I have heard a couple of different theories on the crowds being down. Domestically, surveys are showing people are delaying trips due to all of the construction and to save a trip for when some of the new rides open up. I am sure most of this is aimed at Star Wars Land. I was at Pandora on the second day it was open and it was packed within 30 minutes of the official park opening. We, luckily, were there 70 minutes before the listed park opening and they opened 75 minutes before the listed time that day. Star Wars will be many multiples greater than that in regards to crowd.
For foreign visitors, apparently our political climate is keeping visitors from coming. I have even heard reports of Canadians not wanting to come down to the parks because of what is going on. And of course there are countries still reeling from economic crisis that usually send a lot of visitors to the parks (think Brazil).
All of this is adding up to a lot smaller crowds this summer. Apparently, Pandora is usually packed, but many complained mightily in July because Disney was maintaining the 10 pm close time for the Magic Kingdom instead of pushing it to Midnight or later, as they have done the last couple of years.
We are heading for our anniversary in September and I'm hoping the crowds aren't bad. I can remember going at the same time in 2009 and walking around the countries in EPCOT for a couple of hours without seeing 20 people that didn't work there. Same trip saw us ride Soarin' twice without having to get off the ride and Toy Story Mania three straight times without having to leave our car.
For foreign visitors, apparently our political climate is keeping visitors from coming. I have even heard reports of Canadians not wanting to come down to the parks because of what is going on. And of course there are countries still reeling from economic crisis that usually send a lot of visitors to the parks (think Brazil).
All of this is adding up to a lot smaller crowds this summer. Apparently, Pandora is usually packed, but many complained mightily in July because Disney was maintaining the 10 pm close time for the Magic Kingdom instead of pushing it to Midnight or later, as they have done the last couple of years.
We are heading for our anniversary in September and I'm hoping the crowds aren't bad. I can remember going at the same time in 2009 and walking around the countries in EPCOT for a couple of hours without seeing 20 people that didn't work there. Same trip saw us ride Soarin' twice without having to get off the ride and Toy Story Mania three straight times without having to leave our car.