Just got home on Friday from WDW!

[ladydancer]

I was a wreck afraid the parks would be crowded. To my amazment it was perfect. There was very few rides that had over a 20 min. wait. There were many rides we just walked on.

Soaring was opened and we just walked on twice with no wait. This is one of my favorites @ WDW. In our group there were 10 of us that rode this ride. 1 person felt a little quezzy afterward. I was a little light headed. Everyone else was fine.

We stayed @ Pop and was very happy with everything Pop.

I did the planning and had planned doing the parks in the morning after they had the extra evening hours the night before. Although at the last minute we did the extra evening @ MK. We did no early morning hours. We avoided those parks. We were @ all the parks at least 45 minutes prior to opening.

We went to BB 1 day and got one of those semi-private areas with the picnic table, chairs ect. It was a nice shaded area which made it nice for the 16 month old to nap. We were also able to block off the exit so he could play.

If you have any questions I would be glad to answer.

 

[disgirl]

Hi! Thanks for your post. It sounds like you had a great trip!! I have a couple of questions. You mentioned you did MK EMH at night. How was that, crowded and what time did the MK stay open? Also, did you end up doing the other parks the day after they had EMH evening hours and how did that work for you? Thanks. Again, glad you had a good trip and crowds were not too bad.

 

[danny1649]

Thank you for sharing,sounds klike you had a great time.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Thanks for the info. I can't wait to ride SOARIN it sounds so great.

 

[DVC@BWV]

Thanks for sharing! I have a couple of questions about BB: What day and time did you go? Was it crowded? Where exactly is this "semi private area" that you got? TIA!

 

[ladydancer]

Hi! Thanks for your post. It sounds like you had a great trip!! I have a couple of questions. You mentioned you did MK EMH at night. How was that, crowded and what time did the MK stay open? Also, did you end up doing the other parks the day after they had EMH evening hours and how did that work for you? Thanks. Again, glad you had a good trip and crowds were not too bad.

MK stayed open until 1:00. We got there around 7:00 however the emh didn't start until 9:00. We started in Adventureland and rode a few rides when we first got there. Prior to the emh. Magic Carpets of Aladdin , Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean. Aladdin and Jungle Cruise had about a 10 minute wait. Pirates we rode twice with no wait. Then we got our wrist bands for the emh in the Carribean Plaza.

We then headed for Frontierland. We rode Splash Mountain twice and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Both with less than a 10 minute wait. While on Splash Mountain we got to see the fireworks. That was really cool.

Next we rode a few rides in Tomorrowland. I got in line with my son and 2 grandsons to ride Space Mountain. When the cm told us what line to stand in to board my grandson announced he was sick and was going to throw-up. So I had to get out of line to take him out. Needless to say I never got to ride Space Mountain which happens to be one of my favorites. Anyway to answer your question it was about a 15 minute wait.

We went to MK 3 times while @ WDW. So on other days we had done Fantasyland, Toontown and Liberty Square. So I really can't speak about the waits in those lands on the emh nights. All in all it was not crowded. Although we didn't experience crowds at any park during our stay.

 

[ladydancer]

Thanks for sharing! I have a couple of questions about BB: What day and time did you go? Was it crowded? Where exactly is this "semi private area" that you got? TIA!

We got to BB about 30 minutes prior to opening. They allow you into the park and stop you at the bridge. As soon as they allow us in farther at opening time I had my son go ahead of us. I told him to make a sharp left after crossing the bridge and start looking for the private areas. There are several along the left side after turning left after the bridge. I don't mean to say people can't see you in this area. It's just that it has a little fence around it and it over looks the lazy river. You can hang wet towels and things over the fence. It's just a private area people can't just come walking through. We had our coolers, beach bags, stroller for the baby ect. and it was nice to have a place for all our stuff in the shade where the baby took a nice afternoon nap.

The key I have found about BB is to get there early. About 11 or so it does start to get filled. When we first got there we did Teamboat Springs ride with no wait. Then later I noticed the line getting long. However we did Run Off Rapids with a 5 minute wait which is towards the back of the park around noon.

Actually the park crowd was not bad at all. The only other time I saw less people at BB was the time we went during a raining day.

 

[DVC@BWV]

Thanks ladydancer! Did BB stay crowded all day? Did you stay until it closed?
We were thinking of going later in the day after hitting one of the parks (around 2 p.m. or so) and staying until closing.

 

[Mady/Sophiemom]

Glad you had a nice trip Ladydancer- We just got back this AM from Pop!! We also found the crowds very managable.

Soarin was AWSOME!! great ride

We did the late MK night (wed) until 1 am- We got sooo much done. We also did early entry at MK, on Fri. It was as I expected, and got very crowded about 11 am, so we ate, rode Philharmagic, w/ our fast passes, and moved over to MGM for a few hours. But we did do Space mountain, Dumbo, Pooh, Indy Speedway, Tea cups, Snow white, Stitch(x 2), and Buzz, all before 11 am, so it worked well.

 

[MAGICinMYHEART]

ladydancer

If you could, using the map below show us where the shaded area is located you were able to get? I'm assuming the bridge is the larger one between 17 & 16. After turning left did you go down as far as 19 & 18. Or is it all the way down past Lottawatta Lodge in the picnic area?

Thank You.

 

[crazyj4488]

I just returned yesterday after being there for 7 days and it was jammed packed IMHO. I haven't been there since it was that crowded since the 80's but I have always gone in the off season. EPCOT was manageable, MK was almost unbearable, MGM and AK were about the same....NASTY. Even though it was packed, I never waited for anything more than 15 minutes using TGM / UG and my normal insane amount of knowledge and experience with Disney crowds and parks. I walked onto over 90% of the attractions and saw all the "must see's" 2 to 4 times including Soarin 3 times with a 5 minute wait each time. Downtown Disney and the marketplace were even PACKED. Most parking lots were marked full and we had to move some cones just to get our car out without driving in circles for 30 mins.

The heat was REALLY nasty as well towards the last 3 days of the trip. Both the crowds and heat were getting worse as my week wore on.

My opinion to those of you going anytime from now until the end of Summer...GO EARLY...arrive 30 mins before the gates open. The mornings up until 11 AM were wonderful as we were there for each and every opening ceremony. Anything after that was pretty nasty including the evenings (MK). I would also suggest renting a car. This saved me so much time and effort, I can't even begin to explain. I had a full size car for only $100 over 7 days using moussavers. On Monday, the 25th, it was so crowded at the MK that it took me over 1 hour and 45 minutes to get a bus out of the park at closing (left the rental at the hotel with my GF to use and went to MK by myself).

Overall, I had an AMAZING trip...saw and did everything including standing in the hub in front of the castle at 8:30 PM with not 1 soul around me (not even a CM in sight) due to really bad storms. That was so unreal...I even sat in two theater attractions all by myself....again, surreal.

I plan on posting full trip reports on the respective board when I get some more rest.

Last...DO NOT go to Stitch...what a HORRIBLE waste of time that attraction turned out to be....they can't even properly manage the crowds....fastpass people were waiting 60 minutes to get in on Saturday....the FP line was leaving the gate and creeping into the middle of tomorrowland....********.

I took over 900 pictures that I will post to my web server sometime next week.

Soooo, good luck to those of you going soon. You'll have fun but will need a lot of patience and rest.

-J

 

[cruisnfamily]

We got to BB about 30 minutes prior to opening. They allow you into the park and stop you at the bridge. As soon as they allow us in farther at opening time I had my son go ahead of us. I told him to make a sharp left after crossing the bridge and start looking for the private areas. There are several along the left side after turning left after the bridge. I don't mean to say people can't see you in this area. It's just that it has a little fence around it and it over looks the lazy river. You can hang wet towels and things over the fence. It's just a private area people can't just come walking through. We had our coolers, beach bags, stroller for the baby ect. and it was nice to have a place for all our stuff in the shade where the baby took a nice afternoon nap.
.

Are there places like this at Typhoon Lagoon?

 

[ladydancer]

ladydancer

If you could, using the map below show us where the shaded area is located you were able to get? I'm assuming the bridge is the larger one between 17 & 16. After turning left did you go down as far as 19 & 18. Or is it all the way down past Lottawatta Lodge in the picnic area?

Thank You.

Yes we went over the bridge between 17 & 16. I'm not sure if it was down as far as 19 & 18. Maps can be deceiving. I know after just a few steps after turning after the bridge we started seeing the private area's. There were at least 5 I think I saw on the left. There could have been more in other area's but I didn't look. Hope this helps.

 

[MAGICinMYHEART]

ladydancer

Thank you so much...the one reason I wasn't looking forward to BB was lack of shade, I'll make sure we are ready to get one of these spaces on the day we visit.

Thanks once again.
Beckie

 

[Simba's Mom]

During the EMH at MK, did you notice what resturaunts were open, especially whethr or not Peco's Bills was open? I think Casey's is, but no one in our group eats hot dogs, so looking for other choices. Also, if you did the EMH evening at AK, did you notice what resturaunts there were open?

 

[SleepyatDVC]

Glad you had a great trip ladydancer! Did you go to MK at all on Monday, 4/25/05?

We were there and agreed with crazyj4488! It was a madhouse. I had never seen sooooo many people in the park ever unless it was Christmas and Easter and we avoid those times like the plague. I guess all the people from the NY-NJ tri-state area was at the MK! Lol! We just sat and people watched for a few hours. We would have left if not for a 4:10 PS at the CP.

I just returned yesterday after being there for 7 days and it was jammed packed IMHO. I haven't been there since it was that crowded since the 80's but I have always gone in the off season. EPCOT was manageable, MK was almost unbearable, MGM and AK were about the same....NASTY. Even though it was packed, I never waited for anything more than 15 minutes using TGM / UG and my normal insane amount of knowledge and experience with Disney crowds and parks. I walked onto over 90% of the attractions and saw all the "must see's" 2 to 4 times including Soarin 3 times with a 5 minute wait each time. Downtown Disney and the marketplace were even PACKED. Most parking lots were marked full and we had to move some cones just to get our car out without driving in circles for 30 mins.


-J

 

[Princess Wannabe]

Glad you had a great trip ladydancer! Did you go to MK at all on Monday, 4/25/05?

We were there and agreed with crazyj4488! It was a madhouse. I had never seen sooooo many people in the park ever unless it was Christmas and Easter and we avoid those times like the plague. I guess all the people from the NY-NJ tri-state area was at the MK! Lol! We just sat and people watched for a few hours. We would have left if not for a 4:10 PS at the CP.

We were in MK as well on 04/25. I have to agree - it was more crowded than I've ever seen it.

However, with a little bit of planning, and some research, and using Tour Guide Mike, we were successful in riding quite a few rides, especially after 8:00 pm. The park was open until 11:00 that night, and we 'skipped' the parade & Wishes in order to ride the rides; we were able to ride every single ride in Fantasyland without ANY wait whatsoever. It was so nice to walk right on to Peter Pan's Ride. Earlier in the day, it was virtual gridlock trying to navigate through Fantasyland.

I'll ditto what everyone else is saying - go EARLY! And use the parade time to ride rides; catch the parade another night!

 

[disgirl]

Thanks for the response Ladydancer!

 

[HugsForEeyore]

Wow, I am surprised reading here that some had problems with crowds! I just got back from our trip last week, and I thought it was perfect! Before I left for Disney, I was worried about the crowds, but I found them no problem at all! It was less crowded than my last trip during "Jersey Week" the 1st week of November. There was that one rainy day on Tuesday, but we thought the weather was great! We did avoid MK on Monday April 25th (and sounds like that was a good idea!), and went to MGM and then to Epcot for the evening, and had a nice time at both. We hit MK on Tuesday and Wednesday and thought the crowds were not bad at all. Overall a great week to go, in our opinion!

 

[ladydancer]

During the EMH at MK, did you notice what resturaunts were open, especially whethr or not Peco's Bills was open? I think Casey's is, but no one in our group eats hot dogs, so looking for other choices. Also, if you did the EMH evening at AK, did you notice what resturaunts there were open?

Sorry, I didn't really pay too much attention as we ate before we got there. I want to say that Cosmic Ray's was opened. As we passed by I saw some people inside.