Here now - 3/24-3/30 - “low” crowds?

[rteetz]

I was surprised by crowd levels as well. Obviously the weekend was higher but during the week was great.

 

[Jessirip]

Whoooboy - yes right now wait times at MK are crazy per MDE. Here they come! (Steeling myself for next week!)

 

[DizneyMommy]

Those wait times are terrifying.

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

I was surprised by crowd levels as well. Obviously the weekend was higher but during the week was great.

So the last couple of weeks have been pretty low crowds and it's March? That's not good for Disney. This is supposed to be their busiest month of the year!

It's great if you were a guest the last couple of weeks, though.

Today they may have cut staff and capacity at the parks to make it seem busier like Len Testa says they do nowadays.

 

[DizneyMommy]

So the last couple of weeks have been pretty low crowds and it's March? That's not good for Disney. This is supposed to be their busiest month of the year!

It's great if you were a guest the last couple of weeks, though.

Today they may have cut staff and capacity at the parks to make it seem busier like Len Testa says they do nowadays.

I don’t think that always holds true. Spring break is a fickle friend and when Easter is late it is all over the place. Sure, when Easter is in March I’d believe it is their busiest month of the year, but when Easter is in April spring breaks are much more spread out. A lot of schools take the week after Easter. We see the same thing at DL, you really can’t predict March/April crowds without looking at when Easter is, and even then it’s a crap shoot.

 

[NashvilleMama]

I’d guess the opposite. With an early Easter, I’d bet most public school districts have the week after Easter as their break.

In MA, wer’re always the third week of April, we’ll be there then. They're keeping 9am (not 8am) MK & AK openings, so I’m hoping this means they anticipate lower (ish) crowds our week.

Was the Carrousel, Small World, or Tea Cups Open for your EMM?

No, only the 3 included rides.

 

[NashvilleMama]

That sounds amazing! Also, did you ride anything else besides Space after EMM? My plan is to hit Space and Speedway then make it back in time for breakfast.

We did Space and Barnstormer before going to eat breakfast. Probably could have done Dumbo but hunger won out! Lines were still really low afterwards at 10am for Under the Sea and Small World.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Everyone in my area is off the week after Easter with Good Friday off also. The crowds are coming!

 

[ktlm]

We had Spring Break last week and are back in school today. Our relatives in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and in the Kansas City area and people we know in several other midwest areas all had spring break the week before last. One of the groups went to WDW, and said it was pretty crowded that week. They go to WDW at least a couple of times a year.

 

[AngiTN]

So the last couple of weeks have been pretty low crowds and it's March? That's not good for Disney. This is supposed to be their busiest month of the year!

It's great if you were a guest the last couple of weeks, though.

Today they may have cut staff and capacity at the parks to make it seem busier like Len Testa says they do nowadays.

In what alternate Universe is this supposed to be the busiest month of the year at Disney?!?
Sorry, it's not. Probably not even top 5. Nor supposed to be.

 

[cavepig]

Wow that sounds fantastic and opposite of my sister's experience. My sister and her kids are there now and have sent pics of crazy packed lines, Star Tours looked insane this morning. Tables were packed at Restaurantosaurus for lunch. Guess it just depends on where/when you are with crowds.

Spring breaks some were a few weeks ago here but others are this week, it's all over the place.

 

[DisLaw]

I agree it’s so variable! We were there the week of 3/12 and it was very busy and crowded! We managed well with FPs and refreshing a lot to get additional ones (even got 7dmt for an late FP!) but crowds were very thick to me compared with other trips we’ve made in March. I feel like everyone had spring break that week, although it was mainly college age kids I saw not as manny little ones.

 

[Elle23]

Living with the Land and It’s a Small World are both 60 minute waits right now. Yikes!

FOP is a meager 240 minutes.

 

[Gentry2004]

We are here now too and while it’s doable - it’s still very very crowded and 4th FP’s are taking a lot more refreshes. It’s the little things I notice - bag check lines are way longer, strolled parking is fuller, Indy is standing room only 30 minutes before show time.

 

[Hannahinwonderland]

I am also here now. I thought it wasn't too bad the past few days at Disney..but today I was at Universal and it was absolutely PACKED. We had express pass and even those waits were easily 30+ minutes at times. I was checking Disney wait times all day also and being shocked by the crowds!

 

[Claudia1]

We are here today and it is nuts. Wall to wall in Fantasyland.

 

[Mousefan mom]

Spring break here isn't until the week before or after Easter for most schools--but we planned a trip the first week in March thinking we'd beat the crowds--it was packed! I think the crowds seem to be shifting a lot more than in past years. Last year we were there in July--expected it to be packed, and the crowds were lower than they were the first week in March. Crazy! We have another trip planned for mid-July...it will be interesting to see if the same crowd trend happens this year...although TSL may throw that off as it opens end of June.

I must say though the weather in March was PERFECT especially compared to July. Even with the crowds we could do so much more!

 

[kittylady1972]

I've been looking at some of my WDW-related Twitter feeds and yeah it looks crazy. My kids are not going to be thrilled with me for dragging them into this crazy place but I figure it's more time for us to spend doing other Disney stuff. It sounds like we should prepare to go to the waterparks instead. I'm hoping we can do some early mornings and late evenings at least without it being too insane.

 

[erin1715]

At this very moment we are weaving in a posted 120 minutes line outside Toy Story Mania. We got here just as the park was opening and this is the first ride we came to. Crowds are insane. Weather is beautiful. We came last summer and crowds were low compared to this. I think I prefer summer heat to crowds like this.

Yesterday we went to animal kingdom in the morning and Epcot in the evening. Both crowded. Crowds have arrived

Also we’re staying at all star music and the line before 7am this morning for waffles went through the seating area to the OUTSIDE! Thank God I was only there to get coffee!

 

[kittylady1972]

At this very moment we are weaving in a posted 120 minutes line outside Toy Story Mania. We got here just as the park was opening and this is the first ride we came to. Crowds are insane. Weather is beautiful. We came last summer and crowds were low compared to this. I think I prefer summer heat to crowds like this.

Yesterday we went to animal kingdom in the morning and Epcot in the evening. Both crowded. Crowds have arrived

Also we’re staying at all star music and the line before 7am this morning for waffles went through the seating area to the OUTSIDE! Thank God I was only there to get coffee!

Oh wow...makes me rethink some of my plans already, and we don't arrive until Thursday. It sounds like we need to stick to only using FPs and any other rides just won't be happening. I knew it would be crazy though. My family will be hating me for sure.