Crowded in Sept!?

[Disneymooners4eva]

We arrived on Sept 3rd and was told to expect crowds to die down on Tuesday after Labour day but we have yet to see lower crowds levels!! DH and I are puzzled... Lots of school aged children too! Can anyone tell me what's going on!?

 

[2Tiggies]

Halloween parties have begun, Food and Wine festival starts this coming week .... I can't say I've seen the low crowds in recent years that we were used to five years ago. Crowd levels seem more evenly spaced now. Any particular park you visited where you found it really bad? Usually when the MK has a series of ticketed events that close the park earlier, you see the crowd levels rise in other parks on those days. For people without park hoppers it makes MK a less attractive option for a day's pass if they have to be out by 7 pm. In prior years the Halloween parties only started the week after Labor Day and we saw similar trends. I suspect this is a big part of what you are seeing.

 

[DisneyFive]

No offense OP, but I'm not sure what you're talking about. I went back and looked at the crowd levels for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week and the highest crowd level I saw was a 3 out of 10. Most parks were 1's!

This week HAS been uncrowded. Having said that, even a 1 at WDW doesn't mean it's deserted. There are still plenty of people in the parks, but a 1 is still a 1 and not anywhere near a 5 or 10.

Dan

 

[_auroraborealis_]

When Disney is expecting a "lower crowd," they also staff lower. This may mean fewer safari vehicles out at Kilimanjaro Safari, or a track down at Toy Story, or a theatre closed on Soarin'.

"Lower crowd" also doesn't change the FP+ distribution numbers, and slow-loading rides do not load any faster with a low crowd.

 

[disneytoatee]

I was wondering the same thing. As a local for 25 years, I have to say the crowds this past week were much higher than I expected for this time of year. And I just mean the sheer people walking around, not necessarily wait times (they weren't terrible for how crowded the park felt just walking around).

 

[Oswin]

The crowds ARE lower. The problem with going during a lower crowd time is staffing is lower, and productivity of attractions is low. Meaning, they don't run as many ride vehicles on any of the attractions (or entire theaters are shut like on Soarin), and the overall output per hour of guests through attractions is much lower. They also don't change the FP+ distribution numbers for low crowds, meaning a larger portion of guests hold FP+ times than in the busy seasons. This leads to longer lines standby lines that move slow. Add in decreased hours and halloween party nights that shut down MK and increase attendance at the other parks...

You could be looking at wait times just as long if not longer than the higher crowds in the summer.

 

[anonymousegirl]

I just got back yesterday and it was totally uncrowded. 20 minute waits for Toy Story Midway Mania at noon? I normally see that wait time at 9am, and 90 minutes at noon, so yes, the parks aren't as crowded.

 

[slbgnb]

We got here on the 3rd too & I don't feel crowds are that low either. Manageable / but not like sept 4 yrs ago. Wait times in that RD - 11:00 time frame are still fine. But, they def go up after that.

 

[anniemae]

This is probably the slowest week of the year, right after Labor Day. What you are experiencing is the "new" low crowds. Also, like a pp said, when crowds are low, they decrease staff, decrease the food carts, may have one side of a two-track ride open etc This will make it feel more crowded. I think people expect the parks to be deserted, and that is just not the case anymore. There really is no truly "low" time anymore. the Halloween parties are starting earlier, as is F&W.

 

[mousefan73]

We arrived on Sept 3rd and was told to expect crowds to die down on Tuesday after Labour day but we have yet to see lower crowds levels!! DH and I are puzzled... Lots of school aged children too! Can anyone tell me what's going on!?

Met at family staying at BC... they took their 2nd and 5th grade out for this week.. they do everyyear as DS has his birthday beginning of September.. They are self employeed and summer months are not able to take off.

 

[anniemae]

Holy cow I just checked and Soarin is 10 mins, TT is 20. Wow. Never saw it that low.

 

[anniemae]

I was wondering the same thing. As a local for 25 years, I have to say the crowds this past week were much higher than I expected for this time of year. And I just mean the sheer people walking around, not necessarily wait times (they weren't terrible for how crowded the park felt just walking around).

We found this at the end of Aug as well. Lots of people walking around. It made it feel much more crowded.

 

[wendow]

We are here now and have been since Aug 31...leave tomorrow...definitely feels crowded but we come this time every year and it gets busier every year so I expected this. Wait times have not been that bad, imo, especially at Epcot and DHS. There is definitely a reduction in staff and I think having a couple of the big attractions down is having an impact.

I agree that there are lots of school age kids here, including mine. We homeschool but I think a lot of people just take their kids out of school to avoid summer crowds.

 

[Sarahleigh]

I think everyone's idea of "crowded" must be very different... I've seen several reports on a September Disney facebook group I'm in reporting incredibly low crowds.
It could also be a matter of wrong time, wrong place. We leave in just over a week and I'm preparing for more crowded parks so that we can be surprised if they do end up being on the lighter side.

 

[DisneyDeb83]

We arrived on Monday, and of course that was the busiest day all week. That said, it didn't seem as crowded to us as last years trip from the 10th to the 17th. Everyday since Monday has been great, wait times lower than we've seen in years! Of course, there were days when FEA and mine train were up to an hour, but also saw times around 40 minutes as well. So many attractions were 10-15 min waits or less, including Soarin'. Safari at AK was literally walk on at 5:30, and EE and Kali were 5-10 minutes.
In years past I would read the boards and get frustrated because everyone was saying the parks weren't crowded, when we felt they definitely were. Figured maybe we were at the wrong parks at the wrong time, even though we followed the recommended crowd calendars. I guess we finally got lucky this year!

 

[TikiMan0228]

We arrived on 9/3 and are leaving in the morning. Crowds were moderate Sat and Sunday. Monday they were fairly light but Tues through Friday this week it was dead. We made sure we had FP+ for the big stuff but nearly every ride we did was walk on. Did not need many FP+. We walked on Soarin' today at 11am. Rope drop was key for the weekend but we did not feel like we needed to all week. We usually arrived about 9:30am and still lines were low.

 

[JerseyJanice]

In the trips we have taken since 1999, we experienced WDW at different times of the year.

Inevitably, we'd come back and I'd report on here about crowd size, and people would disagree with me. I'd post that I thought the crowds were light, but someone else would post that they thought the place was slammed.

One year, we stayed at the Wilderness Lodge. I thought the transportation was horrible, but relatives who were on the same trip talked later about how great getting around was and how they never waited long for a bus or boat.

My point is that perception of crowds or lack thereof is a subjective thing. A PP mentioned crowd levels being a "1" this week. Who came up with that number? Is it someone who is actually there?

IMO, crowd levels are largely about your own perceptions.

 

[disneymom0104]

We have been here since Aug. 31. Labor Day weekend was more crowded than we have seen before and that included the Tuesday after but still was manageable- I was able to get us back to back FP+ with the app and we waited in no standby lines at Mk after the first hour. But since Wednesday I have found the crowds very, very light. We still have today and tomorrow before we head home, but overall the crowds have been okay for us.

 

[Cruisin Spartan]

Maybe in historical terms, OP feels the crowds are high. We're here now (arrived Thursday) and it is definitely less busy than our trip at the end of April- Early May. We've only been in MK and Epcot, but neither park felt crowded or had particularly long waits. Most rides have had waits under 30 minutes.

 

[Jennasis]

It's possible your park touring has you in the crowded areas of the parks.