Here now...crowd calendars WAY off!

[Red1116]

Went to HS Friday night crowd level 6 (touring plans) and easywdw either recommended or most recommended was a 9. Went to AK yesterday most recommended / 3 ended up as an 8.

 

[librarymom2007]

I never follow those. Disney is always crowded, lol.

 

[mom2rtk]

I never follow those. Disney is always crowded, lol.

It sure is hard to find an "uncrowded" time at Disney. But there sure are different levels of crowded. Early November used to be one of those less crowded times. Disney has been quite successful at bumping up crowds in formerly less crowded times. But there will always be very different degrees and definitions of crowded.

 

[GPC0321]

Apparently all of those folks read the same crowd calendars you did. LOL!

 

[wilkeliza]

I don't read crowd calendars. At best they are educated guesses and many people read them now. We just go where we want on what day we want and if it is crowded it is crowded.

 

[Halloweenqueen]

Yes, Disney is packing them in at the resorts. MDX is doing it's job. Also I think as more people gain knowledge of mdx they recognize the need to plan. I think you have less "fly by the seat of our pants" type guests. Plus the popularity of Food and Wine is obvious.

I think many veteran Disney folks know that the discounts are getting leaner and one of the few times during the year where a discount continues is the Fall.

Check the availability for the rest of the year. Some weekends that the crowd calendars say are some of the best times are completely sold out. (like the weekend I am going) Then check Christmas week. There is better availability at Christmas.

 

[SunDial]

I don't look at the crowd numbers either. HS will be packed now any day with the announced last year of Osborne Lights. Then just wait for the Star Wars and Pixarland to be built. MK with the New Fantasyland. AK with Avatarland. All of the crowd level numbers will be way wrong

 

[Happy_2_B]

Crowds are the 'new normal'- unless there is a huge economic recession I think we will have to get used to it. There will still be opportunities for Disney enthusiasts to minimize waits here and there- but over time as Disney's data base gets larger and larger from MB use- most of those windows will start to close.

 

[cbonebt]

Was at mk yesterday and i have never seen it that crowded before! Have visited this time of year many times before and it was crazy. Couldn't even walk in certain sections. We actually had to leave.

 

[gwynne]

I don't read crowd calendars. At best they are educated guesses and many people read them now. We just go where we want on what day we want and if it is crowded it is crowded.

If it gets annoying we hop to another park. Flexibility is one of the best things about having hoppers.

 

[DVCcurious]

We are never at the parks between 12-7pm. It's just not fun anymore. There are way too many people and lines are way too long. We go back to the hotel and swim.

 

[mom2rtk]

We are never at the parks between 12-7pm. It's just not fun anymore. There are way too many people and lines are way too long. We go back to the hotel and swim.

The day I don't feel comfortable being in the parks from 12 to 7 is the day I hang up my mouse ears.

 

[scrappinginontario]

We are never at the parks between 12-7pm. It's just not fun anymore. There are way too many people and lines are way too long. We go back to the hotel and swim.

I'm glad this works for you. If I felt the need to leave the parks for 7 hours each day I could no longer justify the cost of going.

I guess a lot of this has to do with park hours too. In the summer if you arrive at a park at 7pm you can still have 7 hours of fun in front of you. If you arrive at 7pm in the fall there are only a couple of hours left until the parks close.

 

[DVCcurious]

They day I don't feel comfortable being in the parks from 12 to 7 is the day I hand up my mouse ears.

My wife hates crowds and would rather be at the pool. So it's more about keeping peace in the family. We arrive at RD, get lunch about 12 and head back to the resort. Do the pool from 2-5. Get dressed and come back to the park and use our FP+s. Of course during our Spring Break trips we leave at 12 and don't come back at all. But leaving at 12 and coming back about 7 works for our summer trips.

 

[jojomoore]

Disney has been actively trying to pull people in during previously uncrowded times by extending Dates on parties, food and wine, and free dining. People will stay onsite and fill hotels and restaurants during free dining.

We are planning a trip the day after Christmas to New Years and I have been told the crowds are insane. We usually go at thanksgiving so we are used to some crowds.
I didn't start planning the trip until 90 days out and at first I was shocked at the availability of rooms, dining reservations and even fast passes during the week after Christmas in comparison to no availability at Thanksgiving. But, I figure the crowds will consist of a large number of locals who who are on Christmas break and who do not stay on site. Because disney doesn't offer a lot of discounts during this week, there will be a lot of families who do not stay on site. ( still I've heard that resorts are at least 85 Percent full - if they offered discounts they would not have enough rooms for everyone). However, I was able to secure a discount through a travel agency as long as I was ok with a standard view room and we only had a choice of three resorts. My DD really wanted to stay at AOA again but there were no discounts and we were not willing to pay rack price for room and tickets and dining.

We expect the crowds to be huge. Hopefully using extra Magic hours, park hopper , fast passes, staying at the beach club and the fact that this is our fifth trip will make our plans doable .Usually crowds do not bother me so much. But my children are teenagers. If I had little ones, I would probably think differently.I guess what I am trying to say is that there are just so many variables that affect the crowds that it is hard to predict. The two things that would keep me away from Disney are the summer heat (done that once never again - I will take crowds over heat any day) and absolutely no discounts.

 

[librarymom2007]

Disney has been actively trying to pull people in during previously uncrowded times by extending Dates on parties, food and wine, and free dining. People will stay onsite and fill hotels and restaurants during free dining.

We are planning a trip the day after Christmas to New Years and I have been told the crowds are insane. We usually go at thanksgiving so we are used to some crowds.
I didn't start planning the trip until 90 days out and at first I was shocked at the availability of rooms, dining reservations and even fast passes during the week after Christmas in comparison to no availability at Thanksgiving. But, I figure the crowds will consist of a large number of locals who who are on Christmas break and who do not stay on site. Because disney doesn't offer a lot of discounts during this week, there will be a lot of families who do not stay on site. ( still I've heard that resorts are at least 85 Percent full - if they offered discounts they would not have enough rooms for everyone). However, I was able to secure a discount through a travel agency as long as I was ok with a standard view room and we only had a choice of three resorts. My DD really wanted to stay at AOA again but there were no discounts and we were not willing to pay rack price for room and tickets and dining.

We expect the crowds to be huge. Hopefully using extra Magic hours, park hopper , fast passes, staying at the beach club and the fact that this is our fifth trip will make our plans doable .Usually crowds do not bother me so much. But my children are teenagers. If I had little ones, I would probably think differently.I guess what I am trying to say is that there are just so many variables that affect the crowds that it is hard to predict. The two things that would keep me away from Disney are the summer heat (done that once never again - I will take crowds over heat any day) and absolutely no discounts.

We are going that same week and just booked it 2 days ago and I was also surprised to get all our first choice dining and FPs. And I totally agree, I will take crowds over heat any day.

 

[siskaren]

Was at mk yesterday and i have never seen it that crowded before! Have visited this time of year many times before and it was crazy. Couldn't even walk in certain sections. We actually had to leave.

Saturday is almost always going to be the worst day of the week to go to MK.

 

[anniemae]

those calendars are nothing more than educated guesses. You can't expect them to be 100% accurate. I personally believe more and more people follow them, making them less effective. Last summer, we saw the same people on the same busses going to the same parks. I chatted with a family only to find out we had the exact same touring schedule. We were following the same site predictions, as were most of the other Disney guests it seemed! I also believe there is no slow time anymore and that crowds are just the way it is now.

I think Disney is getting very good at filling the parks with all the promotions and discounts. Personally, I feel Disney should wait until they have more of the new stuff up and running before implementing all these "park filling" promotions but I digress.

Also, I REALLY feel it is more crowded than normal right now because of the Osborn Lights. I can't tell you how many posts I have read on various sites of people planning a surprise trip to see the lights "one last time." Or families who never saw the lights before planning a "special" trip to see them.

 

[GPC0321]

My wife hates crowds and would rather be at the pool. So it's more about keeping peace in the family. We arrive at RD, get lunch about 12 and head back to the resort. Do the pool from 2-5. Get dressed and come back to the park and use our FP+s. Of course during our Spring Break trips we leave at 12 and don't come back at all. But leaving at 12 and coming back about 7 works for our summer trips.

Out of curiosity, why don't you return to the parks in the evenings during Spring Break trips? And what do you do from noon until you go to bed? Do you never go to fireworks during Spring Break?

We're going over Easter, and I know the crowds will be pretty insane. I want to be able to go back to the resort for some midday breaks and then return for nighttime entertainment (fireworks, parades, maybe some rides) after dinner. But if that's difficult to do, I need to rethink.

 

[jenben8426]

We are also here and following Easywdw's crowd calendars and have found them to be pretty accurate. There are A LOT of people here and walking around is crowded, but using Ridemax we have literally walked onto just about everything. On Friday in the MK we did 13 attractions, ate lunch, and played an hour of Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom and left at about 2:30. I just don't think we could have done that if it had been busier. Yesterday at Animal Kingdom it did seem more crowded than the 6 that was predicted, but again we never waited in line. All of the shows had room to spare. There may be a lot of people here, but I still don't think it is as crowded as other times.