Recent Crowds

[kait13]

How have the crowds been in the parks recently? Busier than usual? Normal? Less crowded? Thanks in advance.. hope everyone has enjoyed their recent trips!!!

 

[glitterkittyy]

We were there Saturday and Monday. I thought the crowds were very manageable. We did Epcot, DHS and MK on Saturday and MK on Monday.

We were at DHS during "peak time" (around 1-2 p.m.) and the wait for RnRc was 40 minutes for stand-by.

 

[kait13]

thank you for replying so quickly

 

[JMD]

We were there last week, and typically go the same time each year. And IMO, the parks seemed less crowded than usual. The wait times were minimal.

 

[glitterkittyy]

Sure thing...to give you an idea of what we got done on Saturday...

Epcot: Soarin' twice...once in the a.m. stand-by and once in the p.m. with FP
Test Track...kept breaking down. Rode once with FP.
Universe of Energy (blame the kids)
Nemo
Turtle Talk
SSE twice

DHS: Toy Story Midway Mania (no FP available). Did this 3 times.
RnRc once
Block Party Bash
The Big Movie Ride
Ate at PrimeTime

MK: BTMRR twice with no line (during Wishes)
Splash with no line (during Wishes)
Space with short line (about 10 minutes during Spectro)

This also included lots of shopping, snacking (too much haha) and transport time (took the gateway a lot).

 

[kait13]

i hope the crowds are managable in june

 

[TB'sWidow]

We went May4-10 and it was very,very crowded
worst I have seen in a long time. I am going again in Nov. and am hoping it will be better

 

[wdwgirl03]

We were there May 14-19 and the crowds were virtually nonexistent. Well, atleast by my standards seeing as we usually go over Winter/Spring breaks...

 

[L500768]

We're here right now and I've been asking guests and CMs at all the parks what they think of the crowds since this is our first time and everyone says that the crowds are very light. Yesterday we went to TL and I overheard one CM telling another CM that Memorial Day was basically empty. We went on Memorial Day and didn't think it was "empty" but that was her words. I have nothing to compare it to.

 

[jphilhower]

We were there April 30th to May 11th. We also thought it was very crowded, more so than last year at the same time.

 

[AuntBot]

We are just back (19th-25th) and thought the crowds were not bad at all. We hit each park early and never had a problem with crowds until the Saturday of Memorial Day at MK. We used TGM and followed his recommended parks faithfully and either walked on or had short waits for the majority of rides. Our day at EPCOT we rode Soarin' back to back with a five minute wait. We did use Fast Pass, but not very often - we didn't really need to do so.

 

[Deb in IA]

We are going next week, and hope the crowds will not be too bad. I think we should be OK, as many schools are not yet out.

I also wonder if the economy and especially gas prices are keeping many people at home this year . . .

 

[sfbank]

We just got back and thought the crowds were great. We did notice they picked up over the weeked on the Magic Kingdom was packed by midday last Sunday. We always hit the parks early and we always had the big rides done at least twice each with no lines or very short ones and then used fastpasses sometimes. It was very managable. Morning is definately the way to go. We also had a blast at the evening Magic hours at the Magic Kingdom when it was open until 2 one morning. That was fun! Big Thunder is definately a different experience in the dark@ With the exceptions of a few line cutters, big groups locking arms and cutting through lines and crowds, and some smokers in non smoking areas, overall we had a great trip! I of course had the Disney Depression but it hit two days before we went home this time. DH, DD, her best friend that went with us, and I got to be in the Magic Kingdom Family Fun Day parade down Main St on our last full day so that was kind of cool. We were in Daisy's group doing pon pons on Wednesday. Cheered us up a little but not much!

 

[kait13]

it's interesting how different peoples perceptions of crowd levels are!

 

[savannahjean85]

We were there May 21 - 25. The crowdes were not that bad, but having taken DF in Nov he could tell a difference in the crowd levels. Waits for most rides were from 20-40 minutes from midday on...except at soarin which was 85 minutes on both days we went to Epcot. Early morning and evening EMH the crowds were alot nicer.

I took a few crowd photos.

Lastly if you out wait the rain at night in MK sometimes you can have awesome seating for parades

 

[kait13]

has anyone been recently? How have the crowds looked for late May/early June?

 

[KimK2006]

We just got back last night. We were in the parks from Thursday, 5/29 - yesterday. Magic Kingdom was MUCH less croweded than basically the same time last year. On 5/29, we arrived by opening. We pretty much got on everything all day in less than 20 mins. (Most were 10 or less.) By the time we got to Fantasyland, there were 40-60 minute waits for Pooh and Peter Pan. We left in the early afternoon, so I don't know if it got more crowded later. MK was empty yesterday. We arrived around 9:30. We rode Space Mountain TWICE with no waits. (I mean, when we got to the top of the que, there was NO one in front of us. We were the ONLY people in our "ship".) We rode a third time with about a 3 minute wait. We rode HM and went straight into the "room". We walked right on to POTC. We waited less than 10 mins. for BTMRR. Now, that being said, we went a couple of evenings and there were longer waits. There were MANY more people there. (I think the Space Mountain wait was 60 mins., althought we didn't ride it.)

AK & HS were similar to MK. Although, MK was the least crowded "day" park we went to. (The only exception was the new Toy Story ride as HS.) There were HUGE waits for that. We did the single rider line and waited up to 30 minutes each time. (This ride is AWESOME!! Don't miss it.)

Epcot was the most crowded. Soarin' and Test Track had long waits, even early in the day. (We hit them when we arrived, or did the TT single rider line later in the day.) I believe one evening, the single rider line for TT was 25 mins. and the regular 75 minutes.

All in all, it was a great trip! (My parents car got broken into in the HS parking lot and his brand new $400 TomTom GPS, which was hidden in the console, and my son's Gameboy DS were stolen. AND, my family missed our Magical Express bus by 3 minutes because it took an hour from the time we got to the HS bus stop until the bus let us off at POFQ. ME basically told us tough luck. And we had to take a cab. Now, we will obviously plan more of a "buffer" into our next trip to arrive before ME pick-up time. But ME could have handled things a little more professionally on the phone.)

 

[kait13]

thank you very much!! Love the detail in your response

 

[kait13]

PS.. sorry I was running out earlier.. sorry to hear about your bad luck!

 

[KimK2006]

Thanks! It was still a great trip. But we learned two lessons. Don't leave anything of value in you car. (In talking to the guy @ the POFQ registration desk, we get the feeling it isn't that unusual for the cars to be broken into in the parking lots.) And, assume the slowest possible travel time for Disney busses if you have to be somewhere at a certain time. We thought we put enough of a buffer in there, but obviously didn't! Our fault, but ME still could have handled it better on the phone. Have a great trip. I hope the low crowds continue during your trip!