Quietest time to go

[The burles]

Hi there any help would be very much appreciated!
I'm looking to go to Florida in oct/ nov but i would like to go when it's a bit quieter as I have a little 3 year old and would like to try to keep the queuing times down, I'm only looking at doing magic kingdom, animal kingdom and may be sea world in one of the weeks the other was going to try the gulf coast for a week.
Thanks .

 

[Oswin]

October is insane. All of October.

I would go in November before I ever go in October again.

 

[The burles]

October is insane. All of October.

I would go in November before I ever go in October again.

Any reason for this??

 

[Oswin]

The past few years it's been a combo of free dining, Food & Wine at Epcot, MNSSHP, the start of "cooler" weather, and it was a reported slow time. As free dining became insanely popular, Food & Wine became hugely popular, and MNSSHP started selling more tickets the crowds have grown and grown over the past 3-5 years. The past couple of years have seen surprisingly high crowds in October, with 2015 bringing record crowds for the month. It feels a LOT more crowded than the summer months because the parks are not running at peak efficiency. The hours are reduced, particularly at MK where there are many Halloween parties going on during the month. When the Halloween parties occur, MK closes at 7:00 pm to non party guests. This creates a strain on the other parks, particularly at night. Epcot sees huge crowds at night in October, particularly on Friday through Sunday nights when food & wine festival is going and you get a lot of locals on top of traveling guests. This leaves the nights that MK is open and doesn't have a scheduled halloween party to be slammed like crazy because people want to see the parade and wishes and just get to experience MK at night. All parks are effected by how many nights MK is closed because of MNSSHP. Last October was so insanely busy and enough people booked rooms or packages to travel this October that Disney didn't offer free dining for a single day in October.

 

[The burles]

The past few years it's been a combo of free dining, Food & Wine at Epcot, MNSSHP, the start of "cooler" weather, and it was a reported slow time. As free dining became insanely popular, Food & Wine became hugely popular, and MNSSHP started selling more tickets the crowds have grown and grown over the past 3-5 years. The past couple of years have seen surprisingly high crowds in October, with 2015 bringing record crowds for the month. It feels a LOT more crowded than the summer months because the parks are not running at peak efficiency. The hours are reduced, particularly at MK where there are many Halloween parties going on during the month. When the Halloween parties occur, MK closes at 7:00 pm to non party guests. This creates a strain on the other parks, particularly at night. Epcot sees huge crowds at night in October, particularly on Friday through Sunday nights when food & wine festival is going and you get a lot of locals on top of traveling guests. This leaves the nights that MK is open and doesn't have a scheduled halloween party to be slammed like crazy because people want to see the parade and wishes and just get to experience MK at night. All parks are effected by how many nights MK is closed because of MNSSHP. Last October was so insanely busy and enough people booked rooms or packages to travel this October that Disney didn't offer free dining for a single day in October.

Wow after reading that I won't be going in October maybe late Sep or November then. Thanks.

 

[NinaBella]

There is no quiet time.

 

[Oswin]

I don't want to say that I think September will be super low crowds either, especially late September. The only time free dining is occurring during Food & wine and MNSSHP this year is September. I think it will be interesting to see the crowd levels after September 14. Honestly, there are no super slow times of the year to travel anymore. You will find yourself waiting, especially at Magic Kingdom, pretty much the entire year. Once you get into November, you have the Christmas Party at MK with lots of 7pm closures to think about and plan around.

I also forgot to add that Rivers of Light will hopefully be up and going by this fall, and as the newest nighttime show, Animal Kingdom will probably get a lot of nighttime guests. Particularly on nights MK closes at 7:00.

I really advise just picking dates that work best for you guys and trying to plan an efficient touring plan around those days!

 

[theme_park_mom]

I wonder if going to the "not-so-scary Halloween party" could provide smaller crowds? I am just asking this, I have no idea. Does anyone know?

 

[Spunky946]

Early September is quieter because kids are in school and most don't want to pull out their kids at the beginnng of the school year.

 

[DizneyLizzy]

i know people will tell you that september isn't quiet anymore, but if you aren't accustomed to going in september, i bet you will still find it "quiet." i went in september last year, and it was my first time going outside of spring break, summer, or a holiday weekend. i thought it was empty. if you want quiet streets and a peter pan walk on at 1 PM, you'll never find them at any time of year.

what i found was different about september was how slowly the crowds were to build. for example, in march, if i rope drop soarin' and walk on, by the time i exit, the wait is often 60 minutes or more. in september, we were able to walk on soarin' twice with no wait at rope drop. in march and june, the pools are packed starting around lunch time. in september, we practically had the pool at OKW to ourselves at any time of day. we also had buses to ourselves on multiple occasions. that has never happened to me in moderately crowded to crowded seasons. if you avoid the MK on non-party days, that also helps. my son is 2 and doesn't stay at the parks past 7 anyway, so we are planning our MK days this sept/oct for party days, which are generally less crowded for day guests.

 

[The burles]

i know people will tell you that september isn't quiet anymore, but if you aren't accustomed to going in september, i bet you will still find it "quiet." i went in september last year, and it was my first time going outside of spring break, summer, or a holiday weekend. i thought it was empty. if you want quiet streets and a peter pan walk on at 1 PM, you'll never find them at any time of year.

what i found was different about september was how slowly the crowds were to build. for example, in march, if i rope drop soarin' and walk on, by the time i exit, the wait is often 60 minutes or more. in september, we were able to walk on soarin' twice with no wait at rope drop. in march and june, the pools are packed starting around lunch time. in september, we practically had the pool at OKW to ourselves at any time of day. we also had buses to ourselves on multiple occasions. that has never happened to me in moderately crowded to crowded seasons. if you avoid the MK on non-party days, that also helps. my son is 2 and doesn't stay at the parks past 7 anyway, so we are planning our MK days this sept/oct for party days, which are generally less crowded for day guests.

 

[The burles]

Thanks , so which is it again??
("if you avoid the MK on non-party days, that also helps. my son is 2 and doesn't stay at the parks past 7 anyway, so we are planning our MK days this sept/oct for party days, which are generally less crowded for day guests.[/QUOTE])??
Our son will be in bed for about 8-8:30 when we go so not worried about the parties really.

 

[verleniahall]

There really isnt' a "quiet" time to go - there are still crowds - espically with alot of homeschooling families that will go during the "regular" school year instead of ove rthe summer

 

[DizneyLizzy]

Thanks , so which is it again??
("if you avoid the MK on non-party days, that also helps. my son is 2 and doesn't stay at the parks past 7 anyway, so we are planning our MK days this sept/oct for party days, which are generally less crowded for day guests.

)??
Our son will be in bed for about 8-8:30 when we go so not worried about the parties really.[/QUOTE]

Go to the MK on a PARTY day...since the park closes at 7 to day guests, people without park hoppers generally avoid the MK. But we are planning to go TO the MK on a party day bc our son is 2 and goes to bed by 7:30/8:00 anyway. The MK is generally less busy on a party day.

 

[mcjaco]

October is not that bad. I've gone three times over the past ten years during October, crowds are very manageable. E Tickets are still going to be crowded, but it's nothing like Winter, Spring, and Summer breaks. Technically, there are no "quiet" times, but crowds are lighter. It's not like the old days (back in the 80's) when we'd go in November and have the parks to ourselves during the same time.

I went in November the week after Veterans Day two years ago, thinking it'd be good off of what I'd had read, and that was bad. 3 hour wait for 7 Dwarves! Ugh. Finally started to lighten up by the end of the week.

Here's Trip Report from last October (still in progress). Crowds are what I'd expect via her pictures.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/ye...-our-care-october-2015-tr-new-5-4-x2.3473941/