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Mom And Daughter; Animal Kingdom
  • On Jun 15, 2008
    Mandy from angus Asked Note: This answer was provided prior to the change to planDisney and may still contain references to Disney Parks Moms Panel.

    Experiences, policies, pricing and other offerings are subject to change and may have changed since the date of this answer.

    Thanx, Thanx, Thanx cant say thanx enough for helping me plan our holiday. Cant wait coming for 17 nights on 12/24 from Bonnie Scotland my question is, is it better to go anti clockwise or clockwise when entering the parks to avoid the crowds, yipee!

    17 nights! Wow am I jealous!

    Driving on the right as we do, most Americans tend to veer right when given a choice. Folks who do this will tend go toward Space Mountain in the Magic Kingdom first thing and then go counter-clockwise around the park. I wish I could tell you that doing the opposite of this would allow you avoid the crowds, but the truth is that Disney does a great job of dispersing attractions throughout the parks. For example, in the Magic Kingdom, water fans will head first to Splash Mountain on the left, space fans will head first to Space Mountain on the right, and people with preschoolers will head first to Dumbo right in the middle. Before you know it, the crowds are evenly distributed everywhere.

    For you, the thing that will impact the crowd levels you experience far more than anything else will be the date of your visit. That week between Christmas and New Years will be the annual crowd peak at WDW. The parks will likely be at capacity. By January 5th, you have crowds of approximately half that. You'll be at WDW long enough that you will see Disney at every phase of visitor level. It should be interesting. If I were you, I would try to plan lots of reserved activities for the first week of your trip. Reserved meals, dinner shows, Cirque du Soleil, Candlelight Processional dinner package, Mickey's Christmas Party etc. -- things that the crowds don't matter so much for because you have a guaranteed spot. Then, toward the end of your trip I would focus on the rides in the parks.

    Oh, and as far as that "Americans veer right" thing goes, the rule of thumb is that when you have a choice of two queues, choose the left one because most other people will choose the right. I personally haven't noticed much of a difference either way, but there are many people who swear by this tip.

    I hope you have an amazing visit to WDW!
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Meet the Panelist: Erin, New York

I have three teenage daughters. We're DVC members obsessed with Disney travel. We've been to Walt Disney World countless times and have visited Disneyland & Disneyland Paris. We've taken several Adventures by Disney and Disney Cruise trips. Learn More About Erin

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