We are on day five at DW today, and I’m just so discouraged. The crowds are crazy. There were practically no rides today with less than 45 min wait. Desirable rides all over 60 min. In the blaring sun, just seems unbearable. When we came six years ago just wasn’t like this. Is this normal? There’s no way it’s a 5 crowd. Can hardly walk around with stroller. Can someone who comes a lot tell me if this is just a fluke or the new normal? We have only one day tomorrow at HS and it’s expected to be an 8 crowd. I almost don’t want to go. Help
Unfortunetly I think it’s pretty normal. Try to show up super early if you want to hit toy story land and use fastpasses to your advantage . Take a break from 12-4 if the crowds are getting to you as that’s the most crowded time. Try to enjoy!
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Thanks. We have rope dropped every day and it’s been helpful but some days big rides are already staggering waits. SDMT was already an hour at 9:03 today. I have SDD FP for tomorrow but I really want kids to do Jedi training and we want to do TSM so I’m worried it will be too much to accomplish at RD. I’ll try to enjoy though.
The crowds are greater than they were a few years ago for sure. Did you follow a personalized touring plan for your days? How good were the predictions? Hope you enjoy the rest of your trip despite the crowds.
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I’m sorry you’re feeling discouraged! We found the parks really busy last week too (we got out of a 30 minute line for Dumbo at 9:10 or so).
Can you hit what you can early and then get out of the parks for a swim/break? It was quite hot last week too and that was draining, so getting out in the heat of the day was a lifesaver.
Also modifying for those fourth FPPs can definitely improve things. You may not get the headliners without some work but we got POC, IASW, Dumbo, Buzz, and Barnstormer all really easily for a party of 8 and with quick return times - like 5 minutes out.
I do agree that the lines for food etc can be annoying. We ate at off time times - like Peco Bills at 3:50 and Satu’li Canteen at 3:30 and that definitely helped. Also try the mobile ordering as others have said.
For HS specifically, you could try for a TSMM as a 4th FP at one of the drops? Not sure what others experiences have been with that? Also HS has lots of shows so you can avoid ride lines by hitting those. We loved Beauty and the Beast last week. And the Frozen show is super funny and entertaining!
Good luck! I hope things improve for you! 
I second that… The personalized touring plans are the way to go…
Are the 45 minute waits the posted wait time or the actual time you waited? Disney has been inflating their posted wait times quite a bit lately. For DHS tomorrow, I’d book it for Jedi training and then head to TSL for Toy Story. You’ll probably have to wait 20-30 minutes, but that’s not too bad for that attraction. Most people are heading for SDD…
For midday peak times, I either head back to the hotel, go on some lesser attractions (Tom Sawyer Island, Tiki Room, shows, etc.), get same day FPs via the modify trick, or (at DHS and AK), go see some shows. Don’t let the crowds get you down, enjoy being with your family;. Put your core attraction time at the first and last hours of the day, and keep working to get extra FPs. And just enjoy being together.
And for Quick Service food, mobile ordering, mobile ordering, mobile ordering. We did Pecos Bills on a CL 10 day at noon. Got our order ready when we were in line at an attraction, then clicked “I’m here” a few minutes before we arrived. Got seated, waited about 5 minutes, and our order was ready.
The crowds are much heavier than 6 years ago. Rope drop is a must these days. Between rope drop and 10 am, the crowds are lower and I was able do a number of attractions. Then I did my 3 FPs. Then a break from Noon to 3:30 and a return to the park in the late afternoon. A good TP is key. Years ago, I would arrive at the parks around 10:30 am, but that would not work well these days.
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That’s kind of how we did it too. 9-10:30 or so, just do mostly standby attractions. Then FPs. Then break, or grab and modify.
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Are you doing RD as in you are getting there just before the park opens or are you getting there much earlier, like say 45 minutes before? This can make the difference in getting where you won’t have as long of a line.
Something else, are you using the lines app and letting it know when you have completed something and than evaluating/optimizing? They say this will help big time too.
Our last 2 trips were 10 days (12/17/16 - 12/26/16) and 12 days (12/19/17 - 12/31/17) These were some crazy times and crowds. We did what I suggested and also would grab and modify FPs.
Something else to think about, remember where you are and what it would be like without using a touring plan. Yes it is not perfect and Disney changed things around and now there is almost no slow time of the year.
We are coming from March 9 - 16. During some busy times and we don’t care how busy it is, we will be at WDW and will enjoy ourselves. We have done this over Christmas time the past 2 visits and it really helped.
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I’d definitely recommend not listening to the mid-morning posted times and instead use the actual times listed in the Lines app. When I was there last week, the times for the rides post our first RD ride were always much less runs posted. For example, on our MK day, we did Space Mountain at RD and then rode Buzz with a 7 min wait (posted 35) followed by Pirates with a 25 min wait (posted 55). Granted the middle of the day the waits were pretty crazy (it was CL10) but that’s when our fast passes were anyway.
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