Park Crowds

[mster425]

Yes, and when we would arrive at one park and notice how crazy it is, we would look at wait times at the other three parks (thinking we might ditch and go to a different park), only to notice that they are ALL crazy!!

We are used to areas of MK being people soup (Adventureland, Frontierland, Liberty Square), but Epcot is people soup as well. We ditched the land boats the other day after a 45 minute wait that only had us about halfway thru the line...the land boats!! SSE has been as high as 75 minutes, and Pirates as high as 115. Ironically, someone told me that yesterday afternoon, they only waited 15 min. In the standby line to meet Anna and Elsa...so weird.

Slightly veering OT but YES the queue for A & E was so weird for us- on Saturday 3/11, Epcot was a zoo, we had FEA fastpasses so we walked by A & E just to check- we walked right in to meet them at 11:30 AM. I felt extremely lucky because the MDE app said the wait was an hr and we hadn't been able to meet them earlier in our trip, but it was odd, as you said.

 

[Disneylover99]

Two days ago, we were at MK and decided we were done with the park earlier than we thought. We had a 6:35 reservation for Tony's and decided we would check in early, and hope for the best. Tony's was running late, so we ended up sitting and waiting for a table for almost two hours. In that time, I saw so many families come in, explain that the park was too busy to stay, and ask to be seated early. When the hostess explained that they were running late, she would then offer the cancel the party's reservation without incurring a charge if that is what they wished. Several families just cancelled their reservation and left. Not sure why they are so crazy this year, but oh my....

This is the part that bugs me. I mean, I'm glad they were allowing to let people cancel without penalty, but what was the problem? Were they just taking walk ins or were they not staffed properly?

 

[maryj11]

Wow I hope the crowds die down some, that sounds horrible.

 

[anniemae]

Man that stinks. I agree with the pp that with Avatar, it's only going to get worse.

 

[Beca]

This is the part that bugs me. I mean, I'm glad they were allowing to let people cancel without penalty, but what was the problem? Were they just taking walk ins or were they not staffed properly?

The problem was that the park was SOO crazy that people were getting frustrated and wanting to leave the park early. They were all hoping to move their dining times up so they could eat and leave, but the restaurant was running behind and could not accomodate them. Because people were so grumpy about the crowds, MK was letting them cancel their dining without penalty. We saw several people cancel, but when people would come in asking for a reservation, they were all being told there were no available reservations, so I guess they weren't too worried about the loss of revenue.

 

[Disneylover99]

The problem was that the park was SOO crazy that people were getting frustrated and wanting to leave the park early. They were all hoping to move their dining times up so they could eat and leave, but the restaurant was running behind and could not accomodate them. Because people were so grumpy about the crowds, MK was letting them cancel their dining without penalty. We saw several people cancel, but when people would come in asking for a reservation, they were all being told there were no available reservations, so I guess they weren't too worried about the loss of revenue.

But why were they so backed up to begin with? They must have been taking walk ups earlier when they shouldn't have been.

 

[eastendlights]

Tony's was extremely backed up when we had lunch there on March 7th. Every seat in the entrance was filled, there were people sitting all over on the floors and leaning against the walls waiting to be called. I think they are way overbooking.

 

[Disneylover99]

Tony's was extremely backed up when we had lunch there on March 7th. Every seat in the entrance was filled, there were people sitting all over on the floors and leaning against the walls waiting to be called. I think they are way overbooking.

Ugh, I wish restaurants wouldn't do this.

 

[Uncranky Donald]

But why were they so backed up to begin with? They must have been taking walk ups earlier when they shouldn't have been.

I suspect in situations like this the table turn over rate is low as people want to "wait it out" and then the entire restaurant is behind on their bookings. Over booked, plus low turn over rate = a waaaaaay behind Tony's and really unhappy customers

 

[Disneylover99]

I suspect in situations like this the table turn over rate is low as people want to "wait it out" and then the entire restaurant is behind on their bookings. Over booked, plus low turn over rate = a waaaaaay behind Tony's and really unhappy customers

Yes. Good point. I never thought of people just waiting it out. But it makes sense.

 

[Uncranky Donald]

Yes. Good point. I never thought of people just waiting it out. But it makes sense.

Way back when I waitressed in a Ruby's attached to a mall people did this all the time during the holidays. They'd camp out at a table for 2 hours or more waiting for the crowds to die...I'm sure at Disney there's a pretty strict policy against a waiter yelling "get out of my section people!!"

 

[4GoofyCrew]

Augh. This post is making my excitement level tank. I knew it would be busier because of the time of year but 'awful' and 'horrible'.

 

[uccats97]

We don't have spring break until the week after Easter. Those who have spring break now, do y'all not get a week off for Easter? Just curious.

My kids are off the week of 3/27 for spring break. No time off around Easter because of how late it falls this year.

 

[HydroGuy]

We were at the parks March 4-8 then again on March 11-13. I cannot complain about the weather as that was great on the days we were there. But it was MUCH more crowded than I was expecting and sites like TP had predicted. I have gone a couple times in late March in the heart of Spring Break and it was not this crowded.

Unlike the OP, we did not have any problems with ADRs. I had 1 or 2 each day and we were always seated and served in a timely manner. But the lines for rides? Yowza!

FWIW, I was able to get a 4th and even 5th FP at all of the parks. There was just DW and I and that made it easier. At Epcot we even got FEA as a 4th FP when someone canceled. After that I got another Soarin FP for a 5th FP.

This past Monday we went to Epcot and got to the IG at 8:45AM with the goal of riding TT first thru Standby. No it was not an EMH morning. I always avoid EMH parks. Like our other day at Epcot (on March 5) they let guests in early and started the rides early. By the time we got to TT it was 8:55 and TT was up and running and the line was moving (and all the way out to Innoventions). We waited 40 minutes to get on the ride. Yes really. And it was not broken down. Just REALLY long.

Put all that together and we still had a great trip. I was just expecting lower crowds.

 

[Tinknalli]

We don't have spring break until the week after Easter. Those who have spring break now, do y'all not get a week off for Easter? Just curious.

Here our breaks are not tied to the Easter holiday. We have the 3rd week in February and the 3rd week in April regardless of when Easter falls. This year it happens to be the week after Easter which is a tough break for us. Most years we don't get any time off around Easter, just Saturday and Sunday. Most years our April break is a great time to go to WDW.

 

[jwfla422]

We are planning on just doing a day trip to Epcot tomorrow. Will report on the crowds. I expect Extremely busy because it's Saturday during Flower & Garden (not to mention spring break season- we see the extra visitors here on the central coast of FL). Honestly though, as mentioned a few posts back there is no "low" crowd time any more. It's either very crowded or extremely crowded and we go every month (we are AP holders)-minimal crowd times are so far and few anymore. So miss being able to do anything on a whim especially character meets, the lines are always long and by the time we get to them we are told they are leaving......

 

[elaine amj]

In another thread someone suggested that it could be because of the cold snap in Florida. All the spring breakers who would typically have chosen to hit the beach or pool are freezing so choosing to go to Disney - causing the parks to go nuts. I've been in March twice and its been very crowded but usually manageable. What I'm hearing sounds like Christmas Week-level crowds!

 

[RubySue]

We don't have spring break until the week after Easter. Those who have spring break now, do y'all not get a week off for Easter? Just curious.

Northern Colorado Spring Break is always mid-March. Denver district is last week in March. Not tied to Easter at all. No days off for Easter.

 

[nat8199]

We were there last week, 3/4-3/12, and thought it was quite reasonable. I did see the return fast pass for Buzz when it was really long but I think the ride had been down and we only saw it like that the one time. We were pretty sure it was going to start getting busy on Saturday, 3/11, so we just spent the day at our resort.

It seemed like there were a lot of people milling around at times (particularly in Epcot) but the waits did not seem particularly long like they were on President's Day week and Mardi Gras (and apparently this week, too!). Sorry you've hit the crowds, OP.

This is very good to read. We are going the equivalent week next year. We usually go during fall, and I am nervous about spring crowds.

 

[disneyAndi14]

Wow really glad we went in February, it was busy but nothing crazy!