When Did May Get So Crowded?

[jphilhower]

Just back from a 9 day trip ( May 1st to 9th) and I couldn't believe how crowded the parks where the first week in May. Now it's been 4 years since our last trip in May. We always go the first week in may for our anniversary but I don't remember it being this crowded. I know there was a cheer competition going on and boy were they everywhere. The crowd level seemed to be a level 9 and it was at every park.
Most of the rides wait times where pushed into the unmanagable times for us 40-80 minutes for the mosy popular ones. And yes I used fastpass +, booked rides before we left. First time using fastpass + and the jury is still out on it. We had a Fastpass for MT Everest but the line was so long for fastpass return we didn't use them. It was out on to the main path. The line for the Safari ride was almost to the Tusker House.
Now for a few observations. A lot of rides broke down. We where stuck on Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion and Living off the Land. Priates was down the whole day we where in Magic kingdom. Dinosaur was down in Animal Kingdom. We had fast passes for both and used them on other rides.
My biggest observation is I'm not as young as I use to be I and paid for it. All the walking almost did me in and I always train for Disney by walking a lot.
Don't get me wrong we still had a great time!! After all it is still WDW. A bad a there beats any good day home. We are all ready planning our trip for next year in may. I look at this trip as lessons learned.
I expect to be slammed and attacked for not knowing what I was doing. Before this trip we have logged 10 trips WDW so I'm not a novice.

 

[anniemae]

It is always crowded now. May is actually one of the slower times. What you experienced IS low crowds. It gets busier and busier each year. Disney does not want any slow times, there are many things they do to drive up crowds i.e. marathons, parties, celebrations, free dining etc.

Ride breakdowns are also the norm now it seems.

 

[Accident]

disney is really good at events, outside groups, food around the world at epcot, competitions, things opening and closing, anything it takes to keep the crowd up.

 

[Elizabeth Smith]

Our crowd levels when we go in November were predicted to be 3/4/5 at the time we booked. Now they've offered free dining during the week we were planning to go. I'm sure the crowd levels are going to be just about 7/8/9 now, but still optimistic. They say having an effective touring plan is the most important factor in getting things done, not crowd levels.

 

[JennyDrake]

If it makes you feel any better, I have been the first week of May for the past 11 years. Last year it was very low crowds and this year I was surprised at the crowd levels.

 

[jerseyjersey]

It is always crowded now. May is actually one of the slower times. What you experienced IS low crowds. It gets busier and busier each year. Disney does not want any slow times, there are many things they do to drive up crowds i.e. marathons, parties, celebrations, free dining etc.

Ride breakdowns are also the norm now it seems.

Agreed. It's not you, it's Disney. There really are very few (if any truly) slow times these days. Waits of 40-60 minutes for major rides definitely sounds not so bad to me! We've seen 100-120 minute waits for some of our favorite rides during non-Thanksgiving weeks in November, which was supposed to be a slower time. Unfortunately, now I just assume that any time we go will be crowded, and try to aim for nice weather and special fun things to do (like Food & Wine and MVMCP).

 

[North of Mouse]

The crowd levels were not anywhere near 9's May 1-5. We left the 6th. We never rope dropped (Apr. 25 - May 5) and were able to SB Frozen twice, plus get an extra FP, also did SB on Toy Story Mania twice, and Soarin' several times with wait times of 20-35 min.
That has been fairly typical crowd levels for us when Easter is early and most Spring Breaks are finished.

If the wait times approached what you said, it must have been afternoons on the weekend. We never saw it that way, and we were in the parks most all day everyday during that period. We were very pleased with what we could do without FP's.

 

[Senk]

I feel like I saw a thread last week about how low the early May crowds were. Seems like it is a matter of perspective. What is low for some seems high for others. Probably depends on how frequently you go.

 

[NewEnglandCamper]

Avatar crowds? I bet that is going throw off the predictions...

 

[HelloTheDrakes]

I was there May 7-9 and thought they were very high. I chopped it up to it being the last weekend of Wishes and cheer competition weekend. Big rides at MK were up to 120 - 200 minute times (7DMT). We did rope drop, so we were able to get a ride on everything we wanted by the end of the day. However, had we not gotten there early, there would have been no way. We didn't even get to watch Wishes because of the crowds. There was nowhere left to stand (after getting ice cream..big mistake). You could only walk around the "walk through" areas with CM's telling everyone to keep moving. It was intense and a bit of a bummer...but didn't derail us. EPCOT and HS were also busy, but not like MK. I'd say a 7 crowd vs. 9 crowd.

 

[pitpat]

I feel like I saw a thread last week about how low the early May crowds were. Seems like it is a matter of perspective. What is low for some seems high for others. Probably depends on how frequently you go.

I think they made that thread before the cheerleaders arrived, then changed their tune.

 

[3disAddicts]

We were there May 6-13, and yes, I thought it was unusually busy as well. Saw a lot of youth groups. Still in all, we had a really good time, got a lot done. I thought the heat was worse than the crowds.

 

[mckennarose]

I'm here right now, sitting in MK at Sleepy Hallow and people are already sitting in the hub for the new fireworks show at 9. They have been announcing that move it shake it is moving to 7 to accommodate the crowds for Happily ever after. It's definitely crowded, but I see people leaving too.

 

[RachaelA]

The waits for a lot were high but the fastpasses were never ending. We had no issues getting multiple fastpasses for everything. We were there the 5th-9th.

 

[North of Mouse]

I think they made that thread before the cheerleaders arrived, then changed their tune.

They must have all arrived in the parks after we left on Fri. May 5 - didn't see the groups other than a few very small groups - not sure what they were (5-10 ea..) Didn't impact us.

 

[Krisshay13]

We were there May 6-13, and yes, I thought it was unusually busy as well. Saw a lot of youth groups. Still in all, we had a really good time, got a lot done. I thought the heat was worse than the crowds.

Same here...we were there 11th - 13th...and it was very busy. But, we were able to get so much done in the mornings and planned fast passes well!! We left 1st park before 1:00 each day. The 2nd park each day had the worst crowds. I expected DHS to be slow the 11th since I figured most would be at MK to watch the last Wishes....boy, was I wrong. It was packed.
But, we had a wonderful time!! Can't wait to go back!!

 

[Doug S]

I think everyone has thrown in the towel when it comes to predicting crowds currently. Nobody really knows if Disney marketing has been killing it or if operation cutbacks are making it feel more crowded. Touring Plans says it's the latter, but I think everyone is stumped. The days of walk-ons are gone and 'dead' now seems to mean 10-15 minute average waits.

 

[KrazeeK120]

I was there May 7-12 and I was surprised at how high the wait times were. However, through rope dropping, going to EMM, and strategic use of FP+, we were able to ride everything we wanted, sometimes multiple times, and never waited in line more than 10 minutes.

MK seemed particularly crowded on 5/11, but I think that was because of the last Wishes show. I staked out my spot 3 hours early to see it!

 

[anomamatt]

I'm here now and compared to our last trip in late February into early march, it feels really empty now.

One example... only 90 minute wait for mine train (around noon today). The was more than double in feb.

It's all relative of course and Disney is always crowded.

 

[jpeterson]

We were there April 30th to May 9th and yes it was crowded. Lots of cheerleaders. Fast Passes were still plentiful though.