How's Attendance?

[imaprincess!]

How has attendance been given the state of the economy? Would you rate the crowds as elbow-to-elbow or a mouse's tail length apart?

[spoiledraf]

Picked up tremendously yesterday. Just got back last night and it was pretty heavy all week. Definately get in the parks early. Fast passes for Soaring at 10:40 on the morning were for 6pm as an example. Temps in the mid 90s and humid, as to be expected.

[momofaprincess]

May 31-June 7 was great. Most rides 20 minutes or less except major rides which were doable with FP or emh. June 8th was miserable. It looked like the floodgates had opened. June 9th was worse. FP times at 8:45am were already for the afternoon and the park hadn't opened yet for non-resort visitors. I'd plan for elbow to elbow.

[kcrc]

We're going next week. I'm trying to keep the positive attitude of - we've been there before, we'll be there again, so we'll just go with the flow... I hope I still have that attitude once I'm actually standing in wall to wall people!!

[imaprincess!]

Wow! Thanks for the info. Very helpful.

[joonyer]

It's a secret , nobody really knows, except for anecdotal evidence of crowds when they visit. Disney doesn't release attendance figures except for the previous year. Everytime we go (at different times of year) it "seems" crowded in the parks just by looking at all the people, but you can usually get a good idea of relative attendance by how long the wait times are at the most popular attractions. But there are many variables that affect actual attendance on a particular day; weather for instance.

[BecuzISaidSo123]

Just got back (June 6 - June 11) and it was PACKED. Many fast passes were sold out by noon. Waited 90 minutes for Fast Track; although the gate said it was a 60 minute wait. At one point, the Soarin board said 110 minute wait. We stayed at Pop Century and no matter when I went down to the Food Court it was always crowded. Buses were always standing room only.

[grumpyguy]

sounds like the promo's must be working,
that's great to hear!!

[hubbyofadisneyholic]

I agree with the above.
We were there from the 7th - 15th and it was more crowded than any June we have seen over the last 7 or 8 yrs.

The wait times varied from pretty "normal" to totally crazy. Standby lines of 40 - 80 minutes were common. Fast Pass return times were all over the board.

One thing I did notice was that the shops were not as busy as we have seen in the past.
Don't know if that's due to the economy or people cutting back on luggage because of all the airline fees...

[LorrieP]

Just got back today. Thursday, 6/11 at Epcot didn't seem that crowded.

Friday, 6/12 at AK wasn't too bad.

Saturday, 6/13 at MK was not very busy at all. At least not as busy as I have seen it in the past. Most rides were under 20 minute wait.

We spent Sunday, 6/14 at Seaworld and it was insane. Monday, 6/15 at Discovery Cove.

Tuesday, 6/16 at DHS was really busy and extremely hot. TSM was crazy. The fastpass line was longer than the stand-by line. RNC always had an 80 minute or longer wait. We lucked out on ToT, it only had a 50 minute wait and it didn't take that long.

Wednesday, 6/17 at Epcot was not extremely busy. Although Soarin's fastpass line was longer than the standby line when we got off the ride. We were there early and got on the first ride of the day. TT always had an extremely long wait so we skipped it.

[Jared]

I was there from May 28-31, and it seemed relatively crowded. Nothing crazy, but the parks weren't empty, either. Most reports I have read suggest the place is more crowded than one would expect, considering the economy. But like others have said, everything is based on purely anecdotal evidence.

[jcvalenti]

Ive been down here since 6/15, and am staying until 6/26.

The first three days, crowds were rather light (compared to our trip last year, from 6/25 - 7/8). On 6/15, we were in Epcot and there was almost no wait longer than 25 minutes, which I think is great for this time of year. On 6/16, we were in AK, which was extremely light. On 6/17 we were in MK, and it was the best June day I ever had - we saw every single ride we wanted to, with the only really long wait being Splash Mountain. Overall, it's been a good trip so far.

Just a note, though - we always make an effort to AVOID whichever park is having Extra Magic Hours that day. Crowds tend to gravitate to the EMH properties, and with the dining plan giveaway luring in the newbies, they just flock to the EMH park. Keeps the other ones more tolerable.

As usual, though, June is just a hot, sticky, busy month ... so your best bet is to be up early and at the gates when it opens, with a FP runner zipping ahead to to the major attractions.

[like2workout]

i just returned from a trip from june 11-17 and it was very crowded. i do always go to the park with extra magic hours, so i know i'm asking for crowds. even extra magic hours seemed more crowded than usual though. still a great trip - you can't go wrong by being there!

[KevMcNJ]

Thanks to all for reminding me why me always go in the dead of Winter.

I like having to wear a jacket when we leave the hotel rm and complaining about rides with 30 minute waits

[Stu29573]

Just got back Sunday and the crowds from June 14-20 were pretty heavy. We got to do everything we wanted to, but we had to work at it! By the way, I read somewhere that Mondays were no longer that busy at MK- don't believe it- it was nuts. It was much better when we went back on Saturday!

[#1donaldfan]

...we just returned 14-20th.....the parks were VERY busy for June.....actually, Friday night at the 10 pm fireworks it reminded me of this past NYE....it was crazy, insane busy....no kidding...we're in the planning stages of altering our future vacations there....maybe later in the summer, yes hotter, hopefullly not busier......

....we had a great time and got to do all we wanted, but that's only because we knew how to work around and plan our days....I'll bet there were some people there who knew little about Disney and probably developed a bad attitude and may not return......

anyway.....sad to be back to the grind, I miss it already....and hope to be back soon....

[DizneeFan13]

We were in the World from June 11th through the 15th, a extra short trip at the last minute. Let me preface this by saying that I have only ever gone in late January before and was exptecting nothing but craziness.

Wow, was I suprised (in a good way). We stayed at CBR and had nothing but good experiences from check-in, to the food court, to the pools. Never a crowd or long line to eat.

Yeah, it was crazy hot but not beyond reasonable for me. We would wake up and hit the EMH hour and never though it was to busy. At AK we were able to ride EE three time in a row within about 20 minutes from start of one to the end of the last. At Epcot during morning EMH I was able to get fastpasses for our group for soarin' while everyone else headed to TT and by the time I got there they had already been on it once and the line was only 30 minutes. We skipped the line and did single rider and were off in about 10.

Never had to wait more than 30 minutes for anything except RnRC and ToT. But we did ToT 8 times in 2 days and only waited for 3 or 4 of those times - others were almost walk-on.

We managed to do everthing we planned and more and still take 4 or 5 hour breaks each day at around noon to head to the pool.

Overall, a great trip. Well worth the scrambling at the last minute to make plans.

[casey@bat]

...we just returned 14-20th.....the parks were VERY busy for June.....actually, Friday night at the 10 pm fireworks it reminded me of this past NYE....it was crazy, insane busy....no kidding...we're in the planning stages of altering our future vacations there....maybe later in the summer, yes hotter, hopefullly not busier......

....we had a great time and got to do all we wanted, but that's only because we knew how to work around and plan our days....I'll bet there were some people there who knew little about Disney and probably developed a bad attitude and may not return......

anyway.....sad to be back to the grind, I miss it already....and hope to be back soon....

Ditto! Same week as you- knew what to do-making plans for a less crowded time! I would like to take the kids out of school and go.

Even the FP return lines were a 20 minute wait at many of the attractions! That is discouraging!

The heat was terrible. Sweat was running down our backs by 8:30 in the AM.

[MOJoe]

We were there from June 6th till the 13th. From my perspective, everyday seemed to get a little more crowded and a little hotter. It was cool enough that i did not want to swim the first day. But by Thursday, the pool was much more alluring than the parks.

The crowds were very managable early in the week. In fact, on a few occasions, they felt empty. For example, we got Soarin fastpasses after noon Tuesday the 9th with a return time of 4. But by Friday, MK was a zoo. The crowds were so thick it was hard to walk down Main Street!