Return of Crowds

[conandrob240]

MK around a 2 tonight. I got a few merch items. Want to get 50th ornament. Honestly if I get the ornament over next 2 days may skip MK on the 50th.

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

We will be in Orlando in the 1st but at Universal. We don't arrive at WDW till the 3rd. We planned this on purpose hoping that UO will be less crowded due to everyone wanting to be at WDW. The one thing I did notice is there is a ton of dining available all of next week. Even on the 1st and 2nd places like Tusker House, Raglin Road, Coral Reef, Cape May etc. have plenty of availability. As of right now, all the usually sold out restaurants at MK like Liberty Tree, Jungle Nav / skipper canteen, Crystal Palace, Diamond Horseshoe and The plaza have availability every day next week at either lunch or dinner if not both. Strange times ahead.

 

[cmp1976]

We will be in Orlando in the 1st but at Universal. We don't arrive at WDW till the 3rd. We planned this on purpose hoping that UO will be less crowded due to everyone wanting to be at WDW. The one thing I did notice is there is a ton of dining available all of next week. Even on the 1st and 2nd places like Tusker House, Raglin Road, Coral Reef, Cape May etc. have plenty of availability. As of right now, all the usually sold out restaurants at MK like Liberty Tree, Jungle Nav / skipper canteen, Crystal Palace, Diamond Horseshoe and The plaza have availability every day next week at either lunch or dinner if not both. Strange times ahead.

I've noticed this too. I've never seen this many ADRs available this close to my trip (first week in October).

 

[OhBother1984]

We will be in Orlando in the 1st but at Universal. We don't arrive at WDW till the 3rd. We planned this on purpose hoping that UO will be less crowded due to everyone wanting to be at WDW. The one thing I did notice is there is a ton of dining available all of next week. Even on the 1st and 2nd places like Tusker House, Raglin Road, Coral Reef, Cape May etc. have plenty of availability. As of right now, all the usually sold out restaurants at MK like Liberty Tree, Jungle Nav / skipper canteen, Crystal Palace, Diamond Horseshoe and The plaza have availability every day next week at either lunch or dinner if not both. Strange times ahead.

We like going to pigeon forge and even there we are looking at booking a trip in nov and can find lots of availability while other years you won't find much at all by now. Travel is really down everywhere.

 

[shawthorne44]

My buddy is coming back tomorrow, and he said that their concierge offered to upgrade their room, at a discount to stay longer.

That is extremely unusual, isn't it?

On the available ADR's, I wonder if people are pulling back on dining in order to pay for G+? I know that is our plan. Downgrading one TS to QS would about pay for G+.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

That is extremely unusual, isn't it?

On the available ADR's, I wonder if people are pulling back on dining in order to pay for G+? I know that is our plan. Downgrading one TS to QS would about pay for G+.

super unusual, i had never heard of it before him. I can't imagine many people would pull back to afford Genie, especially your average guest

 

[focusondisney]

Yeah, I don’t think the 50th will have anymore of a draw, than the locals trying to get their fix, and a few of us hardos haha. My buddy is coming back tomorrow, and he said that their concierge offered to upgrade their room, at a discount to stay longer. Kinda crazy considering you wouldn’t think they’d have much availability at all right now with the 50th right around the corner.

What hotel is that? And what days were they offering to add? And the concierge contacted him to offer that? At a Disney hotel?? Never had that happen in over 20 years of club level stays. Even in the slowest September days.


As for dining ADRs, things usually open up quite a bit a few days ahead. People make multiple ADRs & then release a day or 2 before, to avoid the no show $. And I’m sure lots of people did it for this weekend too.

 

[Matt'sMom]

We are AP holders, and based on the park reservation system it is not looking like crowds will be all that extreme other than during very early October. Currently, the first two days of October are the only days we've seen all four parks blocked out on our park reservations options. Then there are two other random days, later in October, where MK park reservations appear to be filled (but the remaining three parks have openings). I do expect to see an increase in crowds shortly after the international travel starts back up again. And of course the major holidays will see increased crowds across WDW (but as Sorcerer level APs, we are blocked out of Thanksgiving and Christmas, any ways).

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

What hotel is that? And what days were they offering to add? And the concierge contacted him to offer that? At a Disney hotel?? Never had that happen in over 20 years of club level stays. Even in the slowest September days.


As for dining ADRs, things usually open up quite a bit a few days ahead. People make multiple ADRs & then release a day or 2 before, to avoid the no show $. And I’m sure lots of people did it for this weekend too.

I didn't grill him on it, (i still have to work with him after all). He told me that he went to check out at the front desk (so maybe concierge was the wrong word), and they offered him an extension at a discounted rate (the rate may just be what they are offering now, but i don't know). it was at the Poly. i would say he could be making it all up, I just don't know why he would

 

[bsmcneil]

I have to say, the 1s that TP listed for last week (Wed-Fri, at least - though I think the 1s extended beyond that) were awesome. And ... it makes me really dread the 6-7s my next trip because it wasn't completely empty this time around (I'm used to traveling during down times, though I definitely have heard/read/learned that those aren't really in existence any more). Mostly I'm a 2nd week in December guy (for crowds, weather, ambience, etc). Went near the end of October about a decade ago and that was manageable. Last week of Sept (last week) was way too hot for my tastes. Next trip is early Feb '22 and I hope the weather will be better but I'm concerned about what I can fit in given the proposed crowds at the time.

 

[focusondisney]

I didn't grill him on it, (i still have to work with him after all). He told me that he went to check out at the front desk (so maybe concierge was the wrong word), and they offered him an extension at a discounted rate (the rate may just be what they are offering now, but i don't know). it was at the Poly. i would say he could be making it all up, I just don't know why he would

Sorry, I misunderstood. I thought the concierge called him at home prior to arrival to offer an extension. I know people have gotten extensions while there before, even at the discount they used. So I could see it might have been offered depending on the conversation “we wish we could stay…. We don’t want to leave..” “Well I could let you stay another night at the discount”. etc. Sorry for the confusion

 

[focusondisney]

We are AP holders, and based on the park reservation system it is not looking like crowds will be all that extreme other than during very early October. Currently, the first two days of October are the only days we've seen all four parks blocked out on our park reservations options. Then there are two other random days, later in October, where MK park reservations appear to be filled (but the remaining three parks have openings). I do expect to see an increase in crowds shortly after the international travel starts back up again. And of course the major holidays will see increased crowds across WDW (but as Sorcerer level APs, we are blocked out of Thanksgiving and Christmas, any ways).

See, I don’t know how you can determine how crowded the parks will be based on there being reservations available. Park capacity is back to 100% as far as we know. The reservation system doesn’t list what % the reservations are at. Even precovid, the parks very rarely hit capacity closures. Like not even every Christmas or New Years rare. So I wouldn’t expect to see any day at capacity limits for park reservations either. If there is availability for reservations, the crowd could be anywhere from a 1 to a 9.9.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

Sorry, I misunderstood. I thought the concierge called him at home prior to arrival to offer an extension. I know people have gotten extensions while there before, even at the discount they used. So I could see it might have been offered depending on the conversation “we wish we could stay…. We don’t want to leave..” “Well I could let you stay another night at the discount”. etc. Sorry for the confusion

No worries!

 

[Yoshi]

I thought crowds would start to pick up a little by now especially in Magic Kingdom today (or I guess yesterday) with the final Happily Ever After but it was the emptiest I have seen a Disney park in a long time. Space Mountain was a 5 minute wait in the early afternoon, Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain were literal walk ons in the early evening. Pirates had boats going out half empty.

 

[SMF_mom23]

The calm before the storm? In addition to being within spitting distance of Oct 1 (which is going to be very busy by all projections), next week is just prior to a holiday/short week, so I'd bet money families with school-aged children are waiting until then and the following week to visit

Glad you got to experience a rare "slow day" at MK!

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

The calm before the storm? In addition to being within spitting distance of Oct 1 (which is going to be very busy by all projections), next week is just prior to a holiday/short week, so I'd bet money families with school-aged children are waiting until then and the following week to visit

Glad you got to experience a rare "slow day" at MK!

I think Floridians will take advantage, and I do think next week will be pretty busy. I am curious to see if it’s 9-10 crowds, or in the 5-6 range, I think that would tell us a lot.
“Rare” slow days at MK aren’t super rare it seems these days, which is crazy when you think about it, and I just can’t see that changing prior to international travel, and Rona numbers start coming back down to where they were beginning of June

 

[Meglen]

The calm before the storm? In addition to being within spitting distance of Oct 1 (which is going to be very busy by all projections), next week is just prior to a holiday/short week, so I'd bet money families with school-aged children are waiting until then and the following week to visit

Glad you got to experience a rare "slow day" at MK!

Yea school here is out the 11th-12th(Mon/Tues) so we're going the 9-17. Hoping crowds die down by the 13th so we have a few lower crowd days. I am assuming the weekend of the 9th to be legit insane tho.

 

[OhBother1984]

I think Floridians will take advantage, and I do think next week will be pretty busy. I am curious to see if it’s 9-10 crowds, or in the 5-6 range, I think that would tell us a lot.
“Rare” slow days at MK aren’t super rare it seems these days, which is crazy when you think about it, and I just can’t see that changing prior to international travel, and Rona numbers start coming back down to where they were beginning of June

And masks being gone again inside. Even international travel isn't going to be a huge impact all at once but more trickle. Its not like they will all flood in the moment they can. Many lost their prime time to travel for this year and when they are most likely to come to the US. 2019 crowds are a long way away.

Weekends and school breaks will stay busier but weekdays not as much. Their is a def trend of parents not pulling kids from school right now to travel also.

 

[Tonyz]

Yesterday was truly great for rides, especially since Happily Ever After was ending. Last night Splash was a walk-on and so was SDMT at 7:30! I did Seven Dwarfs twice in 15 minutes!

 

[Tonyz]

Just walked on Flight of Passage at 9:00 with the park being open since 7:30!