Looking for HARD data on the slowest weeks of the year in WDW

[DaddythePooh]

Hi Guys - Picking your giant, Disney-stuffed heads yet again.
In a nutshell - can anybody verifiably spill some info on what might be the very slowest weeks of the year in WDW? Been there in September (empty and wonderful). Been there in October and Early November as well (Terrifically empty). Been to DL in january and that was empty too.
How does February hold up in WDW?
How about late April (post Spring Breaker invasion).
How about the first week or two of May (THIS IS WHAT I"M HOPING TO DO THIS YEAR - Been to WDW during this time anybody?)

It always seems like that handful of dates are the jewels in the crown for the year. Are there more? Am I missing a hidden, empty window?

Would LOVE your input and healthy first-hand experiences.

ALSO - On a COMPLETELY different tangent - how come sometimes when you're in what is a fairly empty WDW, you can STILL hit BLIZZARD BEACH and be amazed by a HUMONGOUS crowd there? This has happened to me on 2 occasions and it's just no fun to sit elbow to elbow on a beach chair.

OK - that is all - thanks for your brain-matter

 

[PamOKW]

WDW is slower whenever school is in session and it's not a good time to pull the kids out -- the beginning of the school year at the end of August/beginning of September is one such time. Another is January when they have just returned from the Christmas break. The "secret" is getting out about late April/early May. I would call the crowds "moderate" but it is getting more popular. The weather is usually quite nice since, even when it is hot, the humidity hasn't really kicked in yet and you don't get the daily storms.

Any time when there is not a holiday, the crowds tend to be slow-moderate. The summer and holiday times see crowds build with Christmas Week being the biggest outside of the summer months (it may even top the summer crowds).

My guess is that the water parks are full because they are also popular with the more local folks. They can even buy an annual water park pass.

 

[chamonix]

The official Disney website used to have a page with historical attendance numbers, but since the new site came online, I haven't been able to find the data again.
Anyone know where it is or have a link to this type of info?

BTW, we have gone the first two weeks of December, arriving on the weekend after Thanksgiving (or even the day after) and the crowds are really low. I think it is pretty low attendance from just after Thanksgiving up until the weekend before Christmas.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Any time I have seen surveys for this, as well as all the guidebooks and Net sites, the two week period immediately after Thanksgiving is always indicarted as being amongst the slowest. I ahve been there 5 years in a row at that time, and I concur. Plus, great weather, value season on resort rates and all the holiday decorations and special shows/events.

 

[n2mm]

I agree with the other posters about the time right after Thanksgiving. Don't even think May is slow. That is a very popular time to go and our 11th year in a row. With school trips, flower and garden activities, and empty nesters, Early May is getting crowded. While nowhere near Easter, Summer, or Christmas, the crowds tend to be pretty much moderate the entire month, but crowded as you get closer to the holiday weekend. There are always lots of conventions going on also. It doesn't stop us from going because the weather is wonderful, but we do make all of our PS before leaving home. Yes the water parks will be packed. I've never been when they were not in May.

 

[kadaten]

Went the week after Labor Day once and was almost bored...no people anywhere, unless you count CM's. Never waited for a single ride. Walked on to everything! Some states (mine included--Virginia) actually don't start school until the Tuesday after Labor Day, and for those that do, this is still a little early in the year for people to be comfortable having the kids skip school.

Concur on the week after Thanksgiving to the week before Christmas being very low. Used to live in Jacksonville, FL, and went all the time, including then. It starts getting busy the day most schools get out, which this year was a Friday. We went this year, too. We started our trip that Wednesday...just a few people, few more Thursday, few more Friday, Saturday getting busy, Sunday busy, Monday (day we left ) PACKED! Ideally would have left Friday before Christmas but due to work schedules we couldn't go any earlier, so we just dealt with the growing crowds and did all our "must-do's" the first 2-3 days.

My favorite time to go, though, is October, but this ideal time seems to be getting more popular. We always liked to go during Epcot's Food and Wine Festival (YUM!) which used to run mid-October to Saturday before Thanksgiving, and was a pretty low crowd time. F&W Festival is getting more and more popular and is now October 1-mid-November, so you can see more people are going, especially locals adding to weekends. Halloween party at MK is popular, too. In spite of this, the fall remains my favorite time...great weather, enough crowds to be interesting, great food festival. Ahh....going to have to decide on a hotel so I can make my ressies now...we get to go this year!
Katie

 

[Safari Steve]

Keep in mind that "slow, empty, crowded, etc" can be relative terms.
I have heard numerous people complain that this January has been "too crowded" compared to the last two years. Well the last two years have been EXTREMELY below normal attendance patterns due to people not traveling. Anyone who can say that a 15 minute wait for Space Mountain and a 25 minute wait for Test Track are "too crowded" seems to be suffering from microwave culture, where nothing is worth waiting for and instant gratification is the only choice.

That being said, I must concur with PamOKW about certain "traditionally slower" times becoming more popular as more people find out that they have been slower in the past. October, once solid "off-season" has steadily become more and more popular for conventions crowds. While nowhere near peak levels, it can be a bit hectic at times.

As for the water parks, any time it's warm, they're pretty well attended.

 

[rjjr]

Just wondering....when you guys say the period right after Thanksgiving, does that also mean the weekend directly after Thanksgiving? Thanks!

 

[kadaten]

Originally posted by rjjr
Just wondering....when you guys say the period right after Thanksgiving, does that also mean the weekend directly after Thanksgiving? Thanks!

No. Folks are still on school vacations then. Slow period starts Monday after the holiday weekend.
Katie

 

[Spartan]

We've never gone in January, but we've made 2 trips right after Thanksgiving, several trips throughout the month of September, and one during the first week of May.

To me, the first week of May was the most crowded of the three, but still not too bad. It happened to be extremely record-setting hot in the first week of May 2002, and that may have contributed to my not enjoying the trip as much, but crowds were still very manageable. I don't remember it raining - just that it was mid 90's. September was probably the least crowded, and thought that was an ideal time of year to go if you want a lot of uncrowded water park and pool time. This last Dec. was nice, but almost a little too cold for our tastes. The previous Dec. trip in 2001 was much warmer, but we must have just gotten lucky on that one. Good park touring weather, but our 3yo kept wanting to go swimming but wasn't able to stay under the water to keep warm.

 

[chamonix]

rjjr, we have gone two years in a row arriving the day after Thanksgiving and staying about 10 days. I would say that while that day, Friday, is still busy, most people who have been there for the holiday week leave on Saturday, so I would say that the crowds become managable starting on Saturday and Sunday. Of course, as it becomes midweek it is even better, but that is true most weeks really. We like to arrive before the weekend (the airport would be a zoo on Saturday and Sunday, I bet!) Next year we may even arrive on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day. Bet there's noone in the airports that day, lol.

 

[wdwphanatic]

... and I liked late Sept. the best! It was by far the least crowded time of the year and the heat/humidity weren't bad because we were used to it, having survived a NJ summer! I've also been in mid May (16-22) and really didn't like that time of year because it was very hot (mid 90s) and we weren't used to the heat at that point in the year! It was also much more crowded in May vs. Sept. We've been several times in very late Jan., and the first 2 weeks of Feb. We love that time of the year because it's not too crowded and it's cool enough to tour comfortably. We've happened to luck out on the weather, however -- most days have been sunny and 70-80s... It's definitely changeable that time of year, however!

From what I've read on the boards, seen at various Disney-related web sites and read in all my books, late April is still pretty busy, so I wouldn't expect small crowds that time of year. I would guess that except for the post-Thanksgiving/early Dec. weeks, you've hit all the slowest times of the year already... Pretty impressive, I'd say!!!!

If I were to select another time of year to visit, it would be in mid Nov. just before Thanksgiving. I've heard it's a bit warmer than early Feb. and that the crowds aren't too bad either. If I could time it so that I'd see the tail end of the Food & Wine Festival and catch a glimpse of the Christmas decorations going up, that would be perfect!!!

Happy planning,
Sarah

 

[DebbieB]

We've gone the first or second week of May the past 4 years. It wasn't bad, not as slow as early December. The only bad time we ran into in May was at MK when Spectromagic was running at night mid-week, the entire day was very crowded.

 

[Lucky4me]

We went the last week of January in 2002. All week long we felt like we were the only ones in the parks. Everything was a walk on and most rides were (if you wanted to) stay ons too. I get anxious in large crowds so it was a wonderful week for me.
Now I don't want to go any other time. We went the first week of December for a couple of years (2000, 2001) and were surprised how crowded it was. Crowded meaning 60 minute waits for the E-ticket rides, 30 minutes for shows, long waits in food lines and lots of schools and sports teams in the parks. I guess compared to holiday weeks and summer it's still slow, but not slow enough for us. The only thing I missed in January were the Holiday decorations. I think it's worth a trip just to see those.

 

[QuickGold]

You can access weekly wait time reports at the Disney-MGM Studios at http://www.mgmstudios.org/wait.html

 

[TonyS20]

We went in late May - early June and they waits were 1-2 hours for most attractions (pre-fastpass). We were there mid-January 2002 and most waits were 5-15 minutes. We have also traveled mid-December (10-20) in 2002 and waits were 5-15 minutes until the 19th when waits increased to 30+ minutes.

Our next trip is in October and I'm hoping for short lines and great weather. My DH is already apprehensive that it will be much busier than the last 2 trips, so I'm doing my homework and devising game plans just in case!

 

[UniversalAddict]

A good way to check for good time to go is to look at the hotel rates. When hotels have the lowest rate that when the lowest park attendence will be. Check out disney's website (hotel or timeshare are) and look for "value" season.

 

[CaseyJr]

Here's our trip-crowd info per trip (so far):

End of April / early May -- low
End of September -- low
End of September -- low
End of September -- one of the most crowed trips we've had
End of September / Early October -- moderate
Mid(?) January -- horrible!
Thanksgiving week -- moderate (not nearly as bad as
we expected)
End of May -- great! (except for Mem. Day w/end)

Some things to keep in mind: apparently January was "holiday" time for folks in South America, and of course, US and individual state's holidays (like Spring Break) which can differ by state
hurricaine season