RamblingMad
I'm an 80s kid too.
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2019
Well, DH and I traveled to WDW in early May...for whatever reason. This is back...1997-2003, and yes, the parks obviously always had lots of people around, but it never felt super crowded/packed in the way I read they are now. We lived down there...2004-07, and there were plenty of times we went to the parks during the year where they weren't packed, particularly in January. As I mentioned before, early December was also really nice. The old Fast Pass system that punched out a ticket for you as soon as you used the last one was a system that worked pretty darn well for such an antiquated system compared to this brilliant Genie+ deal they just rolled out (kidding) . When we traveled to Disney in May of 2010, after not having vacationed onsite in that way since 2003, the difference in crowd size and lack of access to a lot of theme park areas due to private events was palpable. We felt a bit ripped off to be honest.
I just looked up the number of hotel rooms on property...including DVC, suites, etc. Back in 98, there were 24,500 rooms, 25 years later...36,000 is what I find now. A lot of those new hotels are DVC properties or add-ons to other resorts....a cash cow for Disney. By that point in 97, we had the four parks, two water parks and back then..."Downtown Disney". And sure, some of the really cheap hotels out on 192 may have folded, but basically, more and more (and more) hotel space has been added not just on property, but up and around Disney. And there are also timeshares, VRBO and AirBnb that weren't really a big thing back then. And no new theme park gate has been built to handle the crowds.
The crowds weren't that bad in the 90s. All of the resorts weren't finished being built. And most people stayed off property. This was especially true in the 80s. Reservations for restaurants wasn't a big deal. Walk up was still possible. My fondest memories of WDW are from the 80s and 90s.