Here now parks so busy

[Megandllsmum]

Originally Posted by disneyme

as far as special events go: I've got friends competing at the World Cheerleading & Dance championships which is taking place in a few venues across Walt Disney World. A few thousand competitors and their families visiting the after competing might be pushing numbers up a bit?

That started on Friday and finishes today.

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We had a team of girls competing in this tournament on our flight from Manchester and they made a special announcement and we all wished them well, we've seen a few groups around the parks too for choirs when we were in universal on Saturday.

[amandajane10]

Yes also seen many groups in Disney marching bands.

[suesmum]

Originally Posted by BirdsluvDisney

WE was in MK on Fri and when we walked down both BTMRR and SM where on 90 mins, I have been around this time before and never known it this busy, So thats why I asked the CM as I thought maybe a special event was on, I have been in the parks on a 4-5 and they have not been this busy we may have been spilt with low crowds, Maybe it was just weekend crowds

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I noticed on Touring Plans for a couple of weeks ago their prediction for crowds, which is normally very good, was way out with the parks being far busier than anticipated. To be honest from reading various articles, it seems like the parks are just generally getting busier at quieter times of the year

[tink66]

I wonder why the Disney parks are so very full lately. We went last Oct (outside of the school holidays) and gave up on most rides as the waiting times all exceeded 60 mins. I think it has a lot to do with the Fast Pass System.

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by suesmum

I noticed on Touring Plans for a couple of weeks ago their prediction for crowds, which is normally very good, was way out with the parks being far busier than anticipated. To be honest from reading various articles, it seems like the parks are just generally getting busier at quieter times of the year

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Yes, it was busier in early-to-mid April than we expected as well. It was expected that crowds would drop from April 4th onwards (just over a week after Easter) but they didn't - at least, not as much as expected.

I think the quiet periods are just getting busier.

Note that I don't really think the queue times adequately reflect the crowds in the parks. We found that the queue times might be average and yet the parks felt crowded with lots of people. I can only assume that the fastpass system is working - less people are stood in queues and more people are wandering from one attraction to another (and going into shops and restaurants - just like Disney want).

[Guest]

Originally Posted by tink66

I wonder why the Disney parks are so very full lately. We went last Oct (outside of the school holidays) and gave up on most rides as the waiting times all exceeded 60 mins. I think it has a lot to do with the Fast Pass System.

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We went last October out of school holidays too and found it way busier than the time before in both Disney and Universal, both had major queues of 70+ minutes some days and fast pass queues were 40 minutes for most or more. The quieter times are definitely getting busier and busier as the years go on and the advice is passed on

[Guest]

There last year at this time with all the marching/cheerleading teams. One of the cheer teams were staying in our hotel - if only I had been 20 years younger... OK, 30...

The marching bands were fantastic entertainment in MK (as were the chee... OK STOP) It was definitely 60+ for SM later in the day, but we didn't really notice.

1. Plan
2. Read the dibb
3. Plan some more

Show me a park with no queues and I'll show you a park th.. no, it's closed down

[WB72]

Disney laid off a lot of staff recently. The upshot is the rides are not running at full capacity from the beginning of the day - only one loading bay at Safaris, one track at Primeval etc, and thus the queues form much earlier. People see a 60 minute queue and so won't get in it, meaning there are more people wandering around. I'm sure once we start peak season in a few weeks the rides will be back open at full capacity.

[shelly]

We are here now also. Currently in blizzard beach which is fairly quiet. There have been 2 different cheerleading competitions, Star Wars marathon last weekend, and a few states had late spring breaks this year (think New York are still off). I think it will be quieter this week. However we haven't had any problems getting on rides. We did 8 in 6 hrs at MK the other day. Including much and wandering which wasn't too bad!

[shelly]

Originally Posted by WB72

Disney laid off a lot of staff recently. The upshot is the rides are not running at full capacity from the beginning of the day - only one loading bay at Safaris, one track at Primeval etc

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I thought this too, but yesterday all 3 loading docks were being used at safaris and the wait was 110 mins. Both side of primeval with a 30 min wait. The fp+ queue we waited in for safaris was huge. Right though the queue and back past the entrance for the wildlife express!