Best time to go when it's not so crowded ?

[Onthebay]

I'm sure this thread has been around but we got back last night and want to start planning our next trip.
It was very crowded this past week tough to get around , we did maximize our fast passes but some of the waits were well over an hour. Anyone have some tips on the best week.
Thanks in advance

 

[WDWNY]

From my experience mid january was least crowded from when I went.

 

[bubblebrown]

It looks like the crowd moved in on Friday for the long MLK weekend. We were at Magic Kingdom on thurs 1/12 and Epcot 1/13 and with our FPs in place we had no issues with long waits. The following crowd calendar from easyWDW helped me figure out which parks to go to and when (we stayed away from EMH parks) for the lowest crowds and they seemed to work for this past trip: http://www.easywdw.com/easy/blog/ja...d-a-brief-introduction-to-crowd-calendar-2-1/ You can also access past crowd levels at touringplans.com: https://touringplans.com/magic-kingdom/wait-times/date/2017-01-12 to see historical data. Good luck!

 

[Onthebay]

Great info
Thanks very much!!

 

[AshleeH]

Avoid holidays and avoid major school breaks and that's about all you can do. Disney doesn't really have an off season anymore and they've been trying their best to disperse their summer and holiday crowds elsewhere (the Fall, in particular, has seen a huge bump in recent years).

Even if crowds are low, you won't have rides running to capacity, so lines don't move as fast and the "feel" of the park won't be very different from summer with rides at full capacity and extra late hours to accommodate everyone.

 

[davper]

Go when it is raining.

I love watching everyone head for the exits when the rain starts. I just put my phone in a baggie and head for splash mountain. I am going to be wet anyway. I do all my favorite rides in less than 2 hours.

 

[msb578]

If you can tolerate the heat, just before Labor Day weekend is pretty good.

A lot of schools have started back up; Food and Wine hasn't started; if there's a free dining offer, that time period isn't usually involved.

Edit: F&W starts 8/31.

 

[Onthebay]

All good info. I remember going the first week in December one year and it wasn't that crowded but I guess that's not the case anymore

 

[Hootch]

Around Labor Day crowds are smaller. It is hot and there is a small chance of a hurricane.

We don't usually have the luxury choosing our dates. Everything has to revolve around our kids' schedules.

This site has some ideas on timing. I recommend the book. It is informative and written with a dry sense of humor.

http://**************.net/

http://www.easywdw.com

 

[NH-to-FL]

I second the suggestion to look at **************.net

They have a crowd level by week chart that I find helpful.

 

[Leelo]

The least crowded times we have gone were mid-January and early October.

 

[fabfemmeboy]

We've always had fantastic luck in January - but watch out for weekends because of MLK and races. But weekdays in January I don't think we've ever waited longer than 20 minutes for anything except Soarin.

 

[dreiwhit]

All good info. I remember going the first week in December one year and it wasn't that crowded but I guess that's not the case anymore

We went the week after Thanksgiving (last weekend in November, first weekend in December) and it was either the same or more crowded than when we went in February-March. Epcot was way more crowded. I suspect it was a combination of free dining and the Candlelight Processional at Epcot.

Having said that, with FastPasses and a good plan, we got to do everything we wanted to do and then some!

When we go back in a few years, we're going to go back to the end of February - early March time frame. That seemed to be the best time for us.

 

[pooh2001]

We have done it all - but we are leaning towards late April into May.
Avoid Easter weeks.
In the 80's and a chance of thunderstorms some days

Per a website:
April is the quintessential spring month in Florida
Nights are very comfortable this time of year
The sky is at its clearest this month, cloud cover decreasing from 28% to 26%, which is the lowest percentage in the whole year. In addition to that, the length of the days in April increases further. With an average of 12.27 hours of daylight.
April has, in fact, the lowest chance that rainfall will occur of all months—21%. Two main types of rainfall are observed throughout this month. Thunderstorms are the most common one, occurring on 39% of the days with rainfall. Light rain isn’t too far behind, being recorded on 36% of those rainy days. Moderate rain may be experienced as well, but it only happens on 18% of those days.

Nice weather, less rain - only Southern schools are out
Northern schools are not out till mid- June
Colleges have finals till about May 10 or a bit later.

Southern families can go to WDW anytime, because they are so close and can drive there in 10 hours or less. Nice perk

 

[Surgie2]

We have been in January, February, June and October...none by choice of "best" weather or crowds but determined by various family schedules. Next year we finally get to go by "choice" LOL and we are choosing the first full week of May for our multi-generation trip. We are hoping for good weather and relatively less crowds than a summer month. While January is a popular choice for lower crowd levels, we won't be back to Disney in the winter with small kids. There is too much of a chance of cold days (cold as in fleece coats, hats, mittens). Part of our vacation is enjoying the resort pools and a water park and it is very risky to count on that in January or February.

 

[growingupdis]

Crowd wise I've always had great luck with the last week of August...if you can stand the heat that is! The humidity really gets to you but the guaranteed afternoon rainstorms often clear out the park even further. Heard good things about early March (pre-spring break) crowds as well, heading down on March 4th, so we'll see if that holds true!

 

[Simba's Mom]

From my experience mid january was least crowded from when I went.

I agree! Find out when Marathon weekend is, and go the week after (hopefully that's the week before MLK). We were there for Marathon weekend this year (so DH could run the half marathon that didn't happen). Anyways, we noticed that the Sunday (somewhat), then especially on Monday and Tuesday, the crowds had dropped dramatically to virtually nothing. Our resort parking lot went from super-busy to almost empty.

 

[Hiitsme]

January can be tough. A certain travel company from a different country sends teenagers and they can be a bit hard to deal with. You also have those crazed runners from the Run Disney events clogging up the works. Late September was pretty good. It had manageable crowds and okay weather.

 

[Vijoge]

We arrived Jan 26 and left Feb 1. The only park that was the least bit crowded was DHS on our day there and MK after 6 or 7 PM.. There were days when there was a ten minute stand by for FEA, 10 minutes for Space Mountain and BTMRR, and no wait at all for 7DMT. Many rides were just walk on. Kids rode EE back to back, as well as Splash Mountain. Our longest wait was about 40 minutes for Test Track.

 

[Emma Rose]

We like October or even early April