Low crowd trends? Is this true?

[floridabill]

I highly doubt its that serious, but its a wait and see thing I suppose. Ill be at wdw tomorrow, and even though I know it will be crowded maybe just maybe it won't be that bad. Ya right.

lol I know it was all sarcasm...But really it was probably just the rain that usually always keeps the people away.

 

[SwooshOU]

Me and my family live in Tampa and have annual passes, so we make frequent visits to the parks (once every week or two). We typically go Friday nights and Saturdays. Since we've only been passholders since January, I can't compare to previous years. However, previously, we would only come during school breaks since my wife and I were both teachers. We came 4th of July three years ago, Easter last year (MK reached capacity), and Christmastime (not Christmas day) a couple times. So, we were used to the busiest of busy days.

Last week, we went to the Magic Kingdom Saturday, July 3rd from mid morning to mid afternoon as well as Monday, July 5th from midday to evening. We skipped the parks on the 4th of July expecting ridiculous crowds.

On Saturday the 3rd, the crowds were (in my opinion) surprisingly light. At one point, my family was walking through fantasyland and my wife and I looked at each other surprised at how much room we had... especially considering it was the Saturday before the holiday. My theory was that everybody was going to be at MK on the 4th so they would be at other parks the day before. Then we went back on Monday and it was quite a bit more crowded than on Saturday.

As far as "typical" summer Saturdays, in my experience you can expect very heavy crowds... but very manageable (in my opinion). Nothing like holidays.

If you work your fastpasses right, you won't be in a line longer than 20 minutes for anything.

 

[WDWFigment]

I've seen several reports on Twitter of low wait times (10 minutes for Tower of Terror around 1 p.m. today, 20 minutes for Space the other day in the afternoon, etc.). Nothing against the generalities like "we go every year at this time and it's just as busy," but when I see objective numbers like those wait times at those times of day, it really makes me think that the parks aren't quite as crowded as they typically are. Which would be rather surprising to me.

 

[jobo]

I've seen several reports on Twitter of low wait times (10 minutes for Tower of Terror around 1 p.m. today, 20 minutes for Space the other day in the afternoon, etc.). Nothing against the generalities like "we go every year at this time and it's just as busy," but when I see objective numbers like those wait times at those times of day, it really makes me think that the parks aren't quite as crowded as they typically are. Which would be rather surprising to me.

So true, as I said above I was there a couple of weeks ago now and was seeing wait times as you suggested for TOT around 10-20 mins mid afternoon, RNRC maybe around 20-30mins and over at MK SM was never any longer than 40mins

All in all it seems a lot quieter than previous years

 

[PLeyava]

Did MK close July 4 weekend this year? The Sunday should have been a given, even with the rain, and I figured Saturday might hit capacity as well.

Yes, MK hit capacity on the 4th.

I don't think the Harry Potter thing will be big for long, it's a trend that's huge now yes, but so was Pokemon and many other fads, it'll die eventually, and Disney did plan for this, look at all the expanding they are doing, Fantasyland in WDW, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, Disneyland Hong Kong, etc. I was there for the weekend (July 1-5) and it was good crowds, busy on the 4th of course, and MK seemed to have a good crowd on the 3rd, especially when everyone left after the fireworks!

 

[cslafferty]

I am a 1st/2nd grade teacher in Michigan (Detroit area). The recession has hit us really hard up here. Our unemployment is still around 15%, and those that still have jobs have had to face pay/benefit cuts. And, in June thousands of teachers were pink slipped due to budget cuts. I know of MANY who had plans to go to WDW this summer, but had to cancel. I really believe that if the numbers are down this summer it has more to do with the economy than with Harry Potter. Also, I know that while many of my students were wizards for Halloween, and they all know and love HP, if you ask them where they want to go, it's hands down WDW!!! I can see that older kids would be more attracted to the thrill rides of IoA, but Disney still has the family appeal. Remember, Disney has Hannah Montana, High School Musical, and Pirates (I think I've had more Capt. Jacks than Harry Potters at Halloween!). I'm a big HP fan - I've read all the books, and can't wait for the Deathly Hallows movies to come out. But, I'm just sayin' . . . they still love the mouse!

 

[gmajew]

I am a 1st/2nd grade teacher in Michigan (Detroit area). The recession has hit us really hard up here. Our unemployment is still around 15%, and those that still have jobs have had to face pay/benefit cuts. And, in June thousands of teachers were pink slipped due to budget cuts. I know of MANY who had plans to go to WDW this summer, but had to cancel. I really believe that if the numbers are down this summer it has more to do with the economy than with Harry Potter. Also, I know that while many of my students were wizards for Halloween, and they all know and love HP, if you ask them where they want to go, it's hands down WDW!!! I can see that older kids would be more attracted to the thrill rides of IoA, but Disney still has the family appeal. Remember, Disney has Hannah Montana, High School Musical, and Pirates (I think I've had more Capt. Jacks than Harry Potters at Halloween!). I'm a big HP fan - I've read all the books, and can't wait for the Deathly Hallows movies to come out. But, I'm just sayin' . . . they still love the mouse!

Complete agreement with these statements. If you work in sales food service etc you see it everyday people are cutting back and vacations are the first to go!!people need to calm down and realize if you don't live in Florida a trip to wow is going to set you back! Now Harry potter is going to take people away from Disney for a day but the turnstile will still move and the four parks willstill do there numbers

 

[stlbobby]

I can't find the post, but someone posted on a different thread that both water parks closed due to capacity last week. I know most of the East Coast was unseasonably hot last week, that may have pushed people to the water parks, and cut some days shorter than normal.

 

[Biff215]

We were there from June 26-July 3. While it wasn't too quiet we did find it to be less crowded than it was last August. Our longest wait was probably Dumbo, but since we have a 2 year old we weren't riding most of the big E-Tickets. Still we found the crowds to be reasonable even with some of the South American tour groups. :lol:

We'll be shooting for the same time period next year and hoping it treats us just as well!

 

[DisneyParksFan]

DHS was incredibly empty today.

Typical wait times for attractions were:
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster: 20-40min
Tower of Terror: 10-20 min
Star Tours: Walk on
Great Movie Ride: Walk on

and Toy Story Midway Mania...only 50 min (compared to the typical 120 min wait times)

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I've seen several reports on Twitter of low wait times (10 minutes for Tower of Terror around 1 p.m. today, 20 minutes for Space the other day in the afternoon, etc.). Nothing against the generalities like "we go every year at this time and it's just as busy," but when I see objective numbers like those wait times at those times of day, it really makes me think that the parks aren't quite as crowded as they typically are. Which would be rather surprising to me.

My brother arrived at WDW today! I know he was super nervous about having to go at this time of year but it's the only chance he had to take his girls. He's been just sick anticipating the killer crowds. He called this evening while I was wrestling the dog trying to get the mats out of her face so I didn't talk to him. Chandler (DS14) talked to him. The official report of the evening was that Epcot had minimal waits today. Dinner at Les Chefs was great & they saw Remy. He had to hurry up and hang up because he was walking onto Space Mountain. Sounds like the crowds were great today...and it was a Saturday. Don't know if it rained down there, tho. :shrug:

 

[marypoppins68]

No rain today. Haven't really had rain since Tuesday. Tomorrow the rain is supposed to pick back up again. Normal afternoon thunderstorms and such.

 

[Christi22222]

Thanks for the twitter wait times. That's the kind of factual info I'm looking for. I didn't even consider correlating the possibility of lower crowds to HP. I assumed the lasting recession would be the culprit. Originally folks seemed to hope that if they personally didn't get laid off, then no worries. But the economy seems to be dragging more and more folks down. In other words, is that whole "wealth effect" (or lack therof) stopping folks from taking trips to the world. Also, did folks go the last year or so thinking they would catch the down swing, and actually postpone a downswing at WDW in the way of crowd numbers? Oh to get my hands on the real attendance/booking numbers!! Wouldn't you love to know? Where is that crystal ball when you need it.....

 

[Duckberg]

WDW Discounts to Continue .....???

Interesting read on this thread. Has always fascinated me people indicating they were going to WDW to stay a week or two ($$$ Huh ) Maybe the economy if finally catching up with Disney. The fact that the Disney discount packages etc. continue with no, visible weaning off process says a lot to me! Will see what happens Duckberg

 

[epcotWSC]

Interesting read on this thread. Has always fascinated me people indicating they were going to WDW to stay a week or two ($$$ Huh ) Maybe the economy if finally catching up with Disney. The fact that the Disney discount packages etc. continue with no, visible weaning off process says a lot to me! Will see what happens Duckberg

DVC makes all possible .

 

[GymLeaderPhil]

Crowds have been lighter than normal. This includes elsewhere off property as well. Gulf oil crisis is keeping those who usually frequent, as well as a turbulent economy, home. Weather on the 3rd kept crowds away, but nothing unusual this time of year.

 

[smk]

I would assume that the economy has kept people home more so than the beaches and oil crisis, but maybe more people combine WDW with a beach trip than I thought.
We didn't go last year, just didn't have the extra money for a trip. We pay in advance and don't usually use credit cards for consumable things....dinners out, trips etc. We use our cards to secure reservations and then pay in cash whenever possible. So, knowing we had other obligations, we postponed any vacations. However, now we are ready to go! I know many people who have gone this year after skipping a year or two. Maybe some of us are coming out of the fog of the downturn while others are still in the midst of it.
On the HP note, I want to see it, experience it, and I am not even a HP fan, never read the books or watched the movies. But, I want to stay on WDW property and spend a day at Universal, spending the balance of my time at Disney. We just today decided not to go to Universal in September but wait until our next trip to see the whole HP world. If there are people out there like me, I think it would be a popular option to stay at WDW and visit universal thereby not affecting WDW that much at all. :shrug:

 

[smk]

Interesting read on this thread. Has always fascinated me people indicating they were going to WDW to stay a week or two ($$$ Huh ) Maybe the economy if finally catching up with Disney. The fact that the Disney discount packages etc. continue with no, visible weaning off process says a lot to me! Will see what happens Duckberg

Anyone else remember the member of WDWmagic who went for the whole summer a few years back? He took his whole family, they stayed at a value resort for like 3 months on seperate reservation numbers all strung together. I thought the guy was pulling our legs, I know others thought he was legit. Wonder what happened to him, did he ever write a trip report?

 

[parkgoer]

Was at HS earlier today. Crowds were very light and the streets felt bare compared to what they were two weeks ago. had fastpasses for RR, TOT, and TS. Toy story was about a 5min wait with the FP and walked right into the pre show area for the other two. Literally walked right onto GMR, no one at all in the theater.

 

[Swfewrmco]

I also imagine that with Free Dining coming up in August, many folks either cancelled and rebooked or postponed their trip to get it. Not sure if it always works out to be a good deal, but the allure of "free" food is strong, no doubt.