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AVP
11-23-2009, 09:19 PM
We get questions every year about "how busy will it be the week of ____ holiday," so I thought I'd start a thread with an easily-searchable title so we can refer to it next year.

If you visit the Resort this week, please post here and tell us what the crowds were like. I'll start with Monday - when I arrived at the Resort around Noon, the line to get into Disneyland overlapped in the Esplanade with the line to get into DCA. I was only inside Disneyland for about an hour, and it was very crowded. Part of this is due to normal holiday crowding, but apparently there is a large teacher's convention AND a large Associated Student Body convention going on right now, and a lot of the local schools have the entire week off.

What's your report?

nbaum
11-23-2009, 09:34 PM
We were there today (11/23/09) as well. It was much more crowded than we had expected. Some of our wait times: HMH 45 min, Indy 55 min, IASWH 45 min, Winnie the Pooh 20 min.

cynthia312
11-23-2009, 11:39 PM
My boyfriend and I went on Monday (11/23/2009) and arrived to the park around 5:30pm. Park was more crowded than usual...especially on a Monday. Didn't know there was a teacher and ASB convention so maybe that's what explained the crowds. Space had a stand-by wait time of 60min, HMH 30min, BTMRR 30min, Buzz 25min, Star Tours 15min.


Fireworks got cancelled due to high winds. And it was pretty windy 2night.

adriennek
11-24-2009, 07:32 AM
Part of this is due to normal holiday crowding, but apparently there is a large teacher's convention AND a large Associated Student Body convention going on right now, and a lot of the local schools have the entire week off.

All of the local private schools in our community have been taking the entire week of Thanksgiving off for a couple of years now. It seems that one group started (I don't know which) and more and more of the private schools "joined in". Next year, all of our district's "traditional schools" (which will include all of the high schools and most of the middle and elementary schools,) will have the entire Thanksgiving week off as well. It seems to be a "new" school holiday.

This year all of our modified traditional middle and elementary schools and about 30% of our year-round school population has this week off.

Adrienne

topdsnymom
11-24-2009, 10:14 AM
I would think that the day before would not be as crowded because moms will be busy getting ready for the big turkey day and people who have to work all week will be traveling to their destination for Thanksgiving.

Malcon10t
11-24-2009, 10:39 AM
I would think that the day before would not be as crowded because moms will be busy getting ready for the big turkey day and people who have to work all week will be traveling to their destination for Thanksgiving.Where do you think moms send teh OC teens while they get ready for Turkey Day?

You have any idea how many times I hear over Christmas Break "I didn't think it would be busy because everyone would be home with family?

currence
11-24-2009, 11:47 AM
I would think that the day before would not be as crowded because moms will be busy getting ready for the big turkey day and people who have to work all week will be traveling to their destination for Thanksgiving.

Also, a lot of employers let their people out early on Wednesday. My husband is only working a half-day and we are considering stopping by around 2-3pm. Wednesday and Sunday are not blocked out for our Deluxe passes but Thursday, Friday & Saturday are. I'm afraid that a lot of other people will have the same idea and it just won't be fun pushing our stroller through masses of humanity.

I am curious how busy the parks will be this Thanksgiving break. It will likely provide a window into the Christmas season as well. Since this seems to be the year of a million annual passholders, it seems many of the past projections are proving inaccurate (specifically thinking of 4th of July, blocked out to all but premium and relatively uncrowded). If I was the type who traditionally went for Thanksgiving but earlier went for free on my birthday and upgraded to a less than premium pass, I would not go over Thanksgiving if that meant buying blackout day passes.

I have no idea how many people fit into this category though, and I wonder if the logic is flawed. I'm blacked out, so I won't be there to find out. :rolleyes:

shna
11-24-2009, 11:51 AM
I'm just hoping that everyone goes THIS week, and that Monday the 30th won't be bad.

*crosses fingers*

AVP
11-24-2009, 01:08 PM
Noon Tuesday: lines into Disneyland and DCA were quite short. Main Street didn't feel as crowded as it did yesterday. The Mickey and Friends parking structure was not yet closed when I arrived, but the Anaheim Police Department looked to be preparing to close the structure.

AVP

Andrew
11-24-2009, 01:17 PM
The Mickey and Friends parking structure was not yet closed when I arrived, but the Anaheim Police Department looked to be preparing to close the structure.
I haven't been keeping current on this; are they (whether "they" are Disney or APD) still closing the structure when it's barely half-full, and has any reasonable explanation ever been offered for this practice?

AVP
11-24-2009, 01:22 PM
I haven't been keeping current on this; are they (whether "they" are Disney or APD) still closing the structure when it's barely half-full, and has any reasonable explanation ever been offered for this practice?The "reasonable" explaination I've been given from CMs is that the Anaheim PD is (for some reason) required to be involved in traffic control when Disney diverts parking to the offsite lots. So they'll close M&F, divert traffic to quickly fill the offsite lots, release the APD, and then re-open M&F to handle inbound evening traffic.

To do it otherwise would mean they'd have to close M&F when it filled, and then use / pay APD to direct traffic the rest of the day, or at least until M&F had emptied enough that they could begin reparking it.

In other words, it's cheaper to do it this way.

AVP

Andrew
11-24-2009, 01:36 PM
Actually, that makes sense. So it should be possible to figure out in advance when the structure will be closed and time arrival accordingly.

AVP
11-24-2009, 01:59 PM
Actually, that makes sense. So it should be possible to figure out in advance when the structure will be closed and time arrival accordingly.Before Noon seems to be the best bet, but I believe it was closed even earlier than that last Friday.

AVP

Kristina27
11-24-2009, 08:05 PM
We arrived at the park today right before noon. The tram line was a breeze as was the line into the park. Main street and the rest of the park didn't have a packed feeling but the wait times for most of the rides were the worst that I have seen them in a while. Normally even on a really packed day we get on rides fairly quickly. Today even the Pooh ride which is normally a 5 minute wait was 25 minutes. Buzz was 30-40 min, Pirates which is also typically 10-15 was at least 25-35 min. Haunted Mansion was about 45-55 min. We didn't get on much and then went over to DCA which was also packed so we decided to just call it day.

DizneyMommy
11-25-2009, 06:51 AM
We went Monday (against my better judgement!)
It was a madhouse. We were parked on the roof about halfway back at about 3pm and the rest of the garage looked fully double parked. Main St was wall to wall people and we could barely maneuver through the mess. Those are the days I hate needing a stroller! Even the Baby Care Center had a line both times we stopped there. Lines were 30-40ish for Small World and HMH at about 4pm and ridiculous for everything else. We even had to wait 15 minutes for Monsters!

DizneyMommy
11-25-2009, 06:54 AM
All of the local private schools in our community have been taking the entire week of Thanksgiving off for a couple of years now. It seems that one group started (I don't know which) and more and more of the private schools "joined in". Next year, all of our district's "traditional schools" (which will include all of the high schools and most of the middle and elementary schools,) will have the entire Thanksgiving week off as well. It seems to be a "new" school holiday.

This year all of our modified traditional middle and elementary schools and about 30% of our year-round school population has this week off.

Adrienne

Our entire public K-8 district in Huntington Beach has gone to taking the whole week off. Started last year I think. I know there are others in OC that do the same too

Krisseee2
11-25-2009, 07:47 AM
So the president just said he's going to be in the parade tomorrow as the grand marshall. I can only imagine what the crowds are going to be like tomorrow now.

AVP
11-25-2009, 08:02 AM
So the president just said he's going to be in the parade tomorrow as the grand marshall. I can only imagine what the crowds are going to be like tomorrow now.I'm pretty sure he said the TURKEY will be the grand marshall, as is tradition, not that OBAMA will be the grand marshall.

AVP

sierranevada
11-25-2009, 08:22 AM
I'm pretty sure he said the TURKEY will be the grand marshall, as is tradition, not that OBAMA will be the grand marshall.

AVP

Wow - had a moment of panic there since we will be there tomorrow! I can not image the crowds if Obama was the grand marshall!!

Hannahbelle
11-25-2009, 09:29 AM
Wow - had a moment of panic there since we will be there tomorrow! I can not image the crowds if Obama was the grand marshall!!
Have a WONDEFUL time! We will be there too this weekend.....we are gonna take it easy and not expect to do a lot. I'm sure the crowds will be enormous.

Krisseee2
11-25-2009, 09:30 AM
haha oops

V.I.N.CENT.
11-25-2009, 12:55 PM
I'm just hoping that everyone goes THIS week, and that Monday the 30th won't be bad.

*crosses fingers*

Ditto. Will be in the park that week as well. I figured that very few people would pull their kids from school the week after Thanksgiving...

yohomama212
11-25-2009, 03:59 PM
We'll be there for a bit tomorrow. No one was really in the mood to cook and since it's DS' bday, we decided we'll just go to DL. When it gets too crowded for us, we'll head to MIL's. I think we all just kinda need a break from the usual this year.

Elizabeth

Bytebear
11-25-2009, 07:11 PM
I'm pretty sure he said the TURKEY will be the grand marshall, as is tradition, not that OBAMA will be the grand marshall.

AVP

Well, that explains the confusion. :p

AVP
11-25-2009, 07:20 PM
Well, that explains the confusion. :pReally? REALLY? In a Disneyland thread? Really? :rolleyes:

Anyway, here's the NOON UPDATE for Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving:

Parking: Mickey and Friends was still open.
Crowding: Busy, not not elbow-to-elbow.
Longest wait: Indy - 50 minutes.
Other wait times: Space - 45 min; Roger Rabbit Cartoon Spin - 40 minutes; Big Thunder Mountain - 30 minutes; Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage - 25 minutes, Autopia - 15 minutes; Haunted Mansion Holiday - 10 minutes.
Matterhorn Bobsleds and Splash Mountain were both 101 (temporarily closed).

AVP