Yesterday Magic Kingdom was a1

[ALMinVA]

Touring plans has MK at a crowd level of 1 yesterday. The prediction was a 2. I'm shocked. We found MK to be crowded. We come every year this week and this is definitely one of the busiest times I have seen.
We waited 30 minutes Thunder, 25 Ariel, 30 Barnstormer. I had fast passes for HS and dinner reservations at Momma Melrose. Our toy story mania fastpass was from 6-7. Apparently this ride was down all day and so at 6 the standby time was 110 minutes and the fastpass line stretched down the street. I convinced the attendant to give us fastpass return tickets for another day.
He didnt want to at first but i was very nice and persistant and he did go get them for us.
Perhaps crowd level amount of people has changed and a 1 is more like years prior 3/4?
I also hear theres a good deal on florida resident 4 day passes so perhaps that is driving up the crowds.
Just sharing my observations.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I think this is just the new normal with FP+ in terms of wait times.

 

[DisneyKidds]

I think this is just the new normal with FP+ in terms of wait times.

I guess I'm a little confused. Yes, there is data out there that shows that FP+ has had an effect on standby lines. Some are shorter, some are longer, by how much varies. I get that. I've experienced that to some extent on my visits.

However, is FP+ causing more people to be in the parks? The OP has been the same week for a number of years. This year is more crowded, which I read to mean there are more people in the parks. So if the crowd level is not consistent with a 1 or a 2, as attendance patterns do seem to change, how do we know the longer lines are a direct result of FP+, and not a result of the crowd actually being a 4 or 5 as opposed to a "projected" 1?

No doubt FP+ has effected touring in a variety of ways, but can it automatically be blamed for every negative observation in the parks?

 

[Cormoran]

I guess I'm a little confused. Yes, there is data out there that shows that FP+ has had an effect on standby lines. Some are shorter, some are longer, by how much varies. I get that. I've experienced that to some extent on my visits.

However, is FP+ causing more people to be in the parks? The OP has been the same week for a number of years. This year is more crowded, which I read to mean there are more people in the parks. So if the crowd level is not consistent with a 1 or a 2, as attendance patterns do seem to change, how do we know the longer lines are a direct result of FP+, and not a result of the crowd actually being a 4 or 5 as opposed to a "projected" 1?

No doubt FP+ has effected touring in a variety of ways, but can it automatically be blamed for every negative observation in the parks?

There's probably more people at MK because this is the park that has the most rides that people want to experience. But that fact remains that FP+ has reduced SB waits for headliners and increased SB waits for lesser attractions. That's not because of a crowd increase, that because of FP+. Net effect is everyone is going to be spending less time experiencing attractions regardless of the crowd level.

 

[anniemae]

I have found Easywdw predictions to be low. We went in Aug and the crowds were definitely higher than those predictions. I also think it is the new normal. Folks who say "it wasn't busy, I thought is was empty" probably were not ever there 10-15 years ago when it was truly empty. We used to go every Feb years and years ago, before kids, and THAT was empty. I have photos of us on Main St and we were standing in the middle and there were about 10 people on Main st. Every ride was a walk-on, I mean no more than 5-10 min wait. Those days are gone.

I don't know why the crowds are so heavy lately, it seems everyone is flocking to Disney in droves. Good from a business point of view, not so much for the tourist who wants low crowds! I think it can be categorized as busy, really busy, or crazy busy.

 

[tzolkin]

Touring plans has MK at a crowd level of 1 yesterday. The prediction was a 2. I'm shocked. We found MK to be crowded. We come every year this week and this is definitely one of the busiest times I have seen...

Perhaps crowd level amount of people has changed and a 1 is more like years prior 3/4?.

I think this may be it.

A 1 doesn't necessarily mean "not crowded", it just means "least crowded compared to the other days". So it's possible that the "least crowded" day this year has double the amount of people as the "least crowded" (1) day a previous year.

From everything I have read here and my own experiences, it does seem that attendance is up at the parks throughout the year.

 

[wisblue]

There's probably more people at MK because this is the park that has the most rides that people want to experience. But that fact remains that FP+ has reduced SB waits for headliners and increased SB waits for lesser attractions. That's not because of a crowd increase, that because of FP+. Net effect is everyone is going to be spending less time experiencing attractions regardless of the crowd level.

If the park hours, ride capacity, and overall crowd levels remain the same, it is not mathematically possible for EVERYONE to be doing fewer attractions. Somebody is filling up those rides.

It is possible that the minority of people that made the greatest use of paper FPs are seeing a drop in the number of things they are able to do and that that is offset by guests who are able to do a little more. Now, if there are more ride closures and breakdowns than there used to be, that would obviously have a negative impact because it reduces the total number of rides available.

 

[My3Princez]

Perhaps crowd level amount of people has changed and a 1 is more like years prior 3/4?

That's my opinion. The parks are just busier. I think for those who have been going for some time, we just have to re-set our baseline for what a low-level crowd is.

 

[wisblue]

I think this may be it.

A 1 doesn't necessarily mean "not crowded", it just means "least crowded compared to the other days". So it's possible that the "least crowded" day this year has double the amount of people as the "least crowded" (1) day a previous year.

From everything I have read here and my own experiences, it does seem that attendance is up at the parks throughout the year.

I think it was Josh at easyWDW who sad a little while ago that a 2 in 2014 is more like a 5 in 2009 or something to that effect. I don't think there is any question that crowds are significantly bigger than they were 5-10 years ago, and that impact is most noticeable during the traditionally low crowd times because Disney promotions and foreign tour groups are filling in those lower periods.

 

[DisneyKidds]

But that fact remains that FP+ has reduced SB waits for headliners and increased SB waits for lesser attractions.

Won't argue with you there. Pluses and minuses. Some lines effected by minutes, some by tens of minutes. Enough data out there, even if not 100% accurate, to show that.

However, is that the answer to every longer line, it's gotta be FP+, even when we have a valid observation that the park is more crowded than it was previously?

The OP has been the same week every year. This year the crowds are larger. Wouldn't she have waited in longer lines as a result of those larger crowds, even if FP+ didn't exist? No doubt FP+ may have added to the effect in some manner, but is FP+ the sole reason?

Just seems like many are so quick to breed FP+ fear. Bad experience, we'll get used to it, it's FP+. That mentality is what leads a lot of people to say they went in fearing for their vacation because of everything they read about FP+, and then they end up having a great time.

I'm all for making people aware of the very real potential negative effects FP+ can have on someone's vacation, but I always feel that can be done in a more responsible way than saying every negative observation is automatically the result of FP+.

 

[mom2rtk]

There's probably more people at MK because this is the park that has the most rides that people want to experience. But that fact remains that FP+ has reduced SB waits for headliners and increased SB waits for lesser attractions. That's not because of a crowd increase, that because of FP+. Net effect is everyone is going to be spending less time experiencing attractions regardless of the crowd level.

Sure some waits might be up while others are down.......but if you used to be able to ride headliner X by FP and you now must use standby, it's a substantial increase, no matter what the charts say.

 

[Disneylover99]

I think fp+ can certainly make the parks "feel" crowded.

So if you're used to 5-10 minute waits for Small World or Haunted Mansion throughout the day and all of a sudden you're looking at 20-30 minute waits because of FP+, suddenly it does "feel" crowded. KWIM?

 

[ArwenMarie]

I guess I'm a little confused. Yes, there is data out there that shows that FP+ has had an effect on standby lines. Some are shorter, some are longer, by how much varies. I get that. I've experienced that to some extent on my visits.

However, is FP+ causing more people to be in the parks? The OP has been the same week for a number of years. This year is more crowded, which I read to mean there are more people in the parks. So if the crowd level is not consistent with a 1 or a 2, as attendance patterns do seem to change, how do we know the longer lines are a direct result of FP+, and not a result of the crowd actually being a 4 or 5 as opposed to a "projected" 1?

No doubt FP+ has effected touring in a variety of ways, but can it automatically be blamed for every negative observation in the parks?

Easywdw just had a really good post up on the MK this week and the wait times.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I think fp+ can certainly make the parks "feel" crowded.

So if you're used to 5-10 minute waits for Small World or Haunted Mansion throughout the day and all of a sudden you're looking at 20-30 minute waits because of FP+, suddenly it does "feel" crowded. KWIM?

That's a really good point. Even just a few instances like you describe could change your perception of how crowded the day felt.

 

[siskaren]

http://www.easywdw.com/uncategorized/january-28-walt-disney-world-wait-times-and-the-reality-of-the-lowest-crowds-of-the-year/

 

[Networth]

Their is no slow day at WDW anymore. Those ended about a decade or more ago.

 

[wareagle57]

Welcome to the new 1. EasyWDW did a post about it today or yesterday. Basically said you aren't going to find lower wait times other than a few days in September. So by definition, it IS a 1. There just isn't a huge difference in a 1 and, say a 7 anymore. When we were there in early December it was between 4-6 the entire time. It was crowded, but I can't even remember having to wait in line longer than 15-20 minutes other than Soarin' and Test Track during EMH. It takes a lot of planning, but if you plan your FPs right, knock out the other rides with long waits at RD, you can have a vacation with virtually no waits. Now walking around the park is a whole other animal.

 

[Laketravis]

According to Disney, domestic park attendance was up 3% in 2014. The increase was 25% less than 2013:

Disney 2014 Annual Report


.

 

[siskaren]

Welcome to the new 1. EasyWDW did a post about it today or yesterday.

Which I linked in my previous post.

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

I'm sure it a mix of things. Attendence is up, but not enough to account for all of the difference. FP+ is reallocating crowds. Disney has also been inflating their posted wait times. (They've always done this to some extent, but it seems to have gotten worse.) And Disney doesn't run attractions at full capacity during slower times of the year. And don't forget to add in a bunch of construction walls that make some of the walkways feel smaller.