When is the absolute LEAST CROWDED Time at Disney ???

[novdisneydreams]

OK - I've heard/read that the lowest crowds are late September, mid-December and mid-January. I was just reading a TR the other day (sorry - can't remember their name ) where mid-December was described as VERY crowded. Have you ever been to Disney when it was really empty - are there REALLY times when you can walk on most rides ? I am curious about people's experiences with crowd levels. Would love to hear anyone's story ...

 

[studog100]

the least crowded time at Disney is when the parks are closed. You'd only have the maintenance crew and maybe security to worry about.

Seriously, I think it is early to NLT mid December. JMO.

 

[brooke1]

I say SEPT, the weeks after labor day week......

Brooke

 

[cabanafrau]

I think it's in January, just after the Christmas & NYE crowds depart.

 

[MinnieGirl33]

Thre is no such thing anymore.

I try to plan for it then they come up with some last minute promo or a convention comes or a "insert sports event here" comes up.

Plan for when you want to go & don't worry about al the rest. It will make you

 

[cocowum]

We went early Dec and I was expecting low crowds. No such luck. It was pretty crowded.

We are headed back in less than a week I keep hearing about low crowds but this time I wll not get my hopes up.

No matter what the crowd level, we always have a blast!!!

 

[cdrn1]

The emptiest I, personally, have ever seen was in mid-Sept 2004. There were a few things that had lines but really quite minimal. Several years back we used to go the first week of December, and I have noticed increasing crowds that time of year. I hope to try early Jan 2007.

 

[jsp2000]

OK - I've heard/read that the lowest crowds are late September, mid-December and mid-January. I was just reading a TR the other day (sorry - can't remember their name ) where mid-December was described as VERY crowded. Have you ever been to Disney when it was really empty - are there REALLY times when you can walk on most rides ? I am curious about people's experiences with crowd levels. Would love to hear anyone's story ...

The Unofficial Guide lists today (Sept 4th) through next Thursday (Sept 14th) as longest stretch of crowd level "4" days. While there are other days that are listed as 4's, sometimes several in a row, an argument could be made that this week and next among the slowest of the year. Of course, this is only one website's opinion, but they have been doing this for a long time.

Though UG's scale is 1-10 (1 low crowds, 10 high), 4 is as low as things get anymore.

 

[ksdave]

The Unofficial Guide lists today (Sept 4th) through next Thursday (Sept 14th) as longest stretch of crowd level "4" days. While there are other days that are listed as 4's, sometimes several in a row, an argument could be made that this week and next among the slowest of the year. Of course, this is only one website's opinion, but they have been doing this for a long time.

Though UG's scale is 1-10 (1 low crowds, 10 high), 4 is as low as things get anymore.

Agree. The time around 9/11 still seems to be when there are less people traveling.

 

[esdras]

General logic and some evidence tends to support the mid-September view. Points in favour of this:

1. Touringplans.com listing this as one of the most consistent low attendance periods - no holidays to get in the way for a while
2. Most people see Labour Day as the end of summer - vacation ends that weekend. Very few START holidays on Labour day. People see this in many ways as a kind of new work-year.
3. At this point, pretty much EVERY school in North America is back in session. Many schools in the northern U.S. start tomorrow, and virtually all schools in Canada start tomorrow. Parents don't frequently pull kids out of the first day of school (we are though - we'd rather miss the first week than some time in the middle of the term)
4. The middle of September is THE heart of hurricane season. So far so good - but keep an eye on Tropical Depression #6 (probably increasing to Tropical Storm Florence sometime tonight) - if there is any risk to Florida it is still at least 8 days away, probably more like 10 though.

Points against September:

1. Disney is coming out with many promotions to encourage people to go at this time of year.
2. Rumours of low crowds can actually be a draw for people, thus increasing the crowds and defeating the purpose - hopefully not that much though.


I can't say that much about early December - I don't know enough about the factors or promotions at that time since we have never looked into going during that time period - it would be worse for school in our case.

 

[Rosstu]

Last year, we went from January 22-25 and it was the least crowded Ive ever seen it, never had to wait more than 10-15 minutes and wlaked on almost everything. The only problem was that it was so cold (30s in the night and morning) that we had to keep going inside to try to warm up instead of going inside to cool down. Were from Miami, so thats cold to us, but having no crowds was great.

 

[suzywindy]

We have been in late October, early December - week after Thanksgiving (mostly) and first week of January.

Early December still has the least lines for us. I would have to agree about September though - right after Labor Day.

If it weren't still so hot - that is when I would go and chance the weather.

But we always seem to settle on week after Thanksgiving - besides lower attendance, the parks are all decorated for the holidays and we get to do a MVMCP. Sorta gets me in the holiday mood. It is hard to go away at that time of year, because when you get back you only have a few weeks to get organized for christmas.

Busiest for us was in the summer - july/aug

 

[goofie4goofy]

The very lowest crowd levels - IMHO is between 2-3rd week of September 17th-22nd. If you arrrive on a Sunday and leave on a Friday, the ride waits are minimal. There are a few reasons for this:

1. Kids have JUST returned back to school. Tha parents that may take kids out of school for a WDW vacation will not do it at this time.

2. It is peak Hurricane season - Actually Sept 14th is peak "hurricane day" Why that particular day I don't know.

3. If you go Sun-Fri (sept 17-22), it is between MNSSHP dates and before the Food and wine festival starts. Also any "new" celebrations usually start Oct 1st. It is actually the "doldrums" of the WDW calendar...nothing going on. Since locals visit the parks on the weekends, you are avoiding that by arriving on a Sun and depart on Fri. Most others are done with their vacations.

4. Free Dining has no impact on crowd levels. It may only make it more difficult to get an ADR at certain TS restaurants like Le Cellier.

If you were going to go to WDW during Sept - Oct, most people would wait till something is actually going on.

This is JMHO and obeservations from going every September. It is even slower than going after Thanksgiving week thru the 2nd week of December.

 

[brasey]

I would say last week would be one for the record books for low level. Wed when the storm was supposed to hit and never did the parks were empty. We were on splash mountain and did not have to get off. We pretty much walked onto all the rides with maybe a one car wait. Universal was also pretty dead last week as we did all the rides by 2:00 PM and then hit the hotel pool. After a light rain started on Wed the parks were really quiet and to show how bad it was, Disney closed almost all the counter service restaurants in MGM and only kept open the restaurants were reservations were needed. At MK you could walk up and get a table at Cinderellas castle for dinner.

 

[simzac]

I've said this before and I'm sticking by it. There are 2 seasons at WDW, busy season and very busy season. JMO

 

[Giggles]

My family has been twice, once in April and once in September, and by far september was very nice. No major lines (peter pan and soarin were the only lines we ran across which we were able to fast pass). Another plus to September was that it was still very warm so we could enjoy the water parks and water rides with out shivering. However, you have to watch the weather for hurricanes during this time, we were right between two huge hurricanes last year, which may have scared lots of people away! Either way, your at Disney! So have fun, and enjoy!
Tip...if kids are in school it will be less crowded!!

 

[hopelea]

I have been in March during a time......not too bad. Wait times were around 30 minutes.

I have been the first week in June, it was about the same, temp's were a lot higher.

I have also been in September, right after labor day, VERY NICE. Still a little on the hot side.

We have been in October also. When our kids had fall break we went. It was more crowded because some kids get out of school for fall break, but the temps were nice.

We are going back the week before Thanksgiving this time. Nov. 12 - 17. Hopefully it won't be too bad. Looking forward to the cooler temps too!!

 

[tecdavidt]

We took the concierge tour of Animal Kingdom Safari last Jan. and the guide, Walter who was high up the Safari section, told us the best time to visit the parks would be the middle of Jan. The huge crowds from Christmas and New Year's are gone and nobody would be at the parks so he always has his guest visit at that time of the year. The weather probably would be hit or miss. We have been there with cold temps, at least for Florida, and for much warmer temps; but then, even cold temps for Florida are warm when we consider how could our home state of IA is in late Dec. and Jan. We know we won't be feeling 20° or lower in Florida, I will take high 30's at night! Kathy

 

[S.Poppins]

We have been the week after Thanksgiving and it was great. Pop Warner is the first week in December, they were coming in when we were leaving. The crowds were low most of the week. We never used a FP and rode everything easily. Plus I love the decorations and Christmas activities. This year we are going the second week in January.

 

[disneypharm]

Our first time was in Sept 2004 before the DDP started. We were there between 2 major hurricanes. It was hot and humid, but low crowds. The longest lines were 10-15 minutes. The second time was in Dec 13-20 2005. The first 6 days was low crowds (also 10-15 minutes lines), The last 2 days it got VERY crowded because the Florida kids started their Christmas holiday. The parks were very beautiful; however, it was very cold that week. Our kids were disappointed that they couldn't use our resort's pool. We will be going back to WDW in 2 weeks, again in Sept. Hopefully, no hurricanes.