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

[MisterPat]

Worst crowd was 4th of July in MK in the late 90's - park was at capacity and it was hot and humid. Ironically, that morning was the least crowded I have ever experienced. They opened the gates (and most rides) at 7:00 a.m. even though the posted time was 9:00 a.m. We were one of a very few people ready to enter at 7:00. For almost the full two hours, we rode anything and everything DD wanted as walk on. I think we rode about 12 rides before 9:00 a.m. Then we rode about 3 the rest of the day, but didn't dare leave because it was at capacity.

This week, we experienced something rare. Tuesday, the rain cleared out the parks. We did all four parks and rode 16 rides AND took 5 hours in breaks. I'll post tomorrow how we did it. Because of this, the next day MK filled to 90% capacity on a day that was projected to be a level 4-5. It was crazy at MK on Wednesday.

 

[MisterPat]

Oh, I forgot another one. August 21, 2008. MK. Longest line all day was 5 minutes at Peter Pan. Tropical Storm Faye sat over us the whole week, but we braved it that day. Rainy and windy, but shortest lines ever!!!

 

[ferd]

This past December 30th in MK was smothering and I literally couldn't stand it and cut out of the park about 1pm. I had heard the week between Christmas and New Years was bad, and after experiencing it, I concur. I can't imagine what it was like the next day during fireworks!

(Also, I went Christmas Eve and 4th of July and the crowds didn't compare to what I experienced on 12/30!)

 

[magicbob]

Least crowded = October 1979
Most crowded = Christmas week, December 2012

 

[Nermel9]

I've gone the week before Thanksgiving a couple of times and yes, a few years ago, it was very low crowds but I think the secret has kind of gotten out. Our last trip that week, 2012, the crowds were much higher than I thought they would be. People also say the week after Thanksgiving is dead...I went that week last year and thought the crowds were awful.

The lowest crowds I've ever experienced were September in 2008, we just walked right on to everything and barely waited in any lines. We're trying September again this year but I have a feeling it's going to be much more crowded than it was a few years ago!

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Worst for me - Spring Break before FP-. The entire trip was a nightmare, and MK was so crowded that it was scary. Rode 4-5 rides each day, every line 2+ hours. Made the summer lines at Cedar Point look inconsequential.

That trip almost ruined Disney for me.

I have had many trips with empty parks, as the trip listed above taught me that I hate crowds, so I now only travel to WDW during value seasons. My trip later this month will be my first trip during a busy time of the year in decades and I am only doing that because a business trip has me in the area.

Did I mention how much I hate crowds?

 

[parkluvr]

In the late 90's we used to go to Disney in early December, about a week after Thanksgiving. It was awesome because just about every ride was a walk on. The worst was back in '96. My wife and I went to Disney on our honeymoon. It was February and I was thinking we would practically have the parks to ourselves. Unfortunately we hit president's day weekend. This was before Fast Pass and I think we were able to hit maybe 4 rides in a full day.

 

[Wood Nymph]

The very worst crowd we ever experienced at Disney was just this past December. It was the Monday after Thanksgiving and the MK was a huge mob scene by evening. I have never been in such a huge crowd at MK before.

The best times were in January. The colder it is, the lower the crowd. It isn't ideal, but it does have its advantages.

 

[TreeSapp]

Worst was probably when I was younger and I went with my boyfriend's family. They didn't do rope drop and I remember doing only like 3 rides and waiting for splash mountain over 2hours. But we had lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table so that was cool

Best was early December 2003 or 2004. Went with a boyfriend at the time in the middle of the week and remember just walking on to most things. Our day at MGM actually saw us riding ToT with no one else in the elevator

More recently, DH & I went Labor Day weekend and were just SHOCKED how slow the parks were. We kept asking the cast "isn't this a holiday? A long weekend? Where are all the people?"

 

[Sophie's Mom]

December 31, 1999

Okay that was a once in a lifetime crowd - but close second (and third) - 3rd week in March 2011 (spring break) and Easter Sunday 1986 (only two parks to choose from!)

Edit: Sorry slowest time for us was 1st week in December 2001.

 

[MonorailCentral]

Easter was always bad when I worked at WDW, but the worst crowd was the night of the last MSEP (first time around) - Sept 14, 1991. Locals, CMs, APs...MK was insane. Everybody was there to see the parade's final night. Food lines, and ride lines were gridlock.

These days, I avoid the worst days for crowds like the plague.

 

[bopper]

Worst crowds was 12/31/99 in Epcot (Millennium madness). We headed over to Epcot at 7:30 AM to establish ourselves in the park. At that hour, they were already turning away people at the "toll booth" who were not resort guests. Of course that was a mess. We thought we would meet up with the other people that we were traveling with in the "Japan" section of WS where they had a big screen TV. We spent much of the evening trying to get through scary packed walkways to get there...only to find out that many people in our group gave up. Then of course we were on the wrong side of the park when it was time to leave.

 

[999DoomBuggies]

good thread

 

[DVCFan1994]

Best - Don't remember the exact date but I live in Orlando Part of 1993-94. In January 1994 I went in a random January Saturday probably the last Saturday, and it was empty. I remember arriving just before lunch with friends and leaving between 7 and 8 and we got on every ride with no wait and a few rides multiple times.

Worst - Easy call December 31, 1999. Waited in line at the international gateway to enter Epcot for 2 hours. Line stretched along the YC/BC path all the way to the Swan/Dolphin bridge. Crazy. I think we went on 2-3 rides all day. Insane crowds. Stood by the Uk for midnight fireworks and bolted right after.

 

[jeffbear]

Worst crowding I ever experienced at MK was Dec 31 in about 1979 or 80. We went down at the last minute with another family, had one day at the MK and it was so crowded that you literally had to elbow your way through the crowds to cross the street. Needless to say the lines were out of control ... for basically everything.

I'm going to say that the pre-fast pass days during holiday periods were WAY worse than anything anyone's even thinking is bad now.

Least crowded at all parks ... a trip I took when my kids were little to Animal Kingdom during its soft opening period. It was restricted to Disney resort guests and it was about a million degrees that day. Cast Members were literally corralling people into ride ques because nobody was in line and they needed to keep things moving for training purposes. I must have seen that Bid Red/Little Red spiel like 6 times that day.

Least crowded at MK ... we were down during early spring in 2009 and it just poured rain all day on one of our days. By 2:00 in the afternoon, we could walk onto basically any ride with little to no wait. We got biblically wet, but ... so what.

 

[gabbyb]

Best was December 22, 2012. We got off our cruise and had all day to do whatever so we convinced our husbands to do Disney for a day. We walked on every ride and did all four parks. I had always heard Christmas week was nuts but it wasn't bad at all.

Worst was...well, I'm heading to WDW this week so I imagine that'll be my worst...Easter and Spring Break. Wish me luck!

 

[photo_chick]

I've been to Disney many, many times, but fortunately have been able to plan trips that are not during peak or high crowd times. Usually the worst crowds I've encountered is leaving MK or EPCOT after last fireworks. Otherwise I can't recall a time when every ride seemed to have a line or the paths seemed over crowded with people. On the other hand, the best crowds I've encountered was during Labor Day week...the parks seem almost empty. Never had to go all the way down the end of a row when entering a theater, was able to ride Splash Mountain 4 times in a row with no wait and most every ride was a walk on.

So what do you recall as the most crowded and least crowded time you were at Disney?

The most crowded I've ever seen a park was on July 4th at DHS a couple years ago. The least crowded was the very next day at MK. We walked on to everything until after lunch at MK that day.

 

[staylor]

We were in town for Capitol One Bowl 2009, my son wanted to go to EPCOT Dec 31st. I told him I'd go under certain circumstances, 1. We were in line 30 min before park opened 2. only ride Soarin and Test Track then leave. He agreed. We walked straight on to Soarin, walked over to Test Track and went through single rider line then left. As we were leaving we topped the hill next to Spaceship Earth and could see the waves and waves of people entering the park. He looked at me and said, "let's get out of here." It was crazy!! I've never seen that many people entering the park at the same time.

2nd busiest I've ever seen was Spring Break (3rd week of March) 2006. I'm from TX but I think the entire state was on spring break at the exact same time. Ugh!! Our school district used to be a week after everyone else and it was fantastic for traveling. But, no more. We are the same week as the rest of the state and traveling to FL or CO is a nightmare.

I have 4 more years of planning around school schedules then hubby and I are looking forward to traveling during "off" times of the year.

 

[magicbob]

Least crowded = October 1979
Most crowded = Christmas week, December 2012

I should amend my earlier post...

during Christmas week (December 2012), we had one of the least crowds ever at Animal Kingdom from 7am-11:30am and one of the worst crowds ever from 11:30am on, but fortunately we'd seen everything early (having arrived for a super early EMH) and just ate lunch and watched the FotLK and the parade before escaping back to the resort as the park was reaching closure-level capacity.

 

[KristenRB]

The slowest was the last week of September, however we experienced rain due to the season. We didn't care though! We were able to ride Splash back to back without even getting out of our logs!

Busiest was actually the weekend of Mother's Day. I know a PP said it wasn't busy, but even the CMs were commenting that it's a busy weekend for them.