!!!

Im really glad we got the 6 day hopper....we got the parks early, left in the afternoon for a nap/swim, then went back! Avoided alot of crowds this way! We did EVERYTHING we wanted, and I was happy that we got the hoppers!!! I've been home for less then 12 hours and I miss Mickey already!!!! I think to cheer myself up I will write a trip report....or start planning for my next trip!!!!

 

[treehugger]

We just got back also (today) and thanks to Tour Guide Mike I experienced virtually no real crowds. I kept saying to my DH "Where are all the people?" (I was expecting really heavy crowds) We followed TGM's advice on what Parks to go on what days and when to hit all the attractions (with no more than a 10 minute wait) and had the most amazing and stress free time! The most "interesting" thing that happened to us was getting stuck at the end of Tower. It was creepy to sit there for what seemed like eternity (it was actually no more than 3 minutes) in the dark, stuffy elevator with 20 of our new friends before the CM's acknowledged that we were there. We had to be manually pushed back to the maintenance area and disembarked via a step ladder. We did get to ride it again with no wait and it was cool to see the behind the scenes stuff! We had so much free time that we were able to experience some attractions for the first time in 20 visits. Also, I found the CM's this trip to be really wonderful. Conversely, guests were the rudest I've have ever seen. One grown man was almost threatening to a CM because he didn't understand something. We also encountered line cutting several times; we just let them go figuring it was important for them to save 3 minutes. This trip ranks as one of our best!

 

[ptrbryant]

I have to say that it was much more crowded--seemed to us--than our other May trip. But, weirdly, we never had to wait long for any rides or attractions. Sunday night, we were in the "holding area" to see Voyage of the Little Mermaid and it was SO PACKED that DH almost had a panic attack...really, people were holding larger children on their shoulders for some breathing space and we were stuck like that for 5-10 minutes. Of course, anywhere near the Star Wars shop was a zoo for SWW. The Monday 3:55 show of the Motor Action show was also mobbed...we'd seen it the previous Tuesday and nearly half of the seating area was empty on that day. Animal Kingdom Monday morning (late) also seemed much more crowded than we expected. At our resorts (POR and SSR), it didn't seem crowded at all, which was a wonderful break!

Karla B.