Is there really no slow season anymore?

[tlmadden73]

I'd like to add that I bet crowds will continue to be down (compared to previous years) as people just 'save' their vacations for the opening of Toy Story Land or SWGE (or both) or even just waiting for the Epcot updates.

I know I am delaying my next trip until at least Fall of 2018 to hit both Toy Story Land and Pandora (which I missed in my last short trip in March 2017) and hopefully going again in Fall of 2019 to do SWGE.

I expect the crowds to pick up a ton once SWGE opens up and it will just overflow to the other parks.

 

[KimBean]

I see a lot of people say that WDW doesn't have a slow season anymore. Do you really think that's true? I realize things have changed in the parks over the last few years, but I just went during Labor Day week and thought the crowds were fantastic. I would definitely consider that week to be on the slower side. Sure, there were a lot of people, but the wait times for rides were great and the parks and buses were easy to navigate. Certainly better than last October for me. I guess it's all relative.

When it is blistering hot. That is the low season. Lol.

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

I'd like to add that I bet crowds will continue to be down (compared to previous years) as people just 'save' their vacations for the opening of Toy Story Land or SWGE (or both) or even just waiting for the Epcot updates.

I know I am delaying my next trip until at least Fall of 2018 to hit both Toy Story Land and Pandora (which I missed in my last short trip in March 2017) and hopefully going again in Fall of 2019 to do SWGE.

I expect the crowds to pick up a ton once SWGE opens up and it will just overflow to the other parks.

...and in the meantime Universal's attendance continues to explode. This is a whole new world, indeed.

One would think that Pandora would give WDW a spike on the whole but...nope.

 

[Yarbogash]

...and in the meantime Universal's attendance continues to explode. This is a whole new world, indeed.

One would think that Pandora would give WDW a spike on the whole but...nope.

Based on the results I think Pandora was a mistake.

Beyond that I agree with sites like disneytouristblog that are reporting that summer is no longer high season. Hard to measure sometimes because staffing levels and how they manage ride capacity can make it seem like the parks are more or less crowded. Late Sept thru December has certainly gotten much busier. January to parts of Feb still slow. If I had to pick a specific time frame as low season that would be it, January and parts of Feb.

 

[Dentam]

We were there during Labor Day week this year and it was awesome. Yes, there was a hurricane on the way, so that helped to thin the crowds, but in general it's a good week to go!

ETA: I agree with others who have said that crowds might be down due to people delaying their trips until the new SW area is open. I have the opposite strategy: visit before it opens and then stay the heck away for a good year or two after that!

 

[kydisneyfans]

Yet it remains next to impossible to book a room onsite due to sellouts, especially at values and moderates. Forget about putting together a 2-3 day DVC stay over the next few months, it's impossible.

 

[SarahC97]

Yet it remains next to impossible to book a room onsite due to sellouts, especially at values and moderates. Forget about putting together a 2-3 day DVC stay over the next few months, it's impossible.

Ive read that the fall is considered high season for DVC - hard to find a place to stay.

 

[KimBean]

Yet it remains next to impossible to book a room onsite due to sellouts, especially at values and moderates. Forget about putting together a 2-3 day DVC stay over the next few months, it's impossible.

So us obssessives are still going. But the normals who stay offsite are not.

 

[NH-to-FL]

After many years I still have not had the pleasure of visiting in early September which is when many folks say is a "quiet time".

From my observation there are now two crowd levels: Busy and crazy holiday busy. Maybe early September offers a third, 'not quite so busy' level.

For 20 years before I retired DW and I made trips to WDW in early December. In recent years we witnessed a slow increase in crowds during those "quiet weeks" before the holiday.After spending two winters near WDW we felt like every day we stopped in was busy. And we always noticed a fair number of school age kids.

I think this speaks to the good job Disney has done to advertise and have offers that make "off season" visits attractive. For as much as I enjoyed the quieter times I can't blame a business for trying to optimize its revenue.

 

[tlmadden73]

It definitely feels like the fall/spring is (or should) be busier than summer.

Sure, the summer is when kids (a big portion of the WDW customers) have off of school, but it is hot, it is humid, expensive, and Orlando is more expensive.

I mean, take the kids out of the equation, I think most people would prefer to go in spring - cooler, a special festival at Epcot .. or in the fall, cooler, less expensive, food and wine, free dining promotions, Halloween/Christmas parties and decorations. You just get more bang for your buck .

I mean, why go in the middle of a sweltering July when you could go cheaper in October and get access to two special events that are only offered in the fall?

I personally have picked the following months to go since 2010 - January, March, late August (only because I was trying to go on my son's birthday) and October.
I am from coastal NC - going to an even hotter and more humid environment in the summer is not my idea of a vacation! So having no kids or a kid not in school yet, those dates were picked around milder temperatures (except August) and cheaper rates.

 

[kwdw]

I love Pandora - but I think the fact it only added two attractions and a place to eat was a mistake. It needed another attraction besides the cool environment. Even with ROL and some more live entertainment - AK still needs another big draw open at NIGHT. I'd like to see something like Nemo or FOTLK operate at night. Or some type of animal experience that is indoors so it can operate in the evening.

Back to original topic though - I think there are days that are "slower" than others - but I don't think you can make general statements about when it will be slow anymore. Sure - a few days after Labor Day, a few short stretches in Jan/Feb - but really - I think they have really targeted events and discounts to have things appeal to folks most of the year.

I also think that for some frequent visitors - waiting for Toy Story Land and Star Wars Land to open for a next visit is a real thing. When my AP expires in early 2018 - I'm not buying a new one until after both of those are open!

 

[CarrieR]

This year's Labor Day week was an anomaly. I go a lot and found crowds to be steady through about Tuesday; by Tuesday evening Epcot EMH there was a noticeable shift as people started getting the heck outta dodge. Weds we were at Universal and it was practically empty (we walked on the new Kimmel rode mid-day, for example.) By Saturday, WDW was a ghost town. That's not "normal" for that week, that's "a hurricane is coming." We called it our silver lining for getting stuck, lol.

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

Based on the results I think Pandora was a mistake.

Beyond that I agree with sites like disneytouristblog that are reporting that summer is no longer high season. Hard to measure sometimes because staffing levels and how they manage ride capacity can make it seem like the parks are more or less crowded. Late Sept thru December has certainly gotten much busier. January to parts of Feb still slow. If I had to pick a specific time frame as low season that would be it, January and parts of Feb.

Yargobash...it most definitely seems like a mistake.

Who would have ever thought that they would open this state-of-the-art, immersive land and have their attendance at all of WDW drop...all the while Universal continues to explode.

Very troubling for Disney, indeed.

 

[Linkura]

I wouldn't say there's a slow season, but there's definitely slow days/weeks scattered throughout the year. But one week to the next can vary wildly.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I think there are slow times...they just aren't predictable and at the same time of year anymore.

In my experience you can luck into a slow time, but ya can't really plan for it.

 

[oceanmarina]

When it is blistering hot. That is the low season. Lol.

Based on the results I think Pandora was a mistake.

Beyond that I agree with sites like disneytouristblog that are reporting that summer is no longer high season. Hard to measure sometimes because staffing levels and how they manage ride capacity can make it seem like the parks are more or less crowded. Late Sept thru December has certainly gotten much busier. January to parts of Feb still slow. If I had to pick a specific time frame as low season that would be it, January and parts of Feb.

For the past 8 years we have gone in August and yes, in my opinion the summer slow season doesn't exist anymore. Each year it seems more crowded to us. The big benefit to going in August - when it's hotter than the surface of the sun humid - was the low crowds but honestly the low crowd levels when we stated going 8 years ago aren't there any more. I agree with other posters as that first week of sept / labot day is slower as many kids start school that week in the east.

 

[j4disneyworld]

Yargobash...it most definitely seems like a mistake.

Who would have ever thought that they would open this state-of-the-art, immersive land and have their attendance at all of WDW drop...all the while Universal continues to explode.

Very troubling for Disney, indeed.

Or was it smart and we just haven't realized it yet? With four Avatar movie sequels planned, Disney should be able to entice more people to visit. According to Avatar's Facebook post the movies will be released December 18, 2020, December 17, 2021, December 20, 2024 and December 19, 2025.

Could Disney have purposely made only two Pandora attractions with the intention of building more in the future based on the success of the films? After all, why give us all the attractions at once? Spread them out and make us come back.

 

[jhaig]

What about early/mid May? Never been during this time, but with my daughter starting college soon we will have to switch from going in September trip to going after she finishes with school. Seems like a good time with good weather and decent crowd levels.

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

Or was it smart and we just haven't realized it yet? With four Avatar movie sequels planned, Disney should be able to entice more people to visit. According to Avatar's Facebook post the movies will be released December 18, 2020, December 17, 2021, December 20, 2024 and December 19, 2025.

Could Disney have purposely made only two Pandora attractions with the intention of building more in the future based on the success of the films? After all, why give us all the attractions at once? Spread them out and make us come back.

Maybe.

You can't think that Disney expected less visitors to WDW during Pandora's opening year, do you? And Universal seems to be still increasing their attendance this year?

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

We started out at MK last Wednesday. Holy smokes... What a crowd! We had FPs for Space Mountain but didn't use them because the FP return queue started back under the Peoplemover track near the entrance for Astro Orbiter. Tremendous bottlenecks of guests at the predictable locations. We used our other FPs and high tailed it to another park. I did notice that Touring Plans called that day a 10 at MK. A Wednesday in mid October. MK was open late and had EMH until 2am so crowds were to be expected. But still, more of a log jam than I would have guessed.

Yargobash...it most definitely seems like a mistake.

Who would have ever thought that they would open this state-of-the-art, immersive land and have their attendance at all of WDW drop...all the while Universal continues to explode.

Very troubling for Disney, indeed.

I feel sorry for Disney. FOP is such a cool ride and Pandora feels great. The problem is that the IP has no positive pop culture cache. I went to Halloween Horror Nights last week, and they absolutely skewered Pandora in the Bill & Ted show. It was a spot on critique and the audience loved it.