Anyone know why it's so busy right now?

[SarahC97]

It has been brought to my attention that this is CP Homecoming weekend too. Could that have impacted the crowds this weekend and perhaps thrown the calendars for a loop?

 

[oasispaul]

Just returned from an 8-day trip (Sat, 1/13 - Sun, 1/21) and this was by far the most crowded we've ever seen the parks. Granted, the last time we visited was almost 5 years ago (late April 2013) and we've heard that the crowds have really ramped up since then, but we still couldn't believe how much busier they actually were. I've always used touringplans as my main crowd calendar guide but have also always checked other sites to make sure I'm getting a consensus crowd estimate. I've only scheduled trips on weeks where crowds are projected to be a 6 or lower (with most days 3's, 4's or 5's). The last few trips I booked had similar projected numbers at the time (late April 2013, late February 2012, early December 2010 & late April 2009). All days were projected 3's, 4's, 5's or 6's. Based on what we saw this past week, projections were either way off or a "5" doesn't mean what it used to mean.

Arriving on Saturday, we knew to expect huge crowds for MLK weekend. So we avoided the parks on Sat. Visited Disney Springs instead, which was a madhouse as both the lime & orange garages were marked "full" (we managed to find a spot). Ate at The Polite Pig - which was about a 25 min wait to place an order at the counter - HIGHLY RECOMMEND this restaurant. Great food, excellent service.

We knew Sunday and Monday would still be very crowded with MLK holiday crowds, so we decided to do Universal these days as our daughter (10) is a huge Harry Potter fan who read all 7 books over the past year. We were absolutely blown away by Diagon Alley (the last time we were there, only Hogsmeade existed). The theming/detail is simply amazing. It was very crowded, but again, we expected it.

Tuesday, 1/16 is when all the websites were projecting the crowds to start thinning out from the holiday weekend. Well, we visited MK this day, arriving about 20 minutes before park opening with the naive intention of riding 7DMR first thing. Castle show, follow the mob to 7DMR, wait is 100 min at park opening. No biggie - I've read enough here to know that was a possibility. What did surprise me was that EVERY ride had a long wait (not just the headliners). I realize this is due to the newer FP+ model (as well as Splash being down), but it was still a bit of a shock for someone who hasn't been in several years. 45 min for Pirates? We've never waited more than 10-15 min for Pirates! 75 min for Jungle Cruise, 70 min for Haunted Mansion, 30 min for the People Mover?!? But it wasn't so much the waits as it was the crowds - MK just FELT packed to the gills. If the Hub/Main Street for the 8PM Fireworks show was a "6", I shudder at the thought of a "10". The only way the crowds could've been more congested is if people stood on each other's heads. So after the Fireworks show (which is AMAZING), we decided to hang back an hour to avoid the mass exodus out of the park. Got to see them open up the "backstage" area for a crowd-control exit. An hour after park closing the wait for the Ferry/monorail was still 45 min+ and once we got back to the parking trams we had to wait 10-12 trams (another 30-45 min) to finally get on a tram. I know this sounds like child's play to people who have visited during the "busy" season, but like I said, it was a reality check to this family who expected "lighter" mid-January crowds.

We hit Epcot on Wed, HS on Thu, Epcot again on Fri and MK on Sat to close out. Every park other than HS far exceeded the crowds we were expecting, and it was freezing the day we went to HS (it got down to 26 degrees early Thu morning), so that's probably why it wasn't packed. We didn't do AK because we didn't feel like dealing with the Pandora crowds. Talked to several CM's who simply confirmed "there is no longer a 'slow' season" - maybe September, but that's about it. One other thing we noticed - it seemed like at least 50% of the people in the parks were foreigners. Not sure if January is a big month for foreign visitors or if foreigners are simply a larger percentage of WDW visitors now, but it was MUCH more noticeable than during our past visits.

We still enjoyed our trip, but this is the first time we don't have that "we can't wait to go back!" feeling. We simply felt like we couldn't breathe in the parks the way we could on our previous trips.

One last note - with as much money as Disney is raking in, there is simply no excuse for the monorails to be in the condition they are in. I'm talking dirty, grimy, smelly, stains, dustballs(?!) - it looks like they haven't been cleaned in years. Not the first impression I'd want my "guests" to have if they were shelling out thousands of dollars to come to my fantasyland.

 

[hllb]

Just returned from an 8-day trip (Sat, 1/13 - Sun, 1/21) and this was by far the most crowded we've ever seen the parks. Granted, the last time we visited was almost 5 years ago (late April 2013) and we've heard that the crowds have really ramped up since then, but we still couldn't believe how much busier they actually were. I've always used touringplans as my main crowd calendar guide but have also always checked other sites to make sure I'm getting a consensus crowd estimate. I've only scheduled trips on weeks where crowds are projected to be a 6 or lower (with most days 3's, 4's or 5's). The last few trips I booked had similar projected numbers at the time (late April 2013, late February 2012, early December 2010 & late April 2009). All days were projected 3's, 4's, 5's or 6's. Based on what we saw this past week, projections were either way off or a "5" doesn't mean what it used to mean.

Arriving on Saturday, we knew to expect huge crowds for MLK weekend. So we avoided the parks on Sat. Visited Disney Springs instead, which was a madhouse as both the lime & orange garages were marked "full" (we managed to find a spot). Ate at The Polite Pig - which was about a 25 min wait to place an order at the counter - HIGHLY RECOMMEND this restaurant. Great food, excellent service.

We knew Sunday and Monday would still be very crowded with MLK holiday crowds, so we decided to do Universal these days as our daughter (10) is a huge Harry Potter fan who read all 7 books over the past year. We were absolutely blown away by Diagon Alley (the last time we were there, only Hogsmeade existed). The theming/detail is simply amazing. It was very crowded, but again, we expected it.

Tuesday, 1/16 is when all the websites were projecting the crowds to start thinning out from the holiday weekend. Well, we visited MK this day, arriving about 20 minutes before park opening with the naive intention of riding 7DMR first thing. Castle show, follow the mob to 7DMR, wait is 100 min at park opening. No biggie - I've read enough here to know that was a possibility. What did surprise me was that EVERY ride had a long wait (not just the headliners). I realize this is due to the newer FP+ model (as well as Splash being down), but it was still a bit of a shock for someone who hasn't been in several years. 45 min for Pirates? We've never waited more than 10-15 min for Pirates! 75 min for Jungle Cruise, 70 min for Haunted Mansion, 30 min for the People Mover?!? But it wasn't so much the waits as it was the crowds - MK just FELT packed to the gills. If the Hub/Main Street for the 8PM Fireworks show was a "6", I shudder at the thought of a "10". The only way the crowds could've been more congested is if people stood on each other's heads. So after the Fireworks show (which is AMAZING), we decided to hang back an hour to avoid the mass exodus out of the park. Got to see them open up the "backstage" area for a crowd-control exit. An hour after park closing the wait for the Ferry/monorail was still 45 min+ and once we got back to the parking trams we had to wait 10-12 trams (another 30-45 min) to finally get on a tram. I know this sounds like child's play to people who have visited during the "busy" season, but like I said, it was a reality check to this family who expected "lighter" mid-January crowds.

We hit Epcot on Wed, HS on Thu, Epcot again on Fri and MK on Sat to close out. Every park other than HS far exceeded the crowds we were expecting, and it was freezing the day we went to HS (it got down to 26 degrees early Thu morning), so that's probably why it wasn't packed. We didn't do AK because we didn't feel like dealing with the Pandora crowds. Talked to several CM's who simply confirmed "there is no longer a 'slow' season" - maybe September, but that's about it. One other thing we noticed - it seemed like at least 50% of the people in the parks were foreigners. Not sure if January is a big month for foreign visitors or if foreigners are simply a larger percentage of WDW visitors now, but it was MUCH more noticeable than during our past visits.

We still enjoyed our trip, but this is the first time we don't have that "we can't wait to go back!" feeling. We simply felt like we couldn't breathe in the parks the way we could on our previous trips.

One last note - with as much money as Disney is raking in, there is simply no excuse for the monorails to be in the condition they are in. I'm talking dirty, grimy, smelly, stains, dustballs(?!) - it looks like they haven't been cleaned in years. Not the first impression I'd want my "guests" to have if they were shelling out thousands of dollars to come to my fantasyland.

This past week, the crowd levels surpassed predictions by a LOT as you felt. Some days hit 9’s at some parks.

 

[Elle23]

We didn't do AK because we didn't feel like dealing with the Pandora crowds.

Actually the Pandora crowds were great for us because it made the rest of the park so much more manageable. We headed the opposite direction of the Pandora crowd at RD and had our pick of rides with no wait for quite a while.

 

[WedWayPilot]

Just returned from an 8-day trip (Sat, 1/13 - Sun, 1/21) and this was by far the most crowded we've ever seen the parks. Granted, the last time we visited was almost 5 years ago (late April 2013) and we've heard that the crowds have really ramped up since then, but we still couldn't believe how much busier they actually were. I've always used touringplans as my main crowd calendar guide but have also always checked other sites to make sure I'm getting a consensus crowd estimate. I've only scheduled trips on weeks where crowds are projected to be a 6 or lower (with most days 3's, 4's or 5's). The last few trips I booked had similar projected numbers at the time (late April 2013, late February 2012, early December 2010 & late April 2009). All days were projected 3's, 4's, 5's or 6's. Based on what we saw this past week, projections were either way off or a "5" doesn't mean what it used to mean.

Arriving on Saturday, we knew to expect huge crowds for MLK weekend. So we avoided the parks on Sat. Visited Disney Springs instead, which was a madhouse as both the lime & orange garages were marked "full" (we managed to find a spot). Ate at The Polite Pig - which was about a 25 min wait to place an order at the counter - HIGHLY RECOMMEND this restaurant. Great food, excellent service.

We knew Sunday and Monday would still be very crowded with MLK holiday crowds, so we decided to do Universal these days as our daughter (10) is a huge Harry Potter fan who read all 7 books over the past year. We were absolutely blown away by Diagon Alley (the last time we were there, only Hogsmeade existed). The theming/detail is simply amazing. It was very crowded, but again, we expected it.

Tuesday, 1/16 is when all the websites were projecting the crowds to start thinning out from the holiday weekend. Well, we visited MK this day, arriving about 20 minutes before park opening with the naive intention of riding 7DMR first thing. Castle show, follow the mob to 7DMR, wait is 100 min at park opening. No biggie - I've read enough here to know that was a possibility. What did surprise me was that EVERY ride had a long wait (not just the headliners). I realize this is due to the newer FP+ model (as well as Splash being down), but it was still a bit of a shock for someone who hasn't been in several years. 45 min for Pirates? We've never waited more than 10-15 min for Pirates! 75 min for Jungle Cruise, 70 min for Haunted Mansion, 30 min for the People Mover?!? But it wasn't so much the waits as it was the crowds - MK just FELT packed to the gills. If the Hub/Main Street for the 8PM Fireworks show was a "6", I shudder at the thought of a "10". The only way the crowds could've been more congested is if people stood on each other's heads. So after the Fireworks show (which is AMAZING), we decided to hang back an hour to avoid the mass exodus out of the park. Got to see them open up the "backstage" area for a crowd-control exit. An hour after park closing the wait for the Ferry/monorail was still 45 min+ and once we got back to the parking trams we had to wait 10-12 trams (another 30-45 min) to finally get on a tram. I know this sounds like child's play to people who have visited during the "busy" season, but like I said, it was a reality check to this family who expected "lighter" mid-January crowds.

We hit Epcot on Wed, HS on Thu, Epcot again on Fri and MK on Sat to close out. Every park other than HS far exceeded the crowds we were expecting, and it was freezing the day we went to HS (it got down to 26 degrees early Thu morning), so that's probably why it wasn't packed. We didn't do AK because we didn't feel like dealing with the Pandora crowds. Talked to several CM's who simply confirmed "there is no longer a 'slow' season" - maybe September, but that's about it. One other thing we noticed - it seemed like at least 50% of the people in the parks were foreigners. Not sure if January is a big month for foreign visitors or if foreigners are simply a larger percentage of WDW visitors now, but it was MUCH more noticeable than during our past visits.

We still enjoyed our trip, but this is the first time we don't have that "we can't wait to go back!" feeling. We simply felt like we couldn't breathe in the parks the way we could on our previous trips.

One last note - with as much money as Disney is raking in, there is simply no excuse for the monorails to be in the condition they are in. I'm talking dirty, grimy, smelly, stains, dustballs(?!) - it looks like they haven't been cleaned in years. Not the first impression I'd want my "guests" to have if they were shelling out thousands of dollars to come to my fantasyland.

I was in Epcot Thursday and the crowd felt very light compared to the days we have been here recently in May and August. The same was true in MK on Friday where a lot of the rides had shorer waits than I expected. However on Saturday the 20th Epcot was very busy. Living with the land had a 45 minute stand by time at one point before noon which blew my mind.

 

[alex9179]

Based on what we saw this past week, projections were either way off or a "5" doesn't mean what it used to mean.

It's not. The sites have adjusted their scale for overall attendance and the percentage of people for each rating has gone up over time. That said, mid-January has seen higher attendance than expected.

Man. We arrive on Saturday. It'd be nice if we didn't have to deal with 9s! Luckily we'll be on the ground early and knock out most of our rides before lunch. My tentative plan was to go to a resort or DS for a meal and relax until it was time to go to the evening shows. If attendance is still high, this will be my DEFINITE plan.

 

[hllb]

It's not. The sites have adjusted their scale for overall attendance and the percentage of people for each rating has gone up over time. That said, mid-January has seen higher attendance than expected.

Man. We arrive on Saturday. It'd be nice if we didn't have to deal with 9s! Luckily we'll be on the ground early and knock out most of our rides before lunch. My tentative plan was to go to a resort or DS for a meal and relax until it was time to go to the evening shows. If attendance is still high, this will be my DEFINITE plan.

Keep us posted how the week goes. I'm really hoping it'll start slowing down this week!

 

[mamamelody2]

Just returned from an 8-day trip (Sat, 1/13 - Sun, 1/21) and this was by far the most crowded we've ever seen the parks. Granted, the last time we visited was almost 5 years ago (late April 2013) and we've heard that the crowds have really ramped up since then, but we still couldn't believe how much busier they actually were. I've always used touringplans as my main crowd calendar guide but have also always checked other sites to make sure I'm getting a consensus crowd estimate. I've only scheduled trips on weeks where crowds are projected to be a 6 or lower (with most days 3's, 4's or 5's). The last few trips I booked had similar projected numbers at the time (late April 2013, late February 2012, early December 2010 & late April 2009). All days were projected 3's, 4's, 5's or 6's. Based on what we saw this past week, projections were either way off or a "5" doesn't mean what it used to mean.

Arriving on Saturday, we knew to expect huge crowds for MLK weekend. So we avoided the parks on Sat. Visited Disney Springs instead, which was a madhouse as both the lime & orange garages were marked "full" (we managed to find a spot). Ate at The Polite Pig - which was about a 25 min wait to place an order at the counter - HIGHLY RECOMMEND this restaurant. Great food, excellent service.

We knew Sunday and Monday would still be very crowded with MLK holiday crowds, so we decided to do Universal these days as our daughter (10) is a huge Harry Potter fan who read all 7 books over the past year. We were absolutely blown away by Diagon Alley (the last time we were there, only Hogsmeade existed). The theming/detail is simply amazing. It was very crowded, but again, we expected it.

Tuesday, 1/16 is when all the websites were projecting the crowds to start thinning out from the holiday weekend. Well, we visited MK this day, arriving about 20 minutes before park opening with the naive intention of riding 7DMR first thing. Castle show, follow the mob to 7DMR, wait is 100 min at park opening. No biggie - I've read enough here to know that was a possibility. What did surprise me was that EVERY ride had a long wait (not just the headliners). I realize this is due to the newer FP+ model (as well as Splash being down), but it was still a bit of a shock for someone who hasn't been in several years. 45 min for Pirates? We've never waited more than 10-15 min for Pirates! 75 min for Jungle Cruise, 70 min for Haunted Mansion, 30 min for the People Mover?!? But it wasn't so much the waits as it was the crowds - MK just FELT packed to the gills. If the Hub/Main Street for the 8PM Fireworks show was a "6", I shudder at the thought of a "10". The only way the crowds could've been more congested is if people stood on each other's heads. So after the Fireworks show (which is AMAZING), we decided to hang back an hour to avoid the mass exodus out of the park. Got to see them open up the "backstage" area for a crowd-control exit. An hour after park closing the wait for the Ferry/monorail was still 45 min+ and once we got back to the parking trams we had to wait 10-12 trams (another 30-45 min) to finally get on a tram. I know this sounds like child's play to people who have visited during the "busy" season, but like I said, it was a reality check to this family who expected "lighter" mid-January crowds.

We hit Epcot on Wed, HS on Thu, Epcot again on Fri and MK on Sat to close out. Every park other than HS far exceeded the crowds we were expecting, and it was freezing the day we went to HS (it got down to 26 degrees early Thu morning), so that's probably why it wasn't packed. We didn't do AK because we didn't feel like dealing with the Pandora crowds. Talked to several CM's who simply confirmed "there is no longer a 'slow' season" - maybe September, but that's about it. One other thing we noticed - it seemed like at least 50% of the people in the parks were foreigners. Not sure if January is a big month for foreign visitors or if foreigners are simply a larger percentage of WDW visitors now, but it was MUCH more noticeable than during our past visits.

We still enjoyed our trip, but this is the first time we don't have that "we can't wait to go back!" feeling. We simply felt like we couldn't breathe in the parks the way we could on our previous trips.

One last note - with as much money as Disney is raking in, there is simply no excuse for the monorails to be in the condition they are in. I'm talking dirty, grimy, smelly, stains, dustballs(?!) - it looks like they haven't been cleaned in years. Not the first impression I'd want my "guests" to have if they were shelling out thousands of dollars to come to my fantasyland.

TP has changed their model (about 2 years ago) and you're right a "5" now is not what a "5" was when you went last. I looked over their crowd calendar for the year. They do a crowd level for "resort wide", AK, MK, HS, and EP. There are only 3 1s for the entire year. 3! There were almost 90 10s. It's just really really rare for crowds to be low. And also I think a lot of people who look at crowd calendars see a "1" and think, awesome, it will be pretty much empty. NO, a 1 just means it's as low as it gets. Which just isn't very low anymore.

And I agree on the monorails. MAN, they need updating.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

TP has changed their model (about 2 years ago) and you're right a "5" now is not what a "5" was when you went last. I looked over their crowd calendar for the year. They do a crowd level for "resort wide", AK, MK, HS, and EP. There are only 3 1s for the entire year. 3! There were almost 90 10s. It's just really really rare for crowds to be low. And also I think a lot of people who look at crowd calendars see a "1" and think, awesome, it will be pretty much empty. NO, a 1 just means it's as low as it gets. Which just isn't very low anymore.

And I agree on the monorails. MAN, they need updating.

Actually I have been to MK on a CL 1 day. It was a Wed in May 2016 with all day significant rain. It was dead. We walked onto everything with no line. Very few people about. Most everyone hiding inside somewhere. It felt very empty. 7DMT was a 20 min wait at 9:45 (rain took it off line at about 11). My DH even said - this must be what a CL1 day looks like. It was fun in the morning when it was just light drizzle but the all out rain that started around 11 quickly wore on us and we eventually headed back to the resort.

But it seems like they’re going to need to revise the numbers again if there are that many 10s and that few 1s.

 

[anomamatt]

Here is a picture of the carousel area on Saturday night at 7:08pm. And one between PP and IASW. Pretty heavy crowds!

 

[LSUmiss]

My guess is that people don't understand statistical analysis. The model is pretty darn impressive, what I know of it.

I think part of the issue is that they often feel inaccurate so no one cares how they came up w/ the data. But, what I also noticed that the difference between a 1 & 5 seems like it should be a major difference, but when you look at what they say average wait times should be in the range they give, it’s not as much as you would think. Probably b/c how WDW cuts down on staff an hours, a 1 can feel just as crowded as a 5.

 

[Elle23]

We were supposed to go this week and switched to December. Seeing what the crowds are like now, I feel better about my decision. It was going to be crowded regardless of when we went.

The wait times today don’t seem any different than they did the week before Christmas.

 

[LSUmiss]

Gotcha!

Also, on the flip side, if I paid attention to crowd calendars to plan our trip we would not have had as many magical moments as we did over Thanksgiving.

It's all a buncha hoopla IMO

I was going to say just this basically. The good thing about it being crowded most of the time & crowd calendars being unreliable is that it frees me up to go anytime that works for us. I used to stress & be disappointed, but now I go when I want & use FP+ to my advantage. We are going Mardi Grad week & Thanksgiving week this yr. Both will be crowded, but I don’t care.

 

[nco91590]

Luckily we'll be on the ground early and knock out most of our rides before lunch. My tentative plan was to go to a resort or DS for a meal and relax until it was time to go to the evening shows. If attendance is still high, this will be my DEFINITE plan.

Yes! This is pretty much always my plan, but in March, it was so busy there was no reason to stay in the parks! No afternoon FPs available, insane lines for all the F&G booths, couldn't even get into shops to look around. No place to sit. Better off to go back to the resort and chill.

The problem with this, is that anything less than a 5-6 day trip feels like a huge waste of time and money. You're basically doing 1/2 days and in March, I definitely felt cheated. And we go almost every year!

I'm hoping next January will be less busy.

 

[Linkura]

Here is a picture of the carousel area on Saturday night at 7:08pm. And one between PP and IASW. Pretty heavy crowds!

View attachment 297275 View attachment 297274

This looks like a complete nightmare.

 

[SarahC97]

This looks like a complete nightmare.

I totally agree. My first thought is "and they don't even serve alcohol in MK" (well, except restaurants, but that won't help you in a pinch!).

 

[hllb]

Here is a picture of the carousel area on Saturday night at 7:08pm. And one between PP and IASW. Pretty heavy crowds!

View attachment 297275 View attachment 297274

Yeah, that's ugly. It was a 9 CL, and that's what I picture when I think of 9 and 10 crowd levels. I hope you had a good time despite the crowds!

 

[SarahC97]

Yes! This is pretty much always my plan, but in March, it was so busy there was no reason to stay in the parks! No afternoon FPs available, insane lines for all the F&G booths, couldn't even get into shops to look around. No place to sit. Better off to go back to the resort and chill.

The problem with this, is that anything less than a 5-6 day trip feels like a huge waste of time and money. You're basically doing 1/2 days and in March, I definitely felt cheated. And we go almost every year!

I'm hoping next January will be less busy.

It feels very disappointing for the crowds to be significantly heavier than anticipated. So much planning and money goes into these trips. No one has a crystal ball, but when you plan to go at a time that has been historically less crowded than others and it ends up not being that way, I think it's OK to be a bit deflated about it.

 

[oasispaul]

I visited my buddy in Orlando every year from 2001 to 2013. My trips were usually around Spring break time (almost always in March) and every single year we went to Epcot with a group of friends to drink around the world. We would always go on a Friday or Saturday. I have countless pictures and hours of video of our group walking around world showcase with wide open walkways and enough room to walk 6-8 people wide (most of those were from the early 2000's). We never worried about crowds or trying to navigate world showcase without constantly running into people. One year I was in the China pavilion and remembered that I promised my wife (then girlfriend) that I'd pick her up a souvenir she wanted from the France pavilion - so I literally ran from China to France and back in under 10 minutes, never needing to stop for crowds or having to worry about running into anyone. And that was on a Friday or Saturday in March! As my wife, daughter and I were walking around world showcase this past week I brought up that story and we laughed about trying to do that today. I literally couldn't WALK 5 feet without having to maneuver around someone or step to the side for them - on a Wednesday in mid-January! Also, back in the early 2000's I can remember it was a huge deal if you saw another group "drinking around the world" - there would only be a few groups in the park actually doing that. Now it seems like half the people in WS are drinking around the world. I can only hope I wasn't half as annoying as most of the people I saw drinking around the world. Get a grip you lushes! Lol.

 

[heidijanesmith]

I just did a conference trip 1/16/18 to 1/21/18. It was packed, much more crowded than I expected.

1/16/18 MK was so crowded. 45min for ITaSM, 70 for pirates, even 30 for Philharmagic. These are much higher wait times than we had in June.

I think the parks were so crowded as the closing time is 8PM, so everyone is there trying to get their rides in before 8PM.

June park hours are so much later, it disperses the crowds and crowd levels drop off the later the hours go.