Can you remember the worst and best crowds you ever experienced...

[vcgirl925]

My first trip was Spring Break in 2000. Had to be during a peak time because my brother and my husbands sister were still in high school and had that week off. It was a mob scene. However back then, i didn't know the difference and we managed to have a great time.

Since then we've never gone during "peak" times. We pull the kids out of school.

More recently, last year over mardi gras was pretty crowded. More than expected.

The best has probably been Mid November. We are going this year the 2nd week of Sept. and i'm hoping that's also a good time to go.

 

[dunhill76]

Best - Food and Wind Oct 2012....during the weekdays I don't think we waited more then 15 minutes for anything.
Worst- February 2015 Presidents week/Mardi Gras......I'm setting myself up for pain.
Worst before next year- 4th of July 2011 Epcot....Thought I was going to have to carry my mother in law out on my back.

 

[dsdeleon]

We just did Epcot on a July 4th and that crowd is world famous. Least crowded was a late night in Sept during MNSSHP because u get to stay in your seat and repeat the rides.

 

[wdw4rfam]

All of our September trips before free dining were the best for crowds. I remember walking on many rides. Worst, we went the week before Christmas in 2009. The week was great, until Saturday. I didn't know that they did the castle lighting and Christmas parade the Saturday before. We have never been there with peak crowds, and wow was it a shock. SM had a 150 minute wait, I had never seen a wait for anything like that. We couldn't even walk and swore never again would we go without checking crowd calendars again.

 

[twoplustwins]

BEST: Second week of September 1997- very, very low crowds. 0-5 minute waits

WORST: First week of June 2013. Star Wars weekends, tropical storm, and over 100 degrees, people EVERYWHERE

 

[Nezumi Fan]

Most crowded was New Year's Eve. A few days Christmas week were at park closed levels as well. We watched Wishes in the park one day and it was so crowded leaving that it was scary with kids.

Busiest time at a Disney Park EVER was New Year's Eve, agreed. I'm talking about DLR specifically, but I imagine it'd be the same at MK. Immediately after the fireworks, it was a thick, churning river of people.

According to the local media, the park was closed at 10:00 a.m. that morning; of course, if you have an AP, you're guaranteed entrance...but you have no guaranteed right to anything else. We ended up spending most of the day shopping and lounging at restaurants, any restaurant. It was fun, but if you only have a few, precious days at the park and a list of things you want to do, avoid New Year's Eve.

 

[Carrie in AZ]

Best: Nov 12-16, 2006. WS was empty and MK was a dream. We will probably never experience low crowds like that again. It was magical!

Worst: June 2011. Soooo hot and crowded. Never again for us in summer. Also, DL at Thanksgiving 2010. Shoulder to shoulder. Yikes!

 

[agavegirl1]

I've never been during a peak crowd season but I guess the best was the end of February 1998 and the worst was "Jersey Week" 2010.

 

[rndmr2]

WORST I ever had was NYE 1989-90. MK was busy but it seemed like normal crowded times during the day but it got worse the later it got, we had a great time, though. The bad part was when we tried to leave... OMG... it took 2 hours to get from under the train station to the buses. Then another 30-45 minutes to get ON a bus (they had them continuously loading one right after the other) This was back in the days when there were only a couple of Resorts that had buses.

BEST was Early June 1991, Low crowds school was still in session for a lot of the country), even the weather was fairly mild for June.

 

[disney meema]

Fourth of July 1992 ... Magic kingdom was packed! We ate dinner at chef mickeys and then watched the fireworks from contemporary resort, much better than the MK

Best end of April 2010 the crowds were fairly low

 

[MeanestMomEver]

Least crowded: mid December 1985. (I don't even think World Showcase was completed yet.)

Most crowded: Thanksgiving Day 2008.

 

[ashleyfallis]

Worst crowd: August in general was awful! Never mind the humidity

Best crowd: First 2 weeks of December - stayed on multiple rides without queue...just went back round again!! shortly followed by...

Worst crowd: ...the first Saturday of what felt like the entire worlds Christmas vacation! I think that year (2011) it was December 14th

 

[ThE FuTuRe ImAgInEeR]

We go to disney every year and the crowds seem to change every so often. Last year we changed our check in to the first week of August and the parks were packed! You couldn't even walk on to POTC or HM without a 30+ minute wait, normally we would just walk right in and get on (this could also be due to FP+ but..) The least busy time we've been was (believe it or not) the weekend before christmas, the only place we experienced a "crowd" was at night when everyone was at EPCOT for the CP (the same goes for Universal we were able to walk on to all of the HP Hogsmeade rides and ride the HRRR three times in a row) you would think it would be the opposite but absolutely nobody was there! This was a few years ago so things may have changed by now but that was our experience.

 

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

Worst: Our first family trip- we went in May for Star Wars Weekend. My son (4 at the time) was a HUGE Star Wars fan and so we figured why not take him to see the events at DHS- not only was it WALL TO WALL people but it was 98 degrees- totally not something I had prepared for.

Best: After that experience we decided to try WDW again- this time in early February- there was a HUGE blizzard that hit the midwest to East Coast and shut down many airports. We were lucky our flight took off, because right after they closed our airport. When we got down to WDW it was like a ghost town. We walked onto every ride in MK several days of that trip!

 

[atisikitabasket]

We tend to go in Feb, May, Nov and Dec. So normally not too crowded however Feb 2013 was more crowded than normal because of when Fat Tuesday landed and schools being out plus something else was going on. Don't get me wrong it wasn't "crowded" but there was more people than we usually see.

The absolute best we had was actually a party the old "Pirate and Princess Party" I felt like we were the only ones in the park that night. No line for the characters you stayed on the ride you were on as many times as you wanted. Unfortunately for me my autistic son at the time loved IASW and we rode it 4 times without getting off and we were truely the only ones on it and it was a little weird then we had to wait for about 10 empty boats to go thru before we could unload. But it was awesome!!! You walked on every single ride including Peter Pan and no one in line. It was so much fun!!!

 

[HM]

First trip, October 1999. Best crowds....well, no crowds.
MK Christmas Eve 2009 Worst crowds. Can't move type crowds.

 

[kohlby]

Lowest was end of Jan in 2010. Not only was it the off season, but record cold. Even Space Mountain and BTMRR we're walk-ons. ( Splash was in refurb). We had many trips in Nov/ D ec not during the holiday season so we were used to lower crowds, but this was almost eerie low crowds.

The most crowded was one of our three Christmas/ New Years trips. I'm not sure which trip or which day, as there were several trips where the parks were too crowded for them to allow anyone else in. We didn't have kids then though, so it was easy to tour despite the crowds.

 

[michsig]

In the past I have only gone in May, June, and July. So, obviously for me, the best crowds I've ever experienced was the second week in January 2013 although it did get a little more crowded at the resorts towards the end of our trip due to the marathon.

 

[wdwfanva]

Best and worst, Dec. 98. we were there with our CM daughter at Epcot when rain hit every time we went in a show/ride (best) The park cleared out and there were so few people it was wierd and didn't seem like Disney !!! (Worst)
I know we walked on every ride, but without more people it just wasn't as much fun. Nobody to share the experience with!!!!

 

[MegMac]

We go every year in October, and the crowds are pretty bearable. EPCOT is crowded on Saturday/Sunday with Food & Wine crowds, but the other parks are usually awesome. The WORST was the week between Christmas and New Years. 2 - 2.5 hour lines everywhere...it was awful!