okay, now I'm confused about crowds.........

[Kteacher]

We will be in WDW tomorrow I booked this trip knowing it would be hot and Our WDW vacations have all been during peak times because I teach, so we've been during April vacation, and in the summer, usually in July-we've even been during the 4th of July, so we are used to crowds. I've been reading reviews from this past week, the first week of free dining, and some reviews say that wait times were minimal, and others say it was a nightmare . My family leaves all the trip planning up to me, so I've been telling them it's going to be hot and crowded. Right now we're planning on avoiding the evening EMH park, and may even avoid the morning EMH park to avoid the largest crowds.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I'm not there, but I agree differing assessments can be confusing. Most people don't specify what their touring plans are. If you don't arrive at the parks until 10:30am, and go to the EMH parks without going to the EMH hours, slug around in the heat of the day (or maybe everyone is leaving in the afternoon and returning in the evening), then I think that's going to be a worst case scenario. I think the only way to really judge from what posters are saying is to look at the posters who give you a clear idea of what their touring schedule was like.

WE have noticed more people taking afternoon breaks in recent trips. On one trip last spring, AK was PACKED in the morning. All the fastpasses on all the rides we passed were GONE by 1 pm. We only stayed becuse we saw the LK show. Once the show was over though, the park REALLY cleared out. I think our new strategy will be to go on EE in the afternoon, instead of first thing in the morning - like everyone else.

 

[shellybaxter]

I would guess the crowds will feel way more managable then you are used to, but thats just a guess. I can't imagine that free dining has brought spring break level crowds to mid-August. I'm guessing that those that normally go in mid-August are seeing a noticable increase in crowds and reporting this increase without realizing that the crowds are actually not anywhere near peak. Its just a thoery - take it or leave it

 

[Dznypal]

it wasnt bad at all

what we did was do the park that had EMH at nite --we did that park in the AM.

so if M was open till 1 AM on Tues we did MK Wed AM

so wed was our first full day and since Epcot was opened till midnite Tues we went wed AM--we wouldnt get there till about 10:30 or 11 this way we missed the the first rush of people that got there before opening

we did all that we wanted to by 6pm!!!!

most things were only about 15 to 20 minutes wait!!!

granted this was just before the free dining started but the crowds were




very managable

we did things we havent beena ble to do the last couple of trips since lines were to long

this trip really was a magical one since my DH planned it as a surprise B-day gift for me.

I didnt know we were going till we were at the airport checking in!!!!

 

[jade1]

it wasnt bad at all

what we did was do the park that had EMH at nite --we did that park in the AM.

so if M was open till 1 AM on Tues we did MK Wed AM

so wed was our first full day and since Epcot was opened till midnite Tues we went wed AM--we wouldnt get there till about 10:30 or 11 this way we missed the the first rush of people that got there before opening

we did all that we wanted to by 6pm!!!!

most things were only about 15 to 20 minutes wait!!!

granted this was just before the free dining started but the crowds were




very managable

we did things we havent beena ble to do the last couple of trips since lines were to long

this trip really was a magical one since my DH planned it as a surprise B-day gift for me.

I didnt know we were going till we were at the airport checking in!!!!

I tend to agree, we were there the week before and extra hours at night were a joke-40 minutes for GMR at midnight? Seems like avoiding EMH was the best idea for us also after that.

They need to go back to charging extra for late night or building more parks.

 

[eeyore45]

It is totally a matter of perspective!! I think the watch helps - when I got in a long line at BTMRR the FP line was huge - but mom timed it, and the wait was around 20 min - it just felt like 30 - 50 min in the heat!!

same for the wait times for the buses - you think you're ok, and you just watch people coming and coming, but no buses... to me it felt like 30 min between buses, getting the watch out and timing it, it truly was no more than 15 min

 

[jima53]

You may find that more people are staying closer to home this year with the high gas prices in Florida. To counter this is the thought that school is starting in Florida in a lot of the school districts. This might offset the large crowds a bit. Right now a lot of Florida is seeing a dry, hot spell unfortunately also.


Jim

 

[DJ Disney Kid]

Don't avoid the evening EMH, they were GREAT when I was there in May! We walked on a TON of stuff at MK.

 

[CarolinaBlue]

We were just there and didn't find it that crowded. We started at opening time and most rides were walk on or less than 20 minutes wait times. If you don't arrive until lunch time or later, it will be very crowded and the wait times will be very long.

 

[Poohbear123]

I was there last week for EMH at MK. It was OK not too bad, but during the day the crowds were outta control, talking about 40-60 min wait for some rides. I think that "free dining plan" needs to GO!

 

[Kteacher]

Don't avoid the evening EMH, they were GREAT when I was there in May! We walked on a TON of stuff at MK.

That may work for non peak times, but given that a lot of park goers will be staying onsite due to the free dining promo , I think the EMH parks will be very crowded. We have hopper passes, so we can always go to a different park. Right now our strategy is to get up early and hit the park that was evening EMH the previous night right at opening.

 

[JennyDrake]

I intentionally avoided EMH morning parks. Crowds at the other parks were very light (think early December!) until noonish, then increased, but still nothing as bad as I had anticipated. We've had thicker crowds the last two Aprils. The longest waits were for Exp. Everest standby 50-70 minutes all day.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Another EMH avoider here, too crowded for me.

Enjoy your trip, Kteacher.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

I was there about two and a half weeks ago. I also am a teacher and sympathize with your having to go during the peak times at the World. I have gone in June before as well.

When I was there this time though, I noticed that the majority of the visitors were going VERY early in the morning to combat the heat and humidity and leaving in the early to mid afternoon. That was great for me as I did the parks after 12 noon or so.

EMH at night was splendid. The longest wait I had was 5 minutes!!!! It is definitely something you should NOT skip!

 

[Kteacher]

Hi Dan