Is It Ever Slow Anymore?

[camdensmom]

I know Disney has all kinds of tricks up their sleeve to prevent business from slowing down (I'm looking at you free dining plan), but I'm wondering if there is ever a not-so-busy time to go anymore.

We just got back from a wonderful long weekend trip yesterday. In the past I remember low crowds during this time. Admittedly, it was less crowded then when we go annually during the April school vacation week, but it definitely felt like there were lots and lots of people around.

I'm just wondering what others have experienced.

As a teacher, September is not an option for us.

 

[Minerva Mouse]

Completely agree. Slower maybe, but I don't think it's every "slow" anymore. I'm curious to see how after the first of the year goes.

 

[juliehoey]

The only thought could be the opening of FLE and TT re-opening at Epcot. Perhaps drew more people than usual including locals.

 

[Deesknee]

We usually go Veterans Day week. Veterans Day is one of the few holidays left that is NOT celebrated on the Monday. It is always Nov. 11th.
We tend to get to Disney the Friday or Saturday before the holiday and leave the Sat or Sunday after the holiday.

This year it was Friday Nov. 9-Sunday Nov. 18th.

There was a time we could walk up to almost every ride & get on. Staying seated for a 2nd ride was not unusual. This year we found that was not the case. Although few lines were longer than 20 mins. It was rare to walk right on. There were about 2 days that I would call slow. Having a 20-30 min wait for the biggies. Space Mtn., Splash, Expedition, RnR, Tower. Of course TSM and CoP were 90+. haha actually as usual Carousel of Progress was walk on. All these times are with no FP. We had a great trip. But, I must admit the days of slow season are missed. I am curious to see after the NY as well. Maybe that is the time to go now, if Sept. is out of the question.
BTW, DH says the slow days were days no free dining was offered. Not sure if that is fact.

 

[Pumbaa7287]

The first couple full weeks of school can be good if you don't have children, because most families don't want to pull their children for a full week of school that early in the year, although, as a teacher, I'd rather they do that then take them out in the middle of the year, honestly!

 

[nkereina]

We usually go Veterans Day week. Veterans Day is one of the few holidays left that is NOT celebrated on the Monday. It is always Nov. 11th.
We tend to get to Disney the Friday or Saturday before the holiday and leave the Sat or Sunday after the holiday.

This year it was Friday Nov. 9-Sunday Nov. 18th.

There was a time we could walk up to almost every ride & get on. Staying seated for a 2nd ride was not unusual. This year we found that was not the case. Although few lines were longer than 20 mins. It was rare to walk right on. There were about 2 days that I would call slow. Having a 20-30 min wait for the biggies. Space Mtn., Splash, Expedition, RnR, Tower. Of course TSM and CoP were 90+. haha actually as usual Carousel of Progress was walk on. All these times are with no FP. We had a great trip. But, I must admit the days of slow season are missed. I am curious to see after the NY as well. Maybe that is the time to go now, if Sept. is out of the question.
BTW, DH says the slow days were days no free dining was offered. Not sure if that is fact.

FWIW, this year Veteran's Day fell on a Sunday and was observed the next day Monday, and it also coincided with Jersey Week. Higher than normal crowd levels were projected because of this. Jersey Week is always blacked out for free dining.

If you're a teacher and don't have your pick of vacation time, then unfortunately you may not be able to catch a time that is truly low crowds. January is the slowest time of year, followed by September. There are cons to low crowd times as well such as limited hours, refurbishments and weather - January can be downright cold and September sees a lot of rain. So for some people, they'd rather go when crowds are higher.

 

[hops&dreams]

We've gone in Jan and Early Feb (before Pres. Day) and crowds have been low. Lower in Jan than Feb, but that may be due to weather. It was actually snowing when we went in Jan. Being from the midwest, it didn't faze us, but locals were shivering the butts off. We literally walked on every ride, although some were down for maintenance. We had 20 min waits on our last day, the Fri of MLK weekend.

Feb, we had 20 min waits all week long, but noticed no real difference between weekend and week days. And it was much warmer - 60's & 70's.

For me, I'll trade the ideal weather for low crowds any day! I might be rained/snowed on, but I'm riding whatever I want all day long!!!

 

[PJ]

We were just there 11/25 - 12/2 and the day we did MK (11/27) we walked right on to Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, Buzz Lightyear and Little Mermaid.

This was a day that the crowd estimate calendar on easywdw listed as a 3. I don't want to hijack this thread into a debate on different crowd calendar estimators - a lot of people have different opinions and experiences but we found this to be pretty accurate. In fact, we're here the rest of the Winter with AP's, and are planning the additional days we go based on his estimates.

 

[mbtohill]

Wife and I went to F & W midweek in October and found the crowds to be quite light, went to DHS and walked on RnR and Tower of Terror.

We always go the first week of May as well, have been for 9 years running and although the crowds are still very manageable, they are definitely getting larger.

I think more and more people are looking for the less crowded windows of time, even if it means taking the kids out of school, which we do every year (cue debate on taking kids out of school to go to Disney)

 

[Pixie Princess]

I know Disney has all kinds of tricks up their sleeve to prevent business from slowing down (I'm looking at you free dining plan), but I'm wondering if there is ever a not-so-busy time to go anymore.

We just got back from a wonderful long weekend trip yesterday. In the past I remember low crowds during this time. Admittedly, it was less crowded then when we go annually during the April school vacation week, but it definitely felt like there were lots and lots of people around.

I'm just wondering what others have experienced.

As a teacher, September is not an option for us.

Would Labor Day weekend be an option? That is lovely time, albeit hot, and for a holiday weekend it is pretty darn slow in my experience. The schools here start in Aug, so the teachers here wouldn't have pre-planning and other prep for the start of the school year that would preclude them for visiting this time of year. I realize that wouldn't necessarily work for other parts of the country.

If Labor Day wouldn't work, maybe back it up a couple weeks and try the last two weeks of August. Because school is in then, I haven't tried it myself, but it seems every year people are on the boards extolling the low crowd virtues of this time of year.

 

[mouseman41]

There are still a lot of times duruing the year when things slow down a bit. Mostly when school is in session. Disney does what it needs to do to fill up their rooms. Personally, I want it to be busy! When it slows down Disney cuts down on entertainment, hours are shorter, less crew members, etc. When things are booming there are more crowds, yes, but you will also see more entertainment, more shows, more attractions, and more expansion. To me more is better!

 

[nuge67]

One would think that due to the economy, high cost of gas, air and the storms that destroyed most of the North East had to, or will, have a negative impact on places like Disney.

IS Disney actually saying attendance is up?

 

[Carbonfiber07]

Took the kids out of school last Friday (12/7) and went to MK for the day. Got there at rope drop and walked over to the new fantasy land area. Rode the Little Mermaid ride with no wait. When we got out, the wait was 20 minutes and the Story Time with Belle was a 60 minute wait.

However, MK was the recommended park that day, and the other rides were walk-ons most of the time. As we walked from the new fantasy land to Frontier Land, I took a picture of the kids with absolutely no one else in Frontier Land. We rode BTMRR multiple times without getting off and same with Splash Mnt. In the afternoon all the Mnts were 15-20 minute standbys. The park did fill as the day progressed, obviously, but most of the crowds were in both new and old Fantasy Land.

In my opinion, if you use the crowd calendars, the recommended day is more important than the crowd level. Of course, 12/7 was a MVMCP day, so the park closed at 7pm, but being there from 8am til 7pm with very little wait time (if any) provided a lot of touring time. So, while there may not be slow times anymore, there are ways to avoid the crowds.

 

[Vemnox]

9As far as I'm concerned, there is no slow time anymore. Not if you went there in the 80s and 90s and know what it's actually like to be able to walk in Fantasyland.

 

[GiJohnsGirl]

As far as I'm concerned, there is no slow time anymore. Not if you went there in the 80s and 80s and know what it's actually like to be able to walk in Fantasyland.

Yeah lol unfortunately I was in diapers until 87. However, we rode star wars 5 times in a row in Jan and toy story twice.

 

[minnie mum]

One would think that due to the economy, high cost of gas, air and the storms that destroyed most of the North East had to, or will, have a negative impact on places like Disney.

IS Disney actually saying attendance is up?

Disney does not comment on attendance figures.

Given the anecdotal reports of resort occupancies and park crowd levels, and given that WDW is a global tourist destination, not just a US one, I would say that local economic or weather related problems would not be a major factor for Disney. Now if WDW itself was ever hit by a natural disaster....

We have always found the lowest crowd levels during late Jan and early Sept, but agree that even those seem to have more people than back in the 80s and 90s. Then again, there are a lot more people in the world now, compared to 30 years ago.

 

[ghtx]

We have always found the lowest crowd levels during late Jan and early Sept, but agree that even those seem to have more people than back in the 80s and 90s. Then again, there are a lot more people in the world now, compared to 30 years ago.

Exactly (however, there are also twice as many WDW theme parks as there were 30 years ago (and four times as many as there were 31 years ago!)).

More importantly, people around the world are much wealthier now than they were 30 years ago. 30 years ago, there weren't all that many people in countries in Asia and South America who were able to afford a vacation to WDW, now there are. Hooray for globalization! But, it means more crowded theme parks for me.

 

[jgh]

I don't like going when the crowds are insane.

We went in October and while it might have been a little more crowded than past Octobers, it wasn't by much.

I think January (after New Years) and February are the best months to go for low crowds. Hopefully they'll stay that way.

 

[michsig]

Woohoo for low crowds in January! We usually go during the summer months due to the fact that I was in grad school, but I am looking forward to January - cooler weather, lower crowds!

 

[furb & dez]

We had a "slow" vacation in early February two years ago.