No more low crowds?

[SarahC97]

I don't know, it really seemed in February that there were simply a lot of people, because it wasn't just one or two fastpass lines that were long, it seemed like most of them. I think on days when you're talking crowd levels in the 8-10 range, that's what to expect. But I don't think in late September that's something OP should worry about.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

The last time I went to Disney was in early December 2011 and with the exception of MVMCP the crowds were non existent, Fast Passes weren’t needed except for a few rides and there were a few that we just walked on. DH went in 2011 and 2014 both times during Christmas week and it was predictably insane (both times with his girls and before we got married). We are going for the first time together at the end of September for our much delayed honeymoon (no kids!!!) and I keep reading that low crowds no longer exist, yet crowd calendars show the end of September as one of the lowest of the year. What does this mean in reality? Will we be shoulder to shoulder in the parks? Will walk ones be possible? I keep scouring YouTube for videos that show the crowds from the end of September last year and they seem really light. Am I just being optimistic?

Others have said it well: there don't appear to be really SLOW times these days, but some times are less crowded than others. You're better off in late Sept than you are mid-July or Christmas, for instance.

I wound't expect shoulder-to-shoulder in late Sep, but I would not expect walk-on rides either. In my experience, walk-on rides all but disappeared with the advent of FP+ and MDE. The system funnels people into what used to be reliable walk-ons or very short waits (IASW, Pirates, HM, etc.).

All that said, we have yet to have a trip where we don't get everything done that we want to. The recipe for us is:

• Use early EMH; rope drop
• Take a hotel break midday (hottest, worst crowds)
• Hop to non-early-EMH park for the afternoon
• Use late EMH often

I only ever used crowd calendars to help decide when to travel -- not to plan my days. They still give a decent relative sense of crowds to suit that purpose.

 

[dreiwhit]

I was there the same week in February this year too and the FP lines were long. I know we waited for 20 minutes or more in a lot of fastpass queues. That was insane!

And to top it off, I waited 30 minutes in line at guest services at Epcot! The line got so long, the CMs actually started putting up their poles and rope queue lines outside the door to guest services!

 

[disneyvoice]

The best trick I have learned is when you hear that a ride has broken down, IMMEDIATELY schedule a FP. The system typically allows you to schedule the FP even though it is broken down (and you can typically get a FP for the next few minutes because so many people don't know they will get an anytime/any ride FP so they cancel the FP for the broken down ride and reschedule a new ride). When we were there in January we did this 4 or 5 times and ended up with multiple anytime/any ride FPs.

 

[SarahC97]

And to top it off, I waited 30 minutes in line at guest services at Epcot! The line got so long, the CMs actually started putting up their poles and rope queue lines outside the door to guest services!

Not to hijack this thread, but could you believe how crowded it was? We were in MK on 2/4 and wowza -- wall to wall people!! It was nuts! I've never been when it was that busy before and it was pretty much like that the entire week we were there.

 

[KyleAfterAWhile]

Beginning september is labor day and many schools start AFter labor Day. You also now have Food and Wine and MNSSHP starting August 17th. We go every year first septemeber week. NOT slow. Maybe pre 2014. Not since

With more and more families homeschooling, year-round schools and people coming from overseas, this is not longer a slow time either.

 

[GreatLakes]

The slowest week is usually the week after Labor Day. It isn't as slow as it used to be but it is usually slower than any other week in the calendar year.

 

[jaychis]

We are local to the park and have annual passes. My experience is after Labor Day when all of the school Nationwide are back, it's a little slower and just after the holidays is another time when it's lower than typical. If I go during the week to kill a few hours, at these times I usually have plenty of time to do what I need to do. When we go as a family typically on the weekends, it's a bit busier. We went over to the Magic Kingdom on Saturday and it was still packed with Spring Breakers. One of the benefits of going frequently, is you learn how to time things so that you can maximize the experience. An example of how busy the park was, the jungle cruise had a standby wait time of close to 1 hour and 45 minutes. We were able to fit in 12 atractions, plus some down time with some friends.

 

[dreiwhit]

Not to hijack this thread, but could you believe how crowded it was? We were in MK on 2/4 and wowza -- wall to wall people!! It was nuts! I've never been when it was that busy before and it was pretty much like that the entire week we were there.

We were also in MK on 2/4 and I agree, it was pretty crowded. Trying to walk in some of the choke points, like in between Peter Pan and Small World became a full contact sport!

The rain that afternoon and evening didn't even clear that many folks out.

We went to Epcot on 2/5, and it was the most crowded we've ever seen it! To be honest with you, the old rule was to avoid MK on Mondays. Now it should be avoid MK and Epcot on Mondays.

 

[kniquy]

Will we be shoulder to shoulder in the parks? Will walk ones be possible?

You should listen to Len Testa interview from one of the Dis unplugged pod cast in early March. Very interesting information. There is a lot of statistics that goes into the crowd calendars, but he noted that from some of their research they have noticed that when there are lower crowds that the capacity of rides is also lowered thus less staff - saving the park money. So you could be going at a lower crowd time say a 3 or 4, but your wait times could still be similar to a 7. You best tactic is to expect heavy crowds, plan your day with that in mind, use your FP wisely to allow for 4th and 5th FP. Going at late September should be better crowds compared to most times of the year. So there will be people there, rides will not be walk on, you better snag your TS ADR (or should have done that already), Use the MDE app to check wait times so that you are not walking up to splash MT to find a 60 minute wait. The app will help you hit those rides with lower waits and save you time from running all over the park.

 

[OneinThree]

We are going for the first time together at the end of September for our much delayed honeymoon (no kids!!!) and I keep reading that low crowds no longer exist, yet crowd calendars show the end of September as one of the lowest of the year. What does this mean in reality?

Quite literally what it means is the best of the worst. We're within 2 hours drive of WDW and go often throughout the year. There are no more "slow times". Crowd levels of 1-10 are purely relative. It doesn't mean 1 is slow and 10 is busy. There isn't all that much variation (the range). That said, the end of September is as good a time to go as any. If you're planning for that time expecting what you know of "low crowds", you may be disappointed.

 

[Linkura]

The best trick I have learned is when you hear that a ride has broken down, IMMEDIATELY schedule a FP. The system typically allows you to schedule the FP even though it is broken down (and you can typically get a FP for the next few minutes because so many people don't know they will get an anytime/any ride FP so they cancel the FP for the broken down ride and reschedule a new ride). When we were there in January we did this 4 or 5 times and ended up with multiple anytime/any ride FPs.

Yup, did this once when Pirates was down all morning. I only did it a couple of times (and I DID want to ride Pirates!), but yeah, it's a great trick most wouldn't even think to do.

 

[SassyBrendita84]

We went to Epcot on 2/5, and it was the most crowded we've ever seen it! To be honest with you, the old rule was to avoid MK on Mondays. Now it should be avoid MK and Epcot on Mondays.

Oh man, I never heard of this rule! I scheduled our MK day on a Monday

I am definitely expecting larger crowds now reading the disboards. I think going in with the right attitude will help. I feel a little nervous because it has been a long time since the last time I went to Disney and it seems a lot more involved than it used to.

It is the first time for my fiance and I am just hoping it isn't overwhelming. Ha!

 

[portcityw]

Having the right attitude is definitely the ticket. I hate crowds, to the point that I have panic attacks when swamped. As long as I'm expecting the crowds though, I'm alright. Any time I go to WDW, I just assume large crowds.

 

[Dumbo777]

I was there the same week in February this year too and the FP lines were long. I know we waited for 20 minutes or more in a lot of fastpass queues. That was insane!

Could it be due to people from Irma rescheduling?

 

[mamamelody2]

Crowd calendars do show September as one of the lowest crowd times of the year. But LOWEST does not equal LOW. Figure it will be busy, but it will not be shoulder to shoulder.

DH and I went last November without kids. Our first day was in the Magic Kingdom. Actual crowd level turned out to be 8 which is pretty high, but we were able to get 15 Fast passes that day and get tons done. It was great! With just the 2 of you, you can get lots of FPs.

 

[friedela]

We went during a low crowd week in Feb and it was definitely full and really busy. When I mean full I mean that we were inching ahead along with the crowds and dodging people with our stroller the entire time. It was only shoulder to shoulder after the parade and everyone was trying to get out of the same area. It wasn't like that the entire time, but it was definitely more busy than I was expecting but we have nothing to compare it to having only been the once. The only thing though is that all of our fast pass lines were truly fast. 10 minutes at max maybe?

 

[Shanti]

While humidity does some weird stuff to my hair, I’ve always said the hotter the better! We live in Ottawa and it can get brutally cold and damp in the winters but the summers are very hot and humid. Since I’m one of those people that are always cold I only start complaining about heat when it hits 40C (104F). I am really looking forward to the heat of a Floria September. Wish I was there now as it’s currently -9C (15.8F) and I’m dreading going outside lol.

If you're fine with the heat, the best time to visit is late July. It's one of the slowest times of year at WDW now. Seriously.

 

[joyjoy]

Sept 6 - 14 2017

Granted... Mean ol' Irma crashed the party, but WOW. Never ever have I seen such desolate park-age. Before AND after the storm. The two days the parks were closed we had a blast at our resort- characters, crafts, movies, food... And get this- Our trip was delayed by a week (so much crying) because we live in Houston and our home was devastated by Hurricane HARVEY. What an experience.

 

[dreiwhit]

Could it be due to people from Irma rescheduling?

I honestly don't know. From reading these boards, both January and February were much more crowded than those months had been in the past. I wouldn't think that Irma reschedules would make up that much of an increase in the crowds for both those months.

When I got our FPs 30 days before our trip, there were plenty of FPs for the Tier 1 rides. I smiled, since I thought that would mean much lower crowds. But there didn't seem to be a correlation between FP availability and crowd levels - at least that time.

Many of the people that were there when I was there were from South America. There were times where we would only hear Spanish or Portuguese spoken around us. I don't know if Disney is targeting folks from those countries to come during what used to be the "off season."

Crowded parks is the number 1 reason that I didn't have a good time on our last trip.