Recession, what recession!?!?

[chickie]

We just returned from our spring break Disney trip. And it was CROWDED!!!! Now, I really can't compare it to past years, since we usually never go in mid-March. But, I was truly surprised by how crowded the parks were, given the economy and all.

We made good use of our fast-passes and were able to see just about everything we wanted, but if I hadn't had previous experience/knowledge (much of it from the Dis), things wouldn't not have worked out as well for us. We went with a family that had never been before, so they were grateful to have us leading the way.

We also had many trial and tribulations throughout the trip, including my dd getting strep throat, the other dad in our group rupturing his eardrum, a bad cold, a couple of very bad sunburns, and 3 very winy little girls! (I really could have used a xanax a few times).

All in all it was a great trip, though! The topiaries at the Flower and Garden festival at EPCOT were beatiful, and all our meals were great! Oh, and the weather was FABULOUS!!!

 

[cyberbox2]

Glad to hear your trip was full of surprises, and hopefully LOTS of fun

Concerning the economy and the parks, I hear ya!

I work part time at my local Apple store, and people ask me all the time about how the recession is effecting business.

I tell them that if I could only judge the state of the economy by what is spend in the Apple store, then you would never know the country is doing so bad.

At any one time, the whole mall will seem empty....because they are all in the Apple store, spending thousands of dollars like its a drop in the bucket.

I just don't know how people continue to spend like that, I guess it's in part because they are holding off on the $200 Tommy Bahama shorts

 

[BigGreen73]

Doesn't really surprise me how busy or crowded is was when you went. I believe that it was spring break and WDW is always crowded that time. I went the the 1st week of April last year and the crowds were ridiculous.

 

[miss missy]

I think you are still seeing people who planned a year in advance too. Times are getting tougher by the day, seems we will ee it more and more going forward.

 

[aspen37]

I think the 7 for 4 might have a little to do with it also.

 

[Carolinagal]

Not sure if you remember, but we met at Toy Story Mania - I recognized you by your Give Kids the World shirt!

It was awfully nice to meet you and your family (I had no idea that you all were having those special extras!). I completely agree with your "Recession" comment - I knew it would be crowded, but had no idea it would be like that!

We had a great time, too, and I too am so very grateful for the boards! With wait times of 2 and 3 hours, it would have made a miserable day if we didn't know better than to stand in the lines.

Hope you have all recovered and are feeling better - I am off to view my pictures and relive a few memories.......

All the best!

 

[DWFan4Life]

Glad to hear that you had a great trip even it's crowded. Looking forward in hearing more from you, some pics to share is great.

Have a nice day everyone.

 

[LilGMom]

Agree completely!!! We've never been mid-March and will never do it again! We were there 3/21 - 3/24 and it was insanely packed IMHO. Of course I'm sure that it was nothing compared to summer but we usually go during what most would consider off-season so this was a bit of a shock for us. We used FP & did pretty good with being able to do and see things that we wanted to do but we'll stick to the off-season times. We knew it was really bad when we saw the Noodle place in MK open one evening.

We couldn't have asked for prettier weather though because it was absolutely gorgeous! There was one day when it got a little cloudy and sprinkled a little but with the humidity being so low it didn't make the parks feel like a sauna after the mini-shower.

We went figuring it was going to be crowded but just wanted to get out of town and enjoy a trip without extended family. Still had a great time and the countdown to the next trip has begun already!

 

[its_jason]

I just got back over the weekend from our Disney wedding and it was really crowded for spring break! I think this picture of us stuck (me a DW were against the plants in this pic, not in the picture) at Rock 'n' Roller Coaster sums up our trip pretty good. Still a fun trip regardless.

 

[chickie]

Jason,
I think we were right there with ya in that R&Rc crowd!!!
We went over there first thing in the morning and OMG - I think everyone had the same idea! I sent dh and the little girls to get us fastpasses right away for Toystory Mania. It's a good thing we did. By the time he got them (waited quite a while in line), our return time was after 2:00. And, actually, once the line finally got set up at R&Rc, the wait really wasn't that bad. The line was moving quickly because the fastpass return lines hadn't started up yet.

Carolinagal,
Yes! I do remember meeting you in line for TSM. It was really great to meet and talk to you, too! Everyone is home now, healthy and back in the swing of things.

It really was a fun trip! But, boy does it take some extra planning when the crowds are like that.

 

[SamSam]

I just got back over the weekend from our Disney wedding and it was really crowded for spring break! I think this picture of us stuck (me a DW were against the plants in this pic, not in the picture) at Rock 'n' Roller Coaster sums up our trip pretty good. Still a fun trip regardless.

Yikes! Thanks for reminding me why we never go during Spring Break or Summer anymore.