Unbelievable crowds at MK yesterday 9/28! Wow!

[Davey Jones II]

Has anyone tried watching the fireworks from the entrance to the park, and then taking off to the busses immediately after the show? Is it still chaos getting to the busses?

 

[Minnie1222]

Maybe Illuminations ending, maybe some rescheduling, maybe the Jewish holiday. But the Skyliner? People booked trips for that? I hope not.

Yes, I'm one of those people who booked trips especially for the Skyliner. Staying at Boardwalk so we can ride the gondola to HS instead of walking.

 

[kylenne]

Has anyone tried watching the fireworks from the entrance to the park, and then taking off to the busses immediately after the show? Is it still chaos getting to the busses?

Count on several hundred people having the same idea, from what I’ve seen.

Tbh your best move is to just wait it out in the shops and let the crowds thin out, or walk to the Contemporary and catch a Lyft/Uber and eat the surge pricing. (Trying to get a Minnie Van is just as bad as the buses ime).

 

[holden]

Most schools are closed tomorrow. We’ve gone to WDW over this long weekend in the past too.

 

[disneygirlsng]

Maybe Illuminations ending, maybe some rescheduling, maybe the Jewish holiday. But the Skyliner? People booked trips for that? I hope not.

Booked a trip specifically for it? Probably not a ton, but I'm sure there are some, plus locals that may have come to the area for opening day.
I know if I was closer and weren't already going in a month, I would probably be there.

 

[conniehar90]

Maybe Illuminations ending, maybe some rescheduling, maybe the Jewish holiday. But the Skyliner? People booked trips for that? I hope not.

We rode the Skyliner this morning before heading home. Lowest wait time all week!

 

[Poohspaleeyore]

I expect crowds will pick up as the temperures cool down. Saturday's and non party days during the fall and holiday seasons are most likely the busiest for magic kingdom. I don't expect Disney to extend eemh . I believe they will use it to encourage summer and early fall visitts by offering a way to avoid the heat. Although eemh would help to manage heavier crowds during holidays. Disney is clearly increasing holiday pricing and decreasing summer pricing to encourage summer visits and manage crowds. I believe that crowds this summer were down due to heat and school systems are making it more difficult to miss school but I do believe they will pick up as we move toward fall and the holiday season.

 

[Wakey]

Rosh Hashanah, Pesidents Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, cheerleading competition, Spring Break, Food and Wine, New Year, Christmas, Gondola Opening, Jersey Week, new restroom opening and dedication- there's always an excuse for the insane crowds.
Only time it is quiet is at a Star Wars Galaxy Edge opening.

 

[North of Mouse]

Maybe Illuminations ending, maybe some rescheduling, maybe the Jewish holiday. But the Skyliner? People booked trips for that? I hope not.

Why not? I think it is more exciting than SWGE. No, I didn't, and wouldn't go for 'any' opening, but this would seem to me just as legit a time to go as any other opening! Everyone has different enjoyments and priorities, thankfully! I'll leave holidays and ride opening days for others - we find 'normal' operating times bad enough. We 'used' to find slow times! ☹

 

[CastAStone]

I'm thinking combo of Illuminations ending/Skyliner opening, plus I've heard that some areas have started fall breaks this week/weekend. Perhaps some reschedules from the hurricane earlier in the month.

Basically this plus Saturday during party season. MK is gonna be busy on non-party nights now through December, and mobbed on Saturdays.

TP’s actual crowd tracker for MK yesterday was only a 7. Pray for those going to MK on the Saturday of Columbus Day weekend.

 

[mtrib]

Hmmm. All of this makes me question my strategy for our trip.

Arrival is 5pm 11/6 which as a Wednesday non-party day with evening EMH at MK. Had vaguely contemplated adding a day to our tickets and popping in to MK for the end of the evening vs. Skyliner from Pop to anywhere for dinner.

11/7 is also a non-party day. We will RD HS. Hoping to be done by mid afternoon if the FP gods smile upon us. One of our options for the evening was to hop to MK and see what FP we can pick up.

We have a full MK day with MVMCP 11/8 so there is no pressure to accomplish anything if we go to MK one of those nights. But sounds like we might be miserable?

 

[GoofyDad_4427]

Saturday is never a green light for MK regardless of the seasons.
We had a cool front come in on Thursday the week before last when we were there. The locals flooded the parks over that weekend, as the temps dropped from the 90's to the 80's during the day with a nice breeze.

Agree with this. Going to MK on any Saturday is a rookie move.

 

[glocon]

Might be a good time for an after fireworks party to fill in the time

 

[wilbret]

Saw wait times of 110 minutes for Splash and 40 minutes for Small World! Every single ride had huge waits. It didn’t affect us as we know how to tour but it felt like Xmas crowds! It was unbelievable for September.
The 10 pm closing was a disaster. Mobs of people everywhere and they closed down the monorail promptly at 11 leaving thousands of people in line for the ferry. Can’t imagine what would happen if there was an emergency. People were just laying on the ground sleeping. A man in front of us collapsed on the ferry from the heat and crowds. He seemed ok after we helped him up. Got off Space at 10 pm and got to our car at 11:50!

Fall break for a lot of schools in the Atlanta area, likely for a lot of other schools, too. So many people we know where there this past week. Our Fall Break is next week, so prepare for another surge 10/10-10/14. We are skipping that timeframe this year and coming down 10/25-10/30, so that guarantees record crowds, I'm sure.

 

[skippytx]

The first and second weeks of October are also Fall Break for a lot of schools in the Tennessee and Kentucky area as well. We though we would outsmart the crowds last week with an early October visit and it was really busy. Half of Kentucky blue and Tennessee Orange everywhere

 

[Unvoiced_Apollo]

Has anyone tried watching the fireworks from the entrance to the park, and then taking off to the busses immediately after the show? Is it still chaos getting to the busses?

Count on several hundred people having the same idea, from what I’ve seen.

Tbh your best move is to just wait it out in the shops and let the crowds thin out, or walk to the Contemporary and catch a Lyft/Uber and eat the surge pricing. (Trying to get a Minnie Van is just as bad as the buses ime).

I agree with kylenne. Another thing I've done is watched the fireworks, do one final ride, then watch the kiss good night. Of course this only worked for me and my dad because we got stuck behind the castle (so didn't see the projections). We ended up with a half hour wait for Peter Pan though and then saw end of night projection show.

 

[keishashadow]

As expected on party night yesterday, arrived around noon to low crowds. Didn’t build till party folks started to drift in. At 4:15 35 min standby for 7DMT!

Arriving to monorail In order to transfer to Epcot one was another story eek

just for giggles will mention line for gondolas walking out of Epcot before 8 pm snaked back almost to bridgebetween BC & BW yikes

 

[disneymoon0606 2.0]

Can anyone suggest an MK exit strategy for non-party nights? I understand that the non-party nights end up being packed. We'd like to watch fireworks while we're there in a couple weeks, but don't need to be in a huge hurry to get out (coming from the west coast time zone). Is it best to just hang out in the park as long as possible, maybe get in a line right at 10 when the park closes? Or will there still be a mad rush of people leaving?

 

[MareSINY]

Yes, I noticed that too. Does anyone have any thoughts as to why the crowds suddenly spiked? We're here now and staying until Sunday the 6th. MK was a breeze for us Friday as was HS yesterday. I'm hoping this is a Weekend/End-of-Illuminations/Long-Weekend-Holiday-I'm-Unaware-Of and the rest of our trip will return to predicted lower crowds. Any insight?

Schools in the NY/NJ area are closed today (Monday) and tomorrow for Rosh Hoshana. Four day weekend is a perfect time for a trip to DW. I'm sure that's a big reason crowds are higher. Not sure what other parts of the country close for Jewish holidays. Next week I believe they're only closed on Wednesday for Yum Kippor, so crowds shouldn't be as bad.

Pardon my spelling if they're incorrect.

 

[CastAStone]

Can anyone suggest an MK exit strategy for non-party nights? I understand that the non-party nights end up being packed.

Best option is to wait out the crowd. Most people leave after fireworks.

Second best option is to try to secure a spot on Main Street, but that’s not ideal for fireworks viewing.

Third best option is to try to secure a spot in the hub near the secret passage behind the eastern side of Main Street that they open at the end of HEA.

We'd like to watch fireworks while we're there in a couple weeks, but don't need to be in a huge hurry to get out (coming from the west coast time zone). Is it best to just hang out in the park as long as possible, maybe get in a line right at 10 when the park closes?

This is an excellent plan. I got in line for 7DMT right at park close on a busy Saturday night this summer and by the time I was done riding (25 minute wait or so) and meandered to the gate, the monorail was a walk-on.