What the heck? September, what happend to you?

[wendow]

I noticed that the Thursday after Labor Day, MK was like a ghost town! However, the last two weeks of Sept have been BUSY, especially the weekends, so perhaps the parties and Food & Wine has contributed to that. In part, it might be because its closer to Halloween then early Sept and MNSS is cheaper, has Military and DVC/AP discounts. (In Oct, they don't.) But I did notice crowds were higher in later Sept. Week after labor day, though, that's the time to come, people!

We were at MK that THursday. Got there at RD, left about 1, came back at 4 until close. That morning was our best 'low crowds' at MK for our entire trip. I wouldn't call it a 'ghost town' by any stretch but the crowds were better that morning. By 10:30, it was getting crowded. What I found interesting is that that Thursday, MK was not recommended. Wednesday before was recommended for MK, and it was much busier.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

S

We were at MK that THursday. Got there at RD, left about 1, came back at 4 until close. That morning was our best 'low crowds' at MK for our entire trip. I wouldn't call it a 'ghost town' by any stretch but the crowds were better that morning. By 10:30, it was getting crowded. What I found interesting is that that Thursday, MK was not recommended. Wednesday before was recommended for MK, and it was much busier.

Sorry, I should qualify that as locals, we only come in around 5:30/6. When we got in to MK, the hub in front of City Hall had three people in my photo! By then, most of them were probably on attractions, but that was a first for us!

 

[madge]

Please report back your thoughts on current crowd levels...

Dan

We're going to brave MNSSHP tomorrow & parks on Wednesday (

Yes, let us know! Have a great trip!

we have decided to scrap MNSSHP and just do park days. This is a super short trip for us, so we're going to cram as much in as possible. Will likely go to MK & Epcot tomorrow and Studios, Epcot, and MK on Wednesday. Thursday, we sleep

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Came first week in September. Low crowds and short lines. Booked fd for next year.

 

[anniemae]

We're going to brave MNSSHP tomorrow & parks on Wednesday (

we have decided to scrap MNSSHP and just do park days. This is a super short trip for us, so we're going to cram as much in as possible. Will likely go to MK & Epcot tomorrow and Studios, Epcot, and MK on Wednesday. Thursday, we sleep

Sounds awesome!

 

[madge]

At MK now. (10:35am on October 6) I would classify crowds as moderate, but not necessarily heavy. Splash is down - bone dry - makes for a little bit of a bottleneck on the bridge, but even thunder had a 25 min wait posted. Snow White mine train had significant wait & no fast pass available ... same with Anna & Elsa.

Cloudy & cool day so far. That's been the most unexpected thing of the day!

 

[madge]

An hour later, fantasyland is noticeably busy. Waits reflect that. On par with July, without the heat & more strollers.

 

[madge]

1:17pm update: tomorrowland crowds are on par with July. Wait times seem less, though. Pretty consistent with free dining. Guests get bogged down worried about eating.

TTA has a steady flow of people. Not a line, per se .... but more people than years past.

 

[cabanafrau]

How Disney staffs the parks and the procedures they implement at different times can have quite an effect on wait times, even if crowd levels aren't very high.

 

[Cando86]

We were there September 25-Oct 3 and I had read that September crowds were busier than usual so I can't say I was shocked but it was definitely more crowded than I initially was expecting. Nothing that ruined our trip or anything at all but there were definitely a couple times it felt absolutely crazy. I think the "slower" times are getting busy and general attendance is increasing so those slower times are still less busy than the high-crowd times but overall everything is busier. Which makes slower times busier. If that makes any sense...haha!

 

[aprincessatlast]

How Disney staffs the parks and the procedures they implement at different times can have quite an effect on wait times, even if crowd levels aren't very high.

This really is the answer to all the crowd comments. Reminds me of my July 4th trip to DL. The crowds felt so light and wait times were low. DL had a full staff and with minimal closures the people were dispersed in a fantastic way. Compared to the next visit which was in Ocotober. Staff and other things were down due to low season and with many ride/restaurant closures, people were all in the same areas fighting to get to the same places. It was shoulder to shoulder on main street and in Frontier/Adventureland. It was a big lesson learned ,because we gave up a lot like closed rides and shorter hours thinking it was going to be a "low" season. Maybe for Disney financially but just not always the case for the visitor in our experience.

We have always traveled in low seasons, May and September/Oct and we often see wait times in the 60-75 range for many things. I remember waiting for 40 minutes for living with the land in September on one of our first visits. We are planning a trip in December and I keep looking for crowd pictures to get myself prepared but I have seen crowds and wait times like that in the off season as it just depended on the time of day. I will say I have not seen lines for the monorail like that though. lol so we shall see!

 

[PamNC]

We were there 9/11 - 9/15 - crowds were not bad at all except at the MK on Monday the 15th - a little nuts then.

 

[madge]

Today's report: Epcot & Studios crowds were mainly light. World showcase was busy when we left. Wait for Soarin' at 7:40 was 20 minutes.

Magic Kingdom was as crowded as I've ever seen .... including early July (but not July 4). People were POURING in the park at 9:00. We ate, rode TTA, met tinker bell and left via backstage exit. Cosmic Rays was fully staffed ... handled crowds well, but it was still crazy.

 

[DisneyFive]

Today's report: Epcot & Studios crowds were mainly light. World showcase was busy when we left. Wait for Soarin' at 7:40 was 20 minutes.

Magic Kingdom was as crowded as I've ever seen .... including early July (but not July 4). People were POURING in the park at 9:00. We ate, rode TTA, met tinker bell and left via backstage exit. Cosmic Rays was fully staffed ... handled crowds well, but it was still crazy.

Soarin at 20 minutes at 7:40? Don't think I've ever seen that. Granted, wait times jump all over the place. One thing we noticed this trip is that it seemed people were REALLY paying attention to the wait times either via the Disney app, or by just looking at the sign directly. There were a number of times that we saw a 10 minute SB time for a good attraction, only to see people pouring into the ride when we finally got there. Drove the SB time right back up to 30 minutes or so... happened a few times...

Dan

 

[wendow]

Soarin at 20 minutes at 7:40? Don't think I've ever seen that. Granted, wait times jump all over the place. One thing we noticed this trip is that it seemed people were REALLY paying attention to the wait times either via the Disney app, or by just looking at the sign directly. There were a number of times that we saw a 10 minute SB time for a good attraction, only to see people pouring into the ride when we finally got there. Drove the SB time right back up to 30 minutes or so... happened a few times...

Dan

Same thing happened to us, Dan. Over and over and over...kind of frustrating!

 

[anniemae]

Today's report: Epcot & Studios crowds were mainly light. World showcase was busy when we left. Wait for Soarin' at 7:40 was 20 minutes.

Magic Kingdom was as crowded as I've ever seen .... including early July (but not July 4). People were POURING in the park at 9:00. We ate, rode TTA, met tinker bell and left via backstage exit. Cosmic Rays was fully staffed ... handled crowds well, but it was still crazy.

I have a theory. I think everyone is following sites for recommended parks so it just is not working as well as it used to. I just checked and MK is the Most Recommended park today on one of the sites. With everyone following the same advice, it just does not seem as accurate anymore IMO. When we were there over the summer there was always ONE crowded park, and we were always in it! I followed one of the sites, as did everyone else I think!

 

[madge]

I have a theory. I think everyone is following sites for recommended parks so it just is not working as well as it used to. I just checked and MK is the Most Recommended park today on one of the sites. With everyone following the same advice, it just does not seem as accurate anymore IMO. When we were there over the summer there was always ONE crowded park, and we were always in it! I followed one of the sites, as did everyone else I think!

MK was recommended on Tuesday -- crowded then, as well. Much more so than party days in years past.

 

[madge]

Soarin at 20 minutes at 7:40? Don't think I've ever seen that. Granted, wait times jump all over the place. One thing we noticed this trip is that it seemed people were REALLY paying attention to the wait times either via the Disney app, or by just looking at the sign directly. There were a number of times that we saw a 10 minute SB time for a good attraction, only to see people pouring into the ride when we finally got there. Drove the SB time right back up to 30 minutes or so... happened a few times...

Dan

We couldn't believe the Soarin' line. The whole pavilion was pretty dead last night. I think everyone was in the World Showcase or at the MK. LOL

 

[anniemae]

We couldn't believe the Soarin' line. The whole pavilion was pretty dead last night. I think everyone was in the World Showcase or at the MK. LOL

Wow, that is awesome. I guess you are right, everyone was probably at MK! I guess WS also gets busy at night with the restaurants.

 

[madge]

Wow, that is awesome. I guess you are right, everyone was probably at MK! I guess WS also gets busy at night with the restaurants.

food & wine festival. That's the draw right now.