What's the verdict on FTP & Crowds?

[memymomonica]

We were there Sept 27- Oct 5. We stayed at Old Key West (loved it!). Anyway, one of our bus drivers told us how lucky we were coming when we did. The week we were there, resort occupancy was at 60%. The day we were due to leave occupancy was up to 100% through the end of the year. Not sure how much that will increase crowds. We were lucky and walked on just about everything. Hope it holds out.

 

[indyanna]

There's a good post related to this on the Theme Park Attractions board titled "Just Back 10/4 -10/11". I mean good as informative, but it looks like the crowds are getting heavier!

 

[Dis#1]

We just came back after an 8-day adventure. I have two words:

Very Crowded!!!! The ony break at MK was on Tuesday/Wednesday. Epcot wasn't too bad either, but the other parks were crowded.

But who cares. We survived & had a GREAT time anyway!!!!

 

[jcodespoti]

My In-laws got back last saturday. They said it was PACKED, my MIL has been many times...she said she has never seen it this bad


Joe in CT

 

[cfewell]

DONT NOBODY PANIC!!!!

Just from experience, Some people think it is crowded if they have to wait in line for 5 min.

Couple of tips:

DO NOT GO TO THE PARK THAT IS HAVING EARLY ENTRY DAY - GO TO A TOTALLY DIFFERENT PARK

IF YOU CAN HELP IT - DONT GO TO ANY OF THE FOUR MAJOR PARKS ON A SAT. OR SUN.

HAVE FUN - NO MATTER HOW MANY OTHER PEOPLE ARE THERE, DONT TAKE THINGS TO SERIOUSLY, IF SOMEONE BUTTS INFRONT OF YOU - MAKE A JOKE ABOUT IT AND SHRUG IT OFF, NO USE IN GETTING MAD CAUSE IT DOESNT DO ANYTHING BUT RUIN YOUR TIME.

These tips have gotten us through many trips to Disney.

Just pray for a little rain, parks will empty out and if you can stick it through a little wet, you will end up with a half empty park after the rain stops.


LEAVING TOMORROW AND WILL POST TRIP REPORTS AND OTHER STUFF!!!!

 

[arminnie]

I went to MK on Sun. 10/19 and it was not full at all. I didn't go until about 1 pm and I still got to park so close that we just walked up to the front - the trams were not running. I had NO wait for POC, HM, or Small World. There was a MNSSHP that night so the park closed at 6 - maybe that kept some people away.

I went to MNSSHP - just stayed in the park and got my orange band. After having my picture made I went back to Fantasy Land and there were NO lines for anything. Dumbo and Pooh had empty seats. It was so weird - I had a hard time figuring out where to enter for some rides since there was no line. I think a lot of people came in the front and took awhile to work back to FL.

 

[LoriZH]

arminnie, hmmm...maybe you were in the twilight zone, lol

Actually that is very good news for me! I spoke with a CM at our resort yesterday and she was saying something to another CM that there were no more rooms and I asked her if it was THAT busy, she told me no, not really, no different than any other October. She said it's always busy at the begin of October to mid October but she was very casual about it and to me she seemed as if it was just business as usual. I am hoping it's not TOO TOO crowded, however, either way I am going to have a GREAT MAGICAL vacation and I can't wait!

 

[frannn]

We were there for 9 days through 10/20. We did Early Entry for MK three times. Two of the times we had late bkfast ressies to CRT, once a lunch at CP. This worked out really well. We got to do most of Fantasyland easily before breakfast, as well as take some pictures. We cleared out when it started getting pretty crowded, like when Peter Pan, etc had 45 min waits, and came back for the night time stuff. The 10/14 MNSSHP was great! The later it got, the quicker we got onto the rides. We didn't do a lot a lot of rides, though, POC was walk on and HM was 5-10 min wait. I think it is a whole different experience when the rides are emptier-you get to sit up front and see much more. Disney Studios was pretty crowded, so we needed 2 days to do this. AK had normal Oct crowds, but we didn't spend a lot of time there. Epcot was not bad at all. Only one piece of advice- do Early Entry-get to the bus early because people started lining up around 7 AM for MK.

 

[indyanna]

I have never been to Disney World before, but if I had to wager a guess, I would say the crowds were moderate. There were a couple of times in the mid-afternoons that got a little too congested for my taste, but we never really had to wait too long for any rides - maybe 15 minutes at the most. We did put Fast Passes to good use, but if that had not been an option, most standby lines were about 20 minutes. The only exception is Tower of Terror in MGM which was a 25 minute wait with a fast pass! From what I've read on these boards, half of the ride is under rehab right now so maybe that's why. Epcot did get pretty busy in the World Showcase on the weekends - long lines for the various booths set up for the Food and Wine Festival.

We had a great time! The crowds were not a big deal at all!

 

[tigger&tigerlover]

Just back yesterday.

I'd been planning so much from the boards that my DH had pretty much given up on me, and by Tuesday he was very thankful that I'd spent so much time planning.

We walked on to almost everything, by doing the "Day after" park, and getting to that park before it opened.

And by Wednesday, my DH was saying "next time we come, we'll do such and such". Another devotee.

 

[indyanna]

That's exactly what we did - went to the parks the day after EE. My husband, too, mentioned that all my research paid off. We accomplished everything we wanted to and then some!