Shocked with crowds last week.

[Lesley Wake]

Here's my big problem about Disney making adjustments with staffing: lower park hours. So, say they have staff scheduled to accomplish a 45 minute wait for Peter Pan (just an example) either during a "busy season" or a traditionally low season. During that busy season, the park may stay open until 1am, so you can get more rides in even if they have longer waits. If you get the same wait times in September, the parks may still close around 9pm, not letting you do things!

For any future trip, I think I will not attempt to plan around crowds. Just book what is the most convenient dates for me, make the assumption it will be busy, and maybe be pleasantly surprised if its not.

 

[focusondisney]

Here's my big problem about Disney making adjustments with staffing: lower park hours. So, say they have staff scheduled to accomplish a 45 minute wait for Peter Pan (just an example) either during a "busy season" or a traditionally low season. During that busy season, the park may stay open until 1am, so you can get more rides in even if they have longer waits. If you get the same wait times in September, the parks may still close around 9pm, not letting you do things!

For any future trip, I think I will not attempt to plan around crowds. Just book what is the most convenient dates for me, make the assumption it will be busy, and maybe be pleasantly surprised if its not.

Good point. I have been going annually since 1993. The last 15 years or so, we make 2 or 3 trips a year. Our first trip in 93 was right after New Year's Day. Definitely low crowds as were the years after 9/11. We started out going the end of August, now it is usually the second weeks in September & December, early May & sometimes the first week in January. We were just there Dec 9-16 & Jan 29 - Feb 1. I thought crowds were about what I expected in December, moderate but not crazy. We stayed at CBR then. January was much more crowded than we expected. We were at POR & it seemed the resort was full. The food court was packed for breakfast every morning no matter what time we were there, which was anywhere from 8 - 10:30 am. I mean, "folks walking around with trays of food & looking for any open tables" packed. I certainly did not expect that kind of crowd mid week in January. I never saw that kind of crowd when we used to go in August. But the MK still closed at 8 pm.

I know there are lots of resorts with construction going on, so more people might be staying at resorts without construction. But CBR was certainly not empty when we were there either. So I don't think that fully accounts for POR being so busy.

I know the crowd calendars didn't reflect how busy it seemed to us in January. But the crowd calendars measure ride wait times. I'm thinking fastpass plus may be driving people out of ride lines & into the walkways a bit more than previously. Instead of standing in an hour line, they have a couple fastpasses & are moving around more. And the crowd calendars just don't account for that. Thus we have people saying the parks are more crowded & other people saying, no, because ride waits are not as bad as they used to be & are registered lower on the crowd calendars.

 

[BigB0882]

We just retuned Saturday from a 8 night stay at Beach Club. I did so much research as to when to visit. I choose that week because of predicted low crowds. I realize its not guaranteed. We've been the second week of December and right after labor day. Both times were pleasant and we did everything we wanted with no crazy crowds. Except at holiday parties. I was IN SHOCK how crowded last week was and everyday at every park. It was literally wall to wall people in many areas. Rides like carpets and dumbo saw 35-40 min waits by 10am!!! Also Ive never encountered so many rides being shut down due to issues. Many we were in line for or actually on the attraction. It was really disappointing. There were many things we never got to do because they crowds. Even fast pass lines would be backed up way past the queues. Dont get me wrong we had fun and did a lot but all the crowds def make a difference in your experience and especially how much you pay for everything there. It makes me sad they just shove more and move people in the parks. Its really not enjoyable anymore. Im sorry when you can hardly walk and every ride is over 35 minutes how can anyone really have fun. We never even ate lunch at AK because all the food lines were horribly long so we just got snacks.

Beach club was a let down as well. We've stayed at AK Lodge and Contemporary both times were 1 bedroom villas, very spacious and had more than one bathroom (at least toilet area) Beach club had 1 and the layout was awful. So many doors in one little space. Check in was not up to par and I couldn't get something that I had paid for delivered because there was no one to deliver it?? It was just a let down thats for sure especially for a deluxe resort.

Some good things. We took a Minnie Van one morning to MK that was great! Fantasyland Early Morning magic is well worth it especially if its high crowds! We rode Mine train 4 times! FOP holly molly hands down the best ride Ive been on in my entire life. We were lucky and had fast passes!! We didn't get to do Navi river after we hiked there at rope drop with the herds of people to only find it broken down ( shocker) we were on our last day ... and by the time it was up and running the wait was well over an hour and half. I was just happy we got to do FOP because it was incredible.

Sad our trip wasn't as magical as past years as we wont be going back for a long time, I think we'll try a cruise in the next couple years though!

This past week was the National Championships for Dance. I know that brought in TONS of high schoolers from all over the country. Those kinds of events happen through out the year and Disney plans them during otherwise slow weeks to keep attendance as level as possible all year.

 

[Stasieki]

Just flew back this morning - was there for the UCA National Cheer competition Thurs - Tues. We go every year Labor Day week. It was def more crowded than September but I expected that. What surprised me was the amount of ride break downs. Got walked off Splash, and Space was down for two solid days so didn't get to do it. Few others were down for extended times, like TOT, Splash, Pirates and Thunder. It was much for crowded yesterday.

 

[DougEMG]

I've been in the parks since the start of the month and this week the crowds have been horrible. Sidewalks are just full of people making it a huge pain to just get around. I swear there were less people in Aug then right now. I'm definitely marking this down as a time to never come here again.

 

[wdw4rfam]

Extremely well said! We enjoy some down time while we are there, but too much and I would begin to wonder why we didn't just go to the beach.

Exactly. I am all about down time, but let someone face it, with park tickets as high as they are as well as resorts, I could probably go to a REAL nice beach.

 

[goodeats]

I had a friend from school go last week and they came back very pleased with their trip. They were first timers and did very little planning. Like I saw them a few hours before they left for the airport and they hadn't even booked FP+. I was like . I was worried things would be crazy, but she said they were able to do everything they wanted to do and even did FoP at AK. She came back very happy and would recommend WDW to her friends. I think the days of being able to ride etickets 10 times in a row with no wait in the off season are over. This was Disney's plan and it's working.

 

[Animal]

Lots of Brazilians delayed their trips because of the Rio Olympics and the weak Real. Now that the Real has firmed up a bit, they are taking those delayed vacations. Focused discounts could be encouraging them as well. I tried to do a google search limited to the ".br" internet domain to see if I could research the nature of the discounts offered to the Brazilian market. I was not successful.

 

[fla4fun]

I think it’s interesting to read everyone’s definition of what a “crowd “ is. I saw a few posts where people think 30 minute waits are crowds, and some with 45 minutes and some with an hour or more. And then there is all the talk about how Disney should do something to limit capacity- even though Disney does have tiered capacity levels in place already. I don’t think there’s any way to make everyone happy, because so long as everyone disagrees on what constitutes an overcrowded park, they won’t agree on a solution either.

 

[hereforthechurros]

I was absolutely shocked at the low wait times this past May. Things were like 15 to 30 minutes. People who were there were reporting that it was dead. I wish we could go in May.

We did 5/14-5/18 last year and it was awesome. Resort felt empty and MK wait times were low. We bounced from FP to FP doing about 20 rides a day. Just got back from a 2/7-2/14 stay and it was a madhouse. 9/10 at both AK and MK during the stay, and 10/10 at HS per Touring Plan actuals. FPs were hard to come by and we missed FoP, Soarin, and Test Track among others. Very unexpected!

I do wonder if hours have something to do with it. Crowds are way up but parks are closing at 8 pm so everyone is there from open to close rather than spreading things out. Perhaps understaffing is an issue for servicing people in the parks but what I saw was sheer volume of people not just long lines.

 

[hereforthechurros]

I think it’s interesting to read everyone’s definition of what a “crowd “ is. I saw a few posts where people think 30 minute waits are crowds, and some with 45 minutes and some with an hour or more. And then there is all the talk about how Disney should do something to limit capacity- even though Disney does have tiered capacity levels in place already. I don’t think there’s any way to make everyone happy, because so long as everyone disagrees on what constitutes an overcrowded park, they won’t agree on a solution either.

30-45 minutes on headliners is not crowded. We waited that for Magic Carpets. Headliners were about 1.5-2 hour wait on our last trip.

 

[Gus V.]

We just retuned Saturday from a 8 night stay at Beach Club. I did so much research as to when to visit. I choose that week because of predicted low crowds. I realize its not guaranteed. We've been the second week of December and right after labor day. Both times were pleasant and we did everything we wanted with no crazy crowds. Except at holiday parties. I was IN SHOCK how crowded last week was and everyday at every park. It was literally wall to wall people in many areas. Rides like carpets and dumbo saw 35-40 min waits by 10am!!! Also Ive never encountered so many rides being shut down due to issues. Many we were in line for or actually on the attraction. It was really disappointing. There were many things we never got to do because they crowds. Even fast pass lines would be backed up way past the queues. Dont get me wrong we had fun and did a lot but all the crowds def make a difference in your experience and especially how much you pay for everything there. It makes me sad they just shove more and move people in the parks. Its really not enjoyable anymore. Im sorry when you can hardly walk and every ride is over 35 minutes how can anyone really have fun. We never even ate lunch at AK because all the food lines were horribly long so we just got snacks.

Beach club was a let down as well. We've stayed at AK Lodge and Contemporary both times were 1 bedroom villas, very spacious and had more than one bathroom (at least toilet area) Beach club had 1 and the layout was awful. So many doors in one little space. Check in was not up to par and I couldn't get something that I had paid for delivered because there was no one to deliver it?? It was just a let down thats for sure especially for a deluxe resort.

Some good things. We took a Minnie Van one morning to MK that was great! Fantasyland Early Morning magic is well worth it especially if its high crowds! We rode Mine train 4 times! FOP holly molly hands down the best ride Ive been on in my entire life. We were lucky and had fast passes!! We didn't get to do Navi river after we hiked there at rope drop with the herds of people to only find it broken down ( shocker) we were on our last day ... and by the time it was up and running the wait was well over an hour and half. I was just happy we got to do FOP because it was incredible.

Sad our trip wasn't as magical as past years as we wont be going back for a long time, I think we'll try a cruise in the next couple years though!

We will be checking in on the 25th at AKL for 8 nights, can’t wait! I’m a little worried about wall to wall crowds with two kids, 3 and 1!

 

[hereforthechurros]

We will be checking in on the 25th at AKL for 8 nights, can’t wait! I’m a little worried about wall to wall crowds with two kids, 3 and 1!

Don’t worry - you’re staying at one of the best resorts so if things get too crazy at the parks just head back and enjoy the resort & pools Get as much done as you can in the morning and keep afternoons flexible.

 

[WaterLinds]

I’ve been the first week of May the last two years. It depends on which ride and which time. Yes, you can absolutely ride Space at 9:30 in the morning with a 30 min wait. Maybe even at 10. Not for much longer than that though. You can ride Dumbo in the middle of the afternoon for 20-30 mins. But you aren’t going to find Splash or Space or JC for 30 mins. Most will probably be about an hour. Which I think is very reasonable and to someone who saw lines of 5 hrs for Space at Christmas that is going to look absolutely dead. For someone hoping for walk ons, it’s not going to meet expectations. We have seen the CM carrying the end of the line stick at People Mover in May and on the other end of the spectrum we’ve seen TT at 45 mins in the afternoon (probably the lowest time we’ve seen for a headliner in the afternoon but still pretty awesome).

My point is not that May is bad. It absolutely isn’t. It’s a great time to go. Absolutely manageable parks and good weather. But the crowd levels last year, which are quantifiable, based on wait times, and freely available without a subscription at TP, show Mays crowds last year are very comparable to Jan this year. Many people seem very disappointed with the CL this Jan. If people have expectations that May is dead, and they’re not people who normally go at busy times, it may be just as disappointing at this Jan was for people. Like I said in my other posts, expectations play a big role in this.

I don't know, Space at 30 minutes any time of day sounds amazing to me! I think it started the day at 60-80 this week. Heck, one evening the FP line was significantly more than 30 minute. And Dumbo at 20 in the afternoon--it was that long by 9:30 this week.

But definitely, expectations make a big difference. I was really glad I had been reading all the January reports before our trip, or else I would have been surprised by the difference from a similar time 3 years ago. (My memories of that trip may be coloured by the fact that we didn't do many headliners because my son was 39 inches tall, too, so we could cram a lot more in--but it was also easy to move around the parks, etc., whereas this week it was hard just to walk.)

 

[Gus V.]

Don’t worry - you’re staying at one of the best resorts so if things get too crazy at the parks just head back and enjoy the resort & pools Get as much done as you can in the morning and keep afternoons flexible.

Thanks! That’s definitely the plan, though I wish we could just tour the parks Commando style and rope drop every day! Lol. Love your profile name!

 

[Eccle]

I don't know, Space at 30 minutes any time of day sounds amazing to me! I think it started the day at 60-80 this week. Heck, one evening the FP line was significantly more than 30 minute. And Dumbo at 20 in the afternoon--it was that long by 9:30 this week.

But definitely, expectations make a big difference. I was really glad I had been reading all the January reports before our trip, or else I would have been surprised by the difference from a similar time 3 years ago. (My memories of that trip may be coloured by the fact that we didn't do many headliners because my son was 39 inches tall, too, so we could cram a lot more in--but it was also easy to move around the parks, etc., whereas this week it was hard just to walk.)

I saw It's Tough to be a Bug at 55 minutes today! And Dumbo was at 60 minutes just after 10 yesterday, as was Barnstormer. Space was over 3 hours at times. I agree I am glad I had read on here about January crowds being unexpectedly high so things haven't come as too much of a shock, but I found AK unpleasantly crowded to walk around on Monday, and similarly MK yesterday

 

[Animal]

I saw It's Tough to be a Bug at 55 minutes today! And Dumbo was at 60 minutes just after 10 yesterday, as was Barnstormer. Space was over 3 hours at times. I agree I am glad I had read on here about January crowds being unexpectedly high so things haven't come as too much of a shock, but I found AK unpleasantly crowded to walk around on Monday, and similarly MK yesterday

We're starting to see the President's Day surge. This weekend's crowd reports should be interesting!

Some wait time increases can be attributed to the FP+ era. If enough capacity is added to FP+, standby times can theoretically approach infinity. This does not explain the "feels crowded" sensation that many folks are reporting though.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

I don't know, Space at 30 minutes any time of day sounds amazing to me! I think it started the day at 60-80 this week. Heck, one evening the FP line was significantly more than 30 minute. And Dumbo at 20 in the afternoon--it was that long by 9:30 this week.

But definitely, expectations make a big difference. I was really glad I had been reading all the January reports before our trip, or else I would have been surprised by the difference from a similar time 3 years ago. (My memories of that trip may be coloured by the fact that we didn't do many headliners because my son was 39 inches tall, too, so we could cram a lot more in--but it was also easy to move around the parks, etc., whereas this week it was hard just to walk.)

Agreed. But the post I was responding to was implying that you could get any ride for 20 minutes in the middle of the day which is just not true. I was seeing May-type wait times in Jan and people were saying it's so much busier than they were expecting (admittedly this week is different, it is very busy although today I saw several rides at half an hour at MK in the middle of the day). May is not even value season by Disney's calendar. I guess I just expect that come May there is going to be a whole slew of posts about why May is so much more crowded than people were expecting. Everyone is looking for the walk on. I guess I'm in the group that thinks there are no truly slow times at Disney anymore. Moderate times, yes, walk on times ... no.

 

[Eccle]

We're starting to see the President's Day surge. This weekend's crowd reports should be interesting!

Some wait time increases can be attributed to the FP+ era. If enough capacity is added to FP+, standby times can theoretically approach infinity. This does not explain the "feels crowded" sensation that many folks are reporting though.

Yes I'm interested to see as they were forecast 9s and 10s anyway, and there have been 9s and 10s on days forecast as 6 or 7! I agree that FP+ will push up standby waits, but this is my 4th trip (Feb/March 2011 and 2013, august 2015) and I have never experienced crowding on the paths like at AK on Monday

 

[anniemae]

We're starting to see the President's Day surge. This weekend's crowd reports should be interesting!
.

It's also Feb break next week for a lot of schools.