What's the deal with July?

[Shanti]

I think they put more capacity in FastPass + that time of year knowing they are busy through longer hours. That is how you are more able to get FP+ I think. For the dining portion, I think it may also be longer hours in the parks. That means more people in the parks during the evenings and more resort dining options available.

No, it really is about numbers of people. I've experienced more actual crowding at different times of year than in late July of last year. Also, MK isn't regularly open until midnight in the summer like it used to be, so late hours aren't the reason. The resort prices are lower in summer, too, which indicates lower projected attendance.

 

[ljmclin]

No

lol

 

[KimBean]

over the last 4years I have been to wdw 4 times. All were at slower times of the year. March, October, November, and December. Each time I got up early at 180 days to book ADRs, and couldn't get all I wanted. At 60 days I stayed up late to book fp's, and didn't get all I wanted.

I'm going again in July. Busiest month of the year. I wasn't able to book on the first day at 180 or 60. So why was I able to get every ADR and FP I wanted, on the day I wanted? The only one I couldn't get was BOG dinner.

Lack of free dining could explain adrs but not fps

Summer is the new Fall.

 

[Westcoastwild]

Also, the crowds that are there in July are made up of a higher percentage of people who aren't frequent visitors and don't often know what you might about ADRS and FP+

I think this does play a big role. Lots of the people I saw were family reunion groups or Brazilian tour groups or people who were definitely first time visitors (young families, lots of shopping). I met a higher proportion of returnees at the fort than I did in line for rides.

But you don't see those tour groups or family groups in the ADR restaurants, and in the case of the Brazilian tour kids, they have fps in groups, so I am assuming it's the tour company in charge of that. I ended up in line with them twice on a 7 day trip. I mean they are very visible in the park but not actually often visible in FP, almost never in single rider, and I didn't see them once in an TS place.

Heat and storms also dispersed the crowds periodically in the way it doesn't at DL, and I'm assuming, in a way it doesn't much of the year. Since those are both issues in July, crowd level sort of moves in patterns. If you're all day park people, you probably will ride more rides during the day than you would in say October. But the trade off is that you're also going to need more breaks.

The very popular rides are still not going to have fps available the day of, and TS places were still super busy especially the very high end places or character dining.

 

[MisterBubbles]

Be prepared for the HEAT! We have gone at many different times of the year, but we are usually hesitant of July be cause of heat. Not to say it can't be enjoyed. Just be prepared. Pack a water bottle and keep refilling it. You will definitely need it. I usually pack a spare tshirt and change mid way through the day. Eat lunch early so that when it gets crowded right at lunch time you can browse shops on Main Street or find a place to rest until things calm down. We always work a water park in on a July trip too. When it storms, we watch as hoards of people stream out of the park and we don our ponchos and make our way towards attractions.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

I've been thinking the same thing. We just booked a trip this past week, for the last part of July/first part of August. When we booked, we were already inside the 60-day FP+ window, but I was able to get everything with no trouble. I could have gotten Frozen Ever After, had multiple opportunities for Flight of Passage. I haven't booked any TS meals - not sure we're going to do any - but I've been searching availability and have been surprised that I could book perennial favorites that are always booked: Crystal Palace, Garden Grill, Chef Mickey's -- all at 5:30-ish for dinner. I even saw California Grill, and V&A - I don't think I've ever seen V&A with availability on the app EVER. I booked BOG lunch for 2 different days until I figured out our park days, then cancelled one. I've been stalking touringplans dot com all week for their crowd level estimations for our week and they're in the 6-7 range, which is very manageable, I think. We are Floridians, so we know it's going to be hot. I booked FP for right around lunch time, figuring we'd do early mornings, have lunch and do a couple of attractions, then head back to our resort for swimming and rest in the a/c, and return at night for whatever we missed and the shows. Now that our kids are older we can do late nights more easily, so we'll take advantage of the night time hours.