Crowd Levels Down?

[bdrex28]

So this past year we went in May of 2024, October of 2024 and January of 2025. Next Trip is February of 2026.

I, like many, I'm sure keep an eye on reported crowd levels. I know it's crazy predicting ever since COVID, but it seems Touring Plans has been way off lately and nearly every day for months has been far less than they predicted.

Anyone who has gone recently have you noticed lower crowds than predicted/expected?

 

[muppets3d]

I was there the week of July 4th. I felt like it was fairly quiet. There were some large South American tour groups but nothing out of the ordinary. Wait times, even for the popular attractions, were rather low. The longest wait that week for me was Tron, maybe 25 minutes once the ride opened (I rope dropped it).

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

I believe you were inquiring about WDW, but we are at DL a lot lately and the parks seem less crowded than you’d expect for a summer weekend with great weather.

Having said that, I read somewhere (second hand but I think reputable) that Disney has increased the LL to standby ratio, so maybe the parks just feel a little less crowded because lines are moving faster?

 

[zavandor]

Disney Tourist Blog has been talking about that for a while now. Yes, crowds are down year on year, right now. That's why Disney has been quite aggressive with discounts lately, hotel occupancy is down too.
With active constructions at all parks I doubt it'll be up anytime soon.

 

[drusba]

There are now numerous website articles and posts noting the decrease in the WDW crowd sizes this summer. Just Google "disney world crowd levels down" and you will get a number of the reports.

 

[marmentrout85]

So this past year we went in May of 2024, October of 2024 and January of 2025. Next Trip is February of 2026.

I, like many, I'm sure keep an eye on reported crowd levels. I know it's crazy predicting ever since COVID, but it seems Touring Plans has been way off lately and nearly every day for months has been far less than they predicted.

Anyone who has gone recently have you noticed lower crowds than predicted/expected?

We were just there June 29-July 5th and, with the exception of July 4th, it felt like a slower week than when we went right after Labor Day last September (I think we were there September 4th-15th). Probably the least crowded week I've ever been to Disney, or at least it felt that way. I sort of expected it to be pretty low crowds though so I wouldn't necessarily say it was less crowded than I anticipated. But you're right, I believe it was even lower than what TP predicted.

 

[BayTower2010]

I am of the opinion that crowds down are over stated. I just decided to go on a long weekend with my wife to use up some banked DVC points. Starting in early November thru Christmas there was NOT one resort that had a weekend free. Stunned, I called direct and asked what was going on--really nothing--just pent up demand. In 15 years as a DVC member I have never had a problem getting a room 4+ months out (was not picky, was willing to take any studio or 1 bedroom). Maybe people starting to feel real good about the economy and where it is heading? So while I was talking with the cast member, a cancellation came in for Saratoga Springs that I grabbed. Think about the number of DVC rooms there are thru out WDW, and all booked for the weekends. Does not sound like there is going to be any low crowd levels.

 

[pkrieger2287]

EPCOT on Saturday was amazing… not crowded and honestly think it would have been even less if there hadn’t been the DVC Preview!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Here now. Crowds are really low compared to past years. We come every 1st or 2nd week in July. In MK Saturday morning walked on to most rides.
It’s been amazing and so unusual!!

 

[marmentrout85]

I am of the opinion that crowds down are over stated. I just decided to go on a long weekend with my wife to use up some banked DVC points. Starting in early November thru Christmas there was NOT one resort that had a weekend free. Stunned, I called direct and asked what was going on--really nothing--just pent up demand. In 15 years as a DVC member I have never had a problem getting a room 4+ months out (was not picky, was willing to take any studio or 1 bedroom). Maybe people starting to feel real good about the economy and where it is heading? So while I was talking with the cast member, a cancellation came in for Saratoga Springs that I grabbed. Think about the number of DVC rooms there are thru out WDW, and all booked for the weekends. Does not sound like there is going to be any low crowd levels.

I hear that. Crowds are definitely low now in the summer but I don't think there's any way that translates to low crowds in December. I know I'm at least expecting MUCH larger crowds (compared to our recent June/July trip) when we go back this December.

 

[MagicalDaze]

We were there from June 29-July 9. Aside from the fireworks crowds on July 3/4, the parks were so much less crowded than I've experienced at any other time we've visited over the past 10 years (with the exception of covid reopening). The weather was extremely hot and more stormy than usual so that might have contributed. I worry about the implications of reduced profits (e.g., changing/eliminating future plans, general cutbacks all around) but really enjoyed getting reservations anywhere we wanted and experiencing more attractions than usual.

 

[Joroc0801]

I am of the opinion that crowds down are over stated. I just decided to go on a long weekend with my wife to use up some banked DVC points. Starting in early November thru Christmas there was NOT one resort that had a weekend free. Stunned, I called direct and asked what was going on--really nothing--just pent up demand. In 15 years as a DVC member I have never had a problem getting a room 4+ months out (was not picky, was willing to take any studio or 1 bedroom). Maybe people starting to feel real good about the economy and where it is heading? So while I was talking with the cast member, a cancellation came in for Saratoga Springs that I grabbed. Think about the number of DVC rooms there are thru out WDW, and all booked for the weekends. Does not sound like there is going to be any low crowd levels.

Hotel availability doesn't directly correlate to crowds in the parks. DVC guests are a fraction of the overall attendance and I'd guess stay fairly stagnant over time. It's the off site/single trip guests that crowd the parks during holidays and summer/winter breaks. It will be interesting to see if there is any hard data on Epic's impact on attendance this summer. Each park has areas that are completely shutting down for renovations. There's tension on international travel. A lot of factors could be playing into the attendance trends.

Anecdotally, I was at WDW the last week of June and never felt overly burdened by crowds. We used LLMP at MK and HS and rode pretty much every ride and ran out of LL's to use. Epcot was notable empty the two nights we visited and AK has so few rides right now that we finished up the park in about 6 hours(including Tusker House lunch). This was our first heart of summer trip(past trips have been during the winter months) with our 4 and 2 year old's. I was overly concerned about both the crowds and heat coming into the trip but neither were a problem at all.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

Hotel availability doesn't directly correlate to crowds in the parks. DVC guests are a fraction of the overall attendance and I'd guess stay fairly stagnant over time. It's the off site/single trip guests that crowd the parks during holidays and summer/winter breaks. It will be interesting to see if there is any hard data on Epic's impact on attendance this summer. Each park has areas that are completely shutting down for renovations. There's tension on international travel. A lot of factors could be playing into the attendance trends.

Anecdotally, I was at WDW the last week of June and never felt overly burdened by crowds. We used LLMP at MK and HS and rode pretty much every ride and ran out of LL's to use. Epcot was notable empty the two nights we visited and AK has so few rides right now that we finished up the park in about 6 hours(including Tusker House lunch). This was our first heart of summer trip(past trips have been during the winter months) with our 4 and 2 year old's. I was overly concerned about both the crowds and heat coming into the trip but neither were a problem at all.

Glad you had a great trip— I am considering June next year…can’t be worse than our recent August trips, right?

Tom Bricker actually posted about crowd levels on his blog today and his theory is that dramatically curtailing DAS use and abuse makes the parks feel much less crowded, even if there are actually about the same number of people in the park (because DAS let people be in two places at once and also really slowed down the standby lines).

 

[davidhr]

Even Epic Universe felt less crowded than I was expecting on my last trip to Orlando.

There were a lot of thunderstorms, so maybe that was affecting crowds.

 

[Joroc0801]

I also have wondered, since this was my fourth trip in the last year, if it's that I've gotten better at eliminating the stress of crowds and weather by planning better and knowing how my family needs to experience the parks. It's all subjective too. What I might deem as tolerable crowds may be too much for others. I'm also very accepting of getting rained on or sweating a bit more than normal. Others who have been going year after year may be better testaments to the crowds this year versus prior.

 

[marmentrout85]

I will add that, although the crowds at the parks felt very light to me, the resorts we stayed at (Poly and RIV) felt pretty darn packed all throughout 4th of July week.