"Feels like crowds" input wanted!

Headed the first week of May. We have the TPs, planning to RD, building in midday breaks, have all our ADRs, and are avidly reading trip reports. The one missing piece that I’d love to hear about is the thing the crowd calendar doesn’t capture–what do the crowds really “feel” like. After basically being home for a year and seeing some buckets of APRs fill up, I’m trying to prep from a comfort level perspective. Any insights? Everyone’s mileage may vary, but where/when has any one who’s traveled lately felt like it was too full and how did you work around it? Grateful for all I’ve learned from the forum so far!

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Paging the knowledge of @vcka:wink:

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I’ve been doing this too. I LOVE reading about other’s trips and seeing their pics. I am fortunate to go frequently too :wink: Everyone has a different perspective on the crowds. I’m fine w/ the crowds, love the distanced lines (hate ppl breathing down my neck), but my DH cannot relax when he is there w/ me. I do go more solo than I go w/ him. It feels crowded to me but not pre-covid crowded. There are congested areas; bottle necks to navigate. Fantasyland around Pooh, Peter Pan etc. is very congested and all of HS feels crowded. DS to me is awful: crowded, poor mask compliance. I try to respect others space and move where I feel comfortable. I think it’s manageable. The lines are tricky, since posted time in MDE isn’t always accurate. Ppl report wait time that are much shorter than what is posted in MDE.

We only eat outdoors so that means only MO for us right now. I think you do have to plan a bit more for MO. I will set up an order for lunch first thing in the morning. There are places that don’t have MO and have long lines unless you go there during off times. Like avoiding a drive through at lunch time… go before or after lunch time to drive right up :wink:

Since I live here I don’t go open to close; partial days of 8 hours tops. I will RD if there are rides I really want to get on, otherwise I watch the wait times and jump to rides that have low wait times. If I was staying on property (and we have in the past b4 we moved back) we frequently did afternoon breaks… naps or pool time… it’s a great way to beat the heat and May will be hot.

I think you will be getting really good intel from all the TRs! There is a media briefing tomorrow 4/8… let’s see what news comes of it… might change things up a bit :wink:

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Thanks! I’m following that media briefing post :wink:. But not sure if I want last minute planning wrinkles!

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I’m hoping for the best tomorrow :crossed_fingers::crossed_fingers::crossed_fingers::crossed_fingers::crossed_fingers:

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Nope… it would have to be a freak accident… like one falling off a trailer on I-95 while I’m driving to Disney and staying in the park for their 12+ hours that they are open each day

image

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We were there March 19 - 25, and, like you, hadn’t really been out in public for a whole year beforehand. If I look at the historical crowd calendar, it shows that the highest day value was a 5…at Epcot one day. APRs were completely full for every park, every day of that week.

I’d say that it definitely feels more crowded than the calendar would have you believe. Part of that is the lines that are out in the walkways. They do a good job keeping the lines off to the side, but since you’re now seeing everyone, it just feels busier. The fact that everything had a line, too, was difficult. Even just to pick up a snack, go into a pool.

On the other hand, those early morning and late evening hours were amazing. It really was quiet. Even when we did wait in lines, it wasn’t un-fun. I was surprised to find myself actually enjoying the lines. There is so much detail and story setup that we typically missed because we were getting FPs. The lines all move consistently, so you’re always seeing something new.

So. What did we do? More midday breaks than usual. We’d go to the park for a few hours in the morning - sometimes even leaving by 11. Then a long break for lunch, naps, pool time. Back to the park around dinner for more rides, more comfortable weather, fewer crowds. I think you could also do this with a long lunch at a TS restaurant. We didn’t want indoor eating, though, so that was somewhat limited.
Find the rest areas (RoL stadium at AK and Indy at HS were good), find a snack and sit for a while. I think I heard someone suggest bringing a deck of cards. We really did get more rides done every day, and there are fewer shows and things, so we felt like we COULD take a long break and not be missing out.

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Oh I discovered a really nice one across from Kringal Bakery :heart_eyes: They turned the ARBH into a relaxation station and it’s perfect for taking your skool bread to for a break :wink:

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What about a drink?

Ooops sorry, breaking my own no-cross-thread posting rule here.

Carry on.

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oh no… I knew you were joking!!! So was I :anguished: sorry if I offended

:scream: But I was amused!

actually I was rethinking my ‘happiness as a choice’ comment as over the top. Especially since I’m having to work really hard at it today

This makes me sad :frowning:

I’m really not good at scarcasm… I banned it from our home 15 years ago. Someone told me it means the tearing of flesh. I often think it’s passive aggressive

Sarcasm comes from the Greek sarkasmos, which means “the tearing of flesh .” The intention behind sarcasm may be to be humorous or playful, but there is frequently an element of poorly disguised hostility or judgment. When we grow up in families in which sarcasm is frequently used, there can be an insensitivity to others’ sensitivity to it.

Sarcasm | Psychology Today

Good suggestion I heard on a podcast - check out recent YouTube reviews and video blogs. There are quite a few flower and garden food reviews, day in MK, etc things out there that (aside from other potentially helpful info) could give you a visual of what it is actually like. Dis Unplugged has a MK walkthrough from a few weeks ago. Just an hour walking around. I didn’t watch all of it but it kind of gave me a visual.

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