Why so busy!?

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Callum1994

New Member
Original Poster
Hello all,

I have just returned yesterday from a 14 which turned to 15 night due to hurricane Matthew stay at Walt Disney world. We stayed in the port Orleans French quarter with a river view which was average.
What we are wondering is why was Disney world so horrendously busy! We have been to WDW 5 times in previous years but we have never experienced the place to be so busy. Has there been any special events on or anything happening out of the usual which could have caused this. Magic kingdom was especially bedlam to the point where it was no longer enjoyable, even more so when the night time fireworks and parades were on.
Additionally overall the Disney standard we have been used to has seemed to drop and the prices have rose dramatically. Anyway that's a different issue I won't go into at this time.

Any help will be appreciated! As I love WDW but she sheer size of the crowds were dangerous at times and have put us off.
Thank you , Callum.
 
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Callum1994

New Member
Original Poster
That's what I was thinking , we have been before when food and wine was on but never Halloween. Didn't expect Halloween to be so popular ( we are from the uk where it's not much of a big deal ).
We have been for Christmas time before, and done mickeys Christmas party in 2012 but that was nowhere near the crowds we have just experienced.
 
dreamfinder

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
WDW is doing a great job of minimizing the "quiet" season. Through the cost structure, as well as events like Food & Wine and the MK parties, they are drawing crowds to time period that would have otherwise been slower.

You would have run into a few things. First, MSEP was doing it's last few parades, so people may have been there at night specifically to see the parade. Second, with MNSSHP running 3 or 4 nights a week, that tends to force people who wanted to see MSEP or Wishes to MK on fewer nights, causing the night time to be more crowded.
 
Pleakley

Pleakley

Active Member
I believe many schools in the South have "fall break" the first few weeks of October. And then many people take long weekend trips for Columbus Day.

Personally I find it far less busy towards the end of the month. Then it picks up again for the races, Jersey Week and Veteran's Day.
 
DznyGrlSD

DznyGrlSD

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
We were there 9/20-28 and it didn't seem busy to me at all. I'm sure with the 45th crowd it was busy around the 1st
 
Pirate Magic

Pirate Magic

Well-Known Member
We went down Sept 27 to Oct 4. We went to MNSSHP on Sunday, Oct 2. It was a zoo. We had to wait to get the Halloween bands because they ran out of them and that was about 5:30 or 6:00 pm. Guests were complaining that they had dinner reservations and the CM seemed not very concerned about it. There was a lot of guest in MK that night. We have gone in the past around the same dates every year and it was never crowded as it was this year.
 
E

Eddie Garrison

Well-Known Member
Wild. With the exception of last Tuesday eveing at EPCOT ... We find Disney about average (so to speak) this time of year. Even with those crowds ... we still were able to hit four kiosks & watch Illuminations with no issies in two hours of enterinf the park.

We were at Magic last night for the last MSEP and that was less than I thought it would be.

Went to Studios for a bit this afternoon to see some friends and was not crowded at all (to me)
 
LeighM

LeighM

Well-Known Member
I think the pricing tier really affected crowds this year. I was there from Oct 1st-8th and it was really busy. I could only be in MK during the nighttime EMH because it wasn't enjoyable during the day. I told my husband that I couldn't go back that time of year anymore. I'll try December next time.
 
LeighM

LeighM

Well-Known Member
Pirate Magic said:
We went down Sept 27 to Oct 4. We went to MNSSHP on Sunday, Oct 2. It was a zoo. We had to wait to get the Halloween bands because they ran out of them and that was about 5:30 or 6:00 pm. Guests were complaining that they had dinner reservations and the CM seemed not very concerned about it. There was a lot of guest in MK that night. We have gone in the past around the same dates every year and it was never crowded as it was this year.
Click to expand...

Glad I wasn't the only one who thought things were crazy for the Oct 2nd Halloween party!
 
MickeyMomV

MickeyMomV

Well-Known Member
Why so busy? Because crowd levels have done nothing but increase for the last 5 or 6 years. There doesn't need to be anything "special" going on anymore for the parks to be busy. The parks can be slammed just because its a Thursday. The days of slow weeks or months are pretty much gone. You may still have a slow day here and there or if you are lucky you may come across a slow 2 or 3 days in a row but that is not very common. As many people have said on here just plan your days, have your fast passes ready, know that there will be crowds, and just HAVE FUN. Even on the busiest of days the parks can be a blast if you plan for it and remember the busier the park is the better the people watching is!! :)
 
networkpro

networkpro

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
Dont forget the impact that the previous weeks' two parties torrential downpours had on shifting attendance. The 2nd was a sellout and one of the last two dates with discounts available. My wife and I were there and it was manageable.
 
DuckTalesWooHoo1987

DuckTalesWooHoo1987

Well-Known Member
October is definitely more crowded than it used to be. Our DVC points per day are more in October than they used to be. Seems like when we joined October was the cheapest time, points wise, to go. Now it is moved in to the 2nd cheapest "season", as they put it. Columbus Day, Food and Wine, Halloween parties, tons of construction, and ride refurbs also attribute to making the crowds seem much more congested and focused. When everything is firing on all cylinders it can spread things out a little.
 
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carriebeth

Well-Known Member
The Food and Wine seems to be a huge draw these days. Seems whenever I mention to anyone we are going to Disney in the fall or we were just at Disney the first thing they ask is if we got to go to food and wine. I think a lot of people try to schedule during it now.

Another thing is I think people are just more taken with Halloween these days than ever. I went from sort of a kid's holiday when I was little to a huge big deal with adults getting into it more so than most kids these days. So the Halloween parties are a huge draw.

Also October is sort of the first break from super hot weather that FL would have had for quite a few months prior.
 
TXDisney

TXDisney

Well-Known Member
WDW is becoming more and more popular. People looking at crowd charts and planning in advance his happening more and more. I'm not sure there will ever be a low season at WDW again. Yes there will be lower crowds but not a low season. We still go in what we "think" is low times, but they are more crowded than they've been in the past. The only thing I can see helping the lines is the 3 additions, Avatarland, Sayr Wars land and tot story land. Might take some of the crowds out of MK and Epcot. Even then I see it being sick a minimal change that it won't be thy noticeable.
 

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