Spring break crowd update + park pics (+ maps)

[WonkaKid]

I visited DL yesterday from rope drop until about 2:30. The past few weeks have been busier and two different friends were at the park Friday and both told me that the crowds were insane. Yesterday, however, crowds weren’t bad at all. Despite POTC being closed for refurbishment, lines for most attractions were average or better. The reason that I mention POTC - if it isn’t obvious- is because when a population attraction is closed, the guests that would have been in line (or on the ride) are compelled to go to other attractions.

As an aside, I’ve always said that the only thing that seems to effect crowd sizes is rain. Even though the Oscars were on last night (with Rock and Smith on the undercard), crowds were likely no larger or smaller than they would be ordinarily. I’ve seen this with all sorts of events: the Super Bowl, Grammys, etc. I even mentioned my theory yesterday who’s worked at the parks for more than 20 years and he agreed with me. He then wondered what crowds would be like today, given that rain was in the forecast. I said I’d check in with him next Sunday to see if we were accurate in our assessments.

As always, I have park maps. If anyone would like a set, simply message me with your mailing address.

Some pics from the park. I had a brief glimpse inside of Club 33, as you’ll see below.

Main Street seconds after the park gates opened.


Main Street shortly before I left (approx. 2:00).







Some fortunate folks were welcomed into Club 33.


Club 33's secondary entrance. Perhaps this is used by people who need special access -- guests with strollers and the like.


Club 33 preps for its upcoming anniversary.

 

[WonkaKid]

Pics chapter 2.




Ducks on Main Street.


...and in flight.

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

Gorgeous pix! Looks like a pretty good day on buzz too. Always love reading your reports

 

[StormyCA]

Oh, Rob! Your pics always make me so 'homesick'. But keep 'em coming!

 

[Pluto468]

Great pictures! I've never seen Wendy at the park, what a treat. Those ducks are so cute! What time do you usually arrive? It turns out we'll only have 2 mornings during our trip when we can rope drop and I want to make sure I get there early enough

 

[Steven G]

unless you want to be near the absolute front of rope drop, you can show up at the front gates 15 to 30 minutes before park open and still have a great morning. On my trip last week, we were typically there about 15 minutes before opening.

 

[gelatoni fan]

Quick question: Do you know what scores the LGM are at the beginning of the day? I've seen the highest LGM score as low as 400K or so but your picture shows one at nearly 2M.

 

[Diana ZP]

Thank you so much for the great pics and reports! Oh and the maps you sent were used by my 2 neighbor kids last week- they had fun but said the parks were super busy.

 

[Pluto468]

unless you want to be near the absolute front of rope drop, you can show up at the front gates 15 to 30 minutes before park open and still have a great morning. On my trip last week, we were typically there about 15 minutes before opening.

Thanks! In 2019 we tried to rope drop every day but never quite made it there in time. The 2 best mornings we had were when we stayed at DLH and had early entry, which is of course gone now.

 

[WonkaKid]

Great pictures! I've never seen Wendy at the park, what a treat. Those ducks are so cute! What time do you usually arrive? It turns out we'll only have 2 mornings during our trip when we can rope drop and I want to make sure I get there early enough

When the park opens at 8:00 (as it usually does on Sundays), I arrive at the parking structure at around 6:45, which means that I get to the park gates at approx. 7:15. I have friends that walk over before the structure opens and are always at the front of the line. I hate that the DL hotel guests are afforded access to the gates before everyone else is but this makes up for it. As a poster above points out, you can arrive 15-20 mins before the park opens and still be in a great position... but I like to be at the rope and often first on PP. It's just fun to me and a bit of an obsession. I've said many times that I don't actually have to be the first on the ride but I like to be first in line. What I mean by that is that when I'm the first in line, if there's a nice kid or kids behind me, I'll nearly always let them have my first place spot. Likewise if it's a family visiting from out of town and they seem cool. About a month ago we let a kid and his mom go ahead of us and be first on the ride and they simply accepted without acknowledging us, which wasn't very cool or kind -- perhaps they were excited and didn't mean to do it -- but virtually all of the time folks are kind and appreciative.

 

[bardays]

When the park opens at 8:00 (as it usually does on Sundays), I arrive at the parking structure at around 6:45, which means that I get to the park gates at approx. 7:15. I have friends that walk over before the structure opens and are always at the front of the line. I hate that the DL hotel guests are afforded access to the gates before everyone else is but this makes up for it. As a poster above points out, you can arrive 15-20 mins before the park opens and still be in a great position... but I like to be at the rope and often first on PP. It's just fun to me and a bit of an obsession. I've said many times that I don't actually have to be the first on the ride but I like to be first in line. What I mean by that is that when I'm the first in line, if there's a nice kid or kids behind me, I'll nearly always let them have my first place spot. Likewise if it's a family visiting from out of town and they seem cool. About a month ago we let a kid and his mom go ahead of us and be first on the ride and they simply accepted without acknowledging us, which wasn't very cool or kind -- perhaps they were excited and didn't mean to do it -- but virtually all of the time folks are kind and appreciative.

This out of towner family would thank you!!

 

[WonkaKid]

This out of towner family would thank you!!

I’ll keep my eyes out for you! ;-).

 

[Pluto468]

When the park opens at 8:00 (as it usually does on Sundays), I arrive at the parking structure at around 6:45, which means that I get to the park gates at approx. 7:15. I have friends that walk over before the structure opens and are always at the front of the line. I hate that the DL hotel guests are afforded access to the gates before everyone else is but this makes up for it. As a poster above points out, you can arrive 15-20 mins before the park opens and still be in a great position... but I like to be at the rope and often first on PP. It's just fun to me and a bit of an obsession. I've said many times that I don't actually have to be the first on the ride but I like to be first in line. What I mean by that is that when I'm the first in line, if there's a nice kid or kids behind me, I'll nearly always let them have my first place spot. Likewise if it's a family visiting from out of town and they seem cool. About a month ago we let a kid and his mom go ahead of us and be first on the ride and they simply accepted without acknowledging us, which wasn't very cool or kind -- perhaps they were excited and didn't mean to do it -- but virtually all of the time folks are kind and appreciative.

Thank you so much! We'll be staying close by so we can walk over for 7:15. My main goal is always to get to Peter Pan right away, and I'd love to be close to the front of the line. I always ride it as many times as I can on every trip. It's been my favorite ride since our first visit ages ago. So far my shortest wait was 20 minutes after taking the monorail from DLH. Hopefully I'll be able to do better this time. I think it's so neat that you're able to be first in line often. Thanks for the tips

 

[WonkaKid]

Thank you so much! We'll be staying close by so we can walk over for 7:15. My main goal is always to get to Peter Pan right away, and I'd love to be close to the front of the line. I always ride it as many times as I can on every trip. It's been my favorite ride since our first visit ages ago. So far my shortest wait was 20 minutes after taking the monorail from DLH. Hopefully I'll be able to do better this time. I think it's so neat that you're able to be first in line often. Thanks for the tips

Nice work. What day do you plan to be there? If it’s a Sunday and I’m in town, you can come find me at the rope (if you’re there early enough). When people at the rope tell me that they’re headed for PP, I always tell them to follow me. That happened last weekend - it was the woman’s birthday. Unfortunately, they fell behind a bit and by the time we got to the line, they were about ten people behind us.

 

[Pluto468]

Nice work. What day do you plan to be there? If it’s a Sunday and I’m in town, you can come find me at the rope (if you’re there early enough). When people at the rope tell me that they’re headed for PP, I always tell them to follow me. That happened last weekend - it was the woman’s birthday. Unfortunately, they fell behind a bit and by the time we got to the line, they were about ten people behind us.

Thanks for the nice offer! I wish I could do that but we won't be arriving until 1:00 on Sunday, unfortunately. I'm assuming the Peter Pan line will be wicked long by then, but I'll get in it anyway