MK Crowds tonight Monday *12/17*

[diana13]

We came about 6 tonight and is it just me
.. or are the crowds incredible? I've been in the summer and think tonight was worse. We went to get QS and mobile pickup was so backed up as were all the lines everywhere. Then watching HEA and after done it was standstill trying get across.. Saw they had the busy exit doors open. Is this leading up to Christmas and how much worse does it get?
I've came in December last year but earlier in month. Curious if this is how it is now.

 

[sharonabe]

We came about 6 tonight and is it just me
.. or are the crowds incredible? I've been in the summer and think tonight was worse. We went to get QS and mobile pickup was so backed up as were all the lines everywhere. Then watching HEA and after done it was standstill trying get across.. Saw they had the busy exit doors open. Is this leading up to Christmas and how much worse does it get?
I've came in December last year but earlier in month. Curious if this is how it is now.

Non-party day the week before Christmas. Yes, this is how crowded it is now at just about EVERY non-party day at MK from Thanksgiving on.

 

[anniemae]

I think the Christmas crowds are coming in early. I know at my son's school, I can name at least 5 families that went to Disney this week.

 

[msteddom]

I was at MK today, but I left around 2 PM. The crowds were definitely building when I left!

 

[gtpoohbear]

A lot of schools are on break already, so I would expect the Christmas crowds are already arriving. We've been the week before Christmas a couple of different years, and it is definitely more crowded than the middle of summer.

 

[Klayfish]

I've been in the summer and think tonight was worse. We went to get QS and mobile pickup was so backed up as were all the lines everywhere. Then watching HEA and after done it was standstill trying get across.. Saw they had the busy exit doors open. Is this leading up to Christmas and how much worse does it get?
I've came in December last year but earlier in month. Curious if this is how it is now.

Well, sure. If you're trying to compare it to summer, you'll be terribly disappointed. Summer is "slow" season for WDW, relatively speaking. Christmas is the busiest time of year, so it's apples and oranges. We were there last year at this time. We arrived on the 17th I think and stayed until Jan 1. It'll get worse. The heaviest crowd is the week between Xmas and New Years.

Just understand it's very busy, it's going to stay that way. But you're in WDW, have fun!!

 

[Miffy]

We were in MK yesterday (Monday, 12/17/18) and the crowds were actually too much for me. We also left around 2 pm and I almost couldn't believe they were letting more people in.

However . . . we were able to rearrange all our FP+s to times that were better for us and got a 4th FP+ for JC at the time we wanted. I was surprised that manipulating the FP+ times was so easy, since the park was extremely crowded. But I guess people still don't really know how to work the FP+ system. I've spoken to a few people this trip who didn't realize that FP+ was for everyone regardless of where you're staying and/or that you didn't have to pay for it.

 

[emmabelle]

we were there last week and thought the crowds were big all week. I was able to get some extra FP's but it took a lot of refreshing.

 

[Jennasis]

We were there on Saturday 12/8 when it was also a non-party night and the crowds were so terrible that we will never attempt to go to MK on a non-party night again. The crowd for HEA in the hub was dangerous. It was honestly no fun at all. When there is a 20 minute line for the peoplemover, there is a problem LOL. The lines at Pecos Bill were ridiculous and there was not a seat anywhere in the filthy restaurant. No CM's directing people to tables. We wound up having to eat in a corner of Tortuga Tavern around the corner.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Non-party day the week before Christmas. Yes, this is how crowded it is now at just about EVERY non-party day at MK from Thanksgiving on.

Yes, we found this to be the case earlier this month. We were happy to have the HEA dessert party with the standing area roped off.

 

[rinnythepooh]

we were there last week and thought the crowds were big all week. I was able to get some extra FP's but it took a lot of refreshing.

We were also there last week. Crowds were bad at every park. I cant imagine what it will be like when Star Wars opens. Just cant imagine shoving more people in the parks. Rope drop is less efficient
because Disney now has Paid special events pre park opening, filling up the park. We stayed at Beach Club and the lobby,quick service and lounge areas were packed with the overflow from world showcase. After 16 yearly visits, we are done for awhile. Customer service has slipped so... much with less staff. Make the cookie smaller and raise price.
Rant over.

 

[WEDWDW]

We were there on Saturday 12/8 when it was also a non-party night and the crowds were so terrible that we will never attempt to go to MK on a non-party night again. The crowd for HEA in the hub was dangerous.

I have to agree-the "3 day a week only" FEA opportunities in December create a very "uncomfortable" atmosphere in Magic Kingdom to the point where it is not worth going those nights.

 

[emmabelle]

We were also there last week. Crowds were bad at every park. I cant imagine what it will be like when Star Wars opens. Just cant imagine shoving more people in the parks. Rope drop is less efficient
because Disney now has Paid special events pre park opening, filling up the park. We stayed at Beach Club and the lobby,quick service and lounge areas were packed with the overflow from world showcase. After 16 yearly visits, we are done for awhile. Customer service has slipped so... much with less staff. Make the cookie smaller and raise price.
Rant over.

we were there the first week of September and that was good, not terribly crowded. We're going again second week of February. Hopefully it won't be bad, but we're staying CL at Boardwalk, so that always adds happiness.

 

[DebbieB]

Lower level Annual Pass blackouts start Thursday 12/20. People getting last visit of the year in.

 

[wfjny]

We were also there last week. Crowds were bad at every park. I cant imagine what it will be like when Star Wars opens. Just cant imagine shoving more people in the parks. Rope drop is less efficient
because Disney now has Paid special events pre park opening, filling up the park. We stayed at Beach Club and the lobby,quick service and lounge areas were packed with the overflow from world showcase. After 16 yearly visits, we are done for awhile. Customer service has slipped so... much with less staff. Make the cookie smaller and raise price.
Rant over.

The Early Morning Magic is rather small, not that often, and I am not sure it has impacted RD that much, yet. But I completely agree with everything else people have been observing.

I have mentioned in other threads, Disney is finding a way to get more money from people. So many hard ticket events, each of which is rather costly. You are looking at about $100 for most of the After Hours Events, verses less than $20 to add an entire additional day to an existing 7 day ticket.

I believe the overall economy is creating part of this bubble at Disney. Many people held off things for so long, now they are packing Disney all the time. And Disney is cashing in, with increase in everything from park tickets (two increases this year alone), Restaurants (Biergarten went up over 25% for lunch and 7% for dinner), Parking Fees (up 10%), Bottle Soda (up 29%), Bottled Water and Mickey Pretzels (up 17%), even the mickey ears ice cream went up 15%.

Disney may have no problem getting people in, for now. But i wonder what will happen when many of these one and done trip people have done Disney, and realize they are finished. Last week, in what is normally a slow time, the wait times for PP, 7DMX and Space Mountain were 70, 135 and 90 minutes respectively. When people realize they are waiting in line for 5 hours to go on 3 rides with a combined ride time of under 15 minutes, then spend an exorbitant amount on anything else they want to buy, I am curious what Disney World will be like.

 

[Haley R]

We were there the last week in October and our MK days felt like this. It was difficult to get extra FPs and the HEA crowd was horrible. I had never experienced a standstill before that trip and Dh said never again will we watch the fireworks in front of the castle. We were right near the front.

 

[mrd7896]

I just came back from our pre-thanksgiving trip with very intense crowd levels (55 minutes for astro orbiters? 60 for winnie the pooh? yikes)
And this past december was there the 17th to the 23rd...but we managed perfectly fine?

Would do both again. Managed our time great with our FP and RP/EMH.

Actually considering a new years trip to check that off.

I feel like if you have the mindset that Disney is always "crowded" you will leave appreciating how much you got done no matter what.

I've gone every year since 1996 and the new additions make me want to go back. The price change is unfortunate but if you don't agree with their policies, then simply don't go.
There will ALWAYS be people who go to Disney no matter what. Those families who finally have kids and want to experience it with them?
The Star Wars nut who his whole life wanted to walk around the Millenium Falcon.
Me wanting to take my significant other for the first time so he can appreciate my love for the place.

They will always appeal to SOMEONE.

 

[sjberg79]

We were there from the 8th - 15th and the 8th was the absolute worst day for us. We made the mistake of trying to go to MK at 2pm. It took us 45 minutes to walk from the entrance back to our first FP at Big Thunder because of how crowded it was. I don't remember what our second FP was but it took almost as long. Couldn't use our 3rd FP because the Haunted mansion was down then and at the time I didn't know we should have gotten offered a new FP to use later and we had a dining reservation at Tony's at 5:30 that I didn't want to be late for. Tony's ended up being way behind schedule anyhow, they didn't seat us until 50 minutes after our reservation and the service was awful, the waiter didn't get anyone's order right and I know others have said the food has been better but we did not experience that on the 8th. We spent almost 6 hours in MK to ride 2 rides and and have a bad meal at Tony's. Again... we should not have gone at 2pm in the afternoon. But I would not go to MK on a Saturday in December again, just too crowded! We went to MK also on party days and it wasn't nearly as bad. And we did have great meals at the Crystal Palace and at Columbia Harbor on other days, so we just needed to find places we liked better.

 

[Brett Wyman]

Yup, TP has yesterday rated as a 10/10 after a prediction of a 7/10. Sunday was rated a 5/10 and predicted a 4/10. Sunday was a non-party night. Best advice is DON'T go in late-November or anytime in December if its a non-party night!

 

[StraightToDumbo]

Yes if you are going during party time, go to MK on party days. If you have to see HEA, hop over a few hours early and park it. Don’t plan on doing anything else. Basically you have to sacrifice a lot more now.