Why are crowd levels so off this week?

[coley444]

I saw some video of MK today and man is it packed. I mean crazy busy. Huge lines at bag check. I think a person on another thread speculated that everyone is going to MK since DHS and Epcot don't have much to offer right now.

Do you have a link to the video @anniemae?

 

[anniemae]

Do you have a link to the video @anniemae?

I don't, it was on a friends personal FB page. But I can tell you it was packed. the bag check line was so long. I guess it's spring break crowds, but hopefully they will thin out later in the month.

 

[recmouse]

We've been here since Sunday and are leaving today. The parks were so ridiculously packed we couldn't wait to leave them! We did the rides we wanted, used our fastpasses - and couldn't get a 4th for anything decent at 1:30pm, and went back to the resort. I feel bad for first time visitors. Wait times were 120 minutes for bigger rides and 80 for others. Not to mention stroller parking took over most of Fantasyland. Epcot and HS were just as busy.

 

[MammaMoe48]

We've been here since Sunday and are leaving today. The parks were so ridiculously packed we couldn't wait to leave them! We did the rides we wanted, used our fastpasses - and couldn't get a 4th for anything decent at 1:30pm, and went back to the resort. I feel bad for first time visitors. Wait times were 120 minutes for bigger rides and 80 for others. Not to mention stroller parking took over most of Fantasyland. Epcot and HS were just as busy.

So does this mean the wait times posted on the Disney app are inaccurate? We're going at the end of August and were hoping the crowds wouldn't be as bad since a lot of kids go back to school that week.

 

[recmouse]

So does this mean the wait times posted on the Disney app are inaccurate? We're going at the end of August and were hoping the crowds wouldn't be as bad since a lot of kids go back to school that week.

The wait times on the app and in person did not always match up. Yesterday we got on the single rider line for Test Track and it was posted outside at a 35 minute wait and that was pretty much what it was!

 

[MammaMoe48]

The wait times on the app and in person did not always match up. Yesterday we got on the single rider line for Test Track and it was posted outside at a 35 minute wait and that was pretty much what it was!

Ok. When we go, the first couple of days will be a level 7 but the rest of our stay will be level 5 so to get an idea of wait times I've been looking at the wait times on the app these last couple of weeks that were also 5-7 crowd levels hoping that they'd be fairly accurate. I'm ready for crowds and lines and if the wait times are off by 10-15 minutes I'm ok with that. I just hope it's not off by 30 minutes or more. We've got our list of 3-4 "must do's" with FP at each park each day and the rest we will do if we have time. We are DVC so it's not like we have to cram everything in this trip. We plan on going back regularly.

 

[hookedonears]

Just wondering because spring break is over. Maybe not. Lol!

The Spring Break season usually starts around the 2nd week of March and runs through the 3rd week of April, and peaks the week before and after Easter.

 

[anniemae]

Yeah, many spring breaks are next week and the week after.

 

[brockash]

Just wondering because spring break is over. Maybe not. Lol!

Spring break really goes on for almost 2 months depending on where you are in the country. Our kids don't have Spring break until the last week of April. My niece & nephew had spring break the 1st week of March, so I'm sure there are many schools that are still on spring break. When I think of busy time over Spring at Disney, I basically think of most, if not all of March and April. I'm sure the weeks right around Easter are a bit busier, but I think it's still pretty crowded for most of those 2 months due to spring breaks.

 

[kayteekt]

Ok. When we go, the first couple of days will be a level 7 but the rest of our stay will be level 5 so to get an idea of wait times I've been looking at the wait times on the app these last couple of weeks that were also 5-7 crowd levels hoping that they'd be fairly accurate. I'm ready for crowds and lines and if the wait times are off by 10-15 minutes I'm ok with that. I just hope it's not off by 30 minutes or more. We've got our list of 3-4 "must do's" with FP at each park each day and the rest we will do if we have time. We are DVC so it's not like we have to cram everything in this trip. We plan on going back regularly.

I've only been tracking this week, but the wait times this week have been equivalent to 9 and 10 crowd levels. This is also confirmed by touring plans, looking at sunday thru tuesday of this week they were predicting 6&7s but saw 10s. But if you were happy with the wait times you've been seeing, i guess you'll be ok with it, lol. Me on the other hand, I'm over here freaking out, because our days were supposed to be in the 6 range and now seeing lines so long and parks crazy crowded. Anyway, we check in Saturday and will make the best of it.

Edited to ad: just looked at TP for yesterday...they predicted a 4 of 10 and saw 10 and 10.

 

[Serenebean]

Ive been seeing a lot of talk about this in the April/May facebook group. We'll be getting there on Wednesday. I do know from the FB group that there is a marching band or two set to perform in EPCOT on the 15th. Not sure how many will be there, but it could busy things up.

 

[recmouse]

We spoke to several cast members and all of them said they were not expecting the crowds to be as big as they were.

 

[MammaMoe48]

I've only been tracking this week, but the wait times this week have been equivalent to 9 and 10 crowd levels. This is also confirmed by touring plans, looking at sunday thru tuesday of this week they were predicting 6&7s but saw 10s. But if you were happy with the wait times you've been seeing, i guess you'll be ok with it, lol. Me on the other hand, I'm over here freaking out, because our days were supposed to be in the 6 range and now seeing lines so long and parks crazy crowded. Anyway, we check in Saturday and will make the best of it.

Edited to ad: just looked at TP for yesterday...they predicted a 4 of 10 and saw 10 and 10.

So the wait times I see on the Disney app for today (ex: as of 21:01 p.m. Dumbo has a 35 minute wait) are fairly accurate and reflect today's unexpected crowd level of 10? So would it stand to reason that a true level 7 or 5 day would show much shorter wait times?

 

[OhMari]

Disney did not expect the crowds to be as large as they were for the last week in March-hence it was Easter. Someone even made a joke, that Disney did not look at the calendar this year, to notice that Easter was March 27th. For the first time in 10 years, they did not have an extra magic hour at 7:00 a.m. They usually had the hour a week before Easter and the week after. So now that it is April-it is still Spring Break-it is considered the busiest time of the year, besides the week between Christmas and New Years. Crowds will probably lessen by the last week in April. It is too bad, that Disney couldn't do a few EMH during the weeks in April at the MK. You can accomplish a lot if you get there very early in the morning.

 

[GaryDis]

Tangent alert: Has the idiom changed? I interpret "crowd levels so off" as meaning either they're lower than expected (as in fallen off) or they don't match the crowd calendar predictions (as in off target). Neither seems to be what people are reporting here.

 

[anniemae]

I think the problem is that folks are comparing a "5" of today to a "5" of six years ago. A "5" today is more like an "8" would have been 5-6 years ago. Also, the calendars are just guides, not anything set in stone. I remember people freaking out back in Oct because the crowds were huge and the predicted level was a 5, but nobody took into account the Jewish holiday. Many schools were closed so it caused big crowds.

People are constantly trying to dissect the levels and predict future wait times and comparisons to years past etc. It simply can't be done. Crowd levels are up across the board. I say always plan for a 10 and then be pleasantly surprised if it's lower.

 

[disneytravel2016]

We were here last April, but later. Crowd calendar then was 4-5. It was supposed to be a 6 most days but it feels more like the week we came right at Easter. Didn't plan for these crowds. Dh is saying he wishes we didn't do Disney.

 

[Nancyg56]

Much of the Northeast hasn't had theirs yet. For example, here are the dates of vacation weeks for some major/capital cities. It's a safe bet that much of the surrounding areas will follow suit:

New York: 4/25
Boston: 4/18
Hartford: 4/18
New Haven: 4/18
Burlington, VT: 4/18
Concord, NH: 4/25
Providence: 4/18
Portland, ME: 4/25

Bottom line...you are going to see a lot of these over the next couple of weeks.

LOL! Yes indeed!!!!!

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

We've been here since Sunday and are leaving today. The parks were so ridiculously packed we couldn't wait to leave them!

My brother's family went Easter week. They have gone 6 of the last 9 years during spring break, often right around Easter. No strangers to Disney crowds. My SIL is also in love with Disney and even she did not enjoy herself the last two days. She said she just wanted to go home. If those kind of experiences are wide spread, the problem will correct itself I guess.

 

[Minniesgal]

Ok. When we go, the first couple of days will be a level 7 but the rest of our stay will be level 5 so to get an idea of wait times I've been looking at the wait times on the app these last couple of weeks that were also 5-7 crowd levels hoping that they'd be fairly accurate. I'm ready for crowds and lines and if the wait times are off by 10-15 minutes I'm ok with that. I just hope it's not off by 30 minutes or more. We've got our list of 3-4 "must do's" with FP at each park each day and the rest we will do if we have time. We are DVC so it's not like we have to cram everything in this trip. We plan on going back regularly.

The last couple of weeks have been 10 certainly not 5-7s.