2018 Christmas Week Experiences

Sonconato

Sonconato

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We have visited the Parks at various times during this 2018 Christmas Week and have been rather surprised at what we faced considering we have done this every year for the past 10 years. Below are some images and videos that should be self-explanatory. Due to these occurrences, we decided to steer clear of the Parks for New Year’s Eve…even AK which has normally been slower. We’re curious to know what others have experienced and we’re particularly curious to see what New Year’s Eve brings should anybody be brave enough to go.

Fastpass Line @ Jungle Cruise - 12/24/18


Start of Fastpass Line @ Jungle Cruise - Looking toward Swiss Family Treehouse
Jungle Cruise FP Start Line.jpg


Fastpass Line @ Jungle Cruise - Looking toward ride
Jungle Cruise FP Line.jpg


Standby Line @ Haunted Mansion - 12/24/18


Standby Line @ Haunted Mansion - Where old Mike Fink Keel Boats Docked - The dock is to the left of this image
Haunted Mansion Standby Line 1.jpg


Stand by Line @ Haunted Mansion - Line starts @ top of ramp under the gazebo type structure
Haunted Mansion Standby Line 2.jpg


Standby Line @ Kilimanjaro Safaris - 12/27/18


Standby Line @ Kilimanjaro Safaris - Start of line looking toward Festival of the Lion King
Kilimanjaro Start Line Looking at FOLK.jpg


Standby Line @ Kilimanjaro Safaris - Line extends from Harambe bridge all the way across the Harambe Village - The line is indistinguishable from the crowd.
Looking Toward Kilimanjaro.jpg
 
D

DisneyJoe

Well-Known Member
I suppose I am missing the self-explanatory part, since I have been following these boards for many many years and these photos look typical of crowds from this week - are you saying that they are worse? In some ways they look better to me, since I can see paths between people where you could actually walk...
 
donsullivan

donsullivan

Premium Member
To be honest, I don't see anything in those images that looks out of the ordinary for this week. All of those are very normal patterns for the busiest week of the year.
 
Sonconato

Sonconato

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
DisneyJoe said:
I suppose I am missing the self-explanatory part, since I have been following these boards for many many years and these photos look typical of crowds from this week - are you saying that they are worse? In some ways they look better to me, since I can see paths between people where you could actually walk...
Click to expand...
donsullivan said:
To be honest, I don't see anything in those images that looks out of the ordinary for this week. All of those are very normal patterns for the busiest week of the year.
Click to expand...
We have gone to AK every week for the past 10 years and never has the Standby Line to Kilimanjaro extended back to the bridge that enters Harambe Village. The crowds are not what is unusual, it's the fact that the Kilimanjaro Line was sooooo long. To help you understand where the line was, see below. I did a snapshot and drew a line showing the length of the line which stopped at the bridge (bottom of the image - asterisk) extending up to the entrance to Kilimanjaro Safaris (top of the image - circle). This we had never, ever seen before. And obviously, the line continues through the queue after the entrance.

Harambe.JPG
 
B

BrerWayne

Well-Known Member
Sonconato said:
We have visited the Parks at various times during this 2018 Christmas Week and have been rather surprised at what we faced considering we have done this every year for the past 10 years. Below are some images and videos that should be self-explanatory. Due to these occurrences, we decided to steer clear of the Parks for New Year’s Eve…even AK which has normally been slower. We’re curious to know what others have experienced and we’re particularly curious to see what New Year’s Eve brings should anybody be brave enough to go.

Fastpass Line @ Jungle Cruise - 12/24/18


Start of Fastpass Line @ Jungle Cruise - Looking toward Swiss Family Treehouse
View attachment 336577

Fastpass Line @ Jungle Cruise - Looking toward ride
View attachment 336585

Standby Line @ Haunted Mansion - 12/24/18


Standby Line @ Haunted Mansion - Where old Mike Fink Keel Boats Docked - The dock is to the left of this image
View attachment 336586

Stand by Line @ Haunted Mansion - Line starts @ top of ramp under the gazebo type structure
View attachment 336588

Standby Line @ Kilimanjaro Safaris - 12/27/18


Standby Line @ Kilimanjaro Safaris - Start of line looking toward Festival of the Lion King
View attachment 336594

Standby Line @ Kilimanjaro Safaris - Line extends from Harambe bridge all the way across the Harambe Village - The line is indistinguishable from the crowd.
View attachment 336603
Click to expand...

Someone else said this, so it’s not an original thought, but I concur. You could fly my family down for free, put us in a suite at the Floridian for free, and give us park passes, and I’ll still pass. That is nothing but stress inducing for me.
 
donsullivan

donsullivan

Premium Member
MidwestStitch said:
These crowds have been absolutely insane... FOP hit 300+ minutes yesterday! At 295 now.
Click to expand...

Welcome to Christmas week at Walt Disney World. It's like this pretty much every year. I've seen Test Track get up over 240 minutes and Soarin' above 300 during this period in recent years as well.
 
MidwestStitch

MidwestStitch

Active Member
donsullivan said:
Welcome to Christmas week at Walt Disney World. It's like this pretty much every year. I've seen Test Track get up over 240 minutes and Soarin' above 300 during this period in recent years as well.
Click to expand...
Does Soarin' still see those types of wait times with the addition of the third theater?
 
donsullivan

donsullivan

Premium Member
MidwestStitch said:
Does Soarin' still see those types of wait times with the addition of the third theater?
Click to expand...

No question the third theater helped a lot there. I think the peaks I saw last year were in the 150-180 range but I do believe it Burst up near 240 on NYE last hear if I remember correctly.
 
mimitchi33

mimitchi33

Well-Known Member
Sonconato said:
We have visited the Parks at various times during this 2018 Christmas Week and have been rather surprised at what we faced considering we have done this every year for the past 10 years. Below are some images and videos that should be self-explanatory. Due to these occurrences, we decided to steer clear of the Parks for New Year’s Eve…even AK which has normally been slower. We’re curious to know what others have experienced and we’re particularly curious to see what New Year’s Eve brings should anybody be brave enough to go.

Fastpass Line @ Jungle Cruise - 12/24/18


Start of Fastpass Line @ Jungle Cruise - Looking toward Swiss Family Treehouse
View attachment 336577

Fastpass Line @ Jungle Cruise - Looking toward ride
View attachment 336585

Standby Line @ Haunted Mansion - 12/24/18


Standby Line @ Haunted Mansion - Where old Mike Fink Keel Boats Docked - The dock is to the left of this image
View attachment 336586

Stand by Line @ Haunted Mansion - Line starts @ top of ramp under the gazebo type structure
View attachment 336588

Standby Line @ Kilimanjaro Safaris - 12/27/18


Standby Line @ Kilimanjaro Safaris - Start of line looking toward Festival of the Lion King
View attachment 336594

Standby Line @ Kilimanjaro Safaris - Line extends from Harambe bridge all the way across the Harambe Village - The line is indistinguishable from the crowd.
View attachment 336603
Click to expand...

Woah! This is nuts! I'm glad you survived.
 
Alice a

Alice a

Well-Known Member
mimitchi33 said:
Where are you getting the waits? The My Disney Experience app isn't working for me...
Click to expand...

MDE has been problematic in multiple formats for me for the past few days. I called WDW tech support today and was told that they've been working on a new photopass site and it's been messing up MDE on various devices for many.

About the crazy Animal Kingdom lines- could any of this be a result of closing Rafiki's Planet Watch? It may not have been the most popular attraction, but it was a people eater.
 
eliza61nyc

eliza61nyc

Well-Known Member
every so often I get a longing to go during Christmas and then I come to my senses. Some thing will have gone horribly wrong to make me brave those crowds.

Yikes.

I would like to go for a long weekend just to check out the decorations but I wouldn't handle the crowds
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom