Question for those just returning from parks.

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

For those of you who just got back from Disney World, week of August 17; how full were the parks?

My family will going next year this time and was wondering what to expect. Are the parks less full because school has started for many kids around the country? Or are they busy as ever?

We have gone to other popular places in the past, at this time and found them to less crowded. Hoping it will be the same with Disney World.

Thanks

 

[goofy4tink]

We were there from 8/15 to 8/23 and found it to be fairly crowded. We will be going in Nov in the future. The rain was incredible. I realize that it was an unusual amount of rain but don't want to take the chance again. We have done late Oct/early Nov in the past and it was quite nice as far as weather and crowds go.

 

[CDisney]

We just returned from our August 13-22 stay and found the parks more crowded for this time of year than previous stays.

Though, I think the rain played a large part in the crowd patterns. Because of the significant afternoon rain showers (heavier and longer in duration than typical August weather), I think more people hit the parks in the morning, knowing that that was their only chance to stay dry.

We went to Early Entry at Epcot and the standby line for Test Track was already 30 minutes at 8:07 and the single rider line for Mission Space was 45 minutes not long after that.

Typically, the last two weeks of August are a great time to go. I think the rain and Disney's package deal just caused a flux in the crowd patterns.

 

[CalGal]

We were also there 8/15-8/23. It was crowded, but manageable with planning. We got to the parks early and/or were able to use Fastpass to avoid long lines for most rides. Extra Magic Hour was helpful at Magic Kingdom & MGM, less so for Animal Kingdom (we did better when we went to AK on another day). We went for the EMH twice to MGM, once on Sat and again on Tuesday. Saturday was fine but Tuesday was a zoo.

The nice thing about going at this time was that they were still offering E-ride. Also, there were plenty of opportunities for Fantasmic, the night parade and fireworks. The weather was miserable. It got very hot very early, and there were a couple of heavy thunderstorms that lasted several hours. Still, we were still able to have a great time and do most everything we had hoped to do.

 

[Camping Disney]

We were there 8/9-8/16. There was a lot of rain. We hardly waited at all for any ride. I think the longest line was about 15 minutes. We did not get to use BB at all, it was always closed...TL was really crowded.

Hope this helps,
Michele

 

[Alison Wonderland]

We were there from Jug 16 to 22. It was more crowded than I expected but we had good luck going right at park opening. The lines were not so bad the first hour or so and then we used Fastpass. It did get miserably hot. I used the strategy of going at opening time to parks that were not Early Entry. Apparently there were still a lot of schools that hadn't started yet, as there were plenty of schoolage kids there.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

We were there Aug 10-20. I agree with everyone else too. We usually go every aug. I think the FTP caused some bigger crowds and with the heat and rain everyone was in the parks early and later on from like 5 on. With that heat we always took an AC/pool break. My advice, stay on site for sure. Also remember most of the schools in NY and NJ dont go back until after labor day so there are lots of us there then. Good luck. We did july last year and had to put up with lots of tour groups so I think that added to the crowds then. I prefer anytime after the 1st week of Aug, we like it hot, like to swim etc. Heah we used to live in Texas too so the heat is not a problem for us but DH did get pretty grumpy one day at MGM and everyone looked at him. That day we used up all our gatorade we brought into the parks, refilled at the water fountains etc. used the fan etc. and just coudnt get cool. Good luck. Also considering if you stay on site it may be the value season for a lower rate.

 

[Selket]

We just got back (was there the 16th to the 23rd) and it was better than expected. We did have rain every afternoon but we were generally back at the hotel by then. I usually go during the cool off season so it was a very different trip. I didn't think the crowds were that terrible but I didn't try to ride everything over and over either. We used fastpass but did only one EMH (for the MK). We did all 3 nightly firework type shows. We had a great time!!!

 

[JBurke]

We found it to be fairly crowded. There were big waits for the main rides and Fantasyland rides like WInnie and Peter Pan.
I noticed tons of foreign visitors.

 

[CalGal]

Originally posted by JBurke
We found it to be fairly crowded. There were big waits for the main rides and Fantasyland rides like WInnie and Peter Pan.
I noticed tons of foreign visitors.

I also noticed a lot of foreign visitors. The longest lines were for the attractions that offered FastPass including Winnie & Peter Pan.

 

[Dopey's twin Dippy]

We stayed at the Movies from 8/13 thru 8/22. WE had the dalmation bldg. great location. We usually go the end of aug. to beg. of sept. First off i think because of FTP this year was much busier. Alot of locals told us the same thing. I think it was PACKED every day, last summer wasnt half as bad. Also we had RAIN almost every day, when i say RAIN i mean as in like we have never seen before. Thunder and Lighting every afternoon, one day it lasted from 4-5ish until almost 10. We had BB and TL. We had a great time at both. All in all we had a really good time, but def. was much busier than last summer. I think also we prefer the food court at the Music alot better. Its basically the same stuff but it took us along time to get our food. One day it took me 30 min. just to get the kids Grill Cheese and fries. Also my husband who never complains, usually got hot breakfast , but it was always cold. lol. Also my 14 dd and her 14friend, were next to get on Test Track when she dropped her Fastpass ticket. When the KID asked her for it she told him what happened. He said "yeah everyone tells me that" and wouldnt let them ride, oh after waiting 35 minutes in line. So i had to speak to MGr. I dont know , it was really a fun trip, but i wouldnt go again if i knew FTP or some special anniv. was going on it was just to busy for us.

 

[Bellis Belles]

Hi All
I am coming over from UK in 5 weeks and really confused by some abbreviations. What is FTP and will it affect my trip in 5 weeks. Pleasantly confused Nicky.

 

[donac]

We just got back yesterday. We did not find it too bad. If you went early and did the things you wanted to do early or very late at night it wasn't bad. We also didn't do everything because our kids are older. The longest we waited was for MS and that was because of a technical difficulty. Yes TT was jammed even at 8:30 in the morning. We fast passed at 8:30 and the call back time was for 10:10 already. But the single ride was only 10 minutes so we did that and FP and got to ride twice. That morning MS was listed as 50 minutes so we gave our kids 1 hour to meet us and they were done in less than 30 minutes and had to hang out waiting for mom and dad while we got to play.

 

[Strings]

Bellis Belles

FTP stands for Fairy Tale Package. It was a discount package offered. You could sign up for it until the end of June. Dates run through the beginning of November. It seems to have incresed the numbers in the parks, but you'll be fine in off season. We're going mid October. Hope you have a blast!

 

[Diamond_Girls]

Our family must have been at a different Disney World! I thought the crowds were quite low, we hardly ever used the fast pass because the waits were 5 - 15 minutes long. The most we waited was maybe 20 minutes for the big stuff. There were times the big stuff had a longer line, but as some people mentioned before, we got there when the parks opened and were able to ride all the big stuff twice without waiting. Therefore, we didn't have to ride when the lines were long (and the longest I saw was 40 minutes at MK and once Mission Space had a 2 hour wait at Epcot).

I also didn't find rain to be any problem until Friday afternoon. We came out of shows or off indoor rides and saw that it had rained, but it never seemed to rain while we were outside. So it didn't stop us from doing anything during the week and that included a day at Blizzard Beach. It did start raining about 4:00 on Friday and never stopped... but a lot of people left which meant more for us to enjoy!

I think this week is an awesome time to go, but make sure and get to the parks when they open. The extra hour in the morning is great too!

 

[wdwdvcdad]

I'm with diamond_girls. The crowds were very manageable. Lines did not start up up until after noon.

 

[WebmasterPete]

Something to keep in mind....this year August traffic at the parks has been GREATLY influenced by the Fairy Tale Packages. A lot of people that would not have normally travelled this year, ended up booking Fairy Tale Packages. Usually late August is when numbers start to come down, as the kids get ready to go back to school. Also, the weather here in "not so sunny" Florida has been atrocious this season. We've had FAR more rain than normal, and that might be having an impact as well.

Pete

 

[bootc3]

Just back yesterday. A little water logged but still had fun. This is our 5 trip in August and I thought it was very crowded this year compared to other trips. As always if you get there early in the morning you can get a lot done. We did Typhoon lagoon on Sat the 16th, got there at 8:30, it was great! Weather was awesome and you can ride any slide you want until about 11 or 11:30.

 

[higgin704]

A very small gauge that we used to measure the crowd at MK one day last week (they have all run together now and I don't remember which day it was) was the wait for It's a Small World was 40 minutes and the wait for Peter Pan Standby was 120 minutes. I agree that it is able to be done with proper planning and use of fastpasses but you can't just jump around like you can at other points of the year like early December.

I don't mind rain at all and if that had been all it would have been fine, it was just those wonderful florida lightening storms that I don't care for too much.

All in all, we went, we still had fun it was just a little trying at times and of course the best time we had in the parks was yesterday morning before we caught our 315 flight home. We went to MK at 8 for EMH and got on Buzz, TTA, Tea cups, Pooh, Peter Pan, Snow White, Carousel, Alladin's Carpets, Big Thunder, tom Sawyer Island and then back to Buzz before leaving at 1pm