12/17/06- 1:15pm. AK at Capacity - Entrance Closed

[peter11435]

What would be your guess?

As others have pointed out there is no magic number that is a parks max capacity. It is based on many factors and changes daily. For example while the park did close at one point today it was never all that busy. It was just much busier than forcasted. There are days when the park can accomodate more than your 30,000 - 35,000 number.

 

[GarryandLindy]

As others have pointed out there is no magic number that is a parks max capacity. It is based on many factors and changes daily. For example while the park did close at one point today it was never all that busy. It was just much busier than forcasted. There are days when the park can accomodate more than your 30,000 - 35,000 number.

Thanks Peter.

 

[Piebald]

Hey guys, I was at AK today and I got there at 2:00. Everest had a 40 minute wait, Dinosaur was 10 and we waited about 4-6 minutes for Kilimanjaro. Don't know where these crowds were, but certainly not around us. :wave:

 

[SeanC]

don't get to excited by high attendance one day=new attractions/expansion. Friday at AK EVERYTHING was "walk-on" all day.

 

[Skippy]

Well now I'm confused...
Anyone want to explain why crowds were low, yet capacity reached?
Surely having a forty minute wait for EE wasn't higher than expected?

 

[Greydog30]

Awesome

:sohappy: It is awesome to see Ak get some great use by patrons of WDW. Hopefully they add more to AK.

Have an Awesome Disney Christmas Holidays:xmas:

 

[csm]

Well now I'm confused...
Anyone want to explain why crowds were low, yet capacity reached?
Surely having a forty minute wait for EE wasn't higher than expected?

Sounds to me like the answer is simply "capacity was never reached"...

Definitely not with a 40 minute wait for everest at 2pm.

 

[mkt]

I spoke with the manager again. It wasn't true capacity- Disney underestimated in its forecast today. The actual number was more than 8,000 higher than what they forecast for, and simply weren't staffed/prepared to deal with the crowds. So they closed for a bit.

After a few hours and people left, they reopened. From what I was told, the last hour or two were relatively slow

 

[tirian]

^^ mkt, you beat me to it.

Last year, when the parks closed half a day for Hurricane Rita*, I went to the MK that evening with my friends. Although the park was listed as being "at capacity," the actual reason is that the MK was severely understaffed (most of the cast was given the day off b/c Disney thought the parks would be closed all day). When the gates reopened, my friends and I walked on to literally everything in the park.

*Remember, this was after the devestation following Hurricane Katrina. Disney didn't want to take any chances; and since Rita was supposed to be a worse storm, Disney basically shut down the parks. When Rita weakened and wasn't a threat, the parks reopened.

 

[scasta86]

Just flew in from WDW, Animal Kingdom was the last park I hit today, I had no idea it had reached capacity, but the crowd level was pretty high. The crowds did start getting pretty high since Friday.

 

[Skippy]

Thanks for the explanation mkt. :wave:

 

[trendicoff]

Park capacities are kind of like daily attendance figures, anyone who really knows the REAL park capacities can get into serious trouble for saying said park capacities... Suffice it to say, the park capacities listed above (MK-85,000? EP-35,000? DAK - 33,000? MGM-45,000?) are at the very best, guesses... And not really good ones at that...(While not determining attendance entirely accurately, a good place to look is at Park Acreage)

Lol, yeah these guesses are pretty funny. Its really annoying knowing these nubers and not being allowed to share them. What you said about park acreage is true, except for DAK becasue of the savannah (the animal's area is actually larger than the entire park itself). Oh well, Hooray for the cast portal!

 

[octoberbarry]

:lol:

Wow, AK has joined the ranks of the big boys in reaching capacity! I would hate to be in that park today if it is that crowded.

Yes, and imagine the mess when the Tree of Life is given a briss...

 

[octoberbarry]

Animal Kingdom, you are now a man

This was the one I meant to quote with my 'briss' comment...

 

[KevinPage]

Simple fact that since the summer of 2002, when I moved to Orlando, Disney parks have increasing become busier and busier each year. Traditionally you would get the "quiet times" before or after holidays, but that really doesn't exist anymore. Yeah it's a little slower but not by alot, like it used to be.

September 2002 after Labor Day I walked onto Space Mountain 6 times in a row, no wait. I had never done that in my life.

Every year since then, the parks have been getting busier and busier. I normally ALWAYS hit all the parks the 2 weeks before Xmas week, to avoid crowds during Xmas week. Well I didn't go this weekend due to the insane crowd levels and all the hotels at/near capacity for the past few weeks.

Even 3 weeks ago, Epcot was PACKED when we went over there for Illuminations.

 

[pheneix]

Sounds to me like the answer is simply "capacity was never reached"...

Definitely not with a 40 minute wait for everest at 2pm.

Everest hit triple digits yesterday. The 40 minute wait you saw was either an anomaly or an incorrect post.

 

[metscool]

I geust it was a good thing that I went to MGM last night instead of going to AK.

 

[Master Yoda]

Simple fact that since the summer of 2002, when I moved to Orlando, Disney parks have increasing become busier and busier each year. Traditionally you would get the "quiet times" before or after holidays, but that really doesn't exist anymore. Yeah it's a little slower but not by alot, like it used to be.

September 2002 after Labor Day I walked onto Space Mountain 6 times in a row, no wait. I had never done that in my life.

Every year since then, the parks have been getting busier and busier. I normally ALWAYS hit all the parks the 2 weeks before Xmas week, to avoid crowds during Xmas week. Well I didn't go this weekend due to the insane crowd levels and all the hotels at/near capacity for the past few weeks.

Even 3 weeks ago, Epcot was PACKED when we went over there for Illuminations.

We all got spoiled over the last few years. I remember the old days of WDW consisting of only MK and we got giddy if Space Mountain only had a 120 minute wait.

 

[bob0012]

Gotta remember that there's a few things that can trigger "capacity".

Obviously reaching the parks capacity is the first one, but being under staffed and reaching the capacity for the staff you have on hand is another, and also having a full parking lot will trigger "being at capacity", and only hotel guests can get in.

 

[wherewhy]

Ask me about my WIENER!!!!:wave:

WOW.........:lookaroun