Just returned....HUGE crowds

[Tbiafore]

We were there the week after Thanksgiving and into the first couple days of December and it was not busy most days....much of the time we had 5-10 minute waits.

--Thor

 

[godiva99]

It was my first official trip to the world and I don't know if it should've been more crowded or not. There were lines for everything! I just jotted down what we did the first 6 hours in the park after CRT and it was not much...Only did 8 rides and two meet and greets in 6 hrs! Ariels ride was closed until 1pm, so I decided to fast pass PP for my DH while he waited for ETWB. We rode PP first, then met him again (at 9:15 the wait was already 60mins), then back to PP for him to ride...I grabbed FPs for Winnie and got extra for Dumbo...

With all the planning I did, and all the rushing through the park, it doens't seem I did that much in that amount of time...based on crowd levels (4) I was hoping to do 2 rides per hour - 1.5 hrs

 

[harvey]

Unless something changed in the last few days, you can have more than one fastpass at a time. The current system does not limit how many FP's you're holding at one time. You're only limited by the time constraints.

When you pull a FP, it will clearly state at the bottom of the ticket what time you can pull your next FP. That time will be either the start of your return time window for the FP you are holding *or* 2 hours from the time you pulled the FP -- whichever comes first. For example: You might pull a FP for Space Mountain at 9:05 a.m. For the sake of this example, we'll say it gives you a return time of 12:15-1:15 p.m. The time that you can get another FP will be 11:05 a.m. (and will be printed at the bottom of the ticket). So, at 11:05 you can be standing at Peter Pan and pull another FP which might have a return time of 5:00-6:00 p.m. and you will be eligible for another FP 2 hours after you've pulled the FP for Peter Pan (in this example it would be approximately 1:05). Depending on your return times, you can be holding a few FP's at once.
.

This is correct. Our FP always had the 2 hour restriction. Because we've never needed to hold more than one FP at a time, we were a bit confused when we went to get another one on this trip, as lines were so much longer for popular rides.

 

[MommyPoppins]

I think a person's perception of "HUGE crowds" has a lot to do visiting the wrong parks on the wrong days. I've been watching the Lines APP and yeah if you go to MK on a day that you shouldn't the crowds are horrible, but if you go on a day that is supposed to be less crowded the crowds are much smaller.

It helps to use a couple different crowd prediction websites and compare the info given to see which makes sense. For instance for our trip next week touring plans says to go to one of the parks on an EMH day, but Josh at easywdw says that is not the best park for that day. In that case, I'm going to go with Josh. Always avoid EMH parks.

 

[mom2rtk]

And BTW, the line for the new Enchanted Tales with Belle is killer. Half of it has no cover from the sun, and the line only moves every 15 minutes as they let a new group in. We waited an hour for that one.

That was actually the first thing I noticed about that attraction. We were there in December, and even on a comfortable temperature day it felt hot. All I could think was how awful that was going to be come summer. I can't believe they couldn't come up with a better plan for that with more shade.

People are vacationing again, the economy is getting better (at least in northeast Florida), house market is getting better also.

Wow that's great news for northeast Florida. I hope that spreads to the rest of the country. Soon.

 

[bluezy]

This is correct. Our FP always had the 2 hour restriction. Because we've never needed to hold more than one FP at a time, we were a bit confused when we went to get another one on this trip, as lines were so much longer for popular rides.

From the beginning of FP we've always gotten a "new" FP before using the current one...so as soon as our window of opportunity opened, we'd be at a ride getting a FP and then head to the attraction to use the first FP. I forget that not everyone has the same plan of attack. When FP first started, I read this tip on a message board (probably here): Always pull a new FP before using the current one so you're enjoying attraction #1, while time is ticking away for the next FP window to open. We do that no matter what the crowd level is so that we get on a lot of attractions each day and have never had to wait more than 20 minutes for any ride (except when there is a ride breakdown when we're already in line...which seems to happen to us on TT and Space Mountain on a regular basis. At least they're air conditioned so we enjoy the break from the June heat. )

 

[Lizard Valley]

Hi Harvey,

Can you quickly post which parks you did which day please? I had friends going for their first time that same week, and I had them all organized. I haven't heard back from them since they got back (Disney was followed immediately by business travel). I just want to see if they might have had the same experience as you.

 

[DSLRuser]

Marketing isn't what's doing it. Unless they're REALLY marketing in South America.

Not so now. The FLE is a huge part of that, I'm sure. That's not marketing, per se.

Open any web page with targeted add. Disney is speniding a ton of money.

All the disney inside emailes.

all the tv spots i see.

you better beilive they are marketting their rears off. WORLD WIDE.

FLE is not that big of deal.

 

[Steve's Girl]

I took a solo trip in Jan. 2012 and the crowd levels were amazingly low. So, after getting back, my mom and I decided to organize a large family trip for all of us to return that same week in Jan. 2013. The crowd levels were much higher this year. They even extended hours at MK while we were there due to the increase. I spoke with a manager type person at MK while we were there and she confirmed that crowd levels were much higher this year than they have been in past years during that same time period.

As many others have said, there is no longer a low crowd season. (I have been 4 times in the last year over supposedly low attendance periods and attendance is definitely higher.)

 

[ErinsMommy]

We were there the 10th-16th and besides Monday afternoon, we didn't find it bad at all. By that evening we didn't wait for anything. We didn't do any parks with extra magic hours since we were staying offsite, not sure if that helped.

Just saw the OP ticker, we were in Emerald Island also!

We were there the 8th-16th and never waited more than 1/2 hr for any ride with the exception of Dumbo which I don't count because DD was running around playing the entire time and we were sitting/relaxing waiting with our beeper. When we got to ETWB, the posted time was 1 hr but the wait was more like 1/2 hr. before we were inside the house.

 

[JDUCKY]

Open any web page with targeted add. Disney is speniding a ton of money.

All the disney inside emailes.

all the tv spots i see.

you better beilive they are marketting their rears off. WORLD WIDE.

FLE is not that big of deal.

And they've been doing that since forever. They didn't just discover marketing in the last 6 weeks.

 

[harvey]

Hi Harvey,

Can you quickly post which parks you did which day please? I had friends going for their first time that same week, and I had them all organized. I haven't heard back from them since they got back (Disney was followed immediately by business travel). I just want to see if they might have had the same experience as you.

Saturday night: MK for Electric Street Parade. The crowds were what we normally encounter during the day at that time, which kinda got my attention.
Sunday: Epcot. Had to wait for 30 minutes to get on The Living Seas...line outside the venue. Line all day at Spaceship Earth. Got FP for TT, no FP left for Soarin' by the time we go over there around 2-ish.
Monday: AK. Horrendous. Couldn't walk. Lines just to get FP. Standby at EE was 2 hours. After parade the park cleared and we were eventually able to enjoy everything we wanted to see.
Tuesday: MK. Again, our second worse crowd day. Also very hot (almost 90) so folks were grumpy. We only stayed for 1/2 the day because it was hard to move. Lines for food were really long.
Wednesday: Hollywood Studios. Longest line was for bagcheck getting into the park The rest of the day wasn't bad at all, though more folks than we're used to. Waiting just over an hour for Toy Story.
Thursday: Epcot again. Spent more time in World Showcase, crowds seemed better, but still more crowded than we've seen previously at this time.
Friday: MK. Not at bad as Tuesday, but we still waited 20 minutes for People Mover.

If they had a plan, I"m sure they were fine, especially having not experienced Disney before and knowing what to expect crowd-wise. One of my Sons-in-law had been only once before in January 2 years ago, and he was shocked by the crowds.

 

[harvey]

And they've been doing that since forever. They didn't just discover marketing in the last 6 weeks.

Very true, although I will say I've noticed a significant increase in Disney 'blinky' ads on many of my daily blog reads (we're talking home decor blogs!). I also see discounts pinned by bloggers on Pinterest, facebook, and twitter. I think they're reaping the benefits of the blazing fast social networking sites these days, not available to them before, so perhaps they're simply reaching more people.

My friend in MK made it sound like even they were surprised by how well their advertising is working.

Regardless, Disney lovers like myself who are used to enjoying the World at slower times and at a slower pace will simply need to make some adjustments to accomodate for no/fewer down times. Or just head to the beach instead for a few years.

 

[ManyMinnie]

And they've been doing that since forever. They didn't just discover marketing in the last 6 weeks.

Ads everywhere have increased significantly since the beginning of the year.

TV, online, even print magazines, which I haven't seen much of before.

So yeah, marketing has really ramped up the last couple of months.

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Just seen an article on wdwinfo.com - that Florida Tourism is up.

I would expect record crowds for the rest of 2013!

 

[karly05]

I was at WDW 2/7 - 2/13 and I would agree that crowds felt higher this year than when I was there for similar dates in 2012. I knew going in that Mardi Gras would be a factor, but that was actually kind of fun.

I was at MK on Friday 2/8 and Tuesday 2/12; didn't even try the RD Run for ETWB and yeah, any time I went by, the lines for that were huge. Friday, got in line around 11 for BOG lunch and waited about 40-45 minutes, but it was worth it! MK was definitely the busiest (or at least felt most crowded) of the parks, especially Fantasyland (new and old). Tuesday, I went straight to Winnie the Pooh and rode standby with minimal wait, then pulled FP for Mermaid; spent most of the day on character meets because the Princes were out for True Love week.

I didn't feel the crowds were as bad anywhere else, although they were always getting busier as the afternoons came on. Mornings at AK and DHS were actually nice. I kind of tried to follow EasyWDW while still following my own priorities. I did:
Thursday late afternoon/evening at Epcot (at 3pm I was able to get a FP around 7:05 for Soarin, and did single rider at TT with pretty much no wait)
Friday MK
Saturday AK
Sunday DHS, hopped to Epcot later in the day
Monday DHS, to DTD for lunch, Epcot late afteroon/evening
Tuesday MK, then to Epcot for dinner

On the whole trip, I saw ONE large South American tour group, a few much smaller packs of cheerleaders, lots of families speaking Spanish (or Portugese? don't know), the entire populations of NYC, NJ and Mass, and a whole lot of lovely folks from the Gulf states there for Mardi Gras. Crowds or no, it was still a great trip, and I would go back at that time again.

 

[frugalfanny]

I'm wondering what time did you arrive at the parks. Did you arrive at rope drop or later in the morning?

 

[Colleen27]

Several reasons:

Fantasyland Expansion
Warmer weather
More South Americans (and not just huge Brazilian tour groups...many, many families or smaller groups from the southern hemisphere)

You missed one - Mardi Gras. The entire state of Louisiana seems to migrate to WDW that week, and when it falls as close to Presidents' Day as it did this year (Mardi Gras was 2/12, Presidents' Day 2/18) it creates a "perfect storm" for crowds - first the NOLA crowds, then the midwesterners who have mid-winter break as a 5-6 day weekend over Presidents Day, then the New Englanders who have all of Presidents' week off. Taken separately they each account for moderate-to-busy crowd conditions but all put together it gets pretty crazy.

We were there for Mardi Gras in 2011 when it didn't line up with any major breaks for the rest of the country and there was a clear bump in crowds on Sun/Mon as the NOLA folks started arriving. By Tues (our last day), I swear we were the only ones in the MK not sporting purple and gold! That influx on top of the Presidents' weekend breaks for so much of the rest of the country is bound to pack the parks.

 

[MichelleWDWfan]

I watched Live with Kelly & Michael since they were filming live in Town Square at MK this week.

I was shocked at how crowded the entire Main Street was at 9am all week...there were so many ppl it looked like it was hard to move toward Cinderella Castle.

I am going to be there in 12 days. Looks like making Rope drop everyday will be my priority.

 

[harvey]

I'm wondering what time did you arrive at the parks. Did you arrive at rope drop or later in the morning?

We arrived at 9:30...which in hindsight was our biggest mistake. We were travelling with my 6 kids, 3 of their spouses, my elderly dad and a 10 month old....we tried like the dickens to get there early each day, but to no avail

On Monday at AK, my kids had to wait over an hour in the line just to buy their park tix, then another 20 minutes to get thru the turnstyles as they had half of them closed for refurb and every other person it seemed was having trouble with their tickets.

Oh! and a couple CMs were EXTREMELY rude...one dude working Toy Story had my adult daughter in tears as she was carrying her infant and couldn't understand his broken english instructions. I still intend to get his name and report him. I could tell many CMs were struggling with the crowds, but most of them did very well to keep their cool, even when some guests were acting like idiots. My favorite was the security guy checking bags....his deadpan humor had everyone laughing. I made sure to tell each of them how much we appreciated them, and one older gentleman checking bags even got teary. He said they never hear that, and it's not always fun being 'a necessary evil' at the happiest place on earth. They know everyone hates waiting for bagcheck, and they work hard to move people thru as quickly as possible...but it's frustrating when they ask folks to unzip their bags and STILL people just throw their bags up there all zipped up.

That was a tangent!