observation on perceptions of crowds

[kymom79]

With all of the "It's so crowded I can't see the pavement! No it's not! The tumbleweeds are blowing!" debates here, I thought I'd chip in with something my husband and I noticed on our most recent visit to the Magic Kingdom.

Previously, we'd been to Disney with our kids after a long period Disney hiatus. We wanted to cover most attractions, with certain ones being must-dos. And, our kids were all under 7.

Visiting Disney with just me and the husband, with no imperative experiences, was a whole different ballgame. We realized as we were waiting a bit for a tram to finally take us back to the parking lot that the same level of waits and "crowdedness" would have been perceived VERY differently if we had had 3 little kids to corral and if we had been (as on previous visits) trying to be sure we hit certain attractions. While we were waiting my husband actually started seeing how many different jokes he could make about how different the crowd density of that visit would have seemed had the kids been with us.

When the FP return line backs up b/c the Magic Band people's bands aren't working and the CMs are clustering around the visitor's iPhone (for whatever reason) and not letting anyone else through, it would be easy to get if you had other things you really wanted to do and little people who were getting unmanageable (it's not just autistic kids who can have long line issues). But if those things aren't an issue, you can just laugh at the folly of the situation and enjoy the surroundings and the people watching.

So, although it's obvious that most days in the fall won't be the same as Disney in mid-July, I do think we should show a little grace to our fellow Disney fans who may have different responsibilities and trip goals.

 

[rebbyparker]

With all of the "It's so crowded I can't see the pavement! No it's not! The tumbleweeds are blowing!" debates here, I thought I'd chip in with something my husband and I noticed on our most recent visit to the Magic Kingdom.

Previously, we'd been to Disney with our kids after a long period Disney hiatus. We wanted to cover most attractions, with certain ones being must-dos. And, our kids were all under 7.

Visiting Disney with just me and the husband, with no imperative experiences, was a whole different ballgame. We realized as we were waiting a bit for a tram to finally take us back to the parking lot that the same level of waits and "crowdedness" would have been perceived VERY differently if we had had 3 little kids to corral and if we had been (as on previous visits) trying to be sure we hit certain attractions. While we were waiting my husband actually started seeing how many different jokes he could make about how different the crowd density of that visit would have seemed had the kids been with us.

When the FP return line backs up b/c the Magic Band people's bands aren't working and the CMs are clustering around the visitor's iPhone (for whatever reason) and not letting anyone else through, it would be easy to get if you had other things you really wanted to do and little people who were getting unmanageable (it's not just autistic kids who can have long line issues). But if those things aren't an issue, you can just laugh at the folly of the situation and enjoy the surroundings and the people watching.

So, although it's obvious that most days in the fall won't be the same as Disney in mid-July, I do think we should show a little grace to our fellow Disney fans who may have different responsibilities and trip goals.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Love this post, so true!

I think your perception is also altered by how many times you have already been there or how many times you expect to go over the next year or two.

 

[Tormania]

But, but, but....I just paid HOW many thousands of dollars for this trip and I KNOW that didn't include WAITING in lines!!!!

You are right, perceptions vary greatly.....as do people's attitudes about how "special" they think they should be treated compared to every other guest who also has spent "thousands" to be there too.

 

[minnie mum]

I've always thought that there was very little, if any, correlation between perceived crowd levels and actual crowd levels (hard and fast numbers). Which is why I never pay attention to the "OH MY GAWD it's wall to wall people" posts or the "Where is everybody?" posts. Show me pictures or show me numbers. Otherwise....

I remember being at WDW for my DDs wedding. Early May. Our family (who had been to WDW many times) were remarking on how empty the parks seemed. DDs new Inlaws (newbies) were complaining daily about the crowds. Who was right?

 

[lroger01]

I think there are two crowd levels - the crowds in the walkways and the length of attraction lines.

Many people see the walkways teeming with people - not shoulder to shoulder, but as busy as the local mall is on a rainy saturday and say the park is busy.

But, if you can walk into a line que and go all the way to where you can see the boarding area before stopping, then the parks are "empty".

People that have never (or rarely) gone, see the first situation and call the park crowded. I was just there last week and though it was a slow time of year, I was amazed at the crowdedness of the walkways. Lines were great, but there were still lots of people on vacation with me.

Oh, and the crowd calendars are based on line waits not walkway crowd.

 

[Haley]

I think there are two crowd levels - the crowds in the walkways and the length of attraction lines.

Many people see the walkways teeming with people - not shoulder to shoulder, but as busy as the local mall is on a rainy saturday and say the park is busy.

But, if you can walk into a line que and go all the way to where you can see the boarding area before stopping, then the parks are "empty".

People that have never (or rarely) gone, see the first situation and call the park crowded. I was just there last week and though it was a slow time of year, I was amazed at the crowdedness of the walkways. Lines were great, but there were still lots of people on vacation with me.

Oh, and the crowd calendars are based on line waits not walkway crowd.

Yeah I've noticed that - like so many people in Tomorrowland that you can barely walk through it and a 10 minute wait for Space Mt

 

[bumbershoot]

OP you make a good point!

 

[DisneyBelle27]

Yeah I've noticed that - like so many people in Tomorrowland that you can barely walk through it and a 10 minute wait for Space Mt

Yup, something to do with the fact that all the people who would have still been waiting in the looong lines are freed up and out in the walkways because the lines were so short.

 

[tazmanrmv]

But, but, but....I just paid HOW many thousands of dollars for this trip and I KNOW that didn't include WAITING in lines!!!! You are right, perceptions vary greatly.....as do people's attitudes about how "special" they think they should be treated compared to every other guest who also has spent "thousands" to be there too.

My take is that waiting in any line at Disney is MUCH better than a day at work.

 

[Surfinpiratee]

I don't even get it either...I've constantly been looking at the MDE wait times and most the time, most the rides are under 20 mins! With the exception of Soarin maybe having a 60 min wait, TSM with a long wait like, 70 mins, all depends on the time of day though!