We were there end of February/early March this year - it's a lot busier than it was our previous trips in 2014 and 2013. You cannot even begin to compare to our first trip back in 2012 - it was a ghost town back then compared to what it is now. The good news is with forums such as this, one can prepare themselves in how to better manage crowds. The first thing to do is to expect it to be busy - which you have already done. Then the next step is to develop strategies - arriving extra early, getting as much done in those first few hours so you can relax more later in the day when lines get longer and do some of the quieter things in Disney. Using fast passes to their full potential also saves a lot of time and stress. One of the best tips I ever got on here a few years ago was to 'always be holding a fast pass'. That means if you've just handed your fast pass to a CM to ride a ride and you do not yet have another in your hand, then you are losing out on time at
Disneyland. So we try to always be pulling another fast pass right when we are able (as it is printed on the fast pass when you are able to pull your next fast pass). That means when we are on the ride enjoying our fast pass the time has already started ticking on getting to our next fast pass return window!
As to the pictures in the article - we have seen that on weekends when we were there - but it wasn't that bad during the middle of the week, although it can get busy at any time it seems and sometimes it might not make sense, but think about it, everyone is trying to avoid crowds, so the off season is now going to be even more popular. We honestly found week days on our last trip as busy as weekends used to be 3 or 4 years ago.
Another thing to mention, if you are going to be there mid week when the park opens at 10AM, then don't be shocked if you show up to very long lines around opening - that is because it's easy for people to get up in time and make it there for a 10AM opening - the lines at security and at the gates might look dreadful - but you'd be surprised how once inside the parks you are still able to get to many of the most popular rides without ridiculous waits in the morning.
Finally, pictures always look worse than they feel - that picture of Adventure land is not wall to wall - those people are moving - the crowds can move quite easily from what I see. Tomorrowland is likely the biggest bottleneck in the place right now - we have found entering and exiting on the Buzz side vs. Star Tours is less busy - but with strollers and ECVs trying to move into that area, you can find traffic can come to a stop on occasion. The key too is to walk single file - don't think you are going to hold hands with your entire family - that is a complete mistake!
