Yup, that's always been the case. We all work random shifts, so are very used to eating dinner at 10pm or later, so we always go for the 9.30pm sitting, either on
DDP or OOP and always get Cat1 seating.
When we went last September, the place was so quiet at the 9.30pm sitting that only half the floor was taken up. No one under the balcony, no one on the balcony! It was great because when the guys wonder around, they had only half the room to wonder that they usually do, so it was a very close and personal experience that time! You couldn't turn around without a character being no more than a few tables away!