Record crowds this month?

[RalphieN]

I spent a day in EPCOT in September 2009 during the F&W Fest and was amazed at how crowded it was. I think the F&W Fest has become a large attraction for EPCOT. I wonder how the crowds at the other parks compare.

 

[Disaddict]

I'm going to go ahead and be selfish here and say that I'd prefer the parks were empty. I know that more guests=more revenue=more spent on the parks upkeep but a part of me just wants the crowds to be back like they were in October 2005. That was the lowest I personally have seen the parks in the years I have been going. It was a leteral "walk-on" to any attraction. ANY, attraction. And that was almost all day. It was also a lot cooler during the day then.

 

[Hakunamatata]

I'm going to go ahead and be selfish here and say that I'd prefer the parks were empty. I know that more guests=more revenue=more spent on the parks upkeep but a part of me just wants the crowds to be back like they were in October 2005. That was the lowest I personally have seen the parks in the years I have been going. It was a leteral "walk-on" to any attraction. ANY, attraction. And that was almost all day. It was also a lot cooler during the day then.

We honeymooned at WDW in Nov 2002. The crowds were so lite that you just sat at the resort and they brought the attractions to you. In all seriousness though, it was nice to have such lite crowds, but that can't go on much or they would cease to operate.

 

[llrain]

Just goes to show why are these crowd meters even in existance. Its obvious that they are completely inaccurate, sorta like all those wait time apps.
Cant believe people use those crowd meters and swear by them.

Just got back from 5 days in the World -- and it is absolutely the heaviest crowds I have seen there in mid-October...

All four parks were packed Wed, Thurs, Fri, and Saturday was ridiculous -- I would estimate crowds of 6/10 during the week, and a solid 10 on Saturday. Both the magic Kingdom and Epcot were packed to the gills on Saturday. I actually found myself leaving Epcot right after lunch, heading to MK for a couple hours, and leaving. Spent the rest of the afternoon/evening at Downtown Disney (also packed) but went to the movies, had dinner, and spent a relaxing last night there, rather than braving the crowds.

Also went to MNSSHP on Friday night, and it was also packed -- although, like most special events at MK, the crowds were at the parades and treat-centers, and the rides were pretty much walk-ons.

BIG BIG crowds during a week that is normally a 2/10 on the crowd level meter, at east during the week itself.

 

[RSoxNo1]

I'm going to go ahead and be selfish here and say that I'd prefer the parks were empty. I know that more guests=more revenue=more spent on the parks upkeep but a part of me just wants the crowds to be back like they were in October 2005. That was the lowest I personally have seen the parks in the years I have been going. It was a leteral "walk-on" to any attraction. ANY, attraction. And that was almost all day. It was also a lot cooler during the day then.

I'd rather be in a busier park where the crowds can be better dispersed.

 

[MysticOrient]

WS turned into a pick-up joint

We saw the same thing, too, and I just assumed it was mostly locals. But what we also saw, which I'd never seen (noticed?) before was the volume of drunken women! We stayed at the BWV, and as we walked back to our room, on 2 separate occasions, women were being carried by friends / spouses. My 9-year old kept saying, "Wow... there's another drunk person."

Additionally, World Showcase felt like a pick-up bar! We'd walk by various kiosks and hear "clever" lines such as {insert slur here}, "Hey! {to the random pretty blond walking by}... I saw you here yesterday!" I was waiting for the original "what's your sign" comment to pop up. :ROFLOL:

But yes, it was CRAZY busy.

Judy

 

[RonAnnArbor]

I guess something to keep in mind is that any special event like the Food and Wine festival is geared toward local Orlando folks, not casual tourists, who sort of get stuck dealing with it.

There are huge groups of college kids, alumni clubs, etc that specifically plan their fall activities to coincide with the Food and Wine Festival, and they show up en masse. This is an event that was created to bring in the locals to spend money at Epcot during a period of the year that used to be dead.

Well, Disney Enterprises is clearly very very happy with that turnout. The entire reason for the locals flocking to the park is to specifically go to drink and sample foods -- they don't do the attractions, they don't utilize the park....they go to drink, socialize, and (yes) use it like a big outdoor bar. The same as every other such festival across the country.

 

[WDW1974]

I also have to say that yesterday at food and wine was madness. Thankfully we started at 11 when WS opened, but for the last 1/3 of our way through the place was madness. I have taken a Sat to tackle the festival the last two years and both were not even remotely this crowded (and last year I went the last weekend which is usually more crowded). The parks were also more crowded than I expected, but manageable.

I know some folks will use the 'weekend and the locals came out to get drunk' excuse ... but I've been visiting for years during Food and Wine Fest weekends and never have I seen crowds like this.

But also I saw this month is almost entirely free dining, which I have to believe plays a factor. DDP has existed for 5-6 years now, but FREE (or what Disney calls it) DDP hasn't been a Food and Wine staple.

I ate some great meals thanks to the booths having ridiculous lines, so I really can't complain.

But I didn't see Starship or Sugar Ray (and I have no idea who the latter is).

~GFC~

 

[WDW1974]

Won't presume to call myself your friend (more Spirited fanboi), but HHN was typical Friday, even a little slow early on. Sunday was insane. Lines climbed to 30 minutes by 7:00, over an hour by 8:00. Seemed largely due to Osceola County schools being out today--the crowd was very young, and Finnegans was actually less crowded than normal considering an NFL game and the World Series were on. (BTW, last Monday Orange County schools were out).

I AM a Spirited fanboi myself. I wouldn't be here otherwise (shocking, I know). I heard the same from friends about Sunday. When we went last Sunday (10/16) we were there 40 minutes before official opening and they let us right in, so we managed to see four of eight houses with waits all under 10 minutes before 8. The crowds though started building and a 45 minute wait posted for Nevermore turned into a 1 hour and 15 minute hellish back and forth backstage.:fork:

That drove us to Finnegans for dinner, which to go off on another tangent has amazing food at slightly more than QS prices (BEFORE the AP discount) that you can walk right in ... I do NOT get the whole crazy process that Disney Dining has become or why people find it MAGICal.

Anyway, wound up doing all eight houses and most of the scarezones and doing one ride on Jaws. Would have liked to have seen Nightengales again and ... almost any of the houses ... they really changed things up this year and made what had become a stale event feel fresh this year. Only bad thing was Bill and Ted's, which is usually a lot of fun was a :snore: fest and I wish we would have gone back to 1-2 houses instead.

Didn't attend Saturday, but scuttlebutt among team members is that it was one of two nights that sold out this year. It's counter-intuitive, but the weekend before Halloween seems to be the busiest at HHN. Fall breaks play a part, but also there's much more competition Halloween weekend. Every bar in town holds a costume contest, and there are all kinds of private parties Friday and Saturday.

Yep. I have noticed that. You'd think that most people would want to go next weekend and 10/31 itself, but I'll bet the crowds will likely go down as we get to the weekend.

BTW, someone needs to tell Disney that having a MNSSHP on 11/1 is a tacky money-grab. Guess they need to make up for not having events before Labor Day this year!

This past Saturday at F&W felt even busier than 10/15. Satellite lots were largely full. F&W has always been busy on the weekends, but this year just seems even busier. Some interesting theories, but I'm still at a loss as for why.

D. D. P.

My guess.

~GFC~

 

[Communicore]

Just got back from MK and Epcot theme park today and the TTC was extremely crowded even at 3 pm. Definitely a lot more people than in previous Octobers. Even the much maligned Stitch ride and Philharmagic were packed! I also made sure we got to see the F&W festival center at the area formerly known as WOL and it looks like a dedicated F&W area now opposed to a patch up in years past.

 

[WDW1974]

Just goes to show why are these crowd meters even in existance. Its obvious that they are completely inaccurate, sorta like all those wait time apps.
Cant believe people use those crowd meters and swear by them.

Agreed.

I think they just exist (much like so many blogs/podcasts/websites) for people to join in on the Disney Social Media . I read these predictions and wonder what these folks are smoking and why people would even begin to believe them. They never seem to take into account any real world factors, which could be things like: free dining, local schools out, huge conventions in town, special events at certain parks affecting attendance at others etc.

~GFC~

 

[havoc315]

Just goes to show why are these crowd meters even in existance. Its obvious that they are completely inaccurate, sorta like all those wait time apps.
Cant believe people use those crowd meters and swear by them.

Actually, this thread is practically a commercial for using the crowd calendars. For example, it sounds like touringplans accurately predicted a ridiculously large crowd for Epcot on Sat Oct 8, and very high crowds for Saturdays all month. A user of the crowd calendars could easily have chosen to visit parks on "1-5" days, of which there are plenty in October, as opposed to "8-10" days, which it appears, were accurately predicted.

 

[93boomer]

We just got back from WDW. We were there 16th - 22nd. On Sunday, we had the typical crowd on the weekend and F&W at Epcot. The crowds still seemed more than usual at all the other parks during the week. On Tuesday, we got to HS early to get fpasses for Buzz. By the time we got through bag ck and turnstiles and got to the fpasses, the line was almost to the Little Mermaid ride. And that was just for fpasses. So, we declined to wait that long. We walked back by the standing line later on and the wait was 200 mts.! We thought surely this can't be, but it was right. We have been 20 trips to WDW and never have seen that long a wait. On Friday, our last full day, we wanted to spend it at Epcot so we went there. It was full but manageable. Toward the evening, however, it just got so bad with lines for the food kiosks and long lines for rides, we cleared out around 7. I guess you just have to deal with the bad crowds if you want to go to WDW, no matter what time of year.

 

[71jason]

I AM a Spirited fanboi myself. I wouldn't be here otherwise (shocking, I know).

LOL, I meant more a fanboi of the Spirit than Disney itself (tho it's impossible to be the former if you're not the latter)...

That drove us to Finnegans for dinner, which to go off on another tangent has amazing food at slightly more than QS prices (BEFORE the AP discount) that you can walk right in ... I do NOT get the whole crazy process that Disney Dining has become or why people find it MAGICal.

I totally agree. Amazing food that would be a good deal OUTSIDE a theme park. BTW, not sure if you had a drink before hand, but some of the best bartenders in Orlando (a couple of whom have been there over a decade). There's a reason this place is often packed with local "regulars."

 

[EpcotCenter82]

Disney, of course, doesn't release that info. They just leak it when convenient.

But I just got back from almost a week in O-Town (was at all four Disney parks as well as UNI) and the crowds shocked me. We are still in a global recession/depression after all.

What surprised me the most was EPCOT's crowds, especially on Saturday. I have visited this month annually (except for 2009) for as far back as I can recall. I have NEVER seen EPCOT that busy during Food and Wine Fest. It was more of a July 4th or Christmas week crowd than a second week in October deal.

I would be very surprised if Disney didn't set some sort of October record (or records). Just the fact they are extending EPCOT's hours on Saturdays (why they moved EMH's away from Fridays doesn't make sense, but that is another subject).

It was so packed that after one snack (a very tasty sausage from Portugal, only twice the price it should have been -- yet another DDP result!), I gave up on snacking around the world and took off for the House of Blues at DD.

Epcot was also packed on Friday evening, 10/21. I had a reservation for the Dessert Discovery at 6:30 PM. When I made it through future world, world showcase was wall to wall people from Canada all the way to at least France. I almost turned around and went back to my resort as I did not want to try to navigate through all of the people.

 

[baanman]

We just got back from WDW. We were there 16th - 22nd. On Sunday, we had the typical crowd on the weekend and F&W at Epcot. The crowds still seemed more than usual at all the other parks during the week. On Tuesday, we got to HS early to get fpasses for Buzz. By the time we got through bag ck and turnstiles and got to the fpasses, the line was almost to the Little Mermaid ride. And that was just for fpasses. So, we declined to wait that long. We walked back by the standing line later on and the wait was 200 mts.! We thought surely this can't be, but it was right. We have been 20 trips to WDW and never have seen that long a wait. On Friday, our last full day, we wanted to spend it at Epcot so we went there. It was full but manageable. Toward the evening, however, it just got so bad with lines for the food kiosks and long lines for rides, we cleared out around 7. I guess you just have to deal with the bad crowds if you want to go to WDW, no matter what time of year.

We were there at the same time quoted above. We have been going to WDW during the same week for a few years now. We have never seen crowds this large. Even last year, most of the attractions had 15 minute or less wait times. This year, 35 minutes to ride Pirates!

 

[havoc315]

We love touringplans but they really missed the boat for October. For example, on August 25 they predicted a Crowd Level of "5" for October 22. It turned out to be a "9". touringplans did an excellent job of updating their predictions as soon as they got an indication of the increased crowd level (i.e. WDW changing their park hours). However, if we had booked a trip (which we almost did) based on touringplans August 25 prediction, we would have been shocked when we got there. touringplans always emphasizes the importance of a good touring plan, and we agree, but we still like to use to Crowd Calendar to avoid busy days. This October definitely has been different than previous Octobers.

Touringplans is FAR from perfect. And I think they make some pretty obvious errors sometimes, like waiting until hours are changed before increasing the crowd predictions -- when it can already be fairly predictable that Disney will be increasing hours. For example, we are going around President's Week 2012. TP has some "8's"... which will be increased to "9's" and "10's" when Disney officially increases the hours, but why not make the adjustment now?

In terms of October 2011-- You cite October 22nd... TP claims that their Oct 22nd stats were pretty close to correct. They are claiming that they predicted an 8.8 for Epcot, and it was actually an 8.9.
Of course, as you are saying -- it's quite possible that their prediction was way off when looked at 2 months in advance, but was correct when adjusted about a month before.

So I guess it's a good demonstration of the pros and the cons of the crowd calendar --- Very very accurate, when examined a few weeks before travel, but can sometimes be significantly off base when planning months in advance.

 

[Master Yoda]

Touringplans is FAR from perfect. And I think they make some pretty obvious errors sometimes, like waiting until hours are changed before increasing the crowd predictions -- when it can already be fairly predictable that Disney will be increasing hours. For example, we are going around President's Week 2012. TP has some "8's"... which will be increased to "9's" and "10's" when Disney officially increases the hours, but why not make the adjustment now?

In terms of October 2011-- You cite October 22nd... TP claims that their Oct 22nd stats were pretty close to correct. They are claiming that they predicted an 8.8 for Epcot, and it was actually an 8.9.
Of course, as you are saying -- it's quite possible that their prediction was way off when looked at 2 months in advance, but was correct when adjusted about a month before.

So I guess it's a good demonstration of the pros and the cons of the crowd calendar --- Very very accurate, when examined a few weeks before travel, but can sometimes be significantly off base when planning months in advance.

Touringplans is not unlike a weather forecast. The closer you get the more data you have and the more accurate the predictions will be but, just like the weather, it can be way off at times. It by no means invalidates the site and their methods but you have to have a backup plan if it goes wonky.

 

[SleepingMonk]

Just got back from a four day trip.

EPCOT was insane most of the weekend. Shoulder to shoulder, standing room only, crazy type insane!

The good part was everyone focused on the food & wine carts and neglected the actual restaurants. We walked into Via Napoli...twice, Le Cellier and San Angel with no reservation and no wait.

 

[Master Yoda]

Yes but WDW crowd levels are a bit more predictable than the weather. We all know it's going to be super crowded during Spring Break, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, crowded during the summer, empty in September and January. touringplans gets these right year after year (although I also agree with the earlier post ago President's Weekend; just make it a "10" now!)

I think October this year caught everyone off guard. It doesn't fit into the neat patterns of earlier years.

When you are looking at WDW as a whole you would be correct. When you start to break it own to the parks little unseen factors can really skew the numbers. Just like you can fairly easily predict the average rainfall in central Florida for the month with a good level of accuracy, it is quite hard to do the same thing for just Winter Haven.