Anyone there now?

[lawgirl]

What's the report on crowds, etc...?

[mom2mickeyfan]

Just got home about 2 hours ago. We were only there for 2 days. Went to MVMCP on Sunday night and then to HS and Epcot on Monday. The crowds at HS on Monday were very big! This was our first trip at Christmas time. We always travel down the first Sunday of June and stay for a week. The crowds were no better than when we go in the summer.

We are usually at the park at rope drop but because it was SO cold on Monday, we didn't make it until 9:30. By the time we got in and over to TSM, the standby line was 90 minutes and the fastpass return time was after 3:00. We got fastpasses for TSM, got in line for Buzz and Woody which didn't open until 10, went to see Mickey and Lotso and then did Playhouse Disney then hopped to Epcot. Wait times for Test Track was 45 minutes and Soarin' was 70 minutes when we got to Epcot.

I hope that helps.

[stephntampa]

[QUOTE=mom2mickeyfan;2124495]Just got home about 2 hours ago. We were only there for 2 days. Went to MVMCP on Sunday night and then to HS and Epcot on Monday. The crowds at HS on Monday were very big! This was our first trip at Christmas time. We always travel down the first Sunday of June and stay for a week. The crowds were no better than when we go in the summer.

Interesting that HS was so crowded, since extra magic hours were the night before. I am disappointed to hear that, since we will be at HS on Monday the 13th, I was hoping for (relatively) low crowds... Oh, well, you can't beat being in Disney at Christmas!!

[BTM]

Just got back and the crowds were larger than we expected but manageable. Sunday Epcot in the morning and MK in the evening for the party. Soarin 60 min, Test Track 30-40 min. Used Fast passes. Every thing else was not too bad. Monday Epcot. Again the crowds were not too bad, just plan on FP for the big rides. All others were 10-15 min. Tuesday Studios, it was cold so we arrived at 10:30. Very crowded and FP for TS were sold out. Mermaid and Playhouse very crowded. We started to get discouraged and walked over to The other side of the park to let our little one play at Honey I Shrunk. Ate lunch and made our way back to Playhouse. Not sure what happened but the crowd thinned and everything else opened right up with small lines. Still did not get to ride TS but oh well. Wed MK. The lines were low till around 1 and then started to really pick up. The longest line we found till then was about 15 min. After that Big Thunder and Space picked up to over 40 min. As usual Peter Pan and Dumbo were packed all day.

[tcswife]

Here now............NEVER seen crowds like this in the middle week of December!!! CRAZINESS!!!!

[tcswife]

AND............all Christmas Party's are sold out for the rest of the season!!!!! Went last night to a sold out party and it was CRAZY CROWDED!!!

[disneymom2000]

Maybe it is because of the POP Warner crowd. Hopefully next week will settle down to normal crowds for this time of year, however I am surprised at how cold it seems to be this year.

[Buttercup]

Pop Warner is there right now? I thought they go in February/March?

[Melanie]

We were there yesterday at both Epcot and Magic Kingdom, and it was crazy crowded. We didn't ride any rides, just ate and looked at Christmas decorations. I was actually very surprised to see the heavy crowds. Actually, one of our moderators here, JPL, was denied entry to Magic Kingdom last night because it was at capacity!

We were there over Thanksgiving, and crowds weren't nearly this bad.

[xrayqueen]

Crowds on Monday were insane! But Friday morning they were very light, afternoon got really crazy again. Supposed to be getting cold again on Monday I heard from the ME bus driver.

[Gregandmel]

Wow....that's so surprising to hear! I always thought one of the best times to visit was the 1st 2 weeks of December. Wonder if this is somewhat unusual, or an indication of future crowds during this time?!?!

[TheRustyScupper]

What's the report on crowds, etc...?

1) Busy.
2) VERY busy.
3) Seems like an unusually crowded holiday season.

[MaxPower]

I have been at all four parks all this past week- and all were VERY crowded.

Magic Kingdom was CRAZY busy on Saturday. Original hours for MK on Saturday were supposed to be 9am-10pm--and when we arrived Saturday morning, we found that they had been changed to 8am-1am.

Management is obviously trying to adjust for the crowds.

Extra showings of Fantasmic were added last week.

Personally, I noticed MANY, MANY more foreign tour groups than are usually present this time of year. Sometimes, you rarely heard any English being spoken amongst the crowds.

[Melanie]

Personally, I noticed MANY, MANY more foreign tour groups than are usually present this time of year. Sometimes, you rarely heard any English being spoken amongst the crowds.

Yes, we noticed that yesterday. Looks like student groups.

[tinksmom02]

We were there from the 1st through the 8th and it was so much more crowded than we expected. I knew about Pop Warner and the parade, but the crowds just didn't seem to thin at all. We did do EMH at MK one night and that was not crowded, but it was also only about 30 degrees. We did MVMCP on the 7th and it didn't seem that bad...but we'd been at epcot earlier in the day and had to wait in line for 10 minutes just to get FP for Test Track.

Lot of people grumbling about not being able to do sit-down dinners, too. They were turning walkups away at Via Napoli, Chefs de France, 50's Prime TIme...probably more but those were the ones I specifically heard.

[MickyLuver]

We went to Epcot yesterday and saw the Candlelight Processional with Whoopi Goldberg and it was 'bananas'. The 5:00PM group was lined up all the way back to France and the crowd that was not with a package was almost five rows deep. I was surprised that Epcot was so crowded and after 4PM, even. Usually the lines for rides are somewhat less busy, but it was packed.

I think this is unusual also, for this time of year. The forecast for this week will also be cold, in the fifties to low sixties this week.

[CardsFan81]

Here right now. Crowds are heavy, but everyone is in good spirits.

More important than the crowds is the weather. It's down right cold right now.

We're staying at Bay Lake and sitting on the balcony requires a blanket because of the wind chill.

[minnie04]

We are going to be there Friday. I will plan ahead on what we should do with the crowds..We are doing the Xmas party. I just noticed its sold out. Lets see what happens..

[Mousemates]

Wow...sounds like the crowds are super heavy, which I hate for the folks who usually schedule their trips for this time of year to avoid the madness. However, extra large crowds for a holiday season visit really wouldn't impact us since most of those trips tend to be for New Years Day...when its pretty much maxed out attendance-wise anyway.

[apequet]

We were there Dec 3-10th and I also was shocked how crowded and how cold it was! We went the same time in 2007 and it was awesome! Didn't realize how much it had changed. Even tho it was busy, we didn't have too much of a problem getting on rides, but we used our FP's wisely. I think we waited the most 25 minutes for the rides w/o FP's.

One ride that we had to do was TSM, so we got to HS 1/2 hour before opening Sunday Dec 5 and there was probably 500 people doing the exact same thing! When they dropped the ropes, everyone charged towards TSM. I thought I would be savy and go the other way (to the left) which is longer, but thought if I ran, I could get in line for the FP's ahead of the crowd...well that was a HUGE mistake! By the time I ran there, I was out of breathe, the stand by line was already 45 min and the FP line was so long...it was all the way to Little Mermaid(which was opposite direction I came from...grr!) It was crazy! Our FP time was 11:30, so atleast we got to ride it once. One thing that helpped while waiting for our FP was they had the green army men out doing "drills" with the kids, so it made the lines go by faster.

[stephntampa]

Just got back yesterday from a quick 2-day trip and couldn't believe the crowds. But the worst part was the weather! On Monday we went to Epcot and utilizing FP's we were able to ride what we wanted. We had planned on going to the studios in the evening for the Osbourne lights (a family tradition and the impetus for our trip) but it was too cold and windy for us Floridians to be out :( On Tuesday we went to Animal Kingdom and was able to ride E:E and Dinosaur with minimal wait times. So unusual for it to be this cold this early in the year, this is more like January weather!

[Granny Jill A]

[QUOTE=Mousemates;2125661]Wow...sounds like the crowds are super heavy, which I hate for the folks who usually schedule their trips for this time of year to avoid the madness./QUOTE]

Sounds like people are trying to avoid the crowds by going during the historically slow times, but they inadvertently create a NEW busy time to avoid, again.

The end result will be no slow times at Disney (sigh).

[Ian]

We just got back a few hours ago from a six day trip and I gotta tell you ... I am no longer believing this whole "attendance is down" line Disney is feeding us.

It was MOBBED!!! Saturday night at DHS for the Osborne Lights was insane. The crowds were so jammed in there that you could scarcely move. It took us almost 20 minutes just to get through the initial bottleneck to even get out onto the street and see the lights! And once you were there you just kinda got swept along with the crowd. There was no stopping to enjoy the show, that's for sure!

The boats between Epcot and DHS were just nuts. I've never seen lines so long ... at DHS the boat line was out the queue, up along the railing, and all the way up to the area where the main walkway to the park is! It took us almost FOUR HOURS to boat over from Epcot, do nothing but walk through the lights, and get back to Epcot for Illuminations.

The parks were just packed the whole time. We got to DHS on Sunday morning and at 9:08 AM (park opened at 9AM) the line for TSM was already an hour. There was (no joke) a 20 minute line just to get Fastpasses!!!

I've been in December four times previously and I've never seen anything like it. Not to mention that it was freezing cold most of the time.

[KatrinaJ91]

We will be there starting Tues....are the crowds better during the week? We are planning to spend time in the parks on Wed and Fri. Anyone been there on Christmas Eve? Spending 5 days, but only 2 in the parks. Looking forward to seeing all the decorations and plan on resort hopping one day and spending time at DD one day. We have never been there during this time of year and are very excited!!

[Altair]

On Fantasmic nights, go see the Osborne Lights during the first Fantasmic show, that will give you a good hour or so to see the lights with smaller crowds. Once the 6:30 Fantasmic show lets out most of those folks head right to the lights and that's alot of folks. We went to the second Fantasmic show last Monday and only part of the middle section was filled. The cold kept the crowd down that night, too.:mickey:

[lighteningqueen]

POP Warner has nothing to do with crowds we have been there the last 3 years and it is getting busier and busier We have been when they were there and when they have left makes no difference. just more people are going and really is not as much fun wait times are forever long and buses are packed.. Free dining is a biog factor now..Plus foreign groups are in huge numbers

[Sunshine1010]

I went from Dec. 11-21.

The crowds were big. At Pop, it took us almost 1 hour to get our food and check out. And yes....our food was ice cold by the time we sat down at the table.

ABC Commissary ---- line was out the door (after it already zig zagged inside) all the way down the 'street'.

We went to the MK for dinner at the castle on the 20th. It took us 1 hour to get from the front gate to the castle dinner check-in line (which, we had to wait 30 minutes in line for, then get in another line and wait for 20 minutes after we signed in...then be escorted to see Cinderella and wait another 15 minutes).

After dinner: 2 1/2 hour wait for Space Mountain, 2 hour wait for Buzz.....we walked out.

We were sooooo happy that we were going home the next day. The crowds were unbelievable.

Went to a movie in DTD. THis should put things in perspective. .....we had to wait in line 45 minutes just to buy a ticket.

We decided we won't go in December next year.

I could go on and on and on...but I'm sure you get the picture. We mostly woke up early and got to the parks at opening and walked on all the rides. But by noon ---- forget it. We hit all 4 parks and riding 90% of the rides at each park in 4 days by getting up early.

[Sunshine1010]

....but we still had a good time.

:-):thumbsup:

[PopPhan]

We just got back a few hours ago from a six day trip and I gotta tell you ... I am no longer believing this whole "attendance is down" line Disney is feeding us.

Why am I thinking that Disney is equating lower revenues (due to all the 'special offers' and generic merchandise) with lower attendance? Yes, I know they should have accurate 'through the turnstiles' numbers, but it seems everything comes back to $$$ -- Lower $$$ = Lower Attendance.

Sorry to hijack the thread for this.....Now back to your regularly scheduled program.......

[forever a child]

We were there from Dec 12-18th and I guess I must be immune to crowds or we just hit the right parks on the right days because I didn't think it was that bad.:) We have never been for Christmas before...so maybe comparing it to past years it was more crowded and we had been reading before we left how crowded it was...so I was sort of prepared when we arrived.

We did EMH monday at MK and by late that night we were running on rides repeatedly. It was COLD though. But we were prepared for that and still had a great time.

I did see wait times towards the end of our stay in the 110 minutes range on things at MK (but only after 4pm on the evening of MVMCP before day attendance left and as the people with the event tickets were arriving early) and also at DHS our last day for ToT, TSM and things like that. But we arrived late that day and still got a late Fast Pass for TSM...we got there around 11am and had returning passes for around 5:30 - 6:30. I am sure the FP's were gone shortly after we got ours though...

Our longest wait times for rides was around 20 minutes..but I think we used our fp's really well to plan our time out. We only waited a long time for Standby seating for the Candlight Processional with Steven Curtis Chapman (about 45 - 50 minutes) and then we waited about the same amount of time Fri to see Fantasmic for the 8pm showing. I thought the 6:30 would be the fuller showing of the two...I think it was reverse! But it was worth the wait..it was a great show and we got great seats.

Most of the shows we went in through out the week never had full capacity and there were only a few times that I felt the buses were jam packed...the rest of the time there was room for more (by disney bus standards). We only stood once...the rest of the time we always had seat on the buses.

For us, despite the cold and the crowds...it was a great trip! I would definitely consider going again for Christmas. :deer:

[finaldynasty]

For folks that went to WDW this past Dec, should I be as scared as I am about going the week before x-mas? We normally go in June, but this and other threads have me rethinking whether or not I should plan on changing my trip back to a summer date. We are scheduled to be in Orlando from Dec. 18-24.



I went from Dec. 11-21.

The crowds were big. At Pop, it took us almost 1 hour to get our food and check out. And yes....our food was ice cold by the time we sat down at the table.

ABC Commissary ---- line was out the door (after it already zig zagged inside) all the way down the 'street'.

We went to the MK for dinner at the castle on the 20th. It took us 1 hour to get from the front gate to the castle dinner check-in line (which, we had to wait 30 minutes in line for, then get in another line and wait for 20 minutes after we signed in...then be escorted to see Cinderella and wait another 15 minutes).

After dinner: 2 1/2 hour wait for Space Mountain, 2 hour wait for Buzz.....we walked out.

We were sooooo happy that we were going home the next day. The crowds were unbelievable.

Went to a movie in DTD. THis should put things in perspective. .....we had to wait in line 45 minutes just to buy a ticket.

We decided we won't go in December next year.

I could go on and on and on...but I'm sure you get the picture. We mostly woke up early and got to the parks at opening and walked on all the rides. But by noon ---- forget it. We hit all 4 parks and riding 90% of the rides at each park in 4 days by getting up early.

[ransam]

IN my mind i am always at WDW

[Marionla]

It is not quite as busy the week after Thanksgiving. Definitely more people after Dec. 20th. If you have never done WDW during Dec. Then you must try it once. I am so spoiled visiting WDW at Christmas that I have a hard time visiting any other time. Enjoy your trip whenever you decide to go.