Crowds are down? Curious about the claims . . .

DisneyFans4Life

DisneyFans4Life

Well-Known Member
We were there this past Sunday and I was shocked to see how not crowded the park was. I think I saw one South American tour group and that was it. HM and POTC were both walk ons and there was hardly at line at Pinnochio's Village House for lunch (at 12:30). I'm guessing it was slower because it was a Sunday when most people are either leaving or starting their vacations and not going to the parks.
 
21stamps

21stamps

Well-Known Member
flyerjab said:
Here are some anecdotal photos from the MK today.
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As far as we were concerned the crowds were heavy. Not to the point where we had to leave, but it was definitely full. Going towards Tomorrowland, I noted that the Speedway standby was 40 minutes and SM was at 120 minutes. There were lines like this everywhere.

Oh yes, these were also everywhere too:
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Apparently Brazil has had enough of our joyous posts regarding the lack of tour groups. There was this strange new hazing ritual going on though. I saw @George handing out vintage EPCOT tees to them in Main Street. And then as the entered the hub, @sshindel pelted them with copies of his EPCOT Manifesto and shouted highbrow, elitist insults at them - "Nice Horizons T-shirt you girl!" I recollected this moment fondly later in the day as I sipped Freestyle coke at the new DVC Lounge in the Imagination Pavilion.

In fact, it was so crowded that park vermin could not fit on the pavement and were forced into the snack stands.
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Cast members tried to inquire which DDP allowed him access to free snacks, but they were all silently rebuffed as he plowed his face into a bag of Rold Gold, deftly ignoring them.

All goofing aside though, it was crowded and hot in the MK today. And tour groups were out in full force.
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Ha ha!

This was our table mate for our entire lunch at Tangerine Cafe. There was another one literally hanging out on the back of the bench next to a guy near us who was feeding the other squirrel.

Disney squirrels definitely aren't afraid of humans.lol
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BernardandBianca

BernardandBianca

Well-Known Member
As was stated previously, the "feel" for attendance is highly personal and completely subjective (at least for everyone other than the few inside Disney with actual knowledge). We've gone over the past few weekends, as we normally do, and were mentioning to each other how uncrowded it seems. MK, while not empty, seemed to be the way it used to be in September, with room to walk, and the ability to go standby on HM and Pirates with waits less than 20 minutes (we wouldn't do any more in any event). We didn't go past SDMT, so have no idea what the line there was. Sm was 30 minutes, so that was a no-go.

The interesting park was DHS. We went on Sunday, deciding to go at about 9:30 am. Got lunch reservations at Brown Derby at 12:30, and got pastpasses for Mania for 2:30. Star Tours we walked up to the split where the glasses are handed out, so the wait was non-existent. GMR, on the other hand, had a line approaching 45 minutes. ToT was another walk-on; didn't go to Rockin'. But did see a few tour groups, including the biggest one from Argentina (you could tell them because they wear vertically-striped blue and white shirts).

Epcot was fairly normal; the Frozen M&G was 10 minutes, but the ride itself was standby 75 minutes, according to the sign. But there was no line outside in the heat, so they must have packed them all inside and just kept loading FP people. But he big surprise was Seas, where we just had to wait for the previous show to end for Crush, and then could go right in. Nemo was zero wait time.

It was waaaaaaay too hot to go to AK, so we didn't.
 
A

ar81

Member
I am going to prepare for the worst and not assume i am going to experience low crowds during my trip in a couple of weeks. I am sure this already been stated but could the lower crowds recently been from people cancelling their june trips due to the tragic events. So maybe that it is now in the past somewhat the crowds will return? I am more worried about the shorter hours and not adding 2 parades or Fantasmics in August.
 
21stamps

21stamps

Well-Known Member
BernardandBianca said:
As was stated previously, the "feel" for attendance is highly personal and completely subjective (at least for everyone other than the few inside Disney with actual knowledge). We've gone over the past few weekends, as we normally do, and were mentioning to each other how uncrowded it seems. MK, while not empty, seemed to be the way it used to be in September, with room to walk, and the ability to go standby on HM and Pirates with waits less than 20 minutes (we wouldn't do any more in any event). We didn't go past SDMT, so have no idea what the line there was. Sm was 30 minutes, so that was a no-go.

The interesting park was DHS. We went on Sunday, deciding to go at about 9:30 am. Got lunch reservations at Brown Derby at 12:30, and got pastpasses for Mania for 2:30. Star Tours we walked up to the split where the glasses are handed out, so the wait was non-existent. GMR, on the other hand, had a line approaching 45 minutes. ToT was another walk-on; didn't go to Rockin'. But did see a few tour groups, including the biggest one from Argentina (you could tell them because they wear vertically-striped blue and white shirts).

Epcot was fairly normal; the Frozen M&G was 10 minutes, but the ride itself was standby 75 minutes, according to the sign. But there was no line outside in the heat, so they must have packed them all inside and just kept loading FP people. But he big surprise was Seas, where we just had to wait for the previous show to end for Crush, and then could go right in. Nemo was zero wait time.

It was waaaaaaay too hot to go to AK, so we didn't.
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DisneyFans4Life said:
We were there this past Sunday and I was shocked to see how not crowded the park was. I think I saw one South American tour group and that was it. HM and POTC were both walk ons and there was hardly at line at Pinnochio's Village House for lunch (at 12:30). I'm guessing it was slower because it was a Sunday when most people are either leaving or starting their vacations and not going to the parks.
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I keep seeing so many people post about tour groups on this site. Out of curiosity, how do you normally distinguish if they are from Brazil or Argentina or maybe another country? By their language?
 
daringstoic

daringstoic

Active Member
I just got back from five days at the parks. MK and Epcot felt as crowded as usual for this time of year, but DAK and DHS felt empty. That likely is because they're not really full-day parks right now. At one point the area by Safaris was so empty that I took a picture of a deserted walkway. My boyfriend and I practically got dragged over to meet Flik by a character attendant because he was just standing around bored.

I saw way fewer tour groups than I'm used to and almost all of them were at the MK. They all seemed to be the same company and were all girls for some reason.

Overall it was quite a nice few days and through a combination of shorter waits, some Fastpass luck, and my excessive park knowledge we were able to do almost everything without getting up early or rushing around.
 
wdwfan22

wdwfan22

Well-Known Member
I think it's safe to say they are expecting crowds to return at least to Magic Kingdom in August. There are several dates with midnight closing times and a few with 1:00 am closings. It will be business as usual.
 
wdwmagic

wdwmagic

Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
wdwfan22 said:
I think it's safe to say they are expecting crowds to return at least to Magic Kingdom in August. There are several dates with midnight closing times and a few with 1:00 am closings. It will be business as usual.
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Yes the hours for August were recently cranked up. Midnight and 1am closings and 8am openings.
http://www.wdwmagic.com/calendar.htm
 
AndyMagic

AndyMagic

Well-Known Member
If attendance is down, Universal seems to be weathering the storm pretty well. Just checked hotel availability and... time to start construction on that 6th deluxe hotel it seems.


UniversalHotels.jpg
 
flyerjab

flyerjab

Well-Known Member
I was in the MK today after 5 PM, and their park was INSANE as far as crowd levels are concerned. I literally cannot remember seeing it that packed in quite some time. For Wishes, the entire hub was filled, and the crowd continued all the way back MSUSA to the train station. I will only say that the experience was miserable due to the crowds and the heat and humidity.
 
A

ar81

Member
flyerjab said:
I was in the MK today after 5 PM, and their park was INSANE as far as crowd levels are concerned. I literally cannot remember seeing it that packed in quite some time. For Wishes, the entire hub was filled, and the crowd continued all the way back MSUSA to the train station. I will only say that the experience was miserable due to the crowds and the heat and humidity.
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That really stinks. I know not everyone follows easywdw calendars but Tuesdays are recommended for MK. Wonder if it was a fluke or proof that the reports of low crowds are exaggerated.
 
N

natatomic

Well-Known Member
flyerjab said:
I was in the MK today after 5 PM, and their park was INSANE as far as crowd levels are concerned. I literally cannot remember seeing it that packed in quite some time. For Wishes, the entire hub was filled, and the crowd continued all the way back MSUSA to the train station. I will only say that the experience was miserable due to the crowds and the heat and humidity.
Click to expand...

Wasn't it evening EMH at MK today?
Honestly, I don't care how slow it is - if it's nighttime EMH at MK, stay the heck away.
 

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