Just back...Sept 8 -12

[Disneylover99]

some stuff was walk on, like stitch, people mover, small world etc. the bigger rides were over an hour. other parks were very crowded. I had read a report that it seemed some parks were very crowded while others were not.

I found the big rides like seven Dwarfs/Soarin/Toy Story/Peter Pan with waits of 20-40 minutes standbye on those days. Everything else we walked on. We had fp's for Splash, Big Thunder, Space at MK. Everest, Safari, KRR at AK. TofT, RnR and Star Tours on those days and we didn't even use one fp. It was very strange.

Now, walking around the parks was a different story. It still felt moderately crowded when we walked around. But nobody seemed to be riding the rides.

 

[wendow]

We followed touringplans.com.

It was a short trip for us with only 3 park days. Both of our MK days had higher crowds than TP had predicted. I also noticed that they predicted 9/11 & 9/12 being a '1' since NOJ was going on and the park closed early. Instead they are saying both days ended up having higher crowds also.

Also, for us, our Epcot day felt very much like an early September day in terms of crowds. We only noticed the crowd problems at MK. We got to RD each day, left midday and went back in the evening until park close. We 'walked on' very little unless it was at RD but that only lasted an hour'ish.

 

[Jarmo]

We were there the 6-11 and spent most of our time at MK. The ride wait times other than 7DMT were very low in our opinion, and even that briefly went down to only 10 minutes one day in the early evening. Might have felt crowded in the walkways, but wait times are all we cared about.

Things like Dumbo and Haunted Mansion were walk-ons practically all day. It's a far cry from 4 or 5 years ago, but no complaints here, much better than last September for us!

 

[Puffy2]

I used touring plans and MDE apps for planning and one other site, can't remember the name. For us, we heard a lot of foreign voices in the parks...I was thinking that maybe their school holidays were different from the US. Who knows.

For the person who asked about the Everest Ride...I hated it from the moment we started going backwards. It was way too rough for my body - I just tried to breath deep to get through it and prayed for it to end. Literally, I thought I'd die if I had to stay on that coaster any longer than I did. I remained ill for about two hours and was completely done for the day. Heed the warning on that one - if you are prone to motion sickness or have ANY health issues (high blood pressure or low blood pressure, and many more) just don't take the chance.

Having said that, I can do Star Tours and Big Thunder Mtn and Splash Mtn.

 

[anniemae]

Good to know about Everest. I have been avoiding that one! Now I'm glad I did!

 

[wendow]

For us, we heard a lot of foreign voices in the parks...I was thinking that maybe their school holidays were different from the US. Who knows.

Same here. At one point, my dh & I were waiting for the riverboat. We were just standing there quietly, and I noticed of the five different families around us, NONE were speaking English. It was a trend we noticed over and over during our stay.

 

[Tidoublegrr]

We were there 9/4-9/13. We followed Easy WDW's crowd calendar and had a pretty easy low wait trip. I will say that Friday the 11th at MK during the day was a lot busier than the Friday of Night of Joy in years past.

 

[hsmamainva]

We were there September 5-12th! Labor Day weekend was packed, as expected!! Sat - Sun - Mon -- UGH!

After that, it was awesome! Low crowds and no rain! Very hot and muggy though.

 

[anniemae]

The end of Aug and beginning of sept draws a TON of Canadian visitors as well as U.K. visitors. They start school late, as do the U.S. schools in the northeast and midwest.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

At AK. Bag check at least 50 deep on both sides. This is not a slow time anymore.

 

[Love Tink]

At AK. Bag check at least 50 deep on both sides. This is not a slow time anymore.

Bag check at AK is always ridiculous.

It is indisputably a slow time - i.e. far fewer visitors than almost any other time of year. It just might not look or feel like what you want a "slow time" to look or feel like.

 

[nkereina]

I don't think there's truly a slow time. And besides, crowd levels are relative. For someone who's not been another time of year, it may "feel" busier. Or by seeing 1-2 crowd levels, you expect everything walk-on and when it's not, the definitions of crowd levels change. I was there in September last year and also November and it was noticeably different crowd levels, as projected by the crowd calendars. Easily "low" crowds in September versus "moderate" crowds in November.

I do agree that if any restaurants are must-dos, an ADR is a must-do. Especially now when free dining is going on and most restaurants are booked solid. It can be difficult to wing it at Disney if you're not content with QS.

 

[lugnut33]

Forget the words "slow times", they no longer exist at WDW. There are just a few "less busy" times.

 

[disneyseniors]

Good to know about Everest. I have been avoiding that one! Now I'm glad I did!

I feel the same way as the OP about EE. What makes me sick is the backwards part of the ride. I have always been proud to be able to ride all the thrill rides at WDW without a problem. BUT, EE changed that. I guess I got motion sickness (a first for me) from the backwards ride. I always say I'll never ride it again, but my husband loves to ride it and I always change my mind. So, I ride it, get sick, and wish I hadn't!!! You'd think I'd learn

 

[anniemae]

Forget the words "slow times", they no longer exist at WDW. There are just a few "less busy" times.

this is soooooo true. It is either really busy or crazy busy. Also, the last week of Aug had a bunch of cancellations due to the hurricane I had heard. At one point the forecast had the hurricane going straight up through FL with Orlando taking the direct hit.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

We were there this year the same time as you and we've gone for the past six years. I found most everything to be a complete walk on, even mid-day from Aug. 30- Sept. 3rd. I've never experienced such low crowds.

We've been to WDW the week before Labor Day for the past 10 years. We were there from 8/29 - 9/5 and the parks were a bit crowded, but wait times for most rides were very short.

 

[elgerber]

I feel the same way as the OP about EE. What makes me sick is the backwards part of the ride. I have always been proud to be able to ride all the thrill rides at WDW without a problem. BUT, EE changed that. I guess I got motion sickness (a first for me) from the backwards ride. I always say I'll never ride it again, but my husband loves to ride it and I always change my mind. So, I ride it, get sick, and wish I hadn't!!! You'd think I'd learn

I take meclizine in the parks, but even with that, the only way I can ride EE is in the front. The backwards part doesn't bother me nearly as bad up there, so maybe that would help you?

 

[ttintagel]

Learn from Sunshine Seasons cashier that they will STOP serving breakfast as of Jan. 1st! Too bad, it is good and a good deal.

Nooooo! Sunshine Seasons breakfast is an essential part of an EPCOT morning! There aren't that many CS places in the parks to get a proper breakfast!

 

[Puffy2]

I'm disappointed by it too. It was a very good breakfast also.

 

[ariane37]

We were there this year the same time as you and we've gone for the past six years. I found most everything to be a complete walk on, even mid-day from Aug. 30- Sept. 3rd. I've never experienced such low crowds.

We were in Orlando 8/29-9/5, mostly at Universal but we did spend 12 hours in MK on the 4th. Both Universal parks were DEAD all 3 days we were there and everything was a walk on. MK on the 4th was awesome, we walked on everything all day except 7DMT. It never got higher than 50 minutes and often was at 40-45. BTMRR and Splash both never got higher than 25. PP got up to 60 but we'd done it earlier with no wait and a 10 minute wait.

We were in WDW for a week last year late Aug/early Sept. including Labor Day and found crowds low, but since we only did the one day in Disney this year I won't compare except to say again that our day in MK was great!