A One-Star Review on Magic Kingdom
“Family Day” Kelsey170 Jan 18 2017
Terrible you can’t even walk without bumping into someone and the employees are rude and absolutely no help.
Oh, Kelsey. I have a feeling you were a victim of your own expectations. I surmise from your review title that you were having a family day. Guess who else was having a family day? Pretty much EVERY OTHER PERSON IN THE PARK.
Concern 1: The Crowds
I wish Kelsey had told us the specific day(s) that she was in Magic Kingdom, but looking at the date and guessing that she wrote the review after her trip was over, my guess is that Kelsey (and, probably, Kelsey’s family) were there the previous weekend. And in 2017, the previous weekend was Martin Luther King, Jr. Weekend, a federal holiday three day weekend when all government offices, most (if not all) schools, as well as many other business are closed. In other words, a perfect time for families to have a Family Day at Walt Disney World.
The Disney Company’s marketing department does an excellent job of filling dreamers’ minds with images of near-empty parks, a child skipping hand-in-hand with their favorite character down a deserted walkway in front of Cinderella Castle, and nothing but smiling faces everywhere.
This isn’t exactly how it looks.
Many online unofficial Disney resources publish crowd calendars – their individual predictions of how the crowds in the parks will be on a given day. WDW Prep School, Touring Plans, and Undercover Tourist are the three that I hear most frequently referenced. And if you look at them all for a specific date, you’ll often see conflicting information. For instance, on May 6 2017 (which happens to be the day my sister is getting married!), the crowd calendars list as follows:
- WDW Prep School: Yellow (medium crowd), but also favorite time to visit
- Touring Plans: 4/10, so on the lower side of medium.
- Undercover Tourist: 7/10, so higher crowds.
Why is this? Simply because prognostication is guesswork, even if it is researched and educated. When it comes to Walt Disney World crowds, these guesses rely upon the factors deemed important by those putting together the crowd calendar as well as unofficial historical data (Disney does not release any hard attendance data outside the company). Since these calendars are often published months, if not a year are more, in advance, this data is limited because immediate variables cannot be taken into consideration. That’s not to say they aren’t a good starting point – they are! But there are three other factors you should consider to prepare yourself for the crowd levels on the days you are visiting:
Do you have off work? Do your kids have off school?
If the answer to either or both of these questions is “yes,” guess what? YOU ARE NOT ALONE. Expect heavier crowds.
Are there any special events happening at Walt Disney World?
Disney is a smart corporation. They, I’m certain, employ analysts to study crowd trends (and, unlike unofficial sites, have access to hard data), and it’s to their advantage to do what they can to increase crowd numbers. MLK Weekend 2017 was the inaugural weekend of theEpcot International Festival of the Arts, which was bound to pique the interest of local Annual Passholders because OMG! DISNEY IS DOING A NEW THING!
A simple Google search of “Walt Disney World Special Events” will return a number of results that you can look through to see if any events coincide with your trip dates.
How’s the weather?
If the answer is cold and raining (beyond the daily 4pm shower), you can expect lower crowds. If the answer is 80 and sunny, expect it to be higher.
MLK Weekend 2017 had rain, but it was in the 80s. The previous weekend? Not so much. On both Saturday and Sunday (Jan 7 and 8), temps were no higher than mid-50s, and Sunday morning actually had windchill advisories. Know how I know? I WAS THERE. And even though I’m a lived-in-Minnesota-nearly-my-entire-life-so-I’m-weather-tough kind of person, I admit that I was wearing my full-on winter jacket (to be fair, I needed it to walk the 20 feet to the taxi from my front door at 4:45am on Jan 4 when the air temp felt like -25F), and I had to buy a hat and gloves at Hollywood Studios on Saturday evening because mine were back in the hotel. But it’s not an impulse buy if you need it, plus they were a super stylish set.
Rude Cast Members
Kelsey, I don’t have much advice on the rude and unhelpful Cast Members. But if you weren’t enjoying your Family Day because OMG PEOPLE, I’m guessing your attitude may have carried over to your interactions with Cast Members. I can honestly say that in all my time at Walt Disney World, I’ve only run into three less than magical Cast Members. And one of them was an outside contracted security guy, so I’m not sure he counts. Remember that, first and foremost, a Cast Member’s job is to ensure the safety of guests. If they’re telling you not to sit your kid on a garbage can, or to stand inside the taped-off sections for parades and fireworks, or asking you to move to the back of the bus, LISTEN TO THEM.
Kelsey, you are not a loquacious one. And that’s okay. But I hope your next Family Day is magical.