Questions about crowd levels

[Miss Mary Poppins]

Do you think places like Tour Guide Mike are taking into account the economy with their crowd levels in there estimations for next year? For example we are going 1/24-31 and I am not really believing that the crowds will be what they are stating. Am I fooling myself or do you think it is really going to be as busy as last January?

 

[swald91]

Not really sure...we will be going Jan 25- Feb 1 & with the 4/3 deal I think Disney is hoping for more crowds-of course we don't!!! I guess we will have to wait & see-about 60 more days!

 

[patientflyer]

Not sure whether they are accounting for the economy in their predictions. January / February have historically been average to below average in # of people arriving at Orlando airport ( crowdlevel.com/Airport/MCO.html ). So I think the crowds won't be too bad, especially since the airlines have been reducing capacity and people are cutting back on travel.

 

[Feralpeg]

I doubt any of the the tour guides have factored the current economic crisis in their equation. Crowds have been much lighter the past couple of months. Although they have picked up for the holidays, they are still much lighter than past years. Unless things turn around quickly, I imagine the crowd levels will remain much lower than in the past.

 

[KTMEMOMMY]

During the weekof 11/15-11/22, crowds were much lighter than the expectancies we had read about. We walked on to most rides and didn't wait much for anything, even when it was a day when crowd levels were predicted to be higher.

 

[ilandrazdsw]

Does anyone have any ideas for the week between Christmas & New Years? We will be there 23-2...Booked back in the begining of Jan We are hoping that people are taking advantage of the deals and going earlier or later. I know there will still be the die-hards that want to spend Christmas in WDW, but hoping that some of the crowds have changed their plans Regardless we are planning for crowds and will enjoy every minute of Christmas with Mickey and friends

 

[Jazzygirl72]

I have been wondering the same thing. I'm going Dec. 28 - Jan 3rd. Since the deadline for cancelling travel plans for that time has just passed, I'm hoping that this economic crisis will have one positive effect...less people!

 

[Miss Mary Poppins]

Well then I guess we will see.

 

[kirbsam]

this just in, wdw is crowded all year long.

 

[ilandrazdsw]

this just in, wdw is crowded all year long.

Yes, but then there is crowded and OMG what have I done, I should have waited

 

[texhanddoc]

I would think that it would be impossible at this point unless you had some really good insider information at Disney to predict crowd levels with the economic crisis, especially when you have to consider the countermoves that Disney is making to bring more people into the parks (i.e. the 4/3 discount).

 

[wilde_oscar]

has the TGM site even been updated to show recent additions? touringplans.com does adjust based on factors that include reservations, bookings and avg room nights sold the previous year

 

[DisBride2007]

Do you think places like Tour Guide Mike are taking into account the economy with their crowd levels in there estimations for next year? For example we are going 1/24-31 and I am not really believing that the crowds will be what they are stating. Am I fooling myself or do you think it is really going to be as busy as last January?

We're planning on going the same time as you. I can say that we just made ADR's this past week and we got everything we wanted within 10 minutes of our desired time. We had no trouble getting Boma, CP or Chef Mickey's. When I tried to make ADR's for our late October trip within a couple of months beforehand, we were SOL for the popular restaurants. I'm really hoping that's a good sign for low crowds!

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Does anyone have any ideas for the week between Christmas & New Years? We will be there 23-2...Booked back in the begining of Jan We are hoping that people are taking advantage of the deals and going earlier or later. I know there will still be the die-hards that want to spend Christmas in WDW, but hoping that some of the crowds have changed their plans Regardless we are planning for crowds and will enjoy every minute of Christmas with Mickey and friends

Your dates are the the busiest of the entire year. It will be packed.

 

[wilde_oscar]

I have been wondering the same thing. I'm going Dec. 28 - Jan 3rd. Since the deadline for cancelling travel plans for that time has just passed, I'm hoping that this economic crisis will have one positive effect...less people!

lol, you realize you are going at the busiest time of year, right. you realize you will be in a soup of people?

 

[Jazzygirl72]

I would think that it would be impossible at this point unless you had some really good insider information at Disney to predict crowd levels with the economic crisis, especially when you have to consider the countermoves that Disney is making to bring more people into the parks (i.e. the 4/3 discount).

You're right, Texhanddoc. Thanks for the helpful thoughts. And yes, we'll just have to wait and see.
Not sure why people feel the need to be sarcastic in replying. It's an honest question...it is what is and whatever it is, I'll just be happy to be there. But as a Disney vetran myself, as well as past cast member, I'm educated enough to know that it's crowded most of the time. I apologize if I'm mis-reading those posts but it's really unecessary.

 

[Jazzygirl72]

lol, you realize you are going at the busiest time of year, right. you realize you will be in a soup of people?

YES I KNOW THAT. I'd have to be absolutely clueless not to know that. As I said in my other post, we're just WONDERING if it will be a little less crowded. If it is, great. If not, whatever....things go as planned.

 

[goofy4prez]

Not really sure...we will be going Jan 25- Feb 1 & with the 4/3 deal I think Disney is hoping for more crowds-of course we don't!!! I guess we will have to wait & see-about 60 more days!

We'll be there the same dates as you will and also took advantage of the 4/3 deal at the GF. We went this past August and the place was packed. I'm sure that this week will not be as busy. Here's hoping with you that it's not busy.

We're planning on going the same time as you. I can say that we just made ADR's this past week and we got everything we wanted within 10 minutes of our desired time. We had no trouble getting Boma, CP or Chef Mickey's. When I tried to make ADR's for our late October trip within a couple of months beforehand, we were SOL for the popular restaurants. I'm really hoping that's a good sign for low crowds!

We also had no problem getting our ADR's that we wanted. For our August trip we booked about 6 weeks out and really had to get creative to get ADR's just about anywhere that we liked. This year we got Cinderela's Royal Table, Chef Mickey(dinner), Coral Reef, LE Cellier, Ohana's, and Boma's with no problems at all.

 

[TinkerKell-ey]

We just returned from a week in WDW (Nov 15-22). The full Sat to Sat week before Thanksgiving is "our week". This year, IMHO, was the busiest yet. That's not to say it was packed - Mon to Friday were great with less than 10 minute waits** - but more people than previous years for sure. I think lots of people plan their WDW vacations so far in advance that it will be several more months before the trickle down of the economy has a noticable effect (my guess is spring time).

**except for Soarin', Test Track, Everest and Toy Story Mania which remained around 45 minutes or more all week - get your fast passes!!! We only waited 20 minutes midday, midweek to see Tinkerbell!!!

 

[quantumottle]

has the TGM site even been updated to show recent additions? touringplans.com does adjust based on factors that include reservations, bookings and avg room nights sold the previous year

I question just how often touringplans updates. I see that the most recent crowd blog is dated July 25th of 08'. As a new subscriber to touringplans.com, needless to say, I am a bit disappointed to see no new updates in over 4 months...