Yes another lowest crowd thread.

[anniemae]

Early May was a ghost town last year if I remember right. I remember wishing I could go then. Also early January.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

Talking about crowds always frustrates me because nobody publishes real numbers. Are we talking, 23,653 people through the gates or are we talking 12,777 or are we talking a different number? It's soooooo subjective!

 

[anniemae]

Also, it changes year to year. One week may be slow, but the next year that same week is packed. No rhyme or reason. So many things can cause an uptick in crowds.

 

[Greenfield1984]

I think if you go during one of the "good" times of the year that has been cited, for low crowds AND you get there at park opening, you actually still can achieve that elusive "feeling" of an almost empty park, at least for a little while. Like, last year, I went in the last week of January - if anyone remembers, that week was preceeded by a HUGE blizzard that crippled the entire east coast. I left NY the day before the blizzard hit. Anyway, the first several days in Disney were FREEZING - like it really was 32 degrees Fahrenheit at 11:00 in the morning. But anyway, when I went to Magic Kingdom at park opening , I made a beeline to Adventureland, which is what I always do - my own tradition and anyway, the park in that area WAS beautifully empty-ish, or as empty as Disney World is ever likely to get in it's busiest park. When you combined the frigid temps with the great time of year for low crowds and add in being there at Park Opening and also that I didn't visit where the coasters are first, and with that you get that wonderful feeling of almost having a part of the park to yourself. It's an elusive feeling but I enjoyed it. I passed Rafiki who was taking pictures and though I usually don't bother with that, how could I resist posing with a character when there was no line? So, it was pretty amazing and sparsely attended, at least for a bit in that section of the park.

However, my first week or so in Disney was uncomfortably cold, so that is a major detraction to that time of the year. My 2nd week there, the temps finally normalized. Generally, speaking, I suppose those two weeks, last week in Jan. and first week in Feb. were probably the least attended I've ever seen the parks. Though obviously, not the MOST desirable time of year to go.

Other times I've gone that had a little more crowds than that but still pleasant-ish were the first 2 weeks in Dec. and the first 2 weeks and last 2 weeks in April, when Easter week/Holy Week weren't part of the calendar. I also have gone the first 2 weeks in June and it really wasn't that bad - not all the kids are out of school yet, some are, but it fit my schedule, and while it was less desirable than the other times, due to heat and more crowds, it was still doable.

I think with your mental approach to the parks you are destined to have a good time no matter the situation. You seem to really just roll with things and honestly a positive attitude is really half the battle. I'm usually great with that myself but feel burdened with the addition of extended family members. I feel more pressured to make sure they have a good time which is why i'm being a little more particular this trip about the details.

Talking about crowds always frustrates me because nobody publishes real numbers. Are we talking, 23,653 people through the gates or are we talking 12,777 or are we talking a different number? It's soooooo subjective!

Even with numbers you will not be getting a very clear picture. As was illuminated by a previous post in this thread, Disney scales down both attractions and cast members (and therefore ride capacity) during non peak times.

So depending on the time of the year you could have 25k people in the park vs 40k people but it would feel the same since there was less attractions absorbing those numbers.

Thats why these threads have been so useful to me in the past as they shed some light on other details I hadn't considered. Disney in most recent years has really done a pretty good job of levling out the crowd levels throughout the year. Not that many people in the parks? Good! We'll reduce the ammount of shows shown in the parks from every day to every 2nd day. And forget that 2nd Toy Story theater. We can just cut the staff and only have 1 operational. Saving them money and effectively keeping wait times pretty consistent throughout the year.

So basically its getting really hard to find that one perfect time.

 

[DISNEY1975]

Ive been in September twice.

1st time in 2011, a 4 days trip (most of it was for a work conference), I MELTED. It was then and there all my retirement to Florida plans were out the window. We were there 09/10 - 09/13. MK and Epcot were PACKED. I didnt go to the other parks.

2nd time 2015. 09/13 - 09/26. Reluctantly due to other family members being involved, I went again in September. It wasnt as hot as the first time, but cloudy and drizzling almost every morning/night. MK and Epcot were PACKED. Epcot died down at night, though MK did not. Due to free dining, restaurants and service will full and slow. HS and AK had moderate to heavy crowds. Crowd Calendars showed greens or 2's/ It was more like 7 - 8 with MK at 10s.

Just came back from a 03/24 - 04/03 trip. Calendars showed 7 - 8's It felt more like 4's. Popular rides had 20 - 30 minute waits. Non popular rides 10 minutes to practically walk on. Restaurants were empty!

I think a lot are depending on the low crowds, and a lot avoid the high crowds, which seem to turn them into the opposite of what the calendars shows. Obviuosly dont go during a holiday week, but I would recommend late March, early May, late August, early November. Mid January is good too, but can be cold!


Beaches & Cream

Captains Grill

Blizzard Beach

Typhoon Lagoon

Epcot at 3pm...

MK at 2:45pm on a Saturday! Nobody lined up for the parade!

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

..........

Also i'm just getting out of our nearly 6 month winter in Ottawa. I'm sure we'll be fine in the heat . If not there is always tons of air conditioning.

Thanks for all the advice guys. For as long as these boards have been running I figured people would have been super sick of answering a low crowd question so much apreciated .

The bolder statement certainly got my attention!

We're just down the road(ish) in Peterborough. This is one Canadian girl that cannot handle extreme heat with any kind of grace or dignity. More than Pixie Dust is needed to turn this overheated frown upside down!

That said we only got to WDW in mid October through late April (absolute latest). The best weeks I've found are mid November right before US Thanksgiving, mid December after the Pop Warner chaos is gone and April depending on when Easter falls - although April is quickly gaining in popularity as is October. I have never been in January or February so I cannot speak to those months.

Now that my DD is a graduate I no longer have to work around her fall break so we're back to November for our trips. Which we love because we get a taste of the Christmas season. And I don't have a fear of spontaneously combusting.

 

[isabellea]

Our Spring break is the first week of March and the crowds are low to moderate, the weather is usually nice (no unbearable heat and humidity like in August and September) and it's value season for rooms.

 

[amberpi]

Week after Labor Day, except last year, I've been there all the rest for 10 years+, its amazing!

 

[randumb0]

first 2 weeks of september

 

[Mambo Junkie]

Last year we wen the first week of May. Flower and Garden, plus decent crowds. We had a great time! We also went the 3rd week of September. DH and I found ourselves leaving the park around noon because we had pretty much done all we wanted to do by getting there early (we had 2 days of pre park opening dining reservations) and walked into nearly empty parks. Just remember it is way easier to move your own family around and plan to meet up with the others for lunch or various other activities. Trying to get people whose body clocks run at different times than yours to move at the same pace can be frustrating and an exercise in futility. Have a good meeting plan.

 

[Oswin]

I would watch September crowds this year to see how MNSSHP and F&W starting earlier impact crowds. Something you need to take into consideration is while there may be a lower number of people at certain times, these times of the year usually have a decreased productivity across the property. Transportation runs less buses, wait times are longer in lines because there are less ride vehicles being used/sent through per hour, and often dining can take longer because of less staff - this can often mean less tables are being seated so longer waits for your ADR seatings. Something else you might want to take into consideration is weather. September always feels like the most stifling time of the year to go, because of the higher humidity. It's not necessarily hotter, but the humidity will make you feel the heat differently than you would in early summer. September is still likely going to be a good time to go. But there are a lot of people who are less and less concerned with pulling their kids out of school in the first few weeks, and I really think it says something about crowd levels during the fall events when they keep starting them earlier with each passing year.

I think that with events starting earlier, and crowd levels being heightened and unpredictable the past few years, it's hard to predict what crowds will be like even comparing year to year. It's what makes using a crowd calendar so difficult, and I think that it will become even more so in the years to come.

 

[MoxieBadger]

I'm considering the first two weeks of September too, and you all have me nervous. I remember the last week of September being hot when I went, but now I have a two year old in tow. I like the lower lines and it seems historically the crowds are smaller. I'm interested in the Halloween party. Should I be concerned about it being terribly rainy during that time?

 

[anniemae]

I'm considering the first two weeks of September too, and you all have me nervous. I remember the last week of September being hot when I went, but now I have a two year old in tow. I like the lower lines and it seems historically the crowds are smaller. I'm interested in the Halloween party. Should I be concerned about it being terribly rainy during that time?

It is the rainy season. Will rain every day, thunderstorms in the afternoon. Hurricane season too.

 

[mamamelody2]

I agree with other posters that if you are looking strictly at crowd levels, The first 2 weeks of September are the best. That said, we went 3rd week of September last year, crowds level was good, but so hot. We will go in November this year and really looking forward to hopefully less humidity and heat. Crowd level predictions aren't too much above last year's September trip, either.

 

[Imamom2]

Remember that Disney doesn't want a light crowds - that's why F&W and MNSSHP are starting earlier. We've always done August and in '15 we did September. EMH was at least 2 hours and free to resort guests. Crowds were not crazy but the parks were not empty either. A lot has changed in the past 2 years. We will be there this September and I'm expecting some crowds at F&W and a busier AK. Night of Joy has been moved out of MK. Early morning events are extra $$, MK closes earlier for MNSSHP (sold out most nights) and HS is under construction so AK's later hours make sense. Disney Springs is also a big nighttime attraction now so I'm glad to see that WDW is making sure there is more to do at night.

 

[wendow]

Also, it changes year to year. One week may be slow, but the next year that same week is packed. No rhyme or reason. So many things can cause an uptick in crowds.

Agree 100%. In years past, Sept was the low crowd time but so much has been said about it being low crowds that many are going during Sept. We go every Sept and I would not call it low crowds anymore. The crowds get bigger every year...IMO, Sept is on par with early Dec now. Last I heard, early May was probably the lowest crowd time period.