When is the LEAST crowded time to go to the parks?

[dvcgirl]

Just wanted to respond to PigPens post....December 2001 was so incredibly quiet that year due to 9/11. I was just in the MK today...it's not crazy yet, but each year since 2001 has gotten a little busier. Still, there were a good number of people there today. Space, Splash and Buzz were all 30 minutes. Peter Pan was 40. So it's not like the old days any longer. It will get busier now with each week leading up to Christmas week.

 

[jimmiej]

According to the Unofficial Guide, early December is the lowest attendance, followed by the period between Labor day & Thanksgiving. Third best would be the time between New Year's & President's Day weekend & after Spring breaks till June.

 

[dvcgirl]

The Unofficial Guide is way too general. First of all, the two weeks in the middle of September are much slower than the beginning of December anymore. And then it says that the period between Labor Day and Thankgiving is the second slowest. Within that timeframe there are some pockets where it's quite crowded. Between the golf tournament, business conventions, MNSSHP, Food and wine fest, Jersey Week and Veterans weekend there's a whole bunch of "fairly crowded" in that timeframe.

 

[jmclester]

I was wondering about Jersey Week 2005 also. The teachers conference is Nov 10 and 11 (Thur and Fri). Veteran's Day is Thur Nov 11. But election day is the Tuesday of the week before on Nov 1.

So I was wondering how crowded Jersey Week would be since Veteran's Day is the same day as one of the conference days and election day is the week before. Will the school only be closed on Nov 10 and 11 (Thur and Fri) next year? Could that make Jersy Week 2005 less crowded than other Jersey Weeks have been since the kids won't have as much time off from school?

My understanding and experience from Nov. trip is that Jersey Week is based around the 2 days that NJ schools are out. Lots of Jerseyans keep their kids out of schools an extra day or two (or three) in addition to the teacher conference days. I don't think that JW '05 will be any less crowded than '04. May be a little more crowded because of the VetD holiday. We travelled on 11/2 (election day) and the crowds were thin when we arrived. CM at All Star Sports said the hotel was about 50% cap. By Thurs and Friday the crowds were a little thicker and Sat was a mess at MK but, with the use of FP we never waited more than 15 minutes for anything. This will be a good week to go unless Disney decides to schedule Super Soap weekend on the 12th and 13th.....I would avoid it then!

 

[okapi]

You can find historical wait times at http://www.mgmstudios.org/wait.html

Thanks for this tip