So it appears the crowds are very high right now even though some sites predicted low crowds. Is there a reason why the uptick?

[supernova]

Predictions vs reality.

 

[zavandor]

Yes, I am aware non-party days are busier than party days. That's why I emphasized non-party days.

Not all days, even non-party days, are equal. And yes, occasionally lines for popular attractions are surprisingly short soon after opening. It does happen. And if Disney posts the wait time correctly, it would be a great opportunity to alter whatever plan had been in place. But with the wait time posted incorrectly, it removes that option failing a personal inspection of the queue line. Hence the problem with posting inaccurate wait times in the app.

None of this is disputable, unless you of course are simply calling those who say they have seen this liars. In which case, I guess we're done.

Who called liar who?
Don't put in my mouth words I haven't used and I would never use.

As I understand, you rely on time posted by the public (in addition to your own staff) to design touring plans.
But the public may make a mistake, they may report the time using a lightning lane not knowing any better, they might have encountered an attraction that by pure luck just opened after a delay.
All those event are statistical anomalies and should be ignored as such. If you design your touring plans taking into consideration a 5 minutes time for 7DMT at 9am, sorry but I am not interested in your touring plans.

 

[scrappinginontario]

It is time to agree to disagree and move on about the 9AM SDMT discussion as responses are verging in personal attacks. Nothing good will come from trying to convince others that your way is the only way.

If you don’t agree with someone, step away -rather than retaliate.

Future posts that are aimed at another member may earn warning points which none of us want.

Please take this thread back to the discussion of guest’s interpretations of crowd levels which in and of itself is subjective. Again, there is no right or wrong answer to this discussion topic.

 

[LaDonna]

We are on our fourth day here have done every park and have attended in September several times, and I have never seen it this crowded…. even more crowded than when I have been in November Thanksgiving week and May previously

 

[champagne&disney]

It’s fall break for schools in the Atlanta area so I would guess that will contribute to more crowds too.

 

[Upatnoon]

Sounds like July 4, in the morning and early afternoon before the fireworks show crowds show up, is the new September

 

[Len418]

My wife and I were there September 5-12. The 5th-7th were as low as I've seen the parks in several years. Touring through Epcot and AK was simple as lines were almost non-existent. DHS was pretty easy too as long as you had a strategy. MK touring was no problem except that Space Mountain was broken down for basically 3 days.

Touring became more difficult on Friday evening the 8th and crowds were much more noticeable for the rest of the trip. Part of that was the weekend impact on Epcot touring. Evidently many locals come out. The walkways in World Showcase were packed! I noticed lines to rides weren't hit that hard, but with the walls in Epcot it was crowded everywhere.

What impacted our touring the most was the ride breakdowns at park opening. For example, on September 11 both Tower at RnR were down at Studios. Cast members were stationed at the entrance to Sunset Blvd. telling guests to not walk down there. Close down a whole land in a park and everywhere else will be packed, even in off season. The same thing happened to us in AK on Saturday the 9th.

The Touring Plans website had a blog yesterday that mentioned that a full 5% of ride capacity was lost last week at DW because of rides broken down. On the 20th MK lost a full 14% of its ride capacity because of shut downs. If that happens, or if your plans happen to be thrown off because of a ride breakdown, then it can greatly impact perceived crowd levels.

 

[jujubiee4]

I know many friends relatives and coworkers that were waiting until end Sept to Oct to go. Reasons
varied between post summer air fare decreases...weather...and many said because of fall parties/ decorations.
Orr combining with Universal HHN.

 

[glamdring269]

Amazing the difference a couple of days make. We’re on our second day and the crowds have been so light. DHS was a breeze (with G+) yesterday afternoon as our arrival park. Basically knocked out all of MK by around 10 this morning. In olden times we’d be hopping from MK already. Alas we’re on the bus heading back for a nap since that isn’t possible.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

Amazing the difference a couple of days make. We’re on our second day and the crowds have been so light. DHS was a breeze (with G+) yesterday afternoon as our arrival park. Basically knocked out all of MK by around 10 this morning. In olden times we’d be hopping from MK already. Alas we’re on the bus heading back for a nap since that isn’t possible.

Yes, my friend arrived 2 days ago and went to DHS yesterday. She had a great time and they pretty much rode everything twice that they wanted, AND took a mid day break. He's a first timer, also. I had advised her that the early morning entry was everything, and she sent me a picture of an empty lobby for MMRR. She said they were on their 3rd ride. That was around 9 am.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

edit to add: she was originally trying for the 2nd week of October and was telling me that everything at Pop was gone. I told her that was a huge red flag and advised her to try to move the trip up a couple of weeks as I saw lots of availability for this week.

 

[FreeTime]

Today was great! We didn’t do a whole lot because we decided to take it easy. Arrived at AK at 12 and watched FOTLK and then rode safari, walked the trail, sat for 45 and had cocktails, rode EE and then Dino. All were walk on. Hopped over to Hollywood Studios as we made a same day reservation for Sci-Fi for a 5:10 time, rode ToT twice with no wait, shopped in the Pandora shop, ate our meal and headed back to the resort. I was showered and in bed by 7:30. A terrific day! I think the all day rain may have kept people away.

 

[Aimeedyan]

Crowds were nice and low today - we did Epcot from 3pm to 7pm and HS until close without any trouble or lines to speak of. Weather, aside from some annoying rain mid-day, was perfect!

The VQ for Guardians was still open when we arrived at 3pm, too!

 

[principessa0ox]

We were there 8/24-9/2 and didn’t think crowds were bad at all. My brother and SIL said crowds were much less than they were last time they were there, which was this past March.

 

[CoasterGT24]

The main thing is that wait times over the past couple weeks were busier than typical for September, but way lighter than say Spring Break. It really cleared out this past weekend as visitors left Orlando.

 

[sadiecatie]

edit to add: she was originally trying for the 2nd week of October and was telling me that everything at Pop was gone. I told her that was a huge red flag and advised her to try to move the trip up a couple of weeks as I saw lots of availability for this week.

This is likely due to the Columbus Day holiday - lots of schools have it off. I’m hoping that everyone will be there this weekend and the following weekend (when we’re going) might be a little lighter