Why was Epcot so busy May 13?

[maryj11]

Well I’m looking at a crowd calendar for planning a trip next Mother’s Day week. Crowds on May 13 were a 9 out of 10 at Epcot Was there a run Disney or something going on? Are there any races or events that week we need to be aware of?

 

[Aimeedyan]

Interesting. I was actually at Epcot on the 13th and don't remember it being crowded at all! We waited 25 minutes for Frozen at 11:30am and never encountered a line for a restroom We took a pool break and returned for dinner around 7pm and stayed until 11:30pm.

Maybe the crowds were in the late afternoon/early evening?

We visit every Mother's Day and I find it to be a slower week.

 

[lew4949]

Interesting. I was actually at Epcot on the 13th and don't remember it being crowded at all! We waited 25 minutes for Frozen at 11:30am and never encountered a line for a restroom We took a pool break and returned for dinner around 7pm and stayed until 11:30pm.

Maybe the crowds were in the late afternoon/early evening?

We visit every Mother's Day and I find it to be a slower week.

I'd agree, we were there from the 12th-17th and I don't remember the 13th being any different at Epcot than any of the other days we were there (which was most of them), and they all seemed relatively light.
I think the only major events that are usually going on during the first half of May of are a couple of big dance and cheer competitions that take place on back-to-back weekends. Apparently these don't affect the parks that much, but can have a significant impact on some of the hotels where the participants are staying, such as Coronado Springs. We didn't see any effect from it during our week, but the second of the two weekends was already wrapping up by the time we got there. Maybe there would have been more effect the week before--the week between the two competitions.

 

[_19disnA]

Any of those 'crowd calendars' are simply a guess/estimate/forecast based on whatever data they are using. It is bit like forecasting the weather, you can always come up with something, but whether or not it is accurate is another story. Even Disney has no idea how many locals with AP's will suddenly decide to show up some day with good weather. Clearly no 3rd party has any better of a crystal ball for such things.

I wouldn't base my future plans on those things. Typically peak times @ Disney are 7/4 or around Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year's.

 

[Ermise]

The Monday evening extended hours at EPCOT might have something to do with it. If you look at the following Monday May 20th EPCOT had a much higher crowd score than the other parks as well (8 vs. 5/6). Drilling down into Touring Plans for May 13th some rides had much higher than expected wait times like Figment, Mission Space Orange, and Soarin' (all ranked a 10 with high wait times).

 

[Darklord77]

A band for the Garden Rocks concert series was very popular. I think it was Simple Plan? I was there that night. The crowd for that band made it almost impossible to walk through America in the World Showcase. Touring Plans had it at a 9 crowd level. I wouldn't have estimated that high, but it was much busier than the rest of the week on that specific night.

 

[lew4949]

That sounds rough. I guess we're lucky we left in the afternoon that day.

 

[Aimeedyan]

A band for the Garden Rocks concert series was very popular. I think it was Simple Plan? I was there that night. The crowd for that band made it almost impossible to walk through America in the World Showcase. Touring Plans had it at a 9 crowd level. I wouldn't have estimated that high, but it was much busier than the rest of the week on that specific night.

Yes - lots of folks out for that band. We were strategic and went from International Gateway to Regal Eagle during concert #1, ate at Regal Eagle (short line to order and found seating fairly easily) and left during concert #2 to head towards Mexico. They seemed to put on a great show!

I think it was also a "good to go" day for AP's (meaning Disney expected low crowds) but I'm not convinced those make a difference for crowds.

 

[frannn]

We were also there for the 1st Simple Plan concert that day. Thank goodness, as the lines for those later in the day went all the way to Germany and further. They put on a great show! My knees hurt just watching the lead singer jump continuously!

 

[maryj11]

Interesting. I was actually at Epcot on the 13th and don't remember it being crowded at all! We waited 25 minutes for Frozen at 11:30am and never encountered a line for a restroom We took a pool break and returned for dinner around 7pm and stayed until 11:30pm.

Maybe the crowds were in the late afternoon/early evening?

We visit every Mother's Day and I find it to be a slower week.

Hmm I guess the crowd calendar is wrong. You didn’t see any effects from the cheerleading championship over the weekend?

 

[maryj11]

A band for the Garden Rocks concert series was very popular. I think it was Simple Plan? I was there that night. The crowd for that band made it almost impossible to walk through America in the World Showcase. Touring Plans had it at a 9 crowd level. I wouldn't have estimated that high, but it was much busier than the rest of the week on that specific night.

That might be the reason. We were at Epcot during Christmas time and the concerts can pack up World Showcase.

 

[Aimeedyan]

Hmm I guess the crowd calendar is wrong. You didn’t see any effects from the cheerleading championship over the weekend?

Every website/blogger has their own formula for predicting and determining crowds, and I have my own personal one, and they are probably all different

First two weeks of May have been consistently good times for us to visit both as locals, and when we lived a flight away, and it seemed similar this year. I didn't even know there was a cheerleading event and never saw any. Typically, those groups get very little downtime so you don't seem them much unless you're at their hotel. Though, if they were there over the weekend, they were probably gone by the time we arrived (Mother's Day night).

 

[1lilspark]

Passholder good to go day (and passholder perks exclusive to the park) + highly popular garden rocks act

 

[C&Jx2]

We were there in the evening and didn't think it was bad at all except for the America area during the shows as mentioned. Does Touring Plans give different crowd level estimates to different people? None of my days, anywhere in WDW, were above a six that whole week and I find them to be fairy accurate.

The only place I noticed any of the cheer teams were at our resort, Coronado Springs. I believe they had a competition there one afternoon. Interaction was very minimal. They were fine.

 

[Darklord77]

We were there in the evening and didn't think it was bad at all except for the America area during the shows as mentioned. Does Touring Plans give different crowd level estimates to different people? None of my days, anywhere in WDW, were above a six that whole week and I find them to be fairy accurate.

Correct, America was packed around the show times. However, most of those people hung out in the World Showcase during the evening so the rest of the park might have appeared business as usual. I was there Monday night, Thursday, and Friday. Monday night definitely had the highest crowd level.

Touring plans was originally predicted to be a 6. They changed it later in the "What We Saw" to a 9. What I've learned from Touring Plans is that they usually overestimate. Except for Epcot. For some reason they always underestimate crowd levels in Epcot. Maybe this is due to Epcot's festivals and musical acts. It's hard to predict the popularity of a band. I've never heard of Simple Plan so I didn't see that coming either.

 

[C&Jx2]

Correct, America was packed around the show times. However, most of those people hung out in the World Showcase during the evening so the rest of the park might have appeared business as usual. I was there Monday night, Thursday, and Friday. Monday night definitely had the highest crowd level.

Touring plans was originally predicted to be a 6. They changed it later in the "What We Saw" to a 9. What I've learned from Touring Plans is that they usually overestimate. Except for Epcot. For some reason they always underestimate crowd levels in Epcot. Maybe this is due to Epcot's festivals and musical acts. It's hard to predict the popularity of a band. I've never heard of Simple Plan so I didn't see that coming either.

Ohhhh... I've never seen the "what we saw" part before.

We were in WS during the last show and didn't find it too crazy. We were shopping though so kind of just in and out of shops.

 

[Jabroniville]

A band for the Garden Rocks concert series was very popular. I think it was Simple Plan? I was there that night. The crowd for that band made it almost impossible to walk through America in the World Showcase. Touring Plans had it at a 9 crowd level. I wouldn't have estimated that high, but it was much busier than the rest of the week on that specific night.

Interesting! I was there the previous day and Simple Plan was there, and didn't see the huge crowds. But I managed to miss it multiple times despite being sort of interested in the band (though when I checked I'd only heard of one of their songs). But they're definitely way more famous than the usual bands that perform at that stage.

 

[fairy8i8]

There was a lot of rain that week, so the attractions listed as higher than normal waits are ones where you can get out of the rain. Test Track goes down in the rain, and I don't think Touringplans counts attractions when they are down.

 

[Tess]

We were there Friday evening, May 10, morning and evening on May 11 and May 12 and evening on May 13--didn't seem any more crowded than usual and we've traveled at this time every year for the last 12 or so. Simple Plan did draw quite the crowd in the evenings over the weekend though. We didn't stay for EEH.

 

[lentesta]

Ride downtime might have contributed a bit to this:

• Test Track was down about 120 minutes (2 hours) during the day
• Living with the Land was down about 90 minutes
• Remy was down about 60 minutes

There are 11 rides in the park. When 3 of them - all Genie+ rides - are down, it puts pressure on the remaining rides to accommodate those guests. And when that happens, Lightning Lane guests get preference, which drives up standby waits.

The TP crowd calendar looks at standby waits to measure crowd levels, because standby waits are objective and easily verified.