DTD Shopping Fenzy

[CarolinaWDWFan]

Has anyone noticed in the evening how crazy it gets in the World of Disney? It is an amazing phenomenon, but people swarm it like it is Christmas. Now, I am not saying this is a bad thing at all, but it is just interesting. I have narrowed the reasoning to a couple of things and I would like to open this up to additional feedback:

1. Last night or end of WDW vacation. Folks need to get the last minute gifts for those they left behind as well as themselves. It is a little pixie dust to take home. If this weren't the case then there would not be a Disney store in the airport.
2. Purchases driven outside of theme parks. OK, this is one I have done from time to time where I try to avoid making the general, non-attraction purchases in the parks, especially if it is the end of my vacation and I cannot have them delivered to my resort in time.
3. Non-Disney resort guests with limited transportation options to DTD. Lets face it, if you are in a resort with no car of your own, getting to DTD is no problem. But, if you are staying off property and the only way to get to DTD is to hop a Disney bus from a theme park , get to DTD, hop another bus to get back to a theme park where you can be picked up. Usually, there are time limitations to the off property transportation, time is of the essence.

Thoughts?

[pianobabe]

I feel the area gets more crowded because people have finished there time in the park for the day (Animal Kingdom closing early). Also, with us DTD is the first place we go (typically) when we arrive to WDW. We start our souvenier shopping as soon as we get there. It gets us hyped up about the beginning of our trip. Going to DTD and World of Disney helps to get us in vacation mode and leave the rest of the real world behind.

[DisneyWhirled]

Actually, I was quite suprised to see the World of Disney very busy early afternoon last Saturday as well. I thought that it was typically busier in the evening. I suppose the fact that it was Memorial weekend added to the crowds.

I would like to add that World of Disney is one of the few places that Disney Visa Holders can get a discount on purchases, that was my intention for shopping there. Also, it has a huge selection of many different gifts.

Just my two cents.

[disneymom2000]

I tend to agree with pianobaby. I think that people are through with their park for the day and head to DTD to finish off their day. That is usually what I do when I visit MGM or AK for the day. I don't usually do that on my EPCOT or MK days since I stay for the fireworks shows at these two.

[psychotekkie]

Yes. We also go to DTD after a day of waterparks, if we are avoiding using up one of our themepark days.

Also for the first couple of times we went to Disney World, we only saw downtown at night and assumed it was always that crowded.

Boy were we pleasantly surprised when we went one day early in the morning. It was like having all downtown to yourself.

We'll avoid going in the evening on future trips.

[kakn7294]

The only time we have seen it not busy was last Dec when our girls had a 9:30a appointment at BBB (on a Tuesday). Since most shops are closed until 9:30a, most of DTD was empty. However, WOD was open and there were already a fair number of people wandering around but since the store is so large, it wasn't really busy. By the time the girls were done around 10:30a, the crowd had really picked up considerably - almost like it is in the evenings. I actually don't like going there - I hate the crowds.

[dolphinmickey9170]

My reason is because AP holders also get a discount and when you spend 2-3 hundred, every 20 or 30 you can save helps!!