Anyone else concerned about the crowd increase?

[soniam]

This morning we drove to EPCOT. At the tollbooth by 9:55am. They started letting cars in about 10:06 or so. We were in the park and off of Soarin' by 10:50. When I checked the app at 11:18am, Soarin' was listed at 20 minutes, Test Track was listed at 105 minutes, Frozen 75 minutes and Spaceship Earth at 35 minutes if that helps. I am not sure I believe Soarin' was really 20 minutes but that is what it was listed at. In fact at 5:57pm it is still listed at 20 minutes. My questions is, does that wait include the line of people just waiting to get in the Land pavilion? They were holding people outside this morning as it got more crowded inside which caused congestion at the bottom of the escalators.

Living with the Land said it was a 15 minute wait at noon, but I was on in 6 minutes.

I doubt the Soarin' wait time includes any wait to get into The Land. They have no way of knowing about that or tracking it. That's probably why the Soarin' wait seemed low, in addition to the 3 theaters reducing wait times from years pastl.

 

[BK2014]

I doubt the Soarin' wait time includes any wait to get into The Land. They have no way of knowing about that or tracking it. That's probably why the Soarin' wait seemed low, in addition to the 3 theaters reducing wait times from years pastl.

According to DW, the line outside of the pavilion had a castmember with a sign saying the line for Soarin' starts here. I was already inside, because I never left after we road Soarin' - I stayed to eat at Seasons. So when she tried to come in the building just to meet me, she was told that even if she wasn't riding Soarin' she still had to wait in the line until she was inside the building. DW said the castmember said it was a 5-7 minute wait to get inside.

 

[js]

Personally, I would go for Test Track. That one has a tendency to go down, and of course the weather impacts it more than others. That is our plan for when we go!

Thank you. But if weather not a factor, which one would you do to stay ahead of the lines. Thanks.

This morning we drove to EPCOT. At the tollbooth by 9:55am. They started letting cars in about 10:06 or so. We were in the park and off of Soarin' by 10:50. When I checked the app at 11:18am, Soarin' was listed at 20 minutes, Test Track was listed at 105 minutes, Frozen 75 minutes and Spaceship Earth at 35 minutes if that helps. I am not sure I believe Soarin' was really 20 minutes but that is what it was listed at. In fact at 5:57pm it is still listed at 20 minutes. My questions is, does that wait include the line of people just waiting to get in the Land pavilion? They were holding people outside this morning as it got more crowded inside which caused congestion at the bottom of the escalators.

Living with the Land said it was a 15 minute wait at noon, but I was on in 6 minutes.

So maybe TT first? Thanks.

 

[soniam]

According to DW, the line outside of the pavilion had a castmember with a sign saying the line for Soarin' starts here. I was already inside, because I never left after we road Soarin' - I stayed to eat at Seasons. So when she tried to come in the building just to meet me, she was told that even if she wasn't riding Soarin' she still had to wait in the line until she was inside the building. DW said the castmember said it was a 5-7 minute wait to get inside.

OK. If there's a sign for the line outside, then that might count in the wait. I have never seen them do that, even on NYE. However, I have never been alive during a pandemic either

So maybe TT first? Thanks.

TT

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

October 19th - 26th: We saw some fairly large crowds this week, but except for a few choke points, there was always plenty of room on walkways for us to avoid others. Wait times throughout the week were high for many rides, but our touring plan kept us ahead of the wave (or maybe behind it) which meant we didn't have to wait in too many long lines. I'll post a summary on the "here now and just back" thread.

 

[keishashadow]

In fact at 5:57pm it is still listed at 20 minutes. My questions is, does that wait include the line of people just waiting to get in the Land pavilion?

As park closing time approaches, it’s not uncommon to find substantially inflated wait times

theory goes it’s to discourage people from hopping on for one more ride sort of thing

Majority of wait times we encountered (Starting 2hours past opening during Trip a month ago) had a healthy buffer. Perhaps designed as a psychological, thing to navigate the line 15-20 minutes faster than Originally posted

 

[mimijudy1975]

I think it is good news means we are getting back to normal. I hope they change the mask policy and make it a suggestion. Then WDW will start to see an increase in people going and they can start to bring back more offerings like fireworks.

We were masks to protect the other person. The virus is not going away !! That's an outright lie. Go inside a hospital for yourself. If more people would wear masks , many lives could be saved. If you had lost a loved one you would think differently and changing the mask policy would not be on the list .

 

[Disneyfan754321]

Hi. We will be at Epcot on a Wednesday in two weeks. We are six adults and I am the planner for all (three couples).

I plan on getting to Epcot an hour prior to opening if possible.

What should we do first when we get in?
Soarin or Test Track?
Frozen isnt on our Radar, they dont know it exists, one has boys in their 20s and the other couple doesnt have children.

I plan on TT, Soarin, The Land and Spaceship Earth. Then countries for drinking and eating and the American Dream is a must do.

Thank you.

So I watched the MDE ride times a few days before to come up with a plan.

 

[Rich M]

Today was MK day and I will say MK was different then Hs and Ak. We came for opening at 9 got to parking lot at 7:45 and told we had to come back at 8:15. Rode 4 rides before 11 and felt nice and safe. Went to Chef Mickey for breakfast (so much better then it ever use to be. Highly recommend) and went back to room for 3 hours. Came back to MK at 3:30 and rode 6 more rides but the crowd was not behaving very well when we came back. I don’t know if it’s the heat or people just don’t pay attention but we where in Buzz line and people where standing on top of each other. I held up the line one time and stayed on my spot which was a far distance to the next stop and spoke loud enough for people to hear and then others behind us started to pay attention and stand on their spot.
As far as wait times today it was really low rates. Big Thunder said 45 minutes and we got to the front to board in 8 minutes but where in the front of a cleaning cycle that took 10 minutes. Not a bad day at all but first one I did feel the distance wasn’t being followed.
If you can score a reservation after park closing take it. We are finishing dinner at Liberty tree right now and it is great and will love walking out to a mostly empty park

 

[BK2014]

OK. If there's a sign for the line outside, then that might count in the wait. I have never seen them do that, even on NYE. However, I have never been alive during a pandemic either

I don't think there was actually a sign for the line to get into the pavillion. I think the castmember verbalized an estimated wait time to my DW.

 

[soniam]

I don't think there was actually a sign for the line to get into the pavillion. I think the castmember verbalized an estimated wait time to my DW.

Heck, who knows then Things seem different every day. Can't wait to see what I find during Thanksgiving week

 

[HikingFam]

Thank you. But if weather not a factor, which one would you do to stay ahead of the lines. Thanks.



So maybe TT first? Thanks.

I'd do TT first. Waits for Soarin stayed consistently much lower than TT.

 

[Davey Jones II]

^It’s 25% of full capacity, which doesn’t happen a lot. I figure most are used to 35% to 50% capacity pre COVID, so that is why most feel like it’s almost a normal crowd day. ...If that makes sense.

The major problem is lack of shows and restaurants, plus most rides running on 50% capacity or less. Disney needs to fix these problems because we are almost at the tipping point...

Running rides at partial capacity is a blatant disservice to guests. There's no excuse for that crap; it artificially creates long lines. We can't even plan with FPs now, so at least they should keep the standby line moving steadily.

 

[Davey Jones II]

We were masks to protect the other person. The virus is not going away !! That's an outright lie. Go inside a hospital for yourself. If more people would wear masks , many lives could be saved. If you had lost a loved one you would think differently and changing the mask policy would not be on the list .

Well said. But don't forget the power of "wishing it away."

 

[Rich M]

Running rides at partial capacity is a blatant disservice to guests. There's no excuse for that crap; it artificially creates long lines. We can't even plan with FPs now, so at least they should keep the standby line moving steadily.

In my experience so far in the last 3 days is the line moves great except in a cleaning cycle. They have to run rides at partial capacity to space people out. For example Smugglers run is using one ride vehicle per party. That line was the longest we have waited in so far at 79 minutes.

 

[Scubadaddy32]

Well said. But don't forget the power of "wishing it away."

 

[MulletHappens]

Was anyone in the parks yesterday? How did the crowds seem? The wait times in the app seemed to be reduced about 20% from what they have been. Could of been a fluke, could be Disney becoming more accurate with their wait time predictions, or it could be a reduction in the fall break crowd.

 

[lorileahb]

Was anyone in the parks yesterday? How did the crowds seem? The wait times in the app seemed to be reduced about 20% from what they have been. Could of been a fluke, could be Disney becoming more accurate with their wait time predictions, or it could be a reduction in the fall break crowd.

The crowd calendars show lower expected crowds... maybe post-fall break/pre-Halloween. I think there are also supposed to be a few more of these lower 1/2/3 crowd days on some of the weekdays the first two weeks of November.

 

[nickg420]

This what I am hoping for the first 2 weeks of December when I am there.

 

[MulletHappens]

The crowd calendars show lower expected crowds... maybe post-fall break/pre-Halloween. I think there are also supposed to be a few more of these lower 1/2/3 crowd days on some of the weekdays the first two weeks of November.

I hope so, we're going Nov 9-17 and are hoping for slightly reduced crowds. We'll have to deal with Veterans Day and one weekend day in the parks but we're staying optimistic. The last time we went was our honeymoon and our flight got cancelled due to hurricane Irma. Luckily we were able to get there the next day and dealt with reduced crowds but also some closed attractions and the pool at Animal Kingdom Lodge was closed for a couple days.