Whats the worse crowd of the year?

[JoeV]

Just curious. For passholders and people who go to Disney World frequently-- What is it like on the worse day of the year? I hear it is during the Christmas Holidays but I am not sure. I have seen photos that show what looks like every square inch of the park walkways filled with people. Is it really that crowded or is that just a selective photo meant to exaggerate the crowds? On my visit it was pretty packed. on Main Street in Magic Kingdom and it was at times shoulder-to-shoulder traffic and finding a place to sit could be difficult. I was talking to a couple of local folks and they indicated it was crowded but it can get much more crowded during peak times. I really couldn't imagine it being more crowded but the photos I have seen indicate otherwise.

I also heard they stop letting people in the park after a certain volume is reached. Is this true or just a legend?

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Just curious. For passholders and people who go to Disney World frequently-- What is it like on the worse day of the year? I hear it is during the Christmas Holidays but I am not sure. I have seen photos that show what looks like every square inch of the park walkways filled with people. Is it really that crowded or is that just a selective photo meant to exaggerate the crowds? On my visit it was pretty packed. on Main Street in Magic Kingdom and it was at times shoulder-to-shoulder traffic and finding a place to sit could be difficult. I was talking to a couple of local folks and they indicated it was crowded but it can get much more crowded during peak times. I really couldn't imagine it being more crowded but the photos I have seen indicate otherwise.

Yes, Christmas, and yes, it's that bad. Think of what Main Street was like and picture every inch of the Magic Kingdom like that. It's not just busy, it's dangerous.

I also heard they stop letting people in the park after a certain volume is reached. Is this true or just a legend?

Yes, it's real.

http://www.wdwmagic.com/park-closing-phases.htm

 

[JoeV]

Ouch.. That would definitely be bad if you traveled long distance to the park and it was closed. Kind of like Clark Griswold in the Vacation movie going to Wally World and seeing Marty Moose at the entrance. "Hyuk ,Hyuk, Sorry Folks where'e closed !"

 

[xdan0920]

Ouch.. That would definitely be bad if you traveled long distance to the park and it was closed. Kind of like Clark Griswold in the Vacation movie going to Wally World and seeing Marty Moose at the entrance. "Hyuk ,Hyuk, Sorry Folks where'e closed !"

Honestly, if they would stop letting in foreign guests, they wouldn't have to close all the time.

 

[JIMINYCR]

You can pretty much count on closures during New Years, July 4th, and days during Christmas week, Thanksgiving, and Easter week.
Various friends of ours have gone during Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and the photos they brought back were all shoulder to shoulder guests. Unbelievable lines and waiting times for everything. Definitely not times we would choose to vacation there.

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

Spring break.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Spring break.

Not even close.

 

[Tom]

You have to be certifiably insane to want to go on those days. And whenbi hear people say, "It wasn't that bad," I know not to associate with those people.

Being denied access to the park during phased closings is a blessing in disguise.

 

[Po'Rich]

My first visit (2012) was at Christmas. While at MK, we heard a couple arguing in the locker room because they had spent the last two hours looking for each other. Both was accusing the other of not going to the rendevous spot. It turns out that the had both arrived at the right spot, but were on opposite sides of the street. The crowds were so bad that they didn't see each other.

My wife and I reflected that if we didn't have cell phones, that couple could have easily been us. We would call and direct each other up to the point where we were touching. The sea of people was really that dense.

Just the same, it wasn't so bad that we wouldn't go back. In fact, we are returning at Christmas this year.

 

[JoeV]

I imagine the worse job on those days is probably the janitors who need to keep the restrooms spotless, especially the ones outside the eateries in the Mexico pavilion in Epcot.

 

[Arthur Wellesley]

As being someone who has witnessed the infamous week of Christmas - New Year's...I gotta implore you to heed the Captain's warning & be very cautious to visit during that time. It really is that bad. (Especially Christmas Day & New Year's Eve)

If anyone answers this topic with something other than the week of Christmas - New Year's...then they have not been during that time, and thus have not witnessed it's wrath.

There's busy, and then there's insane. And just above those two...you have Christmas week.

 

[BringMeTheHoriz]

Local, so I've been just about every time of the year. July 3rd and 4th are busy, but manageable. Christmas to New Years on the other hand is an absolute madhouse. More people than you can imagine, and most of them are at their wits end so things aren't always very happy. But I'm a sucker for fireworks, and Disney's New Year's edition at the MK is absolutely fantastic. I'll show up to the MK at about 5PM on New Year's Eve, grab a bite to eat, walk around, then go find a spot to sit on for three hours to watch the fireworks. The only thing you can do is keep a good attitude and just laugh at what you see. I also bring a deck of cards, amazing how much fun you can have with your friends (and how many friends you'll make) with a simple deck of cards.

Historically on NYE after midnight the MK clears out, and then they're usually open another couple of hours. The music the DJ is playing is pumped through every speaker in the park, most of the rides are walk-ons, and everyone left is typically in the best of moods. Those couple of hours at the MK after midnight are the best hours of the year at WDW for me, I really look forward to them.

 

[mf1972]

Brazillian tour groups. someone had to say it.

 

[halltd]

I've been during almost every week as an out of town visitor (now live local) and the absolute worst day ever (like I never want to repeat that feeling again) was NYE at the MK. The crowd level is insanity bordering on "how did they physically even get this many people into this space". Weirdly enough, we went early in the day (park open) to try and get in as much as possible because we anticipated it would be busy. Up until maybe 4:00pm, the park was deserted. Honestly, like a ghost town. Then we made the mistake of leaving the park to eat dinner at Fort Wilderness. When we came back around 7:00/7:30pm, it was a madhouse. Up until midnight, it just kept getting worse and worse and worse. You could only walk around the park clockwise, so if you wanted to go from Main Street to Tomorrowland, you had to walk ALL the way around the park...which would have taken over an hour because of how slow people were moving. Also as mentioned above, no one was in a good mood, so it was pushing, shoving, screaming, and all-around non-happiness.

Never again. The "special" fireworks intro they did prior to the normal Wishes show was not nearly worth the aggravation.

 

[FigmentForver96]

The 4th is really bad. Magic kingdom hit capacity, but they told us that since we were pass holders they would let us in. We decided to hit Epcot instead. We waited 30 minutes for The Seas and 4 hours for Sorian. We then sat by the open air theater by American Adventure until the firework started. Great fireworks...not going back for the 4th ever again though

 

[WondersOfLife]

When I was little, we were in Florida during spring break and we were thinking about dropping by Magic Kingdom.. Once we saw all of the traffic going into MK's parking lot we just turned around and left.

 

[Big Mac]

Have to agree, Christmas through New Year is the busiest by far!

 

[Big Mac]

I've been during almost every week as an out of town visitor (now live local) and the absolute worst day ever (like I never want to repeat that feeling again) was NYE at the MK. The crowd level is insanity bordering on "how did they physically even get this many people into this space". Weirdly enough, we went early in the day (park open) to try and get in as much as possible because we anticipated it would be busy. Up until maybe 4:00pm, the park was deserted. Honestly, like a ghost town. Then we made the mistake of leaving the park to eat dinner at Fort Wilderness. When we came back around 7:00/7:30pm, it was a madhouse. Up until midnight, it just kept getting worse and worse and worse. You could only walk around the park clockwise, so if you wanted to go from Main Street to Tomorrowland, you had to walk ALL the way around the park...which would have taken over an hour because of how slow people were moving. Also as mentioned above, no one was in a good mood, so it was pushing, shoving, screaming, and all-around non-happiness.

Never again. The "special" fireworks intro they did prior to the normal Wishes show was not nearly worth the aggravation.

We always watch the NYE fireworks from The Polynesian, room to breathe and a fabulous view of the fireworks too!

 

[DfromATX]

I've been during Christmas, July 4, and a couple times in June. By far, the worst time was July 4. We will never go in July ever again! It was so crowded and HOT. June is our preferred month. I would love to go sometime in October, but we, like most others, have to go when school is out.

 

[bub72ck]

My first WDW trip was the week between Christmas and NYD in 2009 (it was my wife's grandparents 50th anniversary) and the crowds were unreal. 2 hour plus waits for basically everything and people shoulder to shoulder. We had a member of our party in a wheelchair and they basically ran her over to get to stuff. I know MK was at capacity one of the days we were there by noon. We get to the gate and the guy directing the parking said "You're going to the racetrack right?" *wink*. We said Yes and he let us in to go to the racetrack where we promptly got on the shuttle and went to MK even though it was closed. The track isn't there anymore so the trick will no longer work.