We’re going at a similar time next year. Is there a particular reason given why there’s been a massive increase in crowd levels?
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Same jump for June. We are now scheduled to visit Epcot on a 10/10 day. Not happy…
Rope drop, then get out before 2:00. Long afternoon break. Come back in the evening, or not. It will be fine!
Major jump for January 2016 as well. It was supposed to be one of the slowest weeks of the year, now it’s showing above average, including 8s and 9s at the Studios.
My tracked December numbers also went up as well, but I believe that this is due to the recent release of the initial December Operating Hours schedule. Not sure why other months would have changed - perhaps @len or @fred could provide some detail.
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Our 7s in early June just went up to 9s all week : ( Do the parks ever reach full-capacity in early summer? I’m dreading this a bit now!
It is disconcerting I know but try not to panic. The ugly truth is that “busy” is the new normal. We can’t ignore that common areas in the parks are getting busier, wait times are trending up (slightly) in non-peak seasons and the economy shows no signs of slowing.
There is also the recalibration affect as well - when we refresh the numbers it redefines what the levels mean in terms of average wait time.
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The difference between a 7 and 9 is about 5 to 10 minutes for the average wait time, not as much as you think. There is a big difference between a Christmas ‘10’ and a summer ‘10’.
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This update is not due to a sudden change but represents a one-time adjustment to all the subtle changes that we measure over time. Unfortunately we have to occasionally ‘reset’ the numbers otherwise we’d fall behind the trends.
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I got the email too, we’re going Aug 20-29. Levels are still in the 3-5 range for the last part of our trip, but from 8/20-8/24 they jumped up to 7s and 8s. We chose the end of August for the low crowds but I guess the late Labor Day is bumping them up! At least I’m finding out now when I still have time to tweak my touring plans before I make my FP+ reservations. I don’t think it’s possible to push our dates out by a week at this point, we’re on a free dining bounce back so I doubt there’s availability. Plus I really like the ADRs I got!
@fred thank you for explaining. I chose the week I chose for a variety of factors but mostly due to crowds. Did all of the crowds go up? So even though my dates are more crowded they all are, so things really didn’t change as much as I feel?
If there is a big difference between summer 10 and Christmas 10, shouldn’t they have different numbers? This doesn’t make sense to me.
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Recalibrate, redifine and reset didn’t really explain anything to me.
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Yeah, it makes it hard to do apples-to-apples comparisons if the scales differe based on the time of year…
Why not just make it go to 11?
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It does make sense. It’s important to understand that each crowd level represents a * range* of wait times. Check out, for example, the 43-minute peak wait time range for Peter Pans Flight on a 10 day.
The scales don’t differ based on the time of year. A 10 is a 10. But a 10 doesn’t tell you exactly how long you’ll wait. It indicates a likely range of (long) wait times per attraction. So, on December 26 you’ll probably see lines in the highest end of the range and in July you may see wait times somewhere lower in the range. But both are still within the range expected at a 10 level day.
our times went up in October as well. disappointing but we will still go. But with regard to the 9, we have gone in the past over spring break when it was that busy. And yes, it is VERY crowded mid-day. But if you get there at RD and follow your plan, it can still be worth it. The first time I did that was a few years ago, when I think my kids were about 2-3 & 5, so it can be worth it even with little kids.
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Arrive at rope drop. Follow a plan. Set your FPP as early as possible, super demand rides only. With heavy crowds, your opportunities for your fourth, fifth FPPs will diminish, especially for the big rides (Splash and Space Mountain), but you have a good shot at things like Pooh, Pirates, etc, so don’t “waste” your first 3 on those. My dream scenario goes something like this: rope drop straight to Space Mountain, 9-10 SDMT FPP, 10-11 Peter Pan, 11-12 Splash. Set those, and Optimize a TP around it.
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