Trip Report for August 13 - 22, 2009. Crowded to say the least.

[georger]

Just a quick trip report from our trip to the "World". Our past trips to Disney have been in September, but this year we decided to go the first week of Free Dining.

Never again will we go in August. The parks were mobbed. We are the type who get to the gates before the park opens and get everything done before the crowds arrive. Well this year, the crowds were there at park opening. At DHS, the entire mob walked quickly to Toy Story. My son and I ran ahead and got fast passes while my wife and youngest son followed behind several hundred (looked like thousands) of people. After a 10 minute wait for fast passes, the standby was already at 40 minutes. And this was at park opening. Fastpasses were gone by noon.

Just to hit the highlights, we saw Testrack at 180 minutes one day (we never saw it less than 60 minutes), and the majority of rides at the Magic Kingdom were never less than 60 minutes. As an example, we were there at park opening, raced to ride Peter Pan, came back out and the line was already at 30 minutes. There was even a 30 minute wait at Spaceship Earth! In our previous two trips to the World, we have never, ever seen more than a 5 minute wait for that ride.

I don't know the reason, but on several mornings, there were Mears buses that took us to the park instead of the traditional Disney buses. Someone in line wondered if Disney underestimated the crowds and had to get other buses to take people to the park. Those Mears buses were a lot more comfortable than the Disney transportation buses. I could get use to that.

We were able to do everything we wanted to do by using fastpasses and getting there early, but our next trip will definately be in September.

[PixieMagic]

We were there at the same time as you so I feel your pain completely!! That was by far the worst crowds we've ever seen! BTW - at one point we saw test track at 220 minutes!!!!!!! I couldn't believe that was even possible.....

[WishingStar2006]

We were there the exact same time...and we found that the single rider line is the way to go on Test Track...they really "fast track" you on this ride in that line!! Even the fast pass line was out the door but the Single Rider line never was!!!

Even with the crowds and cloudy weather and rain, we had a great time!!!

[MickeyandTink]

We had originally planned to be at the world last week, but had to postpone a couple of weeks due to my job. Based on your report, I'm glad we weren't able to go then. Sorry it was so crowded for your trip.

Hopefully it won't be too bad in a couple of weeks.

[AliMel83]

We are headed to Disney on Saturday. This report makes me sad for you and for us. We try to arrive super early and maximize fast passes, hopefully it will at least help!

March and 2nd week of May have been my best, least crowded visits!

[Tinkerfreak]

We are headed to Disney on Saturday. This report makes me sad for you and for us. We try to arrive super early and maximize fast passes, hopefully it will at least help!

March and 2nd week of May have been my best, least crowded visits!

Alot of school here in the Northeast are just going back this week and next so maybe the crowds will thin out a little more when more kids are back in school.

[1EeyoreFan]

I concur. We were there at the same time and we agreed August is out for us from now on. We had a good time but it was a lot more crowded then we anticipated.

My DH thought the food quality had gone down as well. That did not seem to stop him from partaking from the free dining though.

[SBETigg]

Wow, I'm sorry it was so crowded for you August people. We've given up on August because it's just too hot for us. But crowds were low for us in mid-late August in the past. That's alarming. Must be the dining promotion.

[mouseketeer mom]

Wow. We were torn between the week you went or the first week in August. We chose the first week in August and all was manageable. I'm so sorry you had those crowds. That can be unbearable combined with the heat.

[Tinkerbella16]

Been there in August and we have not gone and will not ever go in august ever again. The heat and crowds are just too much. We go every year in november, and it couldn't be a more perfect time to go...great weather and very light crowds.

[yjgirl32]

wow- that is a crazy amount of time to wait for certain rides. Thnaks for sharing.

[MICKEYMOUSE]

We just got back last night from a 13 day trip (16th thru 28th). I've been to Disney in August about 10 times and I didn't feel it was any more crowded (except for DHS) or hotter than years past. I never saw the wait times anyone is posting here. The longest I saw was 90 mins for Soarin. Toy Story Mania had a 60 minute window where it was virtually shoutdown due to a mechanical malfunction on Thursday that pushed the times to 80 mins, but I think they weren't letting anyone into the Standby line. This past Tuesday we were at MK for rope drop and we did Philharmagic, Peter Pan (FP), Snow White, Pooh, Tea Cups, Small World, and the Carousel in a total time of 90 mins. It was not that crowded.

Of course I wasn't in the parks from the opening minute to the closing minute, but I think there is some exaggeraton here.

[vizsla]

Thanks for the report.

[mrsgaribaldi]

Sorry for the crowds but thanks for sharing, We are in Disney right now and it's empty. We arrived yesterday and went to the MK last night and tonight for EMHs. We walkied right onto everything. I can't believe it's so empty.

[faline]

We arrived on the 18th and we did find it to be rather more crowded than we would like. However, we were expecting the crowds to be up based on time of year as well as the free dining offer. Still, we found it possible to do most of what we wanted (We did miss a couple of things like Toy Story Mania) and found that many rides had short waits or were walk-ons!

Sorry you didn't enjoy it!

[T-Belle]

Sorry about the crowds. Makes me so glad I planned my next visit for early October. Glad you had a great time anyway.

[pdrlkr]

Thanks for the Report!