Not that it matters at this point, but how bad ARE the crowds?

[WonkaKid]

Just came in from DL. Crowds were slightly heavier than expected today. Some folks I spoke with were there yesterday and said crowds were unusually light. Sounds like it'll bounce around like that till the end of spring break.

 

[SMD]

I was in the boarding area of a dark ride this weekend that stopped because a kid, who was probably 3 or 4 decided to lie down next to the vehicle and scream. The parent was holding their hand, but kept trying to get on the ride and not leave the area. Eventually they stopped the ride.

 

[sharona]

I'll be there for the exact same dates. I'm anticipating large crowds, BUT, one plus is that the SoCal 3 day promotion is blocked during our time.

Me 3! I'm hoping the crowds die down after Easter holiday. This is a weird year with Easter being so late and many schools had their breaks the week before instead of the week after. My DD's school break is always the 3rd week of April regardless of when Easter is and I dread the years when they coincide because we always run into bigger crowds wherever we go. When Easter is early and our break is the 3rd week of April, we are golden!

 

[YukonMommy]

We just got home Sunday from a 2 week trip to DL. We went in prepared for crowds (I think that's a key point) but were surprised how much we could get done in a day. We got to the parks around 8:30 (9:00 at DCA if we wanted to ride RSR, 9:30 if we didn't). We could get at least between 7-10 rides a day, sometimes more pulling fp when we could), had cs meals where we sat and enjoyed our food, wandered the shops, met some characters. We usually left by 5:30 to go out of the parks for supper. SOmetimes we came back in, others we just swam at the hotel pool.

My thought is, like a previous poster said a day at DL (crowded or not) is better than a day at home!

 

[3TinksAndAnEeyore]

I was there last Thursday to Saturday and the crowds weren't nearly as bad as I had been anticipated. Touring Plans listed all three days (after the fact) as "10's." It didn't feel like 10 days to me. Not when I can walk past Jungle Cruise without getting my toes stepped in or having a stroller jam my heels.

I took this picture on Friday morning at 9:02 (an hour after the park opened) because I couldn't believe how light the crowds were in the morning.

But crowds definitely picked up by 10:00 or so!!!

 

[Leopardstars]

View attachment 229516 I was there last Thursday to Saturday and the crowds weren't nearly as bad as I had been anticipated. Touring Plans listed all three days (after the fact) as "10's." It didn't feel like 10 days to me. Not when I can walk past Jungle Cruise without getting my toes stepped in or having a stroller jam my heels.

I took this picture on Friday morning at 9:02 (an hour after the park opened) because I couldn't believe how light the crowds were in the morning.

But crowds definitely picked up by 10:00 or so!!!

I found that if we got slightly "ahead" of the crowds, it wasn't too bad and didn't feel as crowded. I know last Wednesday we left the parks in the afternoon just as much because it was hot as because of the crowds.

 

[scrapshappen]

We're here right now and it's been very busy this week. We knew it would be crowded, but I don't think I was prepared for just how crowded. We waited 40 minutes in the fast pass line for Soaring at 11:20 yeasterday. Better than the two hours the couple in the line next to us had been waiting. I think they had anticipated having both sides going but the right side went down. I happened to check the DL App while we were standing in that line and noticed Space Mtn, Indy, BTMRR, Alice and one other ride all down at the same time. Crazy!

But a crazy busy day at Disneyland is still better than a good day at home.

 

[Winnowill]

Here's where RSR runs into problems hence the 225 minutes. That ride was down a LOT when we were there (every day, sometimes several times a day). When that happens, it's usually down for hours. Then when it's back up, they will make an effort to accommodate people with fastpasses, so the standby time line increases dramatically. The ride was down during early entrance, and also note if you get a fastpass for an evening return, expect that it will go down at some point in the day, so your fastpass line will not be so fast. We walked up our first evening with fastpasses in hand and saw the line streaming all the way down the little street for Radiator Springs, and I thought, thank goodness we have a fastpass! Well, that WAS the fastpass line. However, since they then limit standby people severely, it moved FAIRLY quickly. Usually we were on in about 45 minutes.

At the time I reported the 225-minute wait, RSR had not been down at all - at least, not that I saw, and I was looking about every 30 minutes.

 

[mgmgbook]

I was there last week and it was pretty darn busy. Like everyone said, if you use the first two hours effectively, you'll get a lot done. After that, you eat and wait for your fast pass times to come up. Afternoons are good for Mickey and the Magical Map and Frozen.

I know that I'm totally in the minority based on the crowds, but I'd love to have one evening in DL that didn't have the parade and fireworks. It would be nice to walk the park without having to be directed all over the place, feeling like you're part of a herd.