Will it be worth it?

[Dug720]

I don’t know why this picture is sideways but this a picture of the crowds at rope drop this morning. It was insane.

That is mild compared to Magic Kingdom in Orlando in July. I guess things really are relative.

 

[ishbit92]

I think too if you're going into it with low expectations, then you could be setting yourself up to be pleasantly surprised.

 

[vacay77]

That is mild compared to Magic Kingdom in Orlando in July. I guess things really are relative.

It must be. Glad I wasn’t there in July

 

[Chickinvic]

But I do not like waiting in long long lines and trying to walk through a bunch of crowds! Went early October in 2019 and it was awful-way too many people. I know the crowd calendars aren't very accurate but it reads as though the first couple of weeks in December, weekdays, is not a super busy time.

I wouldn't go, based on what you've said here (and I don't blame you - I hate insane crowds/lines). From what I've read, we are a LONG way from any sort of normal at DL. I personally won't be going for a long time.

 

[ktlm]

This was last Saturday at about 6:00 p.m. There were more crowded areas at CA and other parts of DL, but this was where I was when a friend asked me to text her a picture of how crowded it was.

 

[Dug720]

It must be. Glad I wasn’t there in July

I'm feeling better about February now. It seems "insanely crowded" at DL is "pretty normal" at WDW. I'll be fine.

 

[ktlm]

This was the line for POTC Wed. Oct 6 at about 4:30 p.m.

 

[DLgal]

I was listening to a podcast and the guy (longtime Disneyland visitor) said last Saturday was the most crowded day he's experienced in 4-5 years.

Can confirm it was BAD. Not sure what happened there.

 

[ktlm]

I'm feeling better about February now. It seems "insanely crowded" at DL is "pretty normal" at WDW. I'll be fine.

February should be a really low crowd month. You should be great! I was watching DLR boarding group availability and Mid-September it looked like both ROTR and WG were easy to get. ROTR was lasting at least 10 minutes a lot of days and WG was lasting an hour or more. We are WDW people too (we alternate) and having been to WDW the week between Christmas and New Years--- last week at DLR was like that...but without FP. Typically we go to WDW in October and DLR in the summer. This was our first October trip to DLR, and our only trip without Maxpass or FP.

 

[gelatoni fan]

I was listening to a podcast and the guy (longtime Disneyland visitor) said last Saturday was the most crowded day he's experienced in 4-5 years.

Can confirm it was BAD. Not sure what happened there.

I have a guess. Halloween fireworks only run on the weekends this year so Keyholders who prioritize that will make sure to use their precious reservations for the weekend only and avoid going on weekdays. If in the past, they could go multiple times a week but are now limited to a couple times a month, they're more likely to spend all day in the park rather than just hop in for fireworks and a couple of rides. So the weekends will be extra packed.

The other thing is lack of maxpass. In the past, people would enter the park to grab their Fastpasses and then leave to do other things. Now, they are waiting in line.

 

[Dug720]

February should be a really low crowd month. You should be great! I was watching DLR boarding group availability and Mid-September it looked like both ROTR and WG were easy to get. ROTR was lasting at least 10 minutes a lot of days and WG was lasting an hour or more. We are WDW people too (we alternate) and having been to WDW the week between Christmas and New Years--- last week at DLR was like that...but without FP. Typically we go to WDW in October and DLR in the summer. This was our first October trip to DLR, and our only trip without Maxpass or FP.

I was mainly getting worried because it is Presidents’ Week - which is apparently “ski week” in some Northern California areas and “rodeo week” in Tucson.

But solo with Genie+ I should be fine.

 

[DLgal]

I have a guess. Halloween fireworks only run on the weekends this year so Keyholders who prioritize that will make sure to use their precious reservations for the weekend only and avoid going on weekdays. If in the past, they could go multiple times a week but are now limited to a couple times a month, they're more likely to spend all day in the park rather than just hop in for fireworks and a couple of rides. So the weekends will be extra packed.

The other thing is lack of maxpass. In the past, people would enter the park to grab their Fastpasses and then leave to do other things. Now, they are waiting in line.

We go almost every Saturday. None have been that bad yet. Skipping tomorrow but will be back next Saturday the 23rd as well as the 30th. I'm interested to see how it compares. They haven't "opened up" reservations again like they did a week ago. Maybe they learned their lesson with that.

 

[DLgal]

I was mainly getting worried because it is Presidents’ Week - which is apparently “ski week” in some Northern California areas and “rodeo week” in Tucson.

But solo with Genie+ I should be fine.

Not gonna lie, it will be more crowded than the week before or after. But not that many kids have the whole week off. And most people actually do go skiing.

 

[Dug720]

Not gonna lie, it will be more crowded than the week before or after. But not that many kids have the whole week off. And most people actually do go skiing.

Thanks! Good to know! There was a thread with discussion of that week and it seemed like it would be insane.

 

[DLgal]

Thanks! Good to know! There was a thread with discussion of that week and it seemed like it would be insane.

The Monday will be bad, because even the schools that don't have ski week have that day off (like my kids).

 

[Pluto468]

Our next trip is the first week of December and I hope the crowds do get better. I can handle busy but hope to avoid "insane" crowds. We haven't been since June 2019, which was wonderful crowd wise.

I'm also looking at Jan 22-29 or Jan 20-Feb 5 in case we need to cancel Dec. Hopefully things will be better by then, hard to know what the best "off season" month is, if they really exist anymore.

 

[ktlm]

Our next trip is the first week of December and I hope the crowds do get better.

I think if Genie+ is in place by then and you don't mind buying it, you will be fine even if it is still crowded. The ability to only book a ride once per day is annoying, and it sure isn't as good as maxpass, but at least it is something. What made our trip kind of miserable was the lack of any type of fast pass, and the stressful boarding group process. We have been to both WDW and DLR during busy times, and with fast pass it was still possible to get a lot done and navigate around some of the excessively long lines and crowds. Last week we just felt trapped, and we are still sitting around sad because of all the things we usually do (sometimes more than once) that we didn't have time to do on this trip. We really feel like we missed out and paid way too much for the experience we got. The one saving factor is that we got to experience Oogie Boogie Bash which we loved.

 

[Pluto468]

I think if Genie+ is in place by then and you don't mind buying it, you will be fine even if it is still crowded. The ability to only book a ride once per day is annoying, and it sure isn't as good as maxpass, but at least it is something. What made our trip kind of miserable was the lack of any type of fast pass, and the stressful boarding group process. We have been to both WDW and DLR during busy times, and with fast pass it was still possible to get a lot done and navigate around some of the excessively long lines and crowds. Last week we just felt trapped, and we are still sitting around sad because of all the things we usually do (sometimes more than once) that we didn't have time to do on this trip. We really feel like we missed out and paid way too much for the experience we got. The one saving factor is that we got to experience Oogie Boogie Bash which we loved.

Thanks so much! I'm really crossing my fingers that Genie+ will be in place. I also hope we can buy the individual rides because I'm not looking forward to the virtual queue for ROTR.

 

[Dory92130]

I do wonder with the Dream Key being just a little more that Saturdays will be unusually stacked by locals than usual at least for the near term.

Totally not surprised that reopening didn't happen again but the damage probably done for the rest of the month.

 

[RubyV]

Hello,

I'm going the second week of November. How bad can I expect it to be?