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View Full Version : Fall Break 2011 Crowds??



sjhanksaz
10-11-2011, 06:06 AM
I am just wondering what kind of crowds people are seeing at the park this week?

Please share.

olegc
10-11-2011, 07:03 AM
well the Weekly Disneyland Park Update has a crowd meeter estimate and these have been accurate for the most part. I would say weekdays should be OK (since the park closes early) but weekends may be crowded - AND you probably will see an increase as we get closer to Halloween. Since they took away Halloween Screams and made it part of the private party I think the massive crowds of passholders have ebbed somewhat. Who knows though... Keep an eye on the update....

fairestoneofall
10-12-2011, 04:08 AM
Next weekend is going to the bear. We're attending the Halloween Party on the 21st so we made a reservation at DLH months ago to stay after the party. Well, I got a call last week from DLH to let me know that they had over sold the hotel and wanted me to switch to PPH. I tried to switch to GCH but it was sold out as well. So, I used my handy dandy negotiating skills and negotiated my way to a deal that I was pleased with in order for us to move to the PPH. I'm a little sad, I'd really prefer the DLH, but it will be fine since it's only a sleeping place for one night.

sjhanksaz
10-12-2011, 05:39 AM
Next weekend is going to the bear. We're attending the Halloween Party on the 21st so we made a reservation at DLH months ago to stay after the party. Well, I got a call last week from DLH to let me know that they had over sold the hotel and wanted me to switch to PPH. I tried to switch to GCH but it was sold out as well. So, I used my handy dandy negotiating skills and negotiated my way to a deal that I was pleased with in order for us to move to the PPH. I'm a little sad, I'd really prefer the DLH, but it will be fine since it's only a sleeping place for one night.

I wonder how often they actually sell out on those rooms?

fairestoneofall
10-12-2011, 06:51 AM
I wonder how often they actually sell out on those rooms?
I don't know, but I was told by a manager that they were OVER sold. I have been upgraded as a frequent guest to make room to book other people in standard rooms. That's happened a few times. She also said that she was calling repeat guests to offer the move first. People will be turned away and walked across the street to the Marriott.

I'm actually quite happy with the agreement that we came to at the end of the conversation, it was totally worth the effort.

Tinkermommy
10-12-2011, 07:50 AM
Re the crowds: I dropped the Tinkerteen off at DLR Sunday afternoon around 4. I was VERY surprised at the number of people pouring into the resort!! Ball Road and the parking structure line were backed up a bit, and the lines for the trams were quite long. Fortunately, there were a lot of trams moving. When we've been there on a Sunday afternoon in the past, we've noticed many people leave the parks around 4 or 5. This weekend was quite the opposite! A lot of people must have had Monday off...

sjhanksaz
10-13-2011, 12:22 PM
My Brother is there this week and said the crowds have been really wierd.

He said for the most part the park has been pretty good but at some times in the day it seems as though all the people in the park happen to be in one area. Lines get really long. Then an hour or two later it's just fine.

rfaljean
10-14-2011, 08:10 AM
It seemes way busier than what Touringplans.com predicted. I was wondering why I kept seeing so many families with kids on Tuesday and Wednesday, apparently, Arizona school districts have a fall break in October. It was actually pretty crowded both days. Not as bad as in the summer, more like a Saturday...

bennette
10-14-2011, 09:16 AM
Well, this past Sunday (October 9) was the busiest we've seen it in a long time. We didn't get there until noon so weren't expecting it to be empty but it was jammed. That is the business I've seen it since I can't think when. Maybe some time last Christmas?

A woman actually pushed past me in line to use the sink in the restroom (and then only washed one hand, so I am assuming it wasn't some kind of handwashing emergency!).

Our trip was spur of the moment and the crowds were making me very uncomfortable so we left after a couple of hours.

Marox3
10-14-2011, 01:02 PM
Absolutely agree. On Tues and Weds showed as "2"... not even close, more like a 6 or 7. We also used their predications in WDW in June. They were wrong most of the time. I'm not trusting or using this service again. I understand they are using historical data, but it would be nice to be at least close. I'm guessing in today's environment it can be difficult to judge crowd sizes. I find when I guess, it works better.

sjhanksaz
10-15-2011, 08:52 PM
It seemes way busier than what Touringplans.com predicted. I was wondering why I kept seeing so many families with kids on Tuesday and Wednesday, apparently, Arizona school districts have a fall break in October. It was actually pretty crowded both days. Not as bad as in the summer, more like a Saturday...

Yep this past week was AZ fall break and we knew a lot of people heading out there. Based on our last couple of trips for fall break we found the park very busy too so we stopped going during this time

ShelbyH
10-15-2011, 11:59 PM
It seemes way busier than what Touringplans.com predicted. I was wondering why I kept seeing so many families with kids on Tuesday and Wednesday, apparently, Arizona school districts have a fall break in October. It was actually pretty crowded both days. Not as bad as in the summer, more like a Saturday...

In my experience, Touringplans has been wrong much more often than they've been right, particularly this year.

sjhanksaz
10-16-2011, 06:58 PM
In my experience, Touringplans has been wrong much more often than they've been right, particularly this year.

How do I like this?, oops thought I was on Facebook again.

Mermaid
10-16-2011, 07:18 PM
Yeah- we were there Thurs-Sat and it was BUSY!!! I knew it would be because AZ is on Fall Break (some schools are off next week, but most were off this week). I'm a teacher, so that was when we could go. I was hoping the later part of the week would be better, but I am not sure it was. TP said Friday was supposed to be a 1.2 (I think, something really low- under 3 for sure). No way!! It was crowded all day. Saturday was really busy- wall to wall people by 10:00.

khill821
10-17-2011, 09:02 AM
We were there yesterday (Sunday) and it was stupid crowded! I totally forgot about the CHOC walk... Touringplans.com had the crowd level at a 5 and I would say that DL was the most crowded I've ever seen it aside from New Years Eve. Nearly every ride had a > 45 minute wait time by 11:00 and many fast passes were already gone. We rode It's a Small World and left.

Wavesprite1
10-17-2011, 09:26 AM
We were there all last week from Monday afternoon until Friday night. We thought the crowds were bearable, but considering we don't feel the need to ever stand in line longer then 30 minutes, we just move on. The heat on Wednesday and Thursday was KILLER, clocking in at 103 and 104!! I don't know how anyone could stay in the park all day on those days. We left around 1pm and came back when the sun went down. We saw LOTS of bad parenting (yelling at kids, telling a 4 year old to SHUT UP), too many scooters, so many double wide strollers it was crazy and in that heat, WAY too many newborn infants.... We had a GREAT trip though!

sjhanksaz
10-17-2011, 09:34 AM
We were there all last week from Monday afternoon until Friday night. We thought the crowds were bearable, but considering we don't feel the need to ever stand in line longer then 30 minutes, we just move on. The heat on Wednesday and Thursday was KILLER, clocking in at 103 and 104!! I don't know how anyone could stay in the park all day on those days. We left around 1pm and came back when the sun went down. We saw LOTS of bad parenting (yelling at kids, telling a 4 year old to SHUT UP), too many scooters, so many double wide strollers it was crazy and in that heat, WAY too many newborn infants.... We had a GREAT trip though!

Did you end up passing up on lots of 30 minute lines?

Wavesprite1
10-17-2011, 09:47 AM
The longest we stayed in was 30 for Haunted Mansion. We did fast passes for everything else so no long waits for us....

gollal
10-17-2011, 10:03 AM
We were there for the Halloween party only on Friday 10/7. We took advantage of the fact that we could arrive at the park at 4:00 and park free. Well at 4:30 ish to 7:00 ish it was ridiculous. They were not offering fast passes at all so everything was stand-by. Space was around 75 min. for example. We ended up trying to pass the time away before the party by waiting in standby lines that were shorter (30 minutes was the shortest we could find). We were really worried that we wouldn't be able to ride much that night but several CM's told us even though you cannot Fastpass during the party that the crowds would thin. They thinned at around 8:00 p.m. allowing us almost walk-on for all major attractions. The only lines were for the candy. That being said, I believe the weekends this fall are definitely more crowded than I've seen in the past. I'm wondering if it is because locals can't go Friday nights due to the party so they're jamming up the parks Friday day, & throughout the weekends.