Quietest Days In August

[eeyorefanuk]

Hello - me again

I am sure there is somewhere a list of the quietest days for certain parks.

Would anyone be able to give me the link for August 2009 so can have a look at - many thanks

Also we are going 1-22 August - does anyone know when orlando's school summer holidays are ?

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Hi,

To be honest we don't tend to analyse the individual theme parks for the quieter days but as a general rule they get quieter from the middle of August.
That's because the majority of the US schools break up a month or so earlier than we do in the UK, so from the middle of August it is quieter as that's when they return.
However, the Disney Dining Plan has kind of made that more difficult to predict, especially at the restaurants.
In our experience of going in late August over the years, it is busier now than it was a few years ago, because of the DDP.

However, I would expect for example the first 2 weeks or so for your dates to be fairly busy, with crowd levels easing for around the last 7 days.

 

[jen_uk]

In the past it had gotten quieter from about the 15th onwards, however this year this didn't happen and it was busy all the time, presumably because of the free dining.

 

[wayneg]

We were there this August from 6th~31st August. Went on cruise 22nd~29th.
We felt crowds/lines were bad this year but with staying onsite we kept trying EMH and it doesn't work IMO, they are busier than none EMH.
Anyways we found crowds bad upto leaving for cruise on the 22nd (last park day 21st) when we returned from the cruise it was like going back to somewhere totally different, everyone had gone. No lines, longest was Toy Story at 30 mins everywhere else walk on or 10 mins max.
No idea at what date it changed but it was definitely busy upto 22nd this year.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

I think as we have all kind of said then, crowd levels have become more difficult to predict with the DDP in place.
Shame really as you rely on the parks being quieter to offset against the high temperatures.

Thankfully our possible dates next year are from the 23rd, cheaper prices and hopefully less queue's.

 

[2Tiggies]

I agree with previous posters - with free dining it is really impossible to predict as this is now having a really big knock-on effect with crowd levels.

Florida area schools go back usually around the 2nd week in August, but Disney attracts people from all over the country and some schools go back in September. However, traditionally, crowd levels dip and prices drop around the 15th or so.

The trouble with the free dining is that the sometimes open up additional dates at really short notice so unless you are able to plan a last minute trip (making ADR's a huge nightmare) there is really no guarantee. I suspect that in the current financial climate Disney is going to keep at whatever works to keep the parks and resorts as full as possible all year round. Thus, I wouldn't be surprised to see extended free dining dates next year as well, although they are unlikely to be advertised until much later. In addition, there will probably be more other discount incentives. It may be better to book for the time that best suits you and do some careful planning with a touring plan book so that you can work around the crowds instead of having to fight them. If it turns out to be quieter than expected, that is an added bonus. Touringplans.com has a crowd calendar. To see the extended months you need to either subscribe or buy the book which gives you free access to the website. It is pretty accurate. You can get the book on ebay or Amazon for around £10 - 12 or your library may have the current one which you can still use to access the site.