Enough low crowd times to make it worth the price of an AP?

[SorryI'mNotSorry]

We are far enough away from WDW that driving isn't an option for us, so getting an AP would be for stays of 5+ nights planned in advance. No quick weekend trips or spur of the moment road trips to get extra worth of the AP.

We went to the parks last month and some of you may remember my post being worried (amount many other things) I would need to use a wheelchair. Well, I made it 1.5 days and then had to give in to renting a chair. One thing I noticed is that a lot of people are rude when it comes to making way for someone who needs it. I know everyone is busy with their own vacation and if probably annoyed with the crowds and heat and trying to keep track of all of their FPs and ADRs and children and I totally get the preoccupation. But jeez. No courtesy. People literally put their hands on the wheelchair or tripped over it or kicked it. Like it was some giant inconvenience it was in their way. And it's not like we just stopped in the middle of Main Street. Just your typical keeping up with the crowds walking. It was definitely frustrating at a low crowd time, so I can't imagine a high crowd time.

All that to say that I'm wondering if getting an AP is the right decision. Are there enough "low crowd" times to make it worth it? January and February seem to be the best bet but we aren't going to go twice just a few weeks apart so the pass wouldn't be worth it if only those months are a good plan. Is it worth it? Am I missing other good low crowd times? I really want to make this work. Convince me?

 

[Accident]

No quick weekend trips or spur of the moment road trips to get extra worth of the AP.

The second you have one, this will no longer be the case. We all said disney is once and done and while some that is true, most of us it wasn't even if we had to wait many many years for the second trip. The same goes with getting an AP.. We were all just saving some money the first time and while there is some that can still say this is true, they are a very small minority of disney AP holders that travel to disney to use it. The rest of us will get on that plane or over to something ending/opening when the other costs work out.

All that to say that I'm wondering if getting an AP is the right decision. Are there enough "low crowd" times to make it worth it? January and February seem to be the best bet but we aren't going to go twice just a few weeks apart so the pass wouldn't be worth it if only those months are a good plan. Is it worth it? Am I missing other good low crowd times? I really want to make this work. Convince me?

If low crowd is the reason your coming to disney, no there isn't especially once all these new things start to open as they are all things that not really disney that is going to attract both WDW lovers and new fans of those items. If experiencing the different things disney has to offer, most of which are seasonal then the crowd shouldn't matter. It really depends on what you want out of each trip. Many people i talk to that do travel to WDW often don't really do everything on every trip. There is usually a much smaller goal, sometimes just being there or reason for each trip. I think it would go a long way to really decide why you want to come more often at different times of the year and the answer of yes or no on the ap will answer itself.

 

[DG25]

I have not found that WDW goers were rude with W/C persons. I did find it that way at DL. Just may be the time of year you went, heat does bother people more. Although I went last aug when I had to use w/C, I DL it was aug, Jan and April. Thank goodness cancer free and although slower at times no more W/C.

Anyway, I have an AP, I live in WA so we can not get there all the time. So instead of 5 days at a time, we got at least 10 days, or more. Last June we went for 15 days, this May I am going 16 days. Easily pays for my AP. I will not renew my pass, although I did buy a 6 day hopper when the price jumped, so I can turn that in next year and pay like $10 and get my pass. I will get a pass next year when we go, probably in nov, so I can go nov and oct. meaning I won't go for about 16 months, but the next I will go twice in a year, both times 11 months apart. Then I won't go again and probably do like a feb and Jan. This is how I make it work my money, and I try to always do at least 10 days, so that it pays for itself the first visit and the second one is free as far as tickets. We own DVC, so one trip is paid thru that, the other one is done at a resort and we try to make it a split on site and off site, so it is more affordable.

My only rule is we don't do July, for us it is just to crowded, we also don't do Christmas or Easter. Other than that, since we are there for 2 weeks, we can do early morning and late night, so we can take our time, and we can relax in the middle of the day. Allowing us to not be in park during the busiest times. The way Disney works, even on the least crowded day, it can seem crowded, because they put less people on rides and slow them down, that way the lines are just as long. So there really is not that much of a difference in many of the least crowded times.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Specifically about "low crowd" times... as you've probably read on here, that has changed a good deal in recent years. We used to be able to count on slow times in May, Sept, Oct... more recently that hasn't really been the case. They're slower than Easter or July, but not at all like they were years ago.

If you are counting on other times of year to be as slow as Jan-Feb in order to make an AP worth it, I think you might be disappointed. JMHO.

ETA: Here are some calendars to refer to, just to try to match crowd levels with what you experienced in Jan-Feb, if that's what you'd be aiming for...

• http://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/crowd-calendar
• http://**************.net/2015/10/18/2017-weeks-to-visit-walt-disney-world-ranked-in-order/
• http://wdwprepschool.com/disney-world-crowd-calendar-for-the-2017-2018-school-year/

 

[Missyrose]

The nice thing about having annual passes is there's always a next trip, which means you don't have to do EVERYTHING on each trip. We take things much slower as passholders. It's nice to plan trips that work in our schedule and not worry about chasing low-crowd times that don't really exist anymore.

 

[fla4fun]

Do you generally visit WDW every year? If so, you could schedule two trips about 11.5 months apart first, during that January/February window (depending on when you were planning to buy the AP). It can be slower the very end of August, right before Labor Day (Food & Wine starts 8/31 this year, so September may be busier than usual), and the last week of April is not bad, and early May can also be OK. There aren't really any slow times anymore, just the occasional slow days here and there during what used to be slow months.

 

[Disneylover99]

It seems to me, when you become an AP holder, you develop a different mindset. Going during lowcrowd times becomes less important. In fact, we now enjoy going over Christmas and other busy times.

 

[Dis703]

I think once you have the AP you make it worth it. I'm also not close enough to drive for quick trips as I'm in NJ, but I have flown down even for just one night because I've found great flights for as little as $50 RT. I've also gone with my kids individually for 3 night trips. I don't normally ever go at peak times. No holiday weeks or summers usually, but we have enjoyed early December, mid-November, late February and April to Mid-May (avoiding Easter if it falls in April). Most of these days were low to average crowd levels but we hit an occasional day with high crowds (more so the December trip). All completely manageable even with 3 little ones and a double stroller.

 

[ConnecticutFlea]

My advise would be to ditch the wheelchair, rent a scooter, and grow a thicker skin. The crowds at Disney don't notice people in wheelchairs or on scooters. Last October a women was texting and walked into the SIDE of my husband's scooter. She looked up and gave my husband a dirty look. We just laughed and kept going.
We love Disney and we go often, even though we live in CT. We have annual passes. Before renting a scooter my husband had difficulty walking the long distances and spent a lot of time back in the room. One time we were in AK and he could only walk a few steps before needing to stop. That was when he was finally agreeable to renting a wheelchair. He eventually transitioned from the wheelchair to a scooter. Best decision ever. There are a lot of scooter haters in Disney and on this board and I can understand some of their complaints. But the scooter allows us to fully enjoy the parks.
Life is short. If you enjoy Disney you should go whenever and as often as you like. We are going the week before Easter with 14 other family members. It will be crowded and we will manage. As others have mentioned, when you have the AP you tend to go more often and the mindset is different.

 

[PSUGuy]

We do Food & Wine every year and what we do is get a 9 day hopper from UT so we can make FP+ choices then we up grade to an AP when we get there. We space our trips so that when the AP is 'new' it's later in the F&W festival then the next year we go earlier to get in before the AP expires. We save a few hundred dollars that way as well as getting PhotoPass, discounts and whatever freebies are given out to AP holders during F&W. Last year we each got a nice drink tumbler for attending F&W 3 times during our stay.

Bill From PA

 

[MichelleWDWfan]

I'm from PA. 2 hr flight from Pittsburgh and I am there. Agree with PP's that once you buy an AP your mindset changes.
I went to WDW 4 times last year (Mar for bday, July for DS 21st bday, early Oct and late Nov.)
I keep an eye on flights, for really good sales. AP room discounts are good too.
For my bday trip next week my flight round trip was $159 total.
It's a really good deal if you go at least twice, and this year with the extra dining and merch discount it has been great so far.

 

[scrapquitler]

We thought that having an AP would 'save' us money by allowing us to go on two 7-10 day trips in one year and only need to buy the Ap, thus 'saving' money. But something inside us snapped the minute that AP was in my husbands hands, and we ended up taking five trips (for a total of 30 days) in 12 months. Trust me, we didn't save any money considering that we bought five round trip flights (x 3) instead of 2 and stayed twice as many nights in the hotels as we anticipated.

That said, we decided that we'd wait a couple of years before we got APs again. And then DH's company announced that this years conference would be at BW, and Disney announced the 13 month AP...... and the rest, as they say is history. Here we go again.

 

[Klayfish]

It seems to me, when you become an AP holder, you develop a different mindset. Going during lowcrowd times becomes less important. In fact, we now enjoy going over Christmas and other busy times.

This, exactly.

I can't comment on the wheelchair part, because I haven't had to deal with it. However, from the "low crowd" and AP perspective, I agree with the comment above. I also (and this is just my $0.02) think people go way too far in worrying about, and trying to avoid, a "crowd". It's WDW. It's one of the biggest tourist destinations on planet earth. It's gonna be crowded. My feeling is stop worrying about it and just roll with it and enjoy. I'll go on Christmas, 4th of July or a random Thursday in September. It's all wonderful to me. If you enjoy WDW enough, the crowds aren't even a consideration or factor. If you want an AP and can make it worth your while, go for it.

 

[Slayd]

When I did the math 4 years or so ago, the amount of days to make an AP for non Florida residents worth it were approximately 14. So for us, two ten day trips were a no brainer to get the AP. Plus all the discounts you get with it make it that much sweeter.

We always took a trip in the spring during the cheaper times (there's usually a crowd drop either before or after Easter), and on the first week of December. Those trips were always great. Cheap and low crowds.

That's been a few years and we live in the Orlando area now, so I don't really do much planning and crowd homework anymore, so my info may be outdated. August and September also tend to have low crowds and cheap prices.