Crowds last week

[Greenlawler]

Last week was pretty standard for this time of year. Seemed to me less crowded than the last two years. We have made this our annual time for the last 6 years. It was not empty, but no where near crowded.

Some minor exceptions:
1.) On 9/23 MNSSHP seemed a little more crowded than usual, even for a Tuesday night. It is either becoming more popular or one theory I heard a cm suggest, "so many people are avoiding the weekend parties that the weekday parties are getting more crowded".

2). Of course the next exception was the Pixar area at Hollywood Studios, shortest wait I saw was 60 minutes it was 90 most of the week.

3.) But the big excpetion was Saturday, I am not sure what was up but in all my years I have never seen the MK so crowded during the "off season". Of course it was still nothing like a peek season day but 40 minute wait on the Jungle Cruise!?!?!?! Could it have been Rash Hashanah? If yes, what does Yom Kippur do to crowds...seriously? Of course the crowds were compounded by the fact that all three other parks closed at 8 while the MK was open till 12:00 people were flooding into the MK well past 9 p.m. It started to slow by 10:30 but there were still some long lines. I thought people would leave after the first Spectro Parade at 9:00 but nope they simply watched the parade and hit the rides again.

[vicster]

We were there Sept. 12th through the 19th and I thought it was more crowded than the norm for September. You'd never know there's a problem with the economy with the crowds at WDW.

[Jeff G]

We just got back from a 10 day visit (9/20-9/29) and I couldn't believe how dead the parks were. It 11 years of visiting this compared to September of 2001 just two weeks after 9/11.

Sunday 9/21 we rode EE four times in a row at 10:00 without a line.
Monday 9/22 there was a 15 minute wait for Soarin at 4:00 in the afternoon and no lines for anything else.
Tuesday 9/23 we rode TSM twice before 9:45 and then walked on TOT, RNR & Star Tours all day.
Wednesday 9/24 we were at the MK . At one point around 4-5 we walked onto SplMt and there was no one in the queue. We walked onto Buzz without slowing, on Space Mountain there were 8 people in front of us for the car when we got up there.
Thursday 9/25 back to MGM and it was dead. We got there at 12:00 got FP'es for TSM at 6:00. No waits for TOT or RNR.
Friday 9/26 back to the MK and it was just as dead as Wednesday.
Saturday EPCOT for F&W fest. The park was very busy but we weren't there for rides so it idn't matter.
Sunday 9/28 back to MK and it was dead again. We rode Buzz three times and Space Mountain twice in 45 minutes at 5:00(half of our group was stuck on SplMtn for 45 minutes so my DD & kept riding until they were off).

It was an awesome week. The longest we waited all week was for the Tomorrowland Speedway which was 10 minutes yesterday and I'm not exaggerating.

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

I was there the same week but can only compare it to the beginning of Sept from last year. I didn't think the crowds were too bad most of the time. We really didn't have to use fast pass alot except for Toy Story Mania. That line never went down! But there were lots of people in the park on Saturday the 27th. They were not checking resort IDs at all for the EMH! That might be why there were so many people.

[DisneyHoneymooners]

I know exactly what you mean about MK last Saturday!!!! It was our last day so we decided to go to MK one last time. I think we got on one ride before we decided to call it quits and head back to the AKL to hang out by the pool... which was also INSANE!!! We always go the same time every year(for our anniversary)and we've never seen it that busy either.

[kathiep]

We were there last week as well.

Most days, we found the crowds in all the parks to be light. We saw a stand by time at Soarin at 15 mintues one afternoon.

Especially noticeable to us was Friday morning 9/26 at MK. We had breakfast at the Crystal Palace prior to park opening. But most of the park was still empty at 10:30 - 11:00.

We stood in front of POC and there was no one else in either direction!!

[Jeff G]

Based on reading the many differing opinions from just last week I assume picking the right park on the right days is key. We were at the MK Wednesday, Friday & Sunday and all three days the park was empty. The key for us was that we avoided the EMH at all cost. I had friends who hit to parks on EMH days and they reported major crowds last week with 30-60 minute waits. Like I said, besides TSM we never saw a wait over 10-15 minutes yet we were at the parks for 8 full days.

[starrmomof2]

We must have been in the 'wrong' park on the 'wrong' day last week. We thought the crowds were much heavier than the same week two years ago. The rides weren't bad, though, and I'm attributing that to there being so many little ones, and multi-generational family groups there. We, too, were at MK on 9/27 and finally gave it up. I wanted to end the night with Wishes at 10 (we had to leave the next morning at 8), but finally decided to head on back and have a relaxing end to our vacation instead of fighting crowds.

[Jeff G]

We must have been in the 'wrong' park on the 'wrong' day last week. We thought the crowds were much heavier than the same week two years ago. The rides weren't bad, though, and I'm attributing that to there being so many little ones, and multi-generational family groups there. We, too, were at MK on 9/27 and finally gave it up. I wanted to end the night with Wishes at 10 (we had to leave the next morning at 8), but finally decided to head on back and have a relaxing end to our vacation instead of fighting crowds.

A Saturday at the MK in September & October can be extremely busy because of a large influx of locals. We did the MK Friday and Sunday and both days it was dead (an understatement at that). Something to consider why the MK was so packed the 27th, if someone made a weekend trip to WDW both Friday & Sunday had MNSSHP at the Mk. The only night for Spectro Magic & Wishes over the weekend was Saturday thus drawing more to the MK.I've always been told to avoid MK on Saturdays & Mondays if at all possible + days with EMH.

Avoiding parks with the EMH is our #1 priority. To gain an hour in the morning or a few in the evening isn't worth the extra crowds. I had six different groups that were at WDW last week that we knew. One group wouldn't head my warnings to avoid the EMH parks at first, when we ran into them on Tuesday we mentioned how dead it was and they complained about huge lines. The next day they decided to join us at the MK and it was dead, they couldn't believe it. Instead of 30 - 60 minute waits there were none. They redid the rest of the schedule for their remaining 4 days and followed us and loved it. The three days they found packed we had empty parks.

[ISLE39]

I Was Also There Last Week 9/20 -29th And I Hit The Parks Some Days Right And Some Wrong. I Waited 60 Minutes For Tsm Twice On 2 Seperate Days Soarin Was 55 Min And I Did A Fp Ee 20 Minute Wait Was The Longest I Did See Jungle Cruise At 40 Or 60 Minutes And I Thoguht Wow Is That An Error. I Walked On Kilamnajaro, Tot Most I Waited Was 20 Min I Had Some Waits

[KAT1811]

Our school system gets the jewish holidays off here so we usually try to vacation around them as it allows us to vacation for a couple of weeks with the children only missing about a week of school so maybe that is why it seemed a bit busier to you around those days.

I am glad to hear that overall the crowds seem to be lighter this year. We are traveling in November for the first time and hopefully it will not be much busier than the usual September crowds as that is what we are used to. 4 1/2 weeks to go!!!

[CaptSmee]

Well...that's what you get for visiting the MK on a Saturday! Of course it's going to be most crowded that day of the week!