Some wait times for today 6/9/11

[Aurora]

Parks were still crowded today. Got to DHS at 8:15 for park opening at 9 a.m. They let crowds in at 8:40 up to the end of the main street. Crowds backed up from there almost to entrance. Rope was dropped at 8:55. Walked VERY fast to Fast Passes for Toy Story Mania while rest of group went to Star Wars. Line for FPs for TSM was about 10 minutes when I got there; there was an attendant at each machine loading tickets. While my party got in line for Star Wars, wait time was updated from 5 minutes to 30 minutes. Returned to TSM at 10:45 to use FPs; ALL FPs for TSM were GONE for the day by this time!!

Did Muppet Vision 3D at 12:45; preshow was full. The 1:20 p.m. Lights Motors Action show was nearly a full house in 5,000 person stadium. By 2:10 TSM was a 90-minute wait; Rock & Roller Coaster 60 min., Tower of Terror was marked 20 min. standby.

MANY guests commenting on the crowds this week. Seemed to be a surprise to everyone. Big problems with Soarin' reported wait times. Guests complained yesterday that they waited 1 hour 40 minutes and then left. When we got in line at 7:15 p.m. the posted wait time at Soarin' was 70 minutes. I asked the attendant whether that was the actual wait time or if we should expect to wait longer; he said it was the actual standby wait. We waited 110 minutes, nearly two hours. One person standing in line said the time at the front of the park stated a wait time of 110 minutes; but when they saw the 70 minute wait time at Soarin entrance decided to get in line. Frustrating.

[Strmchsr]

Thanks for the update. I think the folks commenting on the crowds must be folks who have been to Disney during previous years. Every single month of the year I'm hearing folks commenting on crowds being bigger than they expected (especially during supposed slow times like January and May) because they remembered the crowds being lower in the previous years. Crowds are just big year round now. There really isn't a "slow" time anymore. Just "slower."

[alaMode]

We were there last year 6/5-6/11 & I do recall it got much more crowded toward the end of our stay. The weather was beautiful, though! It was definitely a "get there before it opens" trip, and the weather was perfect for those mid-day pool breaks. It was our first school vacation trip so we planned a lot more, but we still had so much fun!
We couldn't do early June this year because of snow days, but if all goes as planned next year, we'll be there by June 1st!

[Aurora]

We really couldn't count on any expert predictions for this trip. All wait times were above what typical wait times have been historically for this time of year. Even the Unofficial Guide/TouringPlans website were conservative compared with what we experienced. We have been at this time of year before, and it wasn't just a little different; it was markedly different at all the parks we visited (we did not get to Animal Kingdom). The crowds were actually lower on Friday than mid-week. I'll try to write a whole trip report, and we did have a good time, but we were missed a lot this year because of the crowds.

[alaMode]

Do you think it's because more schools around the US are getting out in late May/ early June?

We live in Chicagoland and our school district began and ended the last 2 school years about 10 days earlier than usual and will continue to do so for at least the next 2 years.

[Aurora]

It's possible. If I had to pinpoint a group that was representative of the crowds, it would be families with small to middle-age children. Frankly there were far fewer strollers and scooters than we've seen in the past, and not a lot of teens either. But there were tons and tons of families.

[garymacd]

It's possible. If I had to pinpoint a group that was representative of the crowds, it would be families with small to middle-age children. Frankly there were far fewer strollers and scooters than we've seen in the past, and not a lot of teens either. But there were tons and tons of families.

We headed down on the US Memorial Day weekend. Traffic wasn't too bad - much better than I thought it would be. That's when we found out about the schools getting out that weekend and thought it was going to be bedlam at the parks - and there were pretty heavy crowds.

Add to this that our last weekend was a Star Wars weekend AND an unofficial Gay Pride Weekend at the parks. DHS was absolutely jammed! Trying to move past Star Tours was a chore, and everything was absolutely full - every attraction, every ride, every restaurant.

Good times, good times.

[timberho]

You also went to DHS on a fantasmic day which adds to the crowds. I read in another report that the day before was pretty empty at DHS.

[Aurora]

You also went to DHS on a fantasmic day which adds to the crowds. I read in another report that the day before was pretty empty at DHS.

That may be true, but I doubt that was the only reason for the large crowds starting before park opening. Visitors this past week had a chance to see Fantasmic twice a night on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I can't imagine that so many people (whom you would have to assume didn't have park hoppers) would have arrived so early in the morning just to see Fantasmic late at night.