I can remember years ago, before FP and EMH, we would visit WDW for the day or weekend because we lived in Orlando and then later in Ft. Lauderdale. Since I was a kid, I didn't have much (ok any) say in when we went, and I seem to remember going in the summer and over spring break a lot. I have brochures from going at Christmas time, but I don't specifically remember that.
The point is, since we lived just a few hours away it seems like we didn't take time off school to visit, so we would go during the busy times. I can remember when the Haunted Mansion always had at least an hour wait. We would do that and Space Mountain during the parade, and only had to wait 30-45 minutes. It felt like nothing! When Splash Mountain opened I distinctly remember waiting in a 3-hour line! I would never ever do that now, WDW has made it so easy to minimize wait times if you just know how. I can even remember waiting 3 hours at USO to ride King Kong when it first opened. What was I thinking??