Why is the first week of December so crowded?

MisterPenguin

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
Disneyfreak Jen said:
Yup!!
I used to live in Cape May, all they do is drive slow in the left lane. ALL the time. Refuse to move over when they’re doing 55 on the parkway and have a line of cars behind them. 😤
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NJ has a "Keep right except to pass" law and signs up all over the place to remind people. This creates a de facto use of the left lane as not only the passing lane but the 'fast lane.'

PA has no such law. That's why PA is awful.
 
Bpmorley

Bpmorley

Well-Known Member
MisterPenguin said:
NJ has a "Keep right except to pass" law and signs up all over the place to remind people. This creates a de facto use of the left lane as not only the passing lane but the 'fast lane.'

PA has no such law. That's why PA is awful.
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PA has the same signs up on major highways. Regardless of law, it's never enforced so it doesn't matter. But in my 35 years of driving I've always found Jersey drivers to be way worse in this regard.
 
geekza

geekza

Well-Known Member
Disneyfreak Jen said:
Yup!!
I used to live in Cape May, all they do is drive slow in the left lane. ALL the time. Refuse to move over when they’re doing 55 on the parkway and have a line of cars behind them. 😤
Click to expand...
Ooh! I just watched a slasher film that was made there! The Prowler! (Don't judge me. It wasn't great, but the kills were spectacular.)
 
DarleneBurrows

DarleneBurrows

Active Member
1) The Christmas event at Magic Kingdom - means that park closes at 6pm to those not paying an upcharge for the event, around 3 times a week. The typical tourist will be in Orlando for a week (maybe two), so they will want to avoid going to a park that closes at 6pm, and thus instead go to one of the of the other parks.

This then means those other parks will be crazy busy, as the guests normally going to Magic Kingdom are hitting other parks.

Then when the upcharge Christmas Party is not on at Magic Kingdom and it's open till 11pm, those days Magic Kingdom is insane.

It's this crowd dispensation that is skewed with these events.

Furthermore, doesn't help Hollywood Studios is a half day park.
 
R

RollerCoaster

Well-Known Member
DarleneBurrows said:
1) The Christmas event at Magic Kingdom - means that park closes at 6pm to those not paying an upcharge for the event, around 3 times a week. The typical tourist will be in Orlando for a week (maybe two), so they will want to avoid going to a park that closes at 6pm, and thus instead go to one of the of the other parks.
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Largely what you said is not true. On evenings when the Christmas party takes place the park closes to the public at 7:00 pm, not 6:00 pm. Guests attending the party may enter Magic Kingdom starting at 4:00 pm.

From my experience Magic Kingdom crowds during the day are exactly what you'd expect based on the day of the week. The early closing hour DOES NOT influence crowd patterns! Sundays are very busy. Tuesdays and Thursdays, not so much. The challenging days are Fridays and Sundays because typically these parties are well attended (sold out), so there is a massive crowd of people in the park between 4:00 and 7:00, the three hour overlap of public and party guests.

Crowds in the other parks are generally what you'd expect based on the day of the week. I never notice a significant increase in guests in the other parks due to the Christmas parties. If anything up to 20,000 attending the Christmas party remove bodies from the other parks!

The typical tourist is in Orlando for 3-5 days, not a week or two.

The single biggest impact to crowd patterns is Magic Hours. If you're not taking part or eligible for Magic Hours then avoid the park that is offering them. If Magic Kingdom opens early to Resort guests then go to another park. If EPCOT is staying open three additional hours then avoid that park in the evening and go in the morning instead.
 
D

drizgirl

Well-Known Member
UltimateRollercoaster said:
Largely what you said is not true. On evenings when the Christmas party takes place the park closes to the public at 7:00 pm, not 6:00 pm. Guests attending the party may enter Magic Kingdom starting at 4:00 pm.

From my experience Magic Kingdom crowds during the day are exactly what you'd expect based on the day of the week. The early closing hour DOES NOT influence crowd patterns! Sundays are very busy. Tuesdays and Thursdays, not so much. The challenging days are Fridays and Sundays because typically these parties are well attended (sold out), so there is a massive crowd of people in the park between 4:00 and 7:00, the three hour overlap of public and party guests.

Crowds in the other parks are generally what you'd expect based on the day of the week. I never notice a significant increase in guests in the other parks due to the Christmas parties. If anything up to 20,000 attending the Christmas party remove bodies from the other parks!

The typical tourist is in Orlando for 3-5 days, not a week or two.

The single biggest impact to crowd patterns is Magic Hours. If you're not taking part or eligible for Magic Hours then avoid the park that is offering them. If Magic Kingdom opens early to Resort guests then go to another park. If EPCOT is staying open three additional hours then avoid that park in the evening and go in the morning instead.
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MK does now close at 6 on party nights.

And we'll have to agree to disagree on crowd patterns being affected by early closings. I still think it's a big deterrent to some people, making crowds on the few non-party nights really awful, even during slower crowd seasons.
 

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