Was anyone else suprised by the lack of crowds this past week? 2/18 - 2/25

[cman]

I wouldn't say the parks were empty but I was pleasantly surprised with the lack of crowds. We usually go in October so we were bracing for massive crowds.

We arrived on 2/17. For a few weeks prior to leaving I saw a lot of threads talking about how crowded the parks were. I had warned the 15 people in my group that it might be a nightmare. I was wrong.

Here's were we went

2/18 - MGM
2/19 - Universal Studios
2/20 - Epcot
2/21 - Blizzard Beach
2/22 - Islands of Adventure
2/23 - MK in AM - EMH at MK 10pm-3am

Other than MK in the AM on the 23rd all the parks were more than manageable. At Islands we were able to get on Hulk and Dragons 4 or 5 times in a row with only 5 minute waits.

If you used SpeedPass properly the waits were fine. What a GREAT time we had!!

 

[CarolMN]

Your post made me smile - just finished reading some threads by other posters who thought the crowds over President's weekend were awful!

IMHO, it's nearly always a matter of expectations, attitude and experience. Glad you had a good time.

Thanks for posting.

 

[kathleena]

Your post made me smile - just finished reading some threads by other posters who thought the crowds over President's weekend were awful!

IMHO, it's nearly always a matter of expectations, attitude and experience. Glad you had a good time.

Thanks for posting.

Agreed. I was thinking the same thing reading the post the other day that said it was busy. Can certainly depend on when you are used to going and what your expectations are.

Cman - Happy you had a great trip!

How was EMH specifically? 10PM to 3AM???? Did you stay the whole time??? What was it like at 3AM??

 

[cristbaby]

We'll be going to SSR the first week of Oct. 2-9. Anybody have any idea what kind of crowds to expect around that time of the year. This will be our first trip "home".

 

[melkimmom]

I will be down for those same days!!!

 

[cristbaby]

You don't have any idea what kind of crowds to expect during that time do you?

 

[cman]

I read some of those posts also. I think it is a matter of expectations. We were braced for the worse but found it to be not bad at all.


Here's an example: At Universal Studios we were there from 10am until 4pm. We were able to do the following:
Terminator
Back to the Future
ET
MIB (twice)
Jaws
Earthquake
Mummy (twice)
Twister
Shrek 4-D


It doesn't get any better than that for the 3rd week in Feb.

As far as the EMH at MK we had spent 3 hours there in the morning. We left about 1 pm since it was the most crowded of all the parks since we had gotten there. We had rented two pontoon boats for the Illuminations cruise that evening and when we returned to the dock we decided to take a shot at doing the EMH at MK.

We got to MK as the 10pm parade started and were able to sit on the curb outside of City Hall and watch the parade. As it ended there was a mad rush of people exiting the park as we were heading up Main St.

Once midnight came the rides were basically walk right up and get on. We were at Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain around 2am and there was probably a couple dozen people in site. We rode those two rides 3-4 times each before we headed to Pirates and started to walk out by 3am. It was a very strange feeling to be there so late - it was GREAT!!

 

[cman]

We've made three trips to Disney the first couple weeks of October.

1994, 1998 and 2001. In 2001 it was dead - 3 weeks after 9/11 so nobody was there.

The other two times were fine. The more popular rides had 30-40 minute waits but if you manage it properly there shouldn't be any problem.

 

[MrsG]

We also found it less crowded than we had expected. We were pleasantly surprised! It was a lot less crowded than when we go in July.

 

[married@wdw]

Less crowded than we expected, but more crowded than we're used to (our normal time to go is the first or second week of January). Blizzard Beach was mobbed on Monday afternoon. And MK was a zoo on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday (never did get a chance to ride Space Moutain -- fast pass times were always inconvenient).

We had some annoyance with the fact that rides kept breaking down -- Dinosaur twice, Rock 'n Roller coaster, Buzz (short, but we were on it). I think that's why I like January so much -- the rides just don't seem to take the same abuse.

 

[cinderminnie]

We were also there and were in shock by the lack of crowds especially first thing in the morning. We went to MK on Wednesday 23rd at 8:45am just before opening. We rode most of all Fantasyland rides by 11am - actually 9 total in 2 hours!!! Now when we were there in early June. We did 10 rides from 11am to 11pm. So much better in Feb!!! The weather was beautiful!
On Thursday, we went to MGM and again the same thing. No one was there! We got Ariel show, Playhouse Disney and Beauty show with seeing Donald and Daisy Duck with no wait. But the best of all....seeing Mickey Mouse at MGM. They were asking us to come in and see him! Unheard of!
Once again, noon hit and the crowds came in.
Oh yeah, Friday at MGM we were on TV! ESPN was filming live from MGM! That was cool! All over, the crowds were manageable for once. I would come back in Feb again.
Missing it already!