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

[butterfly71076]

Worst- 9/13/13, HS, Villians Unleashed. There were wall to wall people. You could not walk anywhere! I sent my brother to get us drinks and it took him almost an hour! We were in line for 3 hours to see Maleficent, and another 2 hours to see Oogie Boogie. But, both of my pics are totally worth it! We met some really cool people in line and had a complete blast! Although it was so very hot, and over the top crowded, one of my favorite days!

Best- same trip! The only day we that it was crowded was Villians Unleashed! The rest of our time it was pretty low crowds, we had Epcot all to ourselves, it seemed, one day!

One of my favorite trips! Hope to get back there at that time soon!

 

[minmate]

Worst was at DL day after Christmas in 1994. They were handing out paper notices that the park was especially busy. It was a wall of people. Got in an argument with my sister's fiancé bc he was crabby and basically being a jerk to her for it. They are no longer married.

Best crowds were mid-September 2008. Spent 8 days in the parks and walked on pretty much everything the whole time.

 

[arminnie]

Least crowded - early Dec. 1998. Not necessarily the "best" as it was SO empty that it was almost creepy.

My sister and I went after our mother died to get away. There were cast members out in front of popular attractions begging us to come in.

Worst - around New Year's. One time I got there after NY but still the weekend and I could barely move. Within 2 days the crowds were gone.

I know better than to try Christmas.

The most empty time at DL was decades ago the weekend before Thanksgiving. Back then most people only got off on Thursday so the crowds were low the weekend before.

 

[Kat913]

Least crowded for us- the 3d week of September. Took pictures of many of the attraction signs saying "0 Minutes" for the wait
BUT it did pour the whole week due to hurricane hovering off the coast.

Most crowded- Both times we were there for our spring break (Easter week) couldn't even walk down the streets! Never again.

 

[redc]

Worst: Easter Week 2004

Best: Oct 2001 (just after 911)

 

[Pills]

Best crowd - MK 11/9/10. First day of vacation, and we got to MK a little after 3:00. We catch a photopass photographer that's one in from Casey's (towards the front), so there's essentially the entire length of Casey's to the castle in our picture. There are a handful of people where you'd expect a hundred or two. MK was empty that day.

Worst - ironically, same trip. 11/14/10, WS at Epcot - it was the last day of F&W. Wall to wall people, can barely move to get by. I just remember going back the next day and feeling the relief that the crowds were gone.

 

[princessallegra]

Worst was June 4-9th 2011. It was our third year going that week and it got more hot and crowded each year. Best crowds were first week of November 2007. Glorious.

 

[JeffreyY]

Worst: New Year's Eve 1999/2000

Best: thanksgiving week 2001 (right after 9/11) That one was eerie

 

[jlm196]

Worst crowds - July 4th my dad has a photo from the train station looking down main street it is wall to wall people.

Best crowds - May 1998 - AK had just opened so there were a few longer lines there but everywhere else we just walked on rides

 

[lucyem]

Worst: Monday after the superbowl at MK. Was a little annoyed no one told us or put up a sign before we got in. Thankfully had hoppers.

Best: Jan 2004. It was cold and damp and we were in our winter jackets. I remember walking through Epcot and not seeing any other guests in the middle of the day.

 

[mmafan]

worst was in the early 90's when world cup soccer was around....and best was the week of 9/11 after the attack we had reservations but flights were canceled so we drove...it was EMPTY>>>>>

 

[mtfarlin]

Worst: New Years Eve 1986/87 at Pleasure Island..

Best: 1976 MK.....low, low crowds in Feb...

 

[Ntrain]

Best: October 2011 (a month after 9/11) We could walk on the rides and they let us stayed on the rides if we wanted to.

Worst: Christmas Week 2013. First time during this time. The worst we had experienced but is was manageable and definitely will go back this time of the year.

 

[PaulaVonSchweetz]

We were there the week that hurricane Jean came through. It was October and they didn't close the parks until 5 so DH and I put on our ponchos and headed to epcot.
Literally the park admission was us and like 6 other people.
CM'S were waving us on and cheering for braving the downpours. We were waved onto rides over and over. Many of them we didn't even exit....just stayed on the boat/car right on through for another go round.
Very rainy, but hands down the most fun I've ever had in disney.

 

[LCoulter]

Best Crowd

The day before Hurricane Jeanne hit in September, 2004, was the least crowded we ever saw a park. Since Epcot was our favorite park, that is where we went and it was eerily uncrowded. There were times when DH and I would turn all around and not see a single person anywhere. We kept saying to each other, maybe they closed but we would walk up to an attraction, walk in, see a few CM’s and walk right on the attraction with no other guests in sight. At times, we felt we were the only ones there that day, along with the CM’s.

Worst Crowd

A few yours ago when we hit MK during the parade taping, it was wall to wall people. We were surprised to get a walk up reservation at Crystal Palace that day for lunch. That area was jam packed with people so we didn’t expect to get in.

 

[heymoonkid]

We went during the last week of Jan a few years ago and it was very uncrowded. Crowd levels of 1-3 most days. Pretty much all the rides were either walk-on or under 10 minutes. The longest wait for a ride was Soarin' at 30 min and it felt like forever! We did wait a long time to see Rapunzel since the movie had just come out, also they took a break while we were in line. That wait was probably over 30 min.

The only other time I've been was the end of August 1996. It was hot and a thunderstorm came through every night, but I don't remember big crowds.

ETA: worst I've seen at DLR was New Year's Day- can't remember the year, but early 2000's. It was madness. But it was the first time I'd seen them make it "snow" and that was magical.

 

[linskypens]

Best Crowd- January 2004 Everything a walk on all day long, all week long
Worst Crowd - News Years Eve 2012 NIGHTMARE!!!!! Capacity at 11:30 AM
The whole place was just shuffling, you couldnt move all day. Got trapped by the parade, and had to use the walkway adjacent to Frontierland.. Imagine that wooden nightmare, as people were trying to go in two directions on it....

 

[DisMama5]

Did anyone else notice that a lot of the "bests" were from years ago. There are too many of us Disney lovers lol! crowds have definitely grew a lot in the past few years, during every time frame to visit. Still wouldn't give up a Disney vk tho

Great thread!

 

[KulaMauiMouse]

Worst crowd- July 2010 In Disneyland. It was a busy summer day and there was an earthquake, closing every single ride until they got checked.

Best- 1986 the week after thanksgiving. I can remember looking down Main Street and not seeing one single person.

 

[HadesTX]

Every single trip we've taken to WDW has been super busy. Now that we don't have to go during school vacations we might get lucky & find a slower time. I think the busiest we've seen was in early July of 1987... before Fast Passes (or we didn't know about them...) It was so hot & my DH made me stand in line for almost two hours in the summer heat & humidity for Mr Toad's Wild Ride. I was not impressed.

We went in February one year & I thought for sure it would be a slow time for the park... wrong! Mardi Gras. We forgot all about it, until we drove through New Orleans on the way to Florida. Oops. Park was packed again.