Anyone else concerned about the crowd increase?

[2minny]

I know we just did the same - very discouraging reports. People are having to take Lyft to the parks from onsite hotels (waiting for bus and hour and half before park opening and then not getting on first few buses, too full, so arriving after park opening) , no advantage to being onsite, no EMH, no fast passes, difficult to get ADR's. I'm seeing things closed, shorter park hours and large crowds. Plus with the recent layoffs, doesn't seem like a change is near. It's VERY discouraging right now. I'm usually so excited, but these reports are concerning.

 

[Krystal659]

We are scheduled for Thanksgiving. We keep hoping more restaurants, transportation, etc. will open making it "worth it". We all have different ideas of what makes it "worth it"---fingers crossed.

 

[Brett Wyman]

Im afraid I don't have anything positive to add. It will probably be nuts there that week.

We usually go twice a year as well. After our September trip we cancelled our November trip 100% becuse of the "crowds". Crowds isn't even the right term, more like social distancing induced congestion.

 

[lorileahb]

We are keeping positive for mid-Nov trip... taking our resort day on Saturday (pool and see Christmas Decorations) so that our park days are on week days/Sunday... gonna ride share early - we've never walked the pathways from Boardwalk or Contemporary so something new to see, will save the skyliner for evening back to Pop (instead of getting to park), get ADRs for lunch or resort break mid-day, and for MK/Epcot back out late afternoon. Going to pick our favorites, decide on a time limit for what we are willing to wait... then enjoy the flexibility from very few scheduled things and pop up events like the character mini parades I hear about... may even hit up a few things we almost never do - Carousel of Progress, Hall of Presidents, movies at Epcot countries, Big Bear Jamboree. Will probably look to avoid social-distancing jams like we've heard about between It's a Small World and Peter Pan... just cut through down by the castle... a little more walking will be ok for us. I am so thankful for all of the great info on this board!!! Helps us plan a little in advance, because day of, we are just going to enjoy!

 

[Lugan]

We just returned home yesterday, having stayed at the Swan Oct 10-18 (7-day tickets meant going to the park 11-17, with 10th and 18th being travel days).

My wife and I both agreed that if we'd known how it was going to be last week, we would have postponed.

Throughout our visit, we were met with significantly (60+ minutes) long wait times for larger attractions. We also saw 30-45 minute wait times even for smaller attractions, some not too surprising: Spaceship Earth / Regal Carrousel, but some a little surprising: Three Caballeros, Living with the Land. This wouldn't have been a deal-breaker itself. The issue stemmed more from how ill-prepared it seemed Disney was to handle the increased number of visitors. Where the lines exceeded previous capacity, markers were non-existent to properly space guests, and CMs were not consistent in ensuring the end of the line guests were spacing properly. This also meant that in some lines, you had very limited space beside you for passers-by to keep distance at choke points. This was especially bad for the Pandora attractions at AK, and for Peter Pan at MK (See below image).

We were lucky to get reservations for meals at the park most days, but due to reduced hours, this becomes a trade-off between time spent at attractions vs. eating. We normally prefer to arrive near park open, do some attractions, then have a sit-down lunch before retiring to the hotel for ~ 2 hours to relax. Return to the park a little before dinnertime for an attraction or two, then eat dinner and finish the evening at the park. With most parks closing at 6-7pm, a mid-day break eats a lot of time, and we found most often by the time we were done eating dinner, the park was closed. So, for a couple of the days, we opted to skip the mid-day break, and then had our youngest falling asleep at the restaraunt for dinner.

We had some other issues which were probably unique to us, such as a switch from Disney Transport providing buses to MK/AK from Swan/Dolphin midway through our stay, which compounded some of our dissatisfaction.
In the end, did we have a good time? Yes (and the kids thoroughly enjoyed an opportunity to get out of the house). But, given the opportunity, we would have postponed to sometime in 2021 at the earliest.

 

[karen4546]

These reports about crowds and lines for attractions, food, and merchandise sound absolutely MISERABLE.

Myself, my wife, and my six year old son are planning a weeklong stay with six day tickets visiting each park once and Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom twice (November 30-December 7th).

We just want to have an escape and have some fun. We typically visit WDW twice a year but it has been almost two years since our last trip.

For those who have visited recently did you find yourself thinking "I wish I never came?"

We were there 9/26-10/2. We took Lyft XL to Hollywood studios both park days. We were FIRST people at the bus stop on our first HS day. Supposedly the buses were to start running 30 minutes prior to park opening so we went down an hour before park opening. When there was no bus by 9:45, we ordered the LYFT. It was there in 5 minutes and we got INTO the park at 9:10 (the line was very long but moved quickly). same thing happened on our 2nd HS day but when no bus came by 9:35, we called the LYFT.

We took a Lyft to Grand Floridian (MK day and we had 7:05 am reservations at Grand Floridian caffe) and Disney Springs also (Epcot day. We had brunch at Homecoming - took a bus to Boardwalk and then walked to EPCOT).

The afternoon/evening buses were okay. The boats were also good to/from MK.

 

[Pens Fan]

QUOTE="WDWOswald, post: 62402971, member: 467669"]
These reports about crowds and lines for attractions, food, and merchandise sound absolutely MISERABLE.

Myself, my wife, and my six year old son are planning a weeklong stay with six day tickets visiting each park once and Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom twice (November 30-December 7th).

We just want to have an escape and have some fun. We typically visit WDW twice a year but it has been almost two years since our last trip.

For those who have visited recently did you find yourself thinking "I wish I never came?"
[/QUOTE]

We were there there Oct 1 - 11, and honestly no. I never once thought that. I posted this during that time, but it bears repeating: Expectations are key!

So many people have listed things that can mitigate some of the issues with lines / crowds but I'll repeat a few important ones:

- Arrive well before opening. If Disney transportation isn't working for you - drive or use Uber / Lyft.
- Stay late - crowds really drop that last hour or so. If you get lucky and it's an extended day the sun will have gone down.
- Leave midday if it gets too crowded and then return for that last hour or two when the lines are better. I can't emphasize this enough. At first we were hesitant to do this, due to the shortened hours. We didn't want to "miss out". But you have to ask yourself what are you really missing? Standing in lines in the hot, hot sun? Once we just gave in and stopped trying to be park commandos, we had a much better time.
- Consider going over to one of the resorts near the park you're in for a midday break. We did this a lot and enjoyed the break and AC, and found the resorts pretty deserted that time of day. We enjoyed touring the various DVC open houses they have set up now at most resorts or just grabbing lunch or a snack and sitting for awhile. It also made that midday break simpler to just hop on the monorail or skyliner or walk vs trying to get a bus back to our resort (WL).
- Make an ADR for lunch (again - consider a close-by resort) or place your mobile order in advance. Don't wait until your hungry and try to find something. Plan ahead.

We just accepted the fact that there were things we weren't going to do this trip, and were ok with it. We still had a ball, and I'm glad we went. Do I hope when we go back next Fall there will be park hopping, longer hours, fireworks, fast pass (or something like it) back? Yep! But you can still have a good time. Just pack your patience and manage your expectations.

Also - just to balance out the negatives, changes we loved:

- Limited number of people on Disney transportation. I loved this. I know it's not sustainable once the capacity restrictions are lifted, but not being crammed in like sardines on the busses and monorails was a treat.
- Not hearing "move in - take up every available space". I'm a bit claustrophobic and don't enjoy being crammed shoulder to shoulder with sweaty strangers at attractions. That's not happening right now and I do not look forward to it coming back.
- Character cavalcades. We've never been one to use a fastpass or wait in line for character meets. We loved the random cavalcades. They require no planning, take minimal time and are so much fun! I hope they stay for a long, long time.
- I actually don't mind waiting in line to get into stores. We never waited more than a few minutes, and the shopping experience is so much nicer now.
- I really felt people (for the most part) were being so much more considerate of each other than on previous trips. Are there jerks? Of course, but there always were and always will be. Mostly, people really seemed to be trying to do the right thing and be considerate of each other. At least I thought so.
- I also really enjoyed seeing the standby queues. We are fastpass or bust kind of guests, so there were many standby queues we'd never seen. That was fun.

Sorry this is so long. I just feel bad that people are getting discouraged. And I don't say that to disagree with the folks that are writing posts describing the long lines, crowds and heat. (I've "liked" quite a few of them.) They aren't wrong. All that stuff is true, and it is valuable information for anyone planning a trip. The July and August empty park experience is long gone and everyone coming should realize that ahead of time. And for some people (first timers or maybe someone that only comes once every 5 years or so), now might not be the best time to come. But if you manage your expectations and realize what is (and isn't) possible right now, I do think that most people can have a good time. Also - remember that in the weeks ahead it will get cooler, and the days will get shorter so you will have more time after dark. I know for us the heat was a major bummer and seemed to amplify things that might not have bothered us had it been cooler. By late Nov / early Dec that should be better.

Hope this helps.

 

[djmeredith]

Not the OP, but we've been here all week as well and while not everythings an hr., literally almost everything is at least 25-35 mins and many things are an hr. This week we found next to nothing had a "short wait;" so there was nothing to mix in.

This was my experience as well Oct 12-17. We arrived early every day and had luck with riding 1-3 rides with little wait during the first 1-2 hours of the day. After that we waited in several lines that were 30-45+ minutes at MK and DHS.

These reports about crowds and lines for attractions, food, and merchandise sound absolutely MISERABLE.

Myself, my wife, and my six year old son are planning a weeklong stay with six day tickets visiting each park once and Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom twice (November 30-December 7th).

We just want to have an escape and have some fun. We typically visit WDW twice a year but it has been almost two years since our last trip.

For those who have visited recently did you find yourself thinking "I wish I never came?"

Just returned from 5 park days and I never thought that while there. However, there were a couple of times in lines in the blazing sun with masks on that the teen kids and I were downright miserable. Fall break was the only time that worked for my family in the next 1.5 years, so I decided to go despite my misgivings about the reports of increasing crowds and wait times I read here.

We did have fun while there but I would not recommend a trip now unless you are a frequent visitor who is ok doing only a few rides a day (or waiting in long lines in the sun with masks on), or if you just have no other time that works for your family. I have to admit that Disney left me feeling a little "ripped off" for the first time after this trip. The lines were long, the park hours were short (despite the fact that Disney knew the number of us fall breakers coming well in advance), we did not get to do everything we wanted because of the lines/shorter hours, and we really missed some of the entertainment.

 

[brockash]

These reports about crowds and lines for attractions, food, and merchandise sound absolutely MISERABLE.

Myself, my wife, and my six year old son are planning a weeklong stay with six day tickets visiting each park once and Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom twice (November 30-December 7th).

We just want to have an escape and have some fun. We typically visit WDW twice a year but it has been almost two years since our last trip.

For those who have visited recently did you find yourself thinking "I wish I never came?"

We just returned from our trip 10/12-10/17. Honestly, I'm not really sure; it's really a toss up of our overall feeling of the trip. We're crazy Disney ppl so just the excitement of being at Disney is pretty good for us, however there were many times that it just was not fun at all. Usually we are so sad to go home and are trying to find a way to go back sooner...that was not the case this time. We actually decided to cancel our next scheduled trip and have decided to just do a resort stay in the spring. We've never not gone to the parks; but the parks just really were more of a hassle than anything else for us this trip. The times we enjoyed were the times out of the parks. We just are not happy with waiting 30+ mins for basically anything and more like 60+ for bigger rides. - Add to that waiting in the blazing hot sun and I'll be honest; I started feeling like a bad mom because it was brutal...and I'm not ghe babying type of parent, but it was miserable in some of those ques. If I hadn't had zn older child who could take the younger one to sit in the shade for the first 20, 30 mins of the line; we wouldn't have done half the things we did. I do feel in the cooler months that part won't be as bad at least, but still we just don't feel it's really worth it if all we're doing is standing around in lines all day.

 

[krsb09]

These reports about crowds and lines for attractions, food, and merchandise sound absolutely MISERABLE.

Myself, my wife, and my six year old son are planning a weeklong stay with six day tickets visiting each park once and Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom twice (November 30-December 7th).

We just want to have an escape and have some fun. We typically visit WDW twice a year but it has been almost two years since our last trip.

For those who have visited recently did you find yourself thinking "I wish I never came?"

We just returned yesterday. I didn't wish I never came, but we won't be back again until things return to "normal". We had a couple good days, but we had a couple REALLY BAD days too.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

QUOTE="WDWOswald, post: 62402971, member: 467669"]
These reports about crowds and lines for attractions, food, and merchandise sound absolutely MISERABLE.

Myself, my wife, and my six year old son are planning a weeklong stay with six day tickets visiting each park once and Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom twice (November 30-December 7th).

We just want to have an escape and have some fun. We typically visit WDW twice a year but it has been almost two years since our last trip.

For those who have visited recently did you find yourself thinking "I wish I never came?"

We were there there Oct 1 - 11, and honestly no. I never once thought that. I posted this during that time, but it bears repeating: Expectations are key!

So many people have listed things that can mitigate some of the issues with lines / crowds but I'll repeat a few important ones:

- Arrive well before opening. If Disney transportation isn't working for you - drive or use Uber / Lyft.
- Stay late - crowds really drop that last hour or so. If you get lucky and it's an extended day the sun will have gone down.
- Leave midday if it gets too crowded and then return for that last hour or two when the lines are better. I can't emphasize this enough. At first we were hesitant to do this, due to the shortened hours. We didn't want to "miss out". But you have to ask yourself what are you really missing? Standing in lines in the hot, hot sun? Once we just gave in and stopped trying to be park commandos, we had a much better time.
- Consider going over to one of the resorts near the park you're in for a midday break. We did this a lot and enjoyed the break and AC, and found the resorts pretty deserted that time of day. We enjoyed touring the various DVC open houses they have set up now at most resorts or just grabbing lunch or a snack and sitting for awhile. It also made that midday break simpler to just hop on the monorail or skyliner or walk vs trying to get a bus back to our resort (WL).
- Make an ADR for lunch (again - consider a close-by resort) or place your mobile order in advance. Don't wait until your hungry and try to find something. Plan ahead.

We just accepted the fact that there were things we weren't going to do this trip, and were ok with it. We still had a ball, and I'm glad we went. Do I hope when we go back next Fall there will be park hopping, longer hours, fireworks, fast pass (or something like it) back? Yep! But you can still have a good time. Just pack your patience and manage your expectations.

Also - just to balance out the negatives, changes we loved:

- Limited number of people on Disney transportation. I loved this. I know it's not sustainable once the capacity restrictions are lifted, but not being crammed in like sardines on the busses and monorails was a treat.
- Not hearing "move in - take up every available space". I'm a bit claustrophobic and don't enjoy being crammed shoulder to shoulder with sweaty strangers at attractions. That's not happening right now and I do not look forward to it coming back.
- Character cavalcades. We've never been one to use a fastpass or wait in line for character meets. We loved the random cavalcades. They require no planning, take minimal time and are so much fun! I hope they stay for a long, long time.
- I actually don't mind waiting in line to get into stores. We never waited more than a few minutes, and the shopping experience is so much nicer now.
- I really felt people (for the most part) were being so much more considerate of each other than on previous trips. Are there jerks? Of course, but there always were and always will be. Mostly, people really seemed to be trying to do the right thing and be considerate of each other. At least I thought so.
- I also really enjoyed seeing the standby queues. We are fastpass or bust kind of guests, so there were many standby queues we'd never seen. That was fun.

Sorry this is so long. I just feel bad that people are getting discouraged. And I don't say that to disagree with the folks that are writing posts describing the long lines, crowds and heat. (I've "liked" quite a few of them.) They aren't wrong. All that stuff is true, and it is valuable information for anyone planning a trip. The July and August empty park experience is long gone and everyone coming should realize that ahead of time. And for some people (first timers or maybe someone that only comes once every 5 years or so), now might not be the best time to come. But if you manage your expectations and realize what is (and isn't) possible right now, I do think that most people can have a good time. Also - remember that in the weeks ahead it will get cooler, and the days will get shorter so you will have more time after dark. I know for us the heat was a major bummer and seemed to amplify things that might not have bothered us had it been cooler. By late Nov / early Dec that should be better.

Hope this helps.
[/QUOTE]

Thank you for this. This is all great advice!

 

[bigrooster81]

QUOTE="WDWOswald, post: 62402971, member: 467669"]
These reports about crowds and lines for attractions, food, and merchandise sound absolutely MISERABLE.

Myself, my wife, and my six year old son are planning a weeklong stay with six day tickets visiting each park once and Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom twice (November 30-December 7th).

We just want to have an escape and have some fun. We typically visit WDW twice a year but it has been almost two years since our last trip.

For those who have visited recently did you find yourself thinking "I wish I never came?"

We were there there Oct 1 - 11, and honestly no. I never once thought that. I posted this during that time, but it bears repeating: Expectations are key!

So many people have listed things that can mitigate some of the issues with lines / crowds but I'll repeat a few important ones:

- Arrive well before opening. If Disney transportation isn't working for you - drive or use Uber / Lyft.
- Stay late - crowds really drop that last hour or so. If you get lucky and it's an extended day the sun will have gone down.
- Leave midday if it gets too crowded and then return for that last hour or two when the lines are better. I can't emphasize this enough. At first we were hesitant to do this, due to the shortened hours. We didn't want to "miss out". But you have to ask yourself what are you really missing? Standing in lines in the hot, hot sun? Once we just gave in and stopped trying to be park commandos, we had a much better time.
- Consider going over to one of the resorts near the park you're in for a midday break. We did this a lot and enjoyed the break and AC, and found the resorts pretty deserted that time of day. We enjoyed touring the various DVC open houses they have set up now at most resorts or just grabbing lunch or a snack and sitting for awhile. It also made that midday break simpler to just hop on the monorail or skyliner or walk vs trying to get a bus back to our resort (WL).
- Make an ADR for lunch (again - consider a close-by resort) or place your mobile order in advance. Don't wait until your hungry and try to find something. Plan ahead.

We just accepted the fact that there were things we weren't going to do this trip, and were ok with it. We still had a ball, and I'm glad we went. Do I hope when we go back next Fall there will be park hopping, longer hours, fireworks, fast pass (or something like it) back? Yep! But you can still have a good time. Just pack your patience and manage your expectations.

Also - just to balance out the negatives, changes we loved:

- Limited number of people on Disney transportation. I loved this. I know it's not sustainable once the capacity restrictions are lifted, but not being crammed in like sardines on the busses and monorails was a treat.
- Not hearing "move in - take up every available space". I'm a bit claustrophobic and don't enjoy being crammed shoulder to shoulder with sweaty strangers at attractions. That's not happening right now and I do not look forward to it coming back.
- Character cavalcades. We've never been one to use a fastpass or wait in line for character meets. We loved the random cavalcades. They require no planning, take minimal time and are so much fun! I hope they stay for a long, long time.
- I actually don't mind waiting in line to get into stores. We never waited more than a few minutes, and the shopping experience is so much nicer now.
- I really felt people (for the most part) were being so much more considerate of each other than on previous trips. Are there jerks? Of course, but there always were and always will be. Mostly, people really seemed to be trying to do the right thing and be considerate of each other. At least I thought so.
- I also really enjoyed seeing the standby queues. We are fastpass or bust kind of guests, so there were many standby queues we'd never seen. That was fun.

Sorry this is so long. I just feel bad that people are getting discouraged. And I don't say that to disagree with the folks that are writing posts describing the long lines, crowds and heat. (I've "liked" quite a few of them.) They aren't wrong. All that stuff is true, and it is valuable information for anyone planning a trip. The July and August empty park experience is long gone and everyone coming should realize that ahead of time. And for some people (first timers or maybe someone that only comes once every 5 years or so), now might not be the best time to come. But if you manage your expectations and realize what is (and isn't) possible right now, I do think that most people can have a good time. Also - remember that in the weeks ahead it will get cooler, and the days will get shorter so you will have more time after dark. I know for us the heat was a major bummer and seemed to amplify things that might not have bothered us had it been cooler. By late Nov / early Dec that should be better.

Hope this helps.
[/QUOTE]

what an outstanding post. I amhere right now and you’ve articulated things much better than I could have.

manage your expectations and you will have a great time. The problem with many is they feel they have ‘cracked’ Disney and for better or worse this situation has been a bit of a leveler.

now to caveat that point - I’m with a 4 year old. So I knew going in that I’d have to go at her pace. I knew I wasn’t going to go on all the big rides in one day so my expectations were already managed. So in actual fact it’s been a lot better than I’d thought it would be and we are having a great time.

 

[doombuggy]

I was at MK yesterday for my birthday (lost my personalized birthday button on Space Mountain...) and it was more crowded than I was expecting (as compared to my visit in late August). I got to the toll both in my car at 9am and was walking through the gate at 10 am. In ordinary times, it wouldn't take that long, even if I did walk from Peter Pan parking lot. I spent most of my time from 10am to 4pm standing in line - line for 7DMT wrapped around the back to where the exit for Ariel is - about 45 minutes; SM was about 30 minutes; HM was about the same, although we had some line jumpers, as that line went down to DHSS; line for POTC was probably about 30 min.

I find most people adhere to the mask policy. I did see some people walking and eating popcorn, but I think that was mostly a "reflex" and they weren't thinking "I can't be doing this."

My beef was with the people in front of me at POTC. A couple - she looked in her late 30s, he in his 40s - constantly taking their masks off. He actually sneezed 3 times with the mask off. They ended up moving ahead in line to catch up with like minded friends. Some how they ended up in the boat behind me (taking masks off of course) so I said something to the cast at the exit (they were cleaning my boat as we exited, so there was a wait). I believe the person I spoke to was a coordinator, but I don't know if she did anything. This really bugged me, being older than them. I feel comfortable at Disney for the most part, but this did not make me feel comfortable. Someone did yell when he sneezed, but I don't think it was loud enough for him to hear.

 

[bakerworld]

I think visiting the parks will be much like back in the 90's when FP didn't exist and waiting in long lines was the norm.

 

[disney16]

We were there 9/26-10/2. We took Lyft XL to Hollywood studios both park days. We were FIRST people at the bus stop on our first HS day. Supposedly the buses were to start running 30 minutes prior to park opening so we went down an hour before park opening. When there was no bus by 9:45, we ordered the LYFT. It was there in 5 minutes and we got INTO the park at 9:10 (the line was very long but moved quickly). same thing happened on our 2nd HS day but when no bus came by 9:35, we called the LYFT.

We took a Lyft to Grand Floridian (MK day and we had 7:05 am reservations at Grand Floridian caffe) and Disney Springs also (Epcot day. We had brunch at Homecoming - took a bus to Boardwalk and then walked to EPCOT).

The afternoon/evening buses were okay. The boats were also good to/from MK.

Where did you stay? People are posting helpful details but sometimes leaving out resort names which are helpful when referencing Disney transportation issues. Thanks!

 

[karen4546]

Where did you stay? People are posting helpful details but sometimes leaving out resort names which are helpful when referencing Disney transportation issues. Thanks!

Copper Creek

 

[SPSRAS]

No not a

These reports about crowds and lines for attractions, food, and merchandise sound absolutely MISERABLE.

Myself, my wife, and my six year old son are planning a weeklong stay with six day tickets visiting each park once and Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom twice (November 30-December 7th).

We just want to have an escape and have some fun. We typically visit WDW twice a year but it has been almost two years since our last trip.

For those who have visited recently did you find yourself thinking "I wish I never came?"

No not at all. I think especially with a six year old it will be great. The most difficult thing for us was the lack of food options. My advice is to eat early and plan ahead for restaurants.

 

[SamBlaine]

We're scheduled for the week after Christmas. I know it will be crowded, but hopefully it won't be miserable. We're staying at the Contemporary, so we can walk to MK, where we're spending two days. Our kids are each 16 and have been twice before, so as long as we can get some rides and shopping in, along with a lunch/dinner or two, I think we'll be good. More than anything we want to be there when it's decorated. I know it's not going to be quite as extravagant as normal, but still. Are we crazy and will be miserable?

 

[2minny]

This is the key - it's hard to justify all the things missing if you only go once every year or two. I think its a different situation if you go more than once a year.


[/QUOTE]

We did have fun while there but I would not recommend a trip now unless you are a frequent visitor who is ok doing only a few rides a day (or waiting in long lines in the sun with masks on), or if you just have no other time that works for your family. I have to admit that Disney left me feeling a little "ripped off" for the first time after this trip. The lines were long, the park hours were short (despite the fact that Disney knew the number of us fall breakers coming well in advance), we did not get to do everything we wanted because of the lines/shorter hours, and we really missed some of the entertainment.

 

[Befferk]

We're scheduled for the week after Christmas. I know it will be crowded, but hopefully it won't be miserable. We're staying at the Contemporary, so we can walk to MK, where we're spending two days. Our kids are each 16 and have been twice before, so as long as we can get some rides and shopping in, along with a lunch/dinner or two, I think we'll be good. More than anything we want to be there when it's decorated. I know it's not going to be quite as extravagant as normal, but still. Are we crazy and will be miserable?

We're going the same time, and it sounds like you have realistic expectations. Take into account what the parks are USUALLY like that week, now to me, that would be miserable. It will literally be what you make of it. If you go with a positive and flexible attitude, I'm sure you'll have a good time. I'm prepared for whatever comes that week. (Unless we have to cancel because of you-know-what, I'm not mentally prepared for that yet... )