Just got back - very crowded for what we thought would be a slower week!

[momto2]

It's all about when the kids are out of school. Jan 13-17 is Martin Luther King Weekend, so anytime there is a three day weekend, everything is really packed. And with so many kids returning to school tomorrow (Jan 9th), of course last week would be jammed. And the Marathon weekend is always completely booked - I gone that week three times, and always had to stay off-site since nothing was ever available on-site without planning way in advance.

So it make sense that Disney is really crowded for the 2 or 3 weeks of January!

Wished I would have known that before we left. All info we got was this would have been a more manageable week. Oh well, it was still fun, fun, fun!

 

[momto2]

wrong parks for the magic hours...maybe that worked to our advantage? The longest line we had was 30 minutes and we FP anything longer....or maybe just pixie dust for our first trip to the world!
sorry for the crowds for you all.
Trish

Trish,
Now I see, as a first trip, you had nothing to compare too. We have gone before in May and October with short waits. Went this June with long waits, but we expected that so it was ok. We expected shorter waits this time and were a little disappointed.

I guess the key is expect the long waits and be happily surprised if they aren't there.

 

[MinnieM21]

I just got back too and only went to Epcot. (well I did go to the Magic Kingdom for about an hour..then left bc it was boring) It didn't feel crowded to me at all. On the 5th and 6th, it seemed like barely anyone was there. The weekend was more crowded but the crowds didn't seem awful to me.

 

[dsanner106]

I am glad to see all the other opinions similar to mine. We spent last week at the park, and skipped a couple planned park days because of the crowds. steady 120 minute lines at soarin were really unexpected. guess this period is no longer a sure thing.

Drew

 

[HopperFan]

Just got back from a week and it was crowded. MK on the 3rd was worse than some summer days we have gone. Was a wait at any food service to find a table (even at off hour). Universals were both busy but do-able if you wanted just the highlights. DisneyQuest was average, been there with much less but seen it worse. We went believing it would be crowded and it was, so we weren't surprised. We and many others were out of school until today the 9th (this also happened in 2002), it was Marathon weekend with new changes that increased the number of runners to close to 30,000 plus those in the 5k - perfect family vacation, and we noticed a tremendous number of folks on holiday from other countries. Many from Europe and S America. Was also a big convention - ASI going on. Hopefully it will quiet down except maybe this weekend since it is a long one.

 

[Jakesmom504]

WOW, all of the schools around here went back on the 3rd. I didn't even know schools had off until the 9th or 10th! I really hope it's not that bad next year because we are going from Dec 30-Jan 6. We knew New Years would be bad but figured the rest of it would be a lot less crowded. Certainly did not expect anyone to say crowds comparable to summer! Now I'm disappointed!

 

[gshoemate]

We joined friends from Michigan at the parks this past week and they were crowded. Not so much on Thursday and Friday but the weekend was bad. I know the marathon had alot to do with it. I think attendance for the marathon and half marathon really increased this year. I ran the 5k and there were so many people. And there were so many kids for the kids races that it was delayed for almost 2 hours to try to get everything in order.

 

[mbethel]

We did parks last Mon, Tues, Thurs, and Fri. I've almost always gone during really slow times so it seemed pretty crowded as far as people went but we went to each park at opening (avoiding EMH parks since we stayed off site), utilized fast pass, and had a blast! Our longest wait was maybe 25 minutes on anything. Did Soarin' first thing and waited only 15 minutes. Most my group hadn't been before so they didn't know any difference. I just kept my mouth shut about the crowds and we had a wonderful time. We did absolutely everything we wanted to and usually left the park by 6pm. I did notice that walking anywhere in the late afternoon was pretty crowded. We did hop from AK to MK on Tues (the 3rd) to ride Buzz since it closed down on the 4th for refurbishment and the wait was 50 min. We grabbed a fast pass, did CoP then the People mover, bought some postcards then waited 10 min in the fast pass line. Overall it was a fantastic week. Gotta love those fast passes!! I agree that the way the holidays fell made for some unusual crowds though.

 

[HopperFan]

Jakesmom, our vacation falls again the same way next year, and we will probably be going back for the week and doing the races on the weekend. ( In the south it is common to go back to school in August and we are on semester, so we finished the 22nd - extending the vacation until the 9th.)

While I know plenty of people were out of school, we did notice that many of the people were those on holiday from other countries. My DH does international business and said many of his contacts have extended time off around New Years. And with the exchange rate so good for some, Disney is a great inexpensive vacation for them right now.

 

[SpecialK]

We were there from the 1st through the 7th and found it to be crowded but manageable. We got to the parks early and utilized fast pass and TGM's best days - worked like a charm. The only thing we wanted to go on but didn't was Soarin'. I had fast passes for it but we had to choose between that and our ADR at Chef de France - dinner won out. I was disappointed in not experiencing Soarin' but that meal was the best and most relaxing of our trip

 

[Blackash]

I have no idea what any of you are talking about. Me and my girlfriend were there from the 1st to the 7th, and had no problems. We used a mix of fastpass, singles and standby.

The longest wait was 40 minutes one time, and that was for the Safari at AK which was on the 1st. Other than that I found the parks pretty dead.

I found most of the displayed wait times for rides and attractions to be double the actual wait. Example: there was a 30 minute displayed wait for Jungle Cruise. A Cast member had actually told someone else that was wrong and it was more like 45. It was really like 15. Just looking at the line I could tell. This was late afternoon.

Being a couple had a many bonuses because more often than not a ride would have two spots left and we were taken out of line to fill them.

We found MK to be dead on the 7th, and we actually left early because we got everything we wanted to do done so fast, and we arrived about 10 AM. The only congestion we found was by Small World, the walking space around there isn't very big and there are too many popular attractions there.

Matter of fact on the 3rd, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad's standby line was moving faster (or equal to) the fast pass line. Thie was at like 10 AM, but I still found it funny.

I don't know why people wait on long stand by lines. Use fastpass, it is such a time saver. Also planning ahead is very helpful. We always planned our first 3 rides. Usually we went on a ride, then got a fastpass for another, went on another, walked for a little and returned to Fastpass. Three rides down within in an hour and a half.

Here's some tips: your fastpass tends to be valid all day after the return time. We certainly capitalized on that.

Also it's a waste to get a fastpass first thing there at opening. Go on that ride, the wait is so short.

 

[wtpntigger2]

We just got back last night and while I found it more crowded than I expected it to be at this time of year, it was still very manageable. On Sunday at MK we really took advantage of Fastpasses and stayed for EMH so we got to ride everything we wanted with minimal wait. After 20 years, I finally got to ride Dumbo because the wait was only 20 min We walked onto the Safari ride at AK on Saturday and was able to obtain FP for Soarin yesterday around 11am for 12:50 (although we didn't end up using them because we had lunch ADRs at 1pm and dh didn't know that).

We will most likely be there this time next year because I am intending on running in the marathon, but I will make sure we stay a few days afterwards as I am sure things are pretty quiet there today.

 

[ladyjayhawk]

Its funny how people can have such different experiences. We just got back from an 11 day stay on Sunday and thought that most of last week was great! We avoided the EMH parks, used fast pass and never waited more than 20 minutes. Friday at MGM was great; many of the rides weren't even offering Fast Pass since it was slow. Saturday at Animal Kingdom was dead! I don't think any ride except for the Safari was offering Fast Pass. We walked onto Dinosaur, had less than 10 minute waits for Primevil Whirl and the Safari, and rode Triceratop Spin 3 times in a row. It was too chilly for us for the raft ride but it had a 10 minute wait. We went to all the shows only about 5 minutes early and found good seats (even Lion King). Earlier in the week it was busier but still very manageable. We were at the MK on Tuesday, Jan 3, as well. It was busy until mid-afternoon (so we did the less popular rides and shows) but from 4-10 pm we got a lot done (and this was moving at a slow pace with 3 young kids). By evening, Splash had a wait of 5 minutes; Jungle Cruise was 10 mins; Big Thunder was 15 mins; Pirates, Haunted Mansion and the Barnstomer were walk-ons.

We would definitely go at this time of the year again!

 

[NJRAM]

I hope all this crowd stuff is history when we arrive on the 18th.
Does anyone know of any conferences or occurances that would make the park crowded at that time?

 

[Jakesmom504]

Jakesmom, our vacation falls again the same way next year, and we will probably be going back for the week and doing the races on the weekend. ( In the south it is common to go back to school in August and we are on semester, so we finished the 22nd - extending the vacation until the 9th.)

While I know plenty of people were out of school, we did notice that many of the people were those on holiday from other countries. My DH does international business and said many of his contacts have extended time off around New Years. And with the exchange rate so good for some, Disney is a great inexpensive vacation for them right now.

I forgot about Southerners going back to school in August, we always vacation in August in NC, and up until a few years ago when the northerners caught on, it was very quiet and not crowded at all because of the kids being in school. I didn't realize though that it effects the Christmas vacation.

Was it really that horrendous because now I'm really disappointed. You can be honest, we can only go that time of year because my DS turns 3 in May (we would have to pay for him) and DH and I are in school also. Is it really comparable to the summer crowds? I'd rather be prepared. Thanks!