Having been there in 2019, I would venture a guess that there are more people there right now. Just my opinion, but it sure felt a lot more crowded. I suppose it could be the lack of people eating shows, meets and parades, too, but it was crowded.
I would also say that in my experience (not scientific, I know) that PotC is definitely better without FP. In 2019, we would wait 20-30 minutes at the end of the night easily if we did not have a FP. This trip, we got in line with a posted 30 minute wait and were on a boat in under 15. That line wound around the queue like crazy- outside, through the former FP line, back around and to the split between the loading areas. But it moved. So, minimum we waited 10 minutes less this trip than in 2019 when in standby.
I don't think that rides like PotC, IASW, HM that can eat people fairly well should be FP. Let them do their job and move the people through efficiently to 1. give people something to wait for that's manageable and 2. take the stress off of other more popular rides. I'd also argue BTMRR or Space, with their 2 line loading setup, should not have an entire side of their capacity shut down for FP. Maybe merge them somewhere at the split (which I think I remember BTMRR did) so the load capacity reduces standby wait. This would definitely help at Space! Even now, they are only utilizing the entire right side of that ride for
DAS, Rider Swap, etc. just as they were for FP. It would certainly help keep the wait times down if both sides loaded more equally.
I guess all this to say that I'm hoping when they bring whatever version of FP is coming they address some of these issues/ inefficiencies.