Wow, thanks Disney for messing up people's plans

OP - I am sorry that you are bummed but I don't see how else Disney could have handled this. It makes sense to choose a 'quieter' time of year to open a new part - I would prefer a 'crowd surge' on a quiet day than on a usually packed day.

We booked back in March so had no idea about when FLE would open and we turn up the day after the Official Grand Opening - the crowds, I'm sure, will be very different from what I initially thought but, it is what it is. There is nothing I can do so I will make the best of it. I'm in Disney :thumbsup2
 
Based on your post, I would be willing to bet my last dollar that you are a Republican.

You're new, so you probably don't know that political discussion is absolutely forbidden on the DISboards. You might want to read the forum rules if you plan to stick around.
 
Yes, I thought that same thing. It would have been nice to have some warning, though.

Well we knew that it was coming. I must say that we are going to be there from Thanksgiving through the following week and while I like slower time-frames I was prepared for higher crowds in the MK due to FLE.
 


I think those crowd predictions are over rated anyways. What percentage of the guests actually follow those crowd predictions anyways? I highly doubt most first timers are putting that much research into their trips. They won't know the difference from a 1 to a 9.
 
How much of a warning would you deem as "fair" since some people book trips a year in advance?

If you approach your vacation with this much agitation, you will be upset the entire time. Hopefully the excitement will take over your irritation.
 
I'm relatively new here, but it seems to me that you guys are all kinda mean to each other.
 


I will be at Disney for the Passholder Preview.

I was THRILLED...I am a out of state passholder, so I can't just drive to Disney when they host a preview, as a matter of fact this will be the first Passholder event I am able to attend.

I was THRILLED that it was going to be during my vacation...which I knew would be crowded, last weekend of F & Wine, Wine and Dine 1/2 marathon...just getting a room was tough...

But I did...I know it will be crowded...but a crowded Disney day is better than...well you know!!

My advice, enjoy your trip no matter what!! Prepare for crowds...and enjoy!
 
I'm relatively new here, but it seems to me that you guys are all kinda mean to each other.

Whiners, complainers, and Disney downers are usually quieted by the pecking order pretty swiftly. But otherwise we get along! Come here, must love Disney.

I agree that it is really disappointing to plan for something and count on something and then have things change. Sometimes I wonder if having all of the information and planning tools that we Dis fanatics do, doesn't set us up for this kind of disappointment. We spend months and months getting our park days set and our ADRs perfect, but when changes inevitably occur it is jarring and hard to go with the flow.

But I don't think it's fair to say "gee, thanks Disney." Things change and as vacationers you have to adapt, but Disney never promised you slow days. If anything this has been a busier fall than we've seen in several years, reflected by the not-as-deep discounts on rooms and tickets. I couldn't believe it when I saw a three day Florida resident ticket is now around $175-- three years ago I paid $99 for a FOUR day ticket.

But at the same time I don't want Disney to stay stagnant, or not have the money to continue improving the parks and guest experience. So when you see a full park, remember that for someone who takes multiple trips that is a GREAT thing.
 
I'm relatively new here, but it seems to me that you guys are all kinda mean to each other.

I'm sorry you feel that way and I hope it doesnt stop you from posting here - this place is very informative and probably the best Disney planning tool out there imo. I don't think anyone is being mean - just honest :)
 
OP- We too will be there 11/11-11/16. I was upset to see the higher crowd predictions. We planned this 11 months ago. At the 180 mark I made the ADR's. Did everything I could to make this our "once in a lifetime trip". I purposely chose not go in the summer, spring break, or holidays due to crowds. Really hoping it does not hit a level 9. Major anxiety is now starting to set in over this. I hope they are wrong.
 
I'm relatively new here, but it seems to me that you guys are all kinda mean to each other.

Yes, it's the awesome fun of the DISBoards :).

On topic, I wouldn't worry about it, even if it does result in massive crowds, I don't think it's really fair to begrudge Disney for trying to get people in their parks.
 
We are also going in a few days. How did you know about the passholders preview? Is it all week now? I thought it was just the 11th and 12th?
 
The problem I have with these complaints is that the non party days are always the most crowded days you can go to the Magic Kingdom. So you already picked wrong to avoid the crowds. If you want low crowds at MK, you need to go on a party day.
 
Disney World Passholders
We are excited to share that we have added 11 new dates for New Fantasyland Previews for Passholders. The additional dates are November 6-9 and 12-18 with multiple time slots throughout each day. We are finalizing the sign up process and will provide more details soon.

If you already registered and have your email confirmation you do not need to take any further action.

This is where I got it from. HTH! I do think it will be open for MVMCP though so if you can do that I would!
 
Please think of all those people in up on the east coast who had flights cancelled for their planned Disney (or anywhere) vacations this week. Please think of all those people who not only got their flights cancelled and vacations ruined, but also their property with the flooding and 80 mph winds now raking across them.....slow season, busy season, or any season. They may never be able to afford that dream vacation again at all. Let's try to keep this in perspective, please.

Sure, I'm a passholder and get disappointed with the early park closings because of various parties for Halloween and Christmas. I'm also aware of how many marathons, conventions, festivals, etc. that cause the parks to seem busy all year long now. I'm a local, so do get to go to WDW quite often. However, there are attractions I've only done once or twice due to lengthy lines, and still have to make dinner reservations 6 months out for some places. I accept it because that's just the way it is now. I don't blame Disney for trying to draw people in to fill the slower times of the year. I do appreciate the Disney "thank you for being a passholder" special things like this preview.
 
Eclpz314 said:
Please think of all those people in up on the east coast who had flights cancelled for their planned Disney (or anywhere) vacations this week. Please think of all those people who not only got their flights cancelled and vacations ruined, but also their property with the flooding and 80 mph winds now raking across them.....slow season, busy season, or any season. They may never be able to afford that dream vacation again at all. Let's try to keep this in perspective, please.

I think this is a bit much... by your logic, none of us are able to complain about anything at all because there is always someone in a worse situation. There is no reason to believe that the OP isn't concerned for people in the path of Sandy just because he/she posted here to vent about predicted crowd levels.
 
Perhaps an anecdotal description of our first trip to WDW will lighten this thread a bit. Prior to the trip, one of the few planning tools was the Birnbaum guide. I read and researched as much as I could and painstakingly laid out our intinerary for a 5 day trip. We went 2nd week in Sept. which was a very slow time of year. My resources indicated Fridays were the slowest days for MK. We went first thing in the morning, and crowds were rather heavy. I commented to my husband "if this is light, I don't want to see what heavy looks like!". But, what did we know? We were never at MK before.

We left midday and returned around 7 to see the nighttime parade. At check in, our CM indicated a poster advertising the parade, saying it was the last time to check it out before it moved on to EuroDisney. We didn't understand the significance of that. On our way to MK, not only were the MK parking lots full, cars were parked UNDER the monorail track. Again, we commented, if this is light, we hate to see what crowded looks like. We enter into MK and become totally overwhelmed. Remember this was our first time in MK, so walking down Main Street, we didn't understand why ropes were blocking our way onto the sidewalk. Not that we could do that anyway...because of the crowds of people seated on the curb and standing everywhere. Panic set in...we needed to find someplace and get a drink, preferably alcoholic, to take this all in. I think we had wandered into Adventureland before we asked a CM where the nearest place was where we could get a drink. We were politely informed MK didn't serve alcohol!!!!

As it turns out, it was one of the last weekends for MSEP...yep..the one that made it's way back to WDW. But, people didn't know that then. There was a major advertising campaign focusing on Floridians and nearby states, inviting everyone to come out and say goodbye to the beloved parade. And come out they did! In droves!!!!

We laugh about it now. We rolled with the situation. Met a lot of nice people in the crowd who took pity on our ignorance. And it didn't turn us off to future trips to WDW. If anything, it made me more of a voracious planner!

That was 21 years ago. If there's anything I've learned in all our trips to the World, is that it's a given something that couldn't be anticipated or planned for will probably affect our trip. I used to love the "off-season" and low crowds. But so many changes now happen during that time to increase attendance, I actually like the high or regular season trips my kids' school and activities force us to take. With the late hours and special parades going on every day, it gives us more flexibility to work against the crowds!

OP - I understand your disappointment. If you decide to go, hope it isn't as bad as you expect it to be.
 
Now, just a couple of weeks before we go, Disney decides to mess up everything with their Fantasyland Expansion passholder preview!! The crowds at MK on 11/13 & 11/14 have went from a 1.2 and 1.3 to a 9.0 and 9.1! These are like Christmas or spring break crowd levels. I guess we will avoid MK on those days, but it seems to have slightly jacked up the expected crowds at the other parks as well. :headache:

The touringplans blog says that the crowd levels have gone up -because- of the extended hours. The extended hours coincide with the passholder previews, probably because there isn't 3 hours of stuff to do in the new FLE.

I can just see the threads... "OMG, the passholder previews were -such- a disaster. We "won" the 9pm-1am slot and the whole park was closed, except -1- ride, 2 character greetings and a restaurant we couldn't even eat at!"

I'll be at WDW on those dates. I'll probably be in MK on those dates. I have no particular fear that it will be wall-to-wall people.

I do suspect that a fair number of people will be scooting their reservations forward a few days due to Sandy (pending resort availability), so I wouldn't be surprised to see another small bump in crowds the week of the 5th, but I'd expect it to be limited by the mostly-full resort over the weekend.
 

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