NYE: park reservation system and crowd level comparison?

[AnnaKristoff2013]

I mean don’t get me wrong, it was still a plenty stout day in the parks, just feels different than prior years, in my humble opinion.

Yeah, if you want a real sense of “crowd level” comparison I agree it’s going to be subjective because you can’t really use attraction waits. However, there is just no way they have close to the same raw number of people in the parks as they used to during a Phase IV capacity closure. You can walk around and stretch out your arms without hitting someone. You can go to a bathroom without waiting on more than a 5 minute line (and if you go to the less obvious bathrooms, there is no line at all). You can get food without too much of a hassle. I really really really hope that Disney keeps park reservations for Christmas-New Years week. That is the only week when they seem to truly need it. It is just noticeably better than it was a few years ago.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

You know, I always give the advice to avoid driving during Christmas/New Years week, and just take Disney transportation. But based on this year, I’m not sure that advice is valid anymore. Well, as long as the reservation system is in place anyways.

I drove and noticed that the parking lots did not seem particularly full. They certainly didn’’t appear to be using Ursula at MK, the trams are still parked there. Also, we did not arrive at peak times (opening / 2 pm), and we did not have a wait at the the parking booths.