Parks EXTREMELY busy already

[majorrfb]

Dec. 2-6, 2009

The dining areas were packed over Thanksgiving weekend, but after that I thought it was fine.

Dec. 2-MVMCP was absolutely PACKED much to my dismay (a Sunday night). During the next 3 days, the parks were VERY busy, especially, MK, DHS and AK. Epcot, my personal favorite was moderate, with not really long waiting lines. But, by the by, I was very surprised at the crowds during a time I thought would be light to moderate. BUT, still had a great time and 2 friends came with us who had not been to the World since 1982. They were impressed. HAPPY HOLIDAYS !! :xmas: :sohappy:

 

[I-4Warrior]

Drastic change from Friday which was just one night before. My wife and I were actually suprised at how slow it was. Glad we went Friday instead of Saturday!

I noticed that on Friday as well... Epcot was dead in the early half of the day and MK slightly busier. I was going to take in the Christmas decorations at the parks and resorts on the 12th or the 18th. Glad I went when I did before the crowd explosions hit.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

Well, the plan wasn't really too in depth. Just ride most of the attractions. My family doesn't go into MK with a time table of what we're supposed to do. :lol::lookaroun Do you?


I wasn't expecting any crowds and tbh I rarely noticed pop warner kids. The main guests who I noticed were rude were oridinary guests.

Nor do we, but there's something to be said for having a plan.:lookaroun:lol: ANd knowing what rides fill up first and all.

 

[jonofthedeadd]

Does anyone know when the parks tend to die down after the Christmas rush? Not specific, as I'm doubting anyone here practices magic and soothseeing, but I'm heading down January 2nd to the 7th and was wondering how crowded it would generally be.

 

[Eeyore]

Does anyone know when the parks tend to die down after the Christmas rush? Not specific, as I'm doubting anyone here practices magic and soothseeing, but I'm heading down January 2nd to the 7th and was wondering how crowded it would generally be.

The holiday festivities wrap up on January 4th, I would imagine it would die down after that point. Have a great trip! :wave:

 

[Lisalyn]

The dining areas were packed over Thanksgiving weekend, but after that I thought it was fine.

Hello again!
I actually got there the 21st after a long drive down....sunday the 22nd was awesome! Everything was walk on at Epcot..after that...FORGET IT!!! LOL which backs up your "after Thanksgiving weekend, it was fine" thoughts! It just seemed to me to be so much more packed this year! Hopefully everything will die down a bit and be less compact next year. I felt like a sardine Monday thru Saturday LOL

 

[JimboJones123]

Does anyone know when the parks tend to die down after the Christmas rush? Not specific, as I'm doubting anyone here practices magic and soothseeing, but I'm heading down January 2nd to the 7th and was wondering how crowded it would generally be.

Since you will be out before marathon weekend, the second half of your trip might be pretty nice.
Because the huge popularity of marathon weekend, WDW has upgraded several nights to either peak, and maybe holiday seasons this year.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Dec. 2-MVMCP was absolutely PACKED much to my dismay (a Sunday night). During the next 3 days, the parks were VERY busy, especially, MK, DHS and AK. Epcot, my personal favorite was moderate, with not really long waiting lines. But, by the by, I was very surprised at the crowds during a time I thought would be light to moderate. BUT, still had a great time and 2 friends came with us who had not been to the World since 1982. They were impressed. HAPPY HOLIDAYS !! :xmas: :sohappy:

December 2nd we were at the Animal Kingdom during the day, and Expedition Everest had a 5 minute wait at 4 PM. The park closed at 5 PM, but they had evening extra magic hours. Then we went over to Epcot that night and the waits were pretty light as well.

This is taken from my Disney blog for time information from 12/2:

Animal Kingdom
11:08 AM - Kilimanjaro Safaris - 30 Minutes, Fastpass Distribution 11:54 AM - 12:54 PM
12:11 PM - Kilimanjaro Safaris - Fastpass Distribution 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
2:11 PM - Dinosaur - Listed at 20 Minutes, more like 5 minutes, Fastpass Distribution 2:50 PM - 3:50 PM
2:49 PM - Expedition Everest - 15 Minutes, Fastpass Distribution 3:25 PM - 4:25 PM
3:00 PM - Expedition Everest - 25 Minutes, Fastpass Distribution 3:40 PM - 4:40 PM
4:03 PM - Expedition Everest - 5 Minutes, Fastpass Unavailable

Epcot
5:07 PM - Test Track - 30 Minutes, Single Rider Line 5 Minutes, Fastpass Distribution 5:50 PM - 6:50 PM
5:14 PM - Soarin' - 25 Minutes, Fastpass Distribution 7:30 PM - 8:30 PM
5:14 PM - Living with the Land - 5 Minutes, Fastpass Unavailable
5:30 PM - The Seas with Nemo and Friends - 5 Minutes
7:02 PM - Soarin' - 20 Minutes, Fastpass Distribution 8:18 PM - 9:18 PM
7:14 PM - Soarin' - 35 Minutes, Fastpass Distribution 8:24 PM - 9:24 PM
8:10 PM - Soarin' - 25 Minutes, Fastpass Unavailable
8:25 PM - Test Track - Listed at 10 Minutes, more like 5 minutes, 5 Minute Single Ride Line, Fastpass Unavailable

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

December 2nd we were at the Animal Kingdom during the day, and Expedition Everest had a 5 minute wait at 4 PM. The park closed at 5 PM, but they had evening extra magic hours. Then we went over to Epcot that night and the waits were pretty light as well.

This is taken from my Disney blog for time information from 12/2:

Those times are not that bad at all....even if it's from the beginning of the month.:shrug:

 

[JonnyK]

They need to ban pop warner from coming back to wdw again. :lookaroun

 

[PhilharMagician]

Pop Warner groups usually stay for the weekend to enjoy the parks, suddenly creating July-like crowds.

Then the Christmas crowds roll in on December 18th.

Yes and don't forget heavy crowds of locals stopping into the parks on the weekend to enjoy some holiday spirit. Since FL resident seasonal passes lock them out as of the 18th of December.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

They need to ban pop warner from coming back to wdw again. :lookaroun

Yes.:lookaroun

Yes and don't forget heavy crowds of locals stopping into the parks on the weekend to enjoy some holiday spirit. Since FL resident seasonal passes lock them out as of the 18th of December.

More good news!:lookaroun:lol:

 

[KeithVH]

Uh, this "common sense" factoid about the crowds not arriving until the 18th is Bravo Sierra. They are here NOW. Forget last Saturday, it's Tuesday afternoon now and CoP and TTA both have lines in the early afternoon. Short ones admittedly but still a line to wait in, especially since TTA isn't really set to handle a queue.

I will say we've been managing our in-park tactics to minimize any waits. We've onl done FPs for Soarin' and have been able to catch everything else at 5-15 minutes on average (leave the parks from 1-4, get there early, etc.). I cannot imagine people who are on their first/only visit are perceiving things however.

And you know, I wouldn't even mind longer wait times if the guests weren't so bad. Every single CM interaction has been great. But the majority of the guests here are coming close to destroying a decent park experience. Worse I've seen since we started taking the kids in '97. There is no longer ANY conception of manners or consideration for another. And heaven forbid you try to be kind to someone else w/o another attacking you for inconveniencing them or thinking they can abuse your good nature. THAT type of thing is worse than just too many people in the park.

 

[TURKEY]

Uh, this "common sense" factoid about the crowds not arriving until the 18th is Bravo Sierra. They are here NOW. Forget last Saturday, it's Tuesday afternoon now and CoP and TTA both have lines in the early afternoon. Short ones admittedly but still a line to wait in, especially since TTA isn't really set to handle a queue.

I will say we've been managing our in-park tactics to minimize any waits. We've onl done FPs for Soarin' and have been able to catch everything else at 5-15 minutes on average (leave the parks from 1-4, get there early, etc.). I cannot imagine people who are on their first/only visit are perceiving things however.

And you know, I wouldn't even mind longer wait times if the guests weren't so bad. Every single CM interaction has been great. But the majority of the guests here are coming close to destroying a decent park experience. Worse I've seen since we started taking the kids in '97. There is no longer ANY conception of manners or consideration for another. And heaven forbid you try to be kind to someone else w/o another attacking you for inconveniencing them or thinking they can abuse your good nature. THAT type of thing is worse than just too many people in the park.

You can't consider crowds to be busy when you have a 5-15 minute wait and base it on waits for a theater at COP and TTA.

I was there over Thanksgiving. TTA had a line with 3 or 4 switchbacks and took maybe 5 minutes to get up and on. COP had a line to wait on a theater (standing near back of waiting area), but when seated it wasn't but about 3/5 full.

 

[_Scar]

I noticed more regular guests doing rude and stupid things than pop warner kids.

 

[kittybubbles]

we were there 12/12 to 12/14. We did find the crowds to be larger than we expected, but I have certainly been there when there were longer lines.

We have been there the first week of DEC before but never this late in the year.

They certainly had some great offers to boast our spending while there.

SAT had a pass holder sale in the AM on at World of Disney. Then, when we got lunch at Cosmic Ray's, the receipt contained a 20% off merchandise (if used before noon) at the bigger park shops as well as WoD.

When we got our bill for our stay, we were surprised to find a coupon for 35% off merchandise at the hotel shops (as well as some downtown Disney shops).

We were also surprised to find out that pins that had 2009 on them were 50% off....it was surprising for they had no signs or anything to let you know these items were on sale.

 

[rkelly42]

Just got back from the world, was there from the Dec. 4th -12th. Crowds were heavier than expected, especially on the weekends. Also the pop warner kids really need to be supervised and should be clamped down on by disney. On more than one occasion we ran into groups of kids unsupervised causing problems. Also unfortunately the weather was none to great either, but as long as I am in disney I am happy. Just wont go back the same time next year.

 

[fosse76]

just got back last night from the world and can back this up. For the past week it had been busy, but nothing to bad. Yesterday, Saturday Dec 12th, we went to EPCOT and found the park to be more busy then it had been for the whole week. We did see lots of matching jump suites and cheering kids, but still had a great time....also it was fun because we heard the computers went down at least in the restaurants mid day which is why our bill from Chefs De France was hand written!

Hmmm...I was there Saturday through last night, and while crowded, I found it to be about the same as when I went in September. My longest wait for any attraction was the single rider line at RnR yesterday...25 minutes. I wasn't happy. But I found everything else to be rather typical. The two times I went on TSMM the wait was an hour, even with my FP for Soarin' I only waited about 5 minutes (usually after the FP collection point I have another 20 minutes to go). Space Mountain was the only attraction I came across the entire trip where there was a consistantly long wait. I found it to be rather moderate/light.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

Obviously this is a matter of opinion. With the exception of last Saturday (the day that started this thread), I think the crowds have been fine. I'm at epcot right now, and waits are very manageable.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

Obviously this is a matter of opinion. With the exception of last Saturday (the day that started this thread), I think the crowds have been fine. I'm at epcot right now, and waits are very manageable.

Good to hear. :wave: