DVCcurious
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2013
This trip report was inspired by Josh's latest post about what low crowd levels really mean.
http://www.easywdw.com/uncategorize...what-the-lowest-crowds-of-the-year-look-like/
I have also seen the many threads on this site about how September/January/whatever low crowd date was CRAZY with people EVERYWHERE!!!!
Well I am not a WDW expert. But I have been to WDW the following dates (week-long trips around this date):
7/4/2010
10/15/2011 (columbus day weekend)
2/9/13
7/25/13
1/20/14 (MLK weekend)
4/5/15 (easter week this year)
8/29-9/5/15
I can tell you that this past trip we just got back from was BY FAR the least crowded. It wasn't even close. I kept telling my wife "I can't believe empty it is...there's nobody here!" When people complain about "high crowds" in September it just tells me they've never been to WDW any other time of the year.
What are some of the indications the park was empty?
1) Getting to the Pool at 12:00PM and having our pick of the beach chairs, no line for the water slide, only 10 people in the entire pool.
2) Going to that Pizza place in the back of Italy in Epcot and waiting 20 minutes for a table at 6:30PM
3) Riding Haunted Mansion over and over with no wait at 7:00PM (and we did this several evenings because my son loves HM)
4) Walking on Barnstormer, Dumbo, Magic Carpets, Jungle Cruise at any time of the day
5) Speaking of Jungle Cruise, on a few occasions we showed up at 9:00PM (we like to be away from the fireworks so we went to JC because it's far enough away to avoid the loud noises) and we were literally the only people in the queue. Like you walk up, walk all the way to the boat and there's 4 CMs there and no guests. They held the boat for 5-10 minutes so it would have more than just the 4 of us on it!
6) Walking on Soarin at 6PM and 10:15AM, which we did on two separate days. And by "walking on" I mean you walked all the way to the FP+ Merge point where you were held until a movie theatre was ready for you. We ate at Sunshine Seasons for dinner and we'd check out the Soarin' line and see a posted 15 minute wait so we'd just do it.
7) 40 Minutes for Toy Story Midway Mania at 3PM. It was the first time we'd ever ridden it because we never wanted to wait for it before.
8) Getting food at Pinnochios Village House at 6PM and having no wait and many tables open.
9) Finally, the picture below says it all
It was an amazing trip. My Son is 3 and my daughter is 5. This was the first trip my son was really into meeting characters. Previously he was scared of them but now he was eager to meet them. He loves Winnie the Pooh.
The only rides you needed FP+ for was 7DMT and Peter Pan. We waited in line for Splash, Thunder, Space, Test Track, Soarin', Tower of Terror, Safari all during the middle of the day and all had 25 minute waits max. We waited for Toy Story Mania and it was a 45 minute wait. We did Peter Pan many evenings with 30 minute or less waits, but it was 60 during the day. 7 Dwarfs was consistently 60+ all day so you did need FP+ for that. And of course you needed FP+ for Anna and Elsa or Cinderella. In fact we spent more time waiting for Pooh and Tigger at MK than we waited for any rides. We had about a 40 minute wait for Pooh and Tigger. But we met Pooh at Epcot daily with no wait.
Late August/Early September was BY FAR the lowest crowds I've ever seen.
http://www.easywdw.com/uncategorize...what-the-lowest-crowds-of-the-year-look-like/
I have also seen the many threads on this site about how September/January/whatever low crowd date was CRAZY with people EVERYWHERE!!!!
Well I am not a WDW expert. But I have been to WDW the following dates (week-long trips around this date):
7/4/2010
10/15/2011 (columbus day weekend)
2/9/13
7/25/13
1/20/14 (MLK weekend)
4/5/15 (easter week this year)
8/29-9/5/15
I can tell you that this past trip we just got back from was BY FAR the least crowded. It wasn't even close. I kept telling my wife "I can't believe empty it is...there's nobody here!" When people complain about "high crowds" in September it just tells me they've never been to WDW any other time of the year.
What are some of the indications the park was empty?
1) Getting to the Pool at 12:00PM and having our pick of the beach chairs, no line for the water slide, only 10 people in the entire pool.
2) Going to that Pizza place in the back of Italy in Epcot and waiting 20 minutes for a table at 6:30PM
3) Riding Haunted Mansion over and over with no wait at 7:00PM (and we did this several evenings because my son loves HM)
4) Walking on Barnstormer, Dumbo, Magic Carpets, Jungle Cruise at any time of the day
5) Speaking of Jungle Cruise, on a few occasions we showed up at 9:00PM (we like to be away from the fireworks so we went to JC because it's far enough away to avoid the loud noises) and we were literally the only people in the queue. Like you walk up, walk all the way to the boat and there's 4 CMs there and no guests. They held the boat for 5-10 minutes so it would have more than just the 4 of us on it!
6) Walking on Soarin at 6PM and 10:15AM, which we did on two separate days. And by "walking on" I mean you walked all the way to the FP+ Merge point where you were held until a movie theatre was ready for you. We ate at Sunshine Seasons for dinner and we'd check out the Soarin' line and see a posted 15 minute wait so we'd just do it.
7) 40 Minutes for Toy Story Midway Mania at 3PM. It was the first time we'd ever ridden it because we never wanted to wait for it before.
8) Getting food at Pinnochios Village House at 6PM and having no wait and many tables open.
9) Finally, the picture below says it all
It was an amazing trip. My Son is 3 and my daughter is 5. This was the first trip my son was really into meeting characters. Previously he was scared of them but now he was eager to meet them. He loves Winnie the Pooh.
The only rides you needed FP+ for was 7DMT and Peter Pan. We waited in line for Splash, Thunder, Space, Test Track, Soarin', Tower of Terror, Safari all during the middle of the day and all had 25 minute waits max. We waited for Toy Story Mania and it was a 45 minute wait. We did Peter Pan many evenings with 30 minute or less waits, but it was 60 during the day. 7 Dwarfs was consistently 60+ all day so you did need FP+ for that. And of course you needed FP+ for Anna and Elsa or Cinderella. In fact we spent more time waiting for Pooh and Tigger at MK than we waited for any rides. We had about a 40 minute wait for Pooh and Tigger. But we met Pooh at Epcot daily with no wait.
Late August/Early September was BY FAR the lowest crowds I've ever seen.
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