Just got back, crowd report

[smcbaker]

I just got back today, was there 10/21-10/26. I found the parks to be very crowded all the way around. Much more so than 2 years ago (which I expected as the trip 2 years ago was just 6 weeks after 9/11), but I was somewhat prepared after reading the posts in these boards for the past few weeks. Had to make heavy use of FP. I found all 4 parks to be crowded although EPCOT was a bit better than the rest. AK was a zoo, no pun intended! Even MGM was shoulder to shoulder in many cases. MK was crowded, as expected. Biggest surprise was how crowded MNSSHP was! We went on Friday 10/24 and it was packed from beginning to end. Plenty of 2 and 3 year olds still trick or treating in Toontown at 11:30 PM! Lines for rides were ok....some shorter than others...but the sheer number of people surprised me. Lines for candy were long in most cases. No real thinning of crowds after the parades. Atmosphere was great. We did enjoy it but just expected to be able to do more.

 

[Crazy Kanga]

Many schools around the south are going to the "year round school" schedule with a 2 week fall break which I feel has greatly increased crowds over the past few years. Of course the FTP was also the main factor this year. I feel that this trend will probably continue since fall is a more desirable time of year as far as weather is concerned. We'll see.

 

[tigger&tigerlover]

We went this last week, but *didn't* have any problems with the crowds.

Our secret: Avoid the early entry park. Absolutely. Just don't even think about going.

Go to the day after Early Entry park. Leave your resort no later than 8 am if the park opens at 9am.

We *walked on* to all of the rides at all of the parks until about noonish. At Magic Kingdom on Friday, Oct 24th, we rode 6 rides (including standby for Splash Mountain and Jungle Cruise), *and* ate lunch before noon.

The lines for the other, non-early entry parks at 8am were very small at the bus stop. The line for early entry was 40 or 50 people long.

So, go early, to the park that had Early Entry the day before. It worked for us every single day last week. Our longest wait was 15 minutes.

Then we'd go take an afternoon nap, and back for evening and fireworks.

-

More details in other posts, and a trip report forthcoming.

 

[hygienejean]

Wow Tigger&tigerlover....Great idea! We are going next October 9-17th and I must say I have been a little worried about our dates(b/c it was so busy in Oct.!!!) until I read your post. I have always been an early entry person but your advice makes total sense. Unfortunately I have to wait a whole year to try it!!! Does anyone have a guess as to how crowded next
Oct may be? Do you think people would do WDW 2 years in a row if the savings were that great as FTP? Can't say that I would blame them if they did!

 

[Vlahakis2001]

Ok, I have a few things to say. MNSSHP will always be crowded, always. We have been at the 10-31 version the past two years, we always have fun and wait in line for about 15-25 minutes for the rides. The candy lines move relatively quickly and the fireworks are always amazing. Yes, sometimes candy does run out, but it is quickly replaced.

 

[SparKeLLy]

Just from our experience. We went to MK on an EE day and didn't arrive until 9, didn't start doing rides until 9:30. We had NO problem with crowds, walked on everything we wanted until about 1 or 2, then it got a little more crowded.

I was worried about going on an EE day from what I'd read on here, but totally glad we did anyway. It was the same amount of crowds as all the rest. Light in the morning, heavy crowds in afternoon, at each park- EE day or not.

 

[jmommy]

We also used early entry during our stay (just returned on 10/25). We found that we were able to hit anything during EE without much wait. We did think that the crowd was more than normal for this time of year, but it is still very doable. We only used fastpass a few times (of course, we did not do ToT or roller coaster at MGM so can't comment on that.) Test Track had the longest wait time--standby time of 60 minutes and one time fast pass was out by 2 or 3 in the afternoon. We did the MNSSHP on 10/19 and loved it--found that we were able to go on everything we wanted with minimal wait time. My kids were not interested in the trick or treating so we did not wait in line for candy. We enjoyed the party so much that we went back again on 10/24--this was a Friday night and it did seem a little more crowded than the Sunday night, but since we had been to MK many times during our 10 day stay--we only hit the rides that the kids were interested in redoing.
Any questions---I'd be happy to answer. But I do recommend doing the EE at the MK.

 

[TrudyZ]

Can you explain how you saved a fast pass using baby swap?

We are WDW veterans (our 6th trip in 2 1/2 years); but haven't had a real baby with us for a while. We use fast pass quite often, but a a little rusty on baby swap. This trip (we leave Saturday), we will have our 5 year old and our 16 week old (Lord help us!!)

Trudy

 

[shady]

We daytripped it on Saturday for the Food and Wine Fest. Epcot was more crowded than I have seen it for about 3 years. We stayed mostly in World Showcase and most of the crowds were outside the pavillions, so no real wait for lines inside. Just long lines for wine and food.

Mission Space Fastpass was a 7 hour return. We got it at 11 am and went back at 615. That was the only attraction we did other than the countries.

 

[georgina]

Originally posted by eeyore0062
I am thrilled with the increase in attendance, and if that means I have to wait a bit longer to go on a ride, or see a show, it is worth it in the long run!

Me too! As a Disney lover and a Disney stockholder, I'm glad attendance is up.

 

[shelleyz]

We went the 18th -25th and thought the crowds were fine. Never been before though. We waited no longer than 15 minutes our whole trip except to see Ariel in her grotto. That was about 40 minutes. Did EMH at AK and MK . So glad we did. We got a lot done in that hour. Went to Epcot on EMH day but not for the extra hour and thought the crowds were fine but we only did future world. The kids were bored there. Anyway in my opinion I thought the crowds werent bad at all.