End of September... Crowd Calendar

[SDSorority]

So the TP crowd calendar changed and the end of September has gone up to 5's and 6's.... how BAD are 5's and 6's??

 

[DisneyFive]

5's and 6's are the point where we start to notice heavier crowds, but is by no means unmanageable. Touring plans seems to be rating crowds fairly high right now but looking back at their accuracy the crowds are lower than what they are predicting. At least that's been the case this week by quite a bit.

Don't worry, we have gone late September five of the last six years, and the crowds have been very good. I highly doubt that all of a sudden this year there will be a big jump.

Dan

 

[Princesca]

There are other threads discussing this - Disney has definitely been making an effort to equalize revenue throughout the year, and there are some indications these efforts might be working. If you go to rope drop, choose your parks wisely, and have a touring plan lined out in advance, you should be just fine.

 

[LuvDaisy&Minnie]

Not too bad. When are you used to going? We went late May 2015 with 5s and 6s and it was fun. We had no problem riding everything we wanted more than once.
We did arrive at the parks at rope drop though. We have also been at Christmas with 10s and that was downright miserable to us.

 

[Klayfish]

Not trying to be snarky, but so what if it's a 5 or a 6? Is it going to make you stay home or drastically change your plans? Maybe I'm just cranky today, but it seems like there's a lot of angst over what a crowd calendar "predicts" a crowd to be. At least for me, as I said in a prior thread, it's as accurate as a coin flip. And even when it comes up heads and you called heads, a 5 or 6 means only halfway up the scale. No big deal. Everyone's tolerance for crowds and their version of a 1-10 scale is different too, so it's highly subjective. Normally, I hate crowds, just not my thing. I hate it when 2 people are in the gym with me and my wife, I hate dealing with crowds at Six Flags. But when it comes to WDW, I've got a different mindset. I'm so happy to be there, I don't care how crowded it is. Also, considering the number of people that are in the park, Disney does an amazing job of getting people through (heck, at Six Flags, we wait 20 minutes just to get through security, and there are only 10 people ahead of us). Plus, it's going to be crowded. It just is. WDW is a top tourist destination place, it's going to have a crowd. Why worry about if it's a 6 or 5.5 or 3.14159 (pi)? Expect the major holidays to be very busy and then the rest, just plan the best you can and enjoy.

Besides using FP+ to every extent we can, we don't really have a strong "touring plan" per se, and we always have a great time.

Again, sorry if it comes off snarky, not my intent. But don't let a crowd prediction scare you from having a great time. You'll never really know what the crowd is going to be. Weather and a whole bunch of other unpredictable factors can change it anyway. Go...have a blast, it's Disney!! It's full of magic...

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Not trying to be snarky, but so what if it's a 5 or a 6? Is it going to make you stay home or drastically change your plans?

We stopped going in late Sept/October because the crowds went from 1-3 to 5-7. So I guess that I would say that we care, and that we have changed our plans because of this difference. Everyone is different. Some people really cannot take the crowds for a variety of reasons.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Not trying to be snarky, but so what if it's a 5 or a 6? Is it going to make you stay home or drastically change your plans? Maybe I'm just cranky today, but it seems like there's a lot of angst over what a crowd calendar "predicts" a crowd to be. At least for me, as I said in a prior thread, it's as accurate as a coin flip. And even when it comes up heads and you called heads, a 5 or 6 means only halfway up the scale. No big deal. Everyone's tolerance for crowds and their version of a 1-10 scale is different too, so it's highly subjective. Normally, I hate crowds, just not my thing. I hate it when 2 people are in the gym with me and my wife, I hate dealing with crowds at Six Flags. But when it comes to WDW, I've got a different mindset. I'm so happy to be there, I don't care how crowded it is. Also, considering the number of people that are in the park, Disney does an amazing job of getting people through (heck, at Six Flags, we wait 20 minutes just to get through security, and there are only 10 people ahead of us). Plus, it's going to be crowded. It just is. WDW is a top tourist destination place, it's going to have a crowd. Why worry about if it's a 6 or 5.5 or 3.14159 (pi)? Expect the major holidays to be very busy and then the rest, just plan the best you can and enjoy.

Besides using FP+ to every extent we can, we don't really have a strong "touring plan" per se, and we always have a great time.

Again, sorry if it comes off snarky, not my intent. But don't let a crowd prediction scare you from having a great time. You'll never really know what the crowd is going to be. Weather and a whole bunch of other unpredictable factors can change it anyway. Go...have a blast, it's Disney!! It's full of magic...

Agree with you. There are multiple threads about this and I don't really understand the panic. Then again, we are going Thanksgiving week next year

 

[Klayfish]

Yep, did Thanksgiving in 2015 and will do it again in 2017. Same for Xmas.

I completely understand and respect that people view it differently. That's why I said that everyone's version of what a crowd level is on a scale of 1-10 is purely subjective. And if someone feels they only want to go when there is almost no crowd, that's purely up to them. For me, you could tell me it's a 10, and if I were given the opportunity to go to WDW, I'm there. Yes, I would certainly modify how I approached things vs. times when the crowd is less. No doubt about it. But I'd still be there in a heartbeat.

 

[smallworldnh]

On the plus side, if the crowds are a bit higher, the parks would stay open a bit later, wouldn't they?

 

[Ariel on Land]

We will be there week of the 18th since the kids are on fall break. I would hope TP recognizes that break as it's happened regularly now for awhile and that it's not the cause for the jump. I do wonder if WDW is going to cut staffing again and that's why? Either way, it will let us take the kids without taking them out of school and not be there over Spring Break, Christmas or summer, so we will still go.

 

[Tigger's ally]

I am going the last week of September and I don't give a brer rabbit nugget what is forecasted. I myself am forecasting, fun, thrills, food and a lot of libations. Mix that in with some fireworks, lasers, deluxe dining and did I mention libations. Add in food and wine and more libations. Wonderful forecast!

 

[bryanb]

On the plus side, if the crowds are a bit higher, the parks would stay open a bit later, wouldn't they?

Yes. Some people love it when hours are extended, and obsess over it. But very often, you can still get more done on shorter days because the shorter wait times more than offset. Fast Pass+ has helped though!

 

[Tigger's ally]

Yes. Some people love it when hours are extended, and obsess over it. But very often, you can still get more done on shorter days because the shorter wait times more than offset. Fast Pass+ has helped though!

I like longer days because I only sleep 4-5 hours a day anyway. Might as well be out carousing with the wifey in the park.

 

[momimouse27]

I would say that 5-6s are really not that awful. We have been during times forecasted at 7-8 and if you take your time, don't get in a hurry and make a good, solid touring plan, then you'll be fine. Honestly, TP has been off lately and I don't use them anymore. See what easywdw says about it.

Crowds do matter to many people. We have to go when we can, but for us we have a family member fighting cancer and a family member with special needs, so crowds are fairly important. But, no I wouldn't change my vacation over it.
At this point, I would say that September, out of every other month, is more likely to be slow, so its really your best bet.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

On the plus side, if the crowds are a bit higher, the parks would stay open a bit later, wouldn't they?

Not necessarily. They can't extend hours past 7 at MK on MNSSHP nights. And I have never seen them extended really late in September, regardless of crowds. That is part of the challenge with September. There are a lot of party nights and there are a lot of people who go for the Halloween party and for F&W and for FD. Perhaps 7 used to be a decent time to close the park in September, but with the rise of September crowds, I have really noticed a big difference in crowds at the parks.

We experienced lower park crowds in July 2015 and 2016 than we did in September 2015. It may be a similar number or even a lower number of people in September, but with all the parks closing earlier, there are fewer hours to choose from and thus the open hours are more crowded.

 

[MissErikaRae]

So the TP crowd calendar changed and the end of September has gone up to 5's and 6's.... how BAD are 5's and 6's??

Crowd Calendars molded my entire trip coming up the last week of September. The day after I booked our FP+ (getting up at 4am) I received an email about the crowds going up to 5 & 6. I started stressing out, wondering if I should completely change our plans of what park to visit what day but I realized that it's not worth changing all of my hard to get dining reservations and FP+. Those predictions are just that, predictions. 5&6 sound scary when you had 3&4s in your head but hey at least they aren't 8+. We are doing rope drop, afternoon break, and FP+ in the evening. Your trip is going to be amazing regardless! Our last trip I didn't even look at crowd calendars and we had the best time and never waited over 15 minutes! Take it with a grain of salt. Cheers!

 

[GotLabradors]

We went the last week of September last year with forcasted crowds of 4-6. The parks did not seem crowded to me at all. We utilized fast passes and went to the recommended parks for the day. I made sure our ADRs were either in the park or at a resort close to the park we were going to that day so we didn't waste time traveling all over just to eat. It rained one day, so we bought ponchos and kept on rolling. Don't let crowd calendars scare you. It's all relative.

 

[crazymomof4]

Touring Plans jacked our Sunday, 4th of Sept up to a 9 for AK! I'm REALLY hoping they are wrong about that!!!

 

[Skip3key]

I too am going mid September to try to beat the crowds. We are DVC members and went October 2013 and it was great, then Oct 2014 was really crowded, so we went 2nd week of November 2015 and it was again pretty crowded, so this year we are trying mid September. Not sure what to expect, because all the DVC resorts are simply PACKED through the end of the year...but the normal resorts are offering deals on rooms. We subscribe to the "a bad day in Disney is better then the best day at work!"...but we tend to really like the 4-5 crowd days... not to crowded and good hours.

 

[GaryDis]

So the TP crowd calendar changed and the end of September has gone up to 5's and 6's.... how BAD are 5's and 6's??

Remember that Touring Plans focuses on ride wait times. Street crowds, meet and greet times, parade crowds or food service crowds don't factor.