Y U no be empty in May, Disney World?

[Belle61513]

DH and I just returned from a week in the World May 9-16th. We've been for this same week at least twice before (actually on the later end) and I've never experienced crowd levels like this. We were looking at about a 4 for most days and it felt like at least a 6-7 almost everywhere--even recommend parks.

Local school groups were everywhere (elementary through high school). I spoke to people with (adorable) British accents almost everywhere we went. Also some very large South American tour groups were around as well (no chanting, thank God).

HS was a mess on Friday for SWW, so that was to be expected but it just felt like you couldn't get anywhere in any park almost all the time. AK's walls were up and it made the park hotter than hades and it felt soooo closed in. MK was wall-to-wall people most days. EPCOT was our one respite in the evenings through the masses.

The economy has improved, but what else could be driving these crowds? There's almost no "good time" to go anymore.

 

[bwang123]

can you actually tell the difference between a 4 and 6?

also, easywdw has 5,6,7 for that time period.

we went the first week of may and thought it was a "good time" to go. so, there are still good times, according to at least me.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Marketing and things people want to see are driving the crowds.

 

[Canuck16]

We were there last May and found that the crowds were quite manageable.......but that was our first trip so we do not have anything else to compare against.

Our next trip to WDW is looking like August 2018 which will mean hotter temperatures and heavier crowd levels than in May.

 

[MulingAround]

I hear it's because of how dreamy Gaston is with his meet & greets!
... What, isn't that the only reason we all are going to Disney World? To bask in his awesomeness?

 

[theyoungs07]

Late April was the same way (18th-28th)...we were there 2 years before and the crowds were MUCH worse. Ride waits weren't much worse though, but just getting around the parks was a lot worse. I noticed longer lines on non-headliners, but the headliners were about the same. We never had issues getting into shows or anything like that, but there were just too many people when going from point A to B. CHEERLEADERS EVERYWHERE!! They were not poorly behaved, only poorly dressed (some of them).

 

[Ambear]

We went one time late January and the parks felt so empty. Like 20-30 minute waits for the most popular attractions. So we thought we'd go again the next year in early February thinking it'd be light crowds again. Not at all. I just now expect that any week I pick is going to be horribly crowded now. Then I'm prepared or pleasantly surprised if it's not! I'm going in two days and I'm expecting the worst since it's a holiday weekend and star wars stuff. But I'll still have fun!

 

[Belle61513]

I think that's a great way to look at it, @Ambear.

It didn't ruin our vacay by any means, we were just surprised.

 

[grecorj]

Crowd calendar numbers generally refer to the overall level vs other days not actual attendance. Attendance has been going up for several years, so attendance on a "5" day is greater in 2015 than it was in 2010. Even a "1" could be pretty crowded -- it will just be less crowded than any other day.

 

[grecorj]

BTW TouringPlans says it was LESS crowded than expected May 10-16 in WDW


http://blog.touringplans.com/2015/05/19/disney-world-crowd-calendar-report-may-10-to-16-2015/

Including a "1" at AK on May 12!

 

[Dis703]

We were there from May 4th through the 13th and have been in late April through mid May several years in a row now. It didn't seem any more crowded than usual to me. Maybe we just got lucky and chose the right parks while we were there.

 

[Tgrgrl]

I don't care what the touring plans said, I agree with the OP. We were there over the weekend and it was crazy crowded. Wall to wall people at DtD Thursday night, MK had over 100 minute wait times on major attractions on Friday. Same for Epcot on Sat and AK on Sunday.

 

[kyden]

We were at WDW this past week and didn't find the crowds bad at all. HS on the 12th was light in terms of crowd levels. At Epcot on the 13th we did all the rides except the world showcase rides in a matter of hours. On the 14th AK was semi-busy and only so because of the school groups en-masse. On the 15th we went to MK late in the evening and rode almost the whole park (incl Mine Train). We returned to Epcot on the 16th, and many of the shows were about half-full. It appeared that those in Epcot were there either for the concert, or to drink alcohol. It wasn't busy at all.

 

[JennyDrake]

I was at WDW:

April 25- April 30, 2013
May 8-12, 2014
May 2-6 , 2015

The dates in 2013 were amazingly crowded. Much more than I was expecting.
So 2014 was about what I expected.
This year the crowds were much LIGHTER than I expected, although MK is all but impassable *any* day after 1 pm and AK isn't much better.

I have also been Feb 25-March 3 (2014), March 16-20 (2015), March 25-April 1(2012). All were busier than I expected. The most crowded were March 25-April 1 and (surprisingly) Feb 25- March 3.

I AGREE that there are no *slow* times as we once knew them!!

MK and AK were traffic jam, congested, and just not fun after lunch time. For all of the trips, headliners had wait times of 50-70 minutes by noon.

 

[ArwenMarie]

This isn't related to May but we have gone at the end of August for a few years now and we have felt the crowd levels go up. I think it's the improvement in the economy from the recession.

 

[knkmom]

We were there May 8th-15th and I didn't think it was bad at all. The only place it was really crowded was MK, mostly in the late afternoon/evenings. We were there for 1 rope drop and were able to walk right on to a lot of rides!

 

[grecorj]

I don't care what the touring plans said, I agree with the OP. We were there over the weekend and it was crazy crowded. Wall to wall people at DtD Thursday night, MK had over 100 minute wait times on major attractions on Friday. Same for Epcot on Sat and AK on Sunday.

Again the crown calendars from TP or easywdw are relative to other days. A day can be "less crowded than expected" but attendance can still be higher than same level a year ago.

 

[Chief Powhatan]

I thought everybody hated Disney now because of FP+?