Crowded in Sept!?

[Laura's Dad]

I looked on EasyWDW and the wait times are the shortest than they have been in the last 6 or 6 years. Hope this trend continues next week.

 

[randumb0]

That's odd because attendance has decreased this year

 

[MermaidMommy]

I looked on EasyWDW and the wait times are the shortest than they have been in the last 6 or 6 years. Hope this trend continues next week.

Wow, I looked at Josh's post about wait times for this past week, and they're unbelievable. 7 minutes average for the day for Everest. Frozen 20 minutes at 10:45. TSMM 15 minutes at 12:30. And on and on. As Josh said, these are levels seen 5-6 years ago.

I don't see how the parks could be crowded, considering the how short wait times have been this past week.

http://www.easywdw.com/easy/blog/wa...d-mickeys-not-so-scary-halloween-party-waits/

 

[anniemae]

Wish I was there now! When we were there a couple of weeks ago, Frozen was from 60 plus mins. most of the time as was TT and 7dmt.

This is the time to go if you can swing it.

 

[Missyrose]

No matter how low the crowds are (and by the looks of Josh's post about the wait times this week, the crowds are unbelievably low), there are always going to be places where it feels crowded in the parks - Fantasyland, Main Street, near TSM, any fireworks viewing area, etc. So "it feels crowded" doesn't always mean it is crowded. According to CMs I've talked to, staff is cut way back this week and even still, the wait times are stupid low.

 

[memo10]

We were at studios on Tuesday morning and the crowds were incredibly low! We did wait about 40 min for TSMM because we didn't want to wait 2 hours for our fast pass to kick in, but I was able to score that fast pass as a 4th option at 11am. I think the ride must have been down because the FP line was abnormally long.

 

[Kristian]

We checked in on September 3rd and just checked out this morning (10th). Despite crowds being heavier over the weekend and on Monday, we found that they greatly deminished on Tuesday as expected. We usually visit for a week around the 2nd week of September and honestly I feel that crowds were even lower this time than other years we've been. We attended MNSSHP on the 8th and I felt it was the least crowded party we've ever been to...and we've been to the first party of the year in the past. On Tuesday we hit MK for rope drop with intentions to stay until close and by 5 pm we had done most of everything and had managed to secure 9 FP's, so we left and had dinner and swam back at POP. Wednesday through Friday FP wasn't really needed except for SDMT or FEA, but at certain points in the day the wait for SDMT even dropped to 30 minutes. We did Soarin yesterday at 1 pm with a 15 minute wait and at one point FEA was only a 45 minute wait in the afternoon on standby...which is amazing!! Very low crowds in my opinion, but everyone has a different idea of what is "crowded" I suppose.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I've been following Josh, too and I am surprised OP feels this way. I wish I had been there!

 

[practicallyperfect77]

Wow, I looked at Josh's post about wait times for this past week, and they're unbelievable. 7 minutes average for the day for Everest. Frozen 20 minutes at 10:45. TSMM 15 minutes at 12:30. And on and on. As Josh said, these are levels seen 5-6 years ago.

I don't see how the parks could be crowded, considering the how short wait times have been this past week.

http://www.easywdw.com/easy/blog/wa...d-mickeys-not-so-scary-halloween-party-waits/

I arrived yesterday to MCO about 10:30 and was in the bag check line at AK by noon. I was able to ride EE 5 times in less than an hour. Granted I used single rider line for 4 of those rides, but the SB wait was around 15 mins. Arrived at MK this morning around 7:25 for an 8am opening and headed straight to 7dmt for a ride, 4 on space, buzz, hm, 2 splash, pirates and a dole whip by 10:30. To me that's pretty darn good for 2 1/2 hours. I was also able to ride Soarin' SB last night and wait was under 10 mins and scored a 4th FP+ for Test Track......picked that up around 5:30 and ride was for 8:25.

 

[MermaidMommy]

I arrived yesterday to MCO about 10:30 and was in the bag check line at AK by noon. I was able to ride EE 5 times in less than an hour. Granted I used single rider line for 4 of those rides, but the SB wait was around 15 mins. Arrived at MK this morning around 7:25 for an 8am opening and headed straight to 7dmt for a ride, 4 on space, buzz, hm, 2 splash, pirates and a dole whip by 10:30. To me that's pretty darn good for 2 1/2 hours. I was also able to ride Soarin' SB last night and wait was under 10 mins and scored a 4th FP+ for Test Track......picked that up around 5:30 and ride was for 8:25.

Wow, that sounds amazing! I hope the rest of your trip goes just as well!

 

[practicallyperfect77]

Wow, that sounds amazing! I hope the rest of your trip goes just as well!

Thanks! I got some major pixie dust and blessings yesterday. I had my purse and a backpack (purse was inside backpack), but took it out to get some stuff out and left my darn purse with all my $, credit & debit cards, meds, ID, etc. Thank God there are honest people in the world b/c someone turned it in. Longest hour of my life though. And I cried and hugged the security girl when she gave it to me. I hope that guest gets pixie dust for the rest of their life!

 

[Accident]

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!?

Lower crowds doesn't really mean no crowds. It's not been 1-3s like someone else posted and it's more around a 4-5 everywhere when summer was closer to 7-8. You are getting lower crowds. You were just hoping for no crowds. There is no time of year with no crowds anymore. Also MNSSHP started up so everyone only gets until 7pm to be in MK or they are all gonig to another full day park as you probably are. It's also the week after a storm where disney and airlines let you reschedule your trip so it got some of those travelers who couldn't be there the week they wanted. As far as school kids, some have been in school for a month or so already, some are just getting back if school event started last week.

I noticed something interesting on a trip about a year ago. I was standing in crowds of 1-3 loving the week but when I read other peoples trip reports for the same week they found the biggest crowds. The difference ended up being that I wasn't doing rope drop and getting to the park about lunchtime and they were going for a break just after lunch. I think the lower the crowd, the more crowded it is at rope drop and early evening. My thoughts on the matter is when it's low crowds, everyone is a disney expert so they tend to be rope droppers. If 80% of the people going to the park are rope dropping and taking an afternoon break, then rope drop and morning is the crowded part of the day and afternoon is a dream crowd levels but the resorts are packed.

 

[Disneymooners4eva]

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

I remember coming here 4 years ago and rides like buzz would be a walk on, but I've been seeing 30+ min line ups!

 

[Disneymooners4eva]

Thabks for all the reply! Maybe wdw just isn't what I am used to anymore! Still having tons of fun just curious as to why children aren't in school?

 

[hakepb]

Thabks for all the reply! Maybe wdw just isn't what I am used to anymore! Still having tons of fun just curious as to why children aren't in school?

School districts now have different calanders than they used to. (When I was growing up, we started the week before Labor Day.). Now, 1 district near me started Thu, Aug 11. By now, those kids have been in school nearly a month.

And a number of districts have year-round school.

 

[anniemae]

Thabks for all the reply! Maybe wdw just isn't what I am used to anymore! Still having tons of fun just curious as to why children aren't in school?

I think lots of people homeschool now and they have the freedom to go when they want. Also some schools are year round and get fall breaks. I also think parents are more willing to pull kids out of school for low crowds, and these are the lowest crowds of the year.

 

[Missyrose]

I remember coming here 4 years ago and rides like buzz would be a walk on, but I've been seeing 30+ min line ups!

But that's a product of Disney cutting back attraction capacity at truly low-crowd times.

 

[Kristian]

I think lots of people homeschool now and they have the freedom to go when they want. Also some schools are year round and get fall breaks. I also think parents are more willing to pull kids out of school for low crowds, and these are the lowest crowds of the year.

Yep!! Our daughter is in second grade and we usually pull her out for a week every September. We picked last week due to the holiday on Monday and I would guess that many did the same. Our district started school on August 15th while other districts in surrounding areas started as early as August 8th.

 

[teach2pre]

We just got home from Disney yesterday. We arrived on Labor Day and were surprised at how many school aged children were in the parks. Also, lots of people walking, but not riding, as we never waited longer than 15 minutes for a ride. We even rode soarin' twice without FP's as the wait was the walk thru the line. My only drawback from this trip was the heat outside was brutal and then walking into a freezing cold ride while you are soaked with sweat just did me in. First time in 30+ years of going to WDW, I came home with a cold but that could happen anywhere. We had a great visit overall and enjoyed being able to go over to Epcot (or any other park) without a reservation and getting into any restaurant we wanted.

 

[goofyintoronto]

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!?

A lot of the school aged children you're seeing probably dont start school until AFTER labour day. Here in Ontario schools start the day after labour day, every year. So many families would take advantage and go to disney just before school starts with hopes of lower crowds (although Labour day weekend is usually crowded). If you want lower crowds, try right after labour day. Both kids in the north and local would be in school at that time.

I also wanted to add that a lot of people home school kids nowadays, as others have mentioned....and a lot pull kids out of school for vacations too. I use to do this when my son was younger.