Just Back. Nov 29 through Dec 3. Crowded.

[Manners]

We truly thought this week wouldn't be so bad, but it was so crowded - when is a reasonable time to visit? And by crowded I mean:

70 minutes at Peter Pan
45 minutes for Its a Small World
25 minutes at Teacups

When one has to spend their time dodging strollers and electric wheelchairs, it really takes the fun out of it.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Last week of August is decent.

I haven't had problems with ECVs but I find that the stroller situation at MK has become almost unbearable

 

[Pdollar88]

Went those exact days. I thought it was crowded but I still got everything I wanted to do - and more! I rode Test Track 3 times and Soarin twice. Picked up a same day FP for Mine Train and Small World. Rode all the mountains.

The only thing I didn’t get to was RNRC because it was down during my FP window and crazy the rest of the day.

Food lines at Columbia Harbor House were insane, but I snuck in with mobile. Walkways were crowded (I always think Adventureland and Fantasyland are challenging).

Disclaimer for folks: I was a solo traveler.

 

[sarahothomas]

I'm so worried about our dates - Dec 10th through 15th.

 

[Happy_2_B]

when is a reasonable time to visit?

We got back 2 days ago. Our longest wait was 20 minutes- and that was because they had to load a wheelchair in the vehicle ahead of us. We experienced a large crowd one evening for HOA wedged in between 2 party days- but other than that was pretty smooth sailing. I have gone at this time of year many, many times- and will continue to do so. Guess wait times all depend on what time you arrive at the parks and what attractions you do. We did PP at RD and walked on, then did it again an hour later with a FP. Small world was less than a 5 min wait- no one was entering through the FP line- got right on. Wife doesn't like the teacups- so have no experience with that one.

I'm so worried about our dates - Dec 10th through 15th.

We are going back on Dec 13th for 'round two'. I don't expect it to be all that bad then, either.

 

[Serenebean]

70 minutes for PP is pretty normal (or I'd even go as far as to say that is light). It's pretty hard to predict/tell when things will be less crowded. So much goes into that. Avoid any holidays and just make a plan!

 

[IanDLBZF from MCMagic]

My advice - go weekdays over weekends/holidays! Good times to go are the first 3 weeks in May or the month of September!

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

We truly thought this week wouldn't be so bad, but it was so crowded - when is a reasonable time to visit? And by crowded I mean:

70 minutes at Peter Pan
45 minutes for Its a Small World
25 minutes at Teacups

When one has to spend their time dodging strollers and electric wheelchairs, it really takes the fun out of it.

What time of day and what day was it? Those times seem normal for a Sat afternoon during our “slower time” early May trips.

 

[DisneyFive]

70 minutes at Peter Pan
45 minutes for Its a Small World
25 minutes at Teacups

Not picking on your or anything but maybe your expectations were too high? I've seen waits like that in the afternoon every year I've been to Disney, and some of those years were very low crowds.

For those dates, your overall crowd levels were 4,3,5,7,6 out of ten.

Oh, and editing to say to the Dis boards!

Dan

 

[sponica]

I do think the fall/early winter this year might be a little more bonkers because of rescheduled hurricane trips....

And Fantasyland IS one big stroller parking lot...

 

[disneyfreak202]

We went the first week of November and crowds were pretty mild to light, did FOP 4 times in the 3 AK days we had, 1 full day, 2 half days. We didn't notice it being too crowded until our last day we were there and it was hot.

 

[tlmadden73]

I think it does matter on expectations and planning.

If you start reading these boards, you'll find out there is no "perfect" time anymore. There are times that are less crowded than others, but often hard to predict (I mean .. if there was, everyone would go then and it wouldn't be very low crowds).

I'm sure if you went at a traditionally "busy" time you'd find that these dates were relatively "less" crowded.

You can still catch those low crowd days, but it seems like they are just lucky to hit them or some special circumstance that you can't control (like weather).

Plus weekends for anything in this world are just going to be more crowded than a TUE-THUR.

 

[DisneyFive]

With the US economy rolling along like it is, WDW appears to be having decent crowds no matter the season.

Manners, out of curiosity when was the last time you visited?

Dan

 

[Serenebean]

Another thing to keep in mind is what day you are going to MK. MK closed on 11/30 at 4:30pm for a cast member party and there were Christmas parties on Dec 1 and 3. So if you went on 11/29 or 12/2 it was probably more crowded. If you go back during that time again, I'd suggest going to MK on a day where they have a party as the crowds would be lighter on those days.

 

[sharonabe]

Another thing to keep in mind is what day you are going to MK. MK closed on 11/30 at 4:30pm for a cast member party and there were Christmas parties on Dec 1 and 3. So if you went on 11/29 or 12/2 it was probably more crowded. If you go back during that time again, I'd suggest going to MK on a day where they have a party as the crowds would be lighter on those days.

This was what I was going to say.

Unfortunately, you were there not only with MVMCP, but you also had the cast party at MK thrown in. That means any and all non-party days are going to be packed and feel much more like a crowd level 10 than anything the crowd predictors were telling you.

 

[gincz24]

We were just there the week after Thanksgiving and felt it was crowded. We visit very often at Christmas week and were shocked at the crowd levels for the week after Thanksgiving when we had been told they are normally low. My Dh and I contributed the crowds to there being many party days and short park hours.

 

[Elizabeth Smith]

We got back from a trip from 11/14-11/21. The beginning of our trip did not have long waits at all, and the longest we had to wait for anything was about 40 minutes, and that was for Mine Train. However, the last 2 days were significantly more crowded. I will say, though, that even at the beginning of the trip with the lower crowd levels, Peter Pan often did get a wait longer than an hour.

 

[RustManFan]

Wait times seem to be right in line with what I have seen other times of year

 

[RustManFan]

We went to MK on 11/2 and again on 11/6. The first day we didn't think it was particularly crowded. The second day was MUCH more so!! Of course that was the week when the NJ Teachers convention is on Thursday and Friday so schools are closed. Many families take an extra few days and head for WDW.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

We truly thought this week wouldn't be so bad, but it was so crowded - when is a reasonable time to visit? And by crowded I mean:

70 minutes at Peter Pan
45 minutes for Its a Small World
25 minutes at Teacups

When one has to spend their time dodging strollers and electric wheelchairs, it really takes the fun out of it.

Unfortunately, the days of "off season" for Disney are gone. There just is not one anymore. The crowd times you posted are in line with an average day for Magic Kingdom. There are strategies that you can employ to get the most out of your trip - mostly involved with planning your fastpass's and ADR's strategically, hitting the parks as early as possible and watching carefully for which park to attend on which day. However even these things will only make it more likely to hit your must do list; they will not eliminate crowds or congestion. Disney is sadly a victim of it's own success.