No Slow Time Anymore?

[MrPeetrie]

Crowds don't bother me much. I love the excitement crowds generate. Growing up in an Italian/Albanian household, I'm used to chaos. Thanksgiving dinners frequently had more than 40 plates set. Mayhem, noise, arguments, and camaraderie were rampant. I'm very comfortable with chaos. It reminds me of fun.

My wife, on the other hand, comes from a much smaller family. Order and respect trump silliness at dinner. Her first meal at our house was quite a culture shock. On our wedding rehearsal dinner, I sat next to her and her family. at one table. My family took up the rest of the room. Her brother quietly picked his head up from eating and said, "How are you supposed to eat with all this noise?" To this day, she's uncomfortable with crowds.

To that end, we choose our Disney vacations around slower times. We used to go in May, but with the Flower & Garden Show, local high school events, and very mild weather, that season became too crowded for her. Once, the Millennium Dreamers were being honored at Walt Disney World. Too frequently, as we approached a line, the docent would arrive ahead of us, raise his or her flag, and a swarm of Dreamers would overwhelm the queue. We planned the rest of the trip around avioding which park the Dreamers were in.

We used to go in slow time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but alas that is not slow anymore. So most recently we've opted for the traditional "slow time" in October. Our next-to-last trip was so crowded, I made the next reservation for what I thought was a very slow season -- September. Wrong!!! Every park was packed every day of an 11-night stay. DW was so frustrated on a packed-like-sardines, hard-ticket event (Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party,) she said, "Disney is driving us away. They're more concerned with gate receipts than customer satisfaction. This isn't fun anymore!"

Sometimes when we're at dinner, DD and I play Guess-The-Wait-Times game. We will look at the My Disney App and attempt to guess the wait times. On Sunday in February, the Magic Kingdom had ridiculous wait times. 75 minutes for 7D. 90 minutes for Space Mountain.

This was a Sunday in February with a 50 percent chance of rain and, looking at the radar, rain was on the doorstep.

So if a rainy Sunday in February is crowded, when isn't it crowded anymore???

[Stu29573]

I feel your pain. Our December trip was four days of moderate crowds followed by four days of "why the heck are we even here?" I do think it is Disney's fault. They are closing attractions and not opening new ones fast enough. They are aggressively marketing the "slow times" while having fewer things for people to do. I, for one, refuse to go back until all of the expansions are done. That means no Disney for us for at least three to four more years. I really think they are shooting themselves in the foot, but I'm sure their stock holders are happy. I'm really afraid that the calm, magical Disney we loved may be gone forever. If so, I'll never go back. It's just not worth it to us any more.

[AgentC]

There really isn't anytime I would consider slow anymore. IMO there are can't move crowded times, really crowded times, crowded times, and less crowded times. Not crowded times don't really exist anymore unless it is a fluke. And I think with all the construction and closures it is going to get worse before it will get better because there is less to do but that isn't going to stop people from coming.

My Facebook On This Day feed gave me pictures from a Feb trip to Epcot about 4-5 years ago. It was like we had the park to ourselves. That just doesn't happen anymore.

So what times are less crowded. In my experience
-the first two weeks of January (after New Year's Day and any assocaited weekend. Example if Jan 1 is a Friday, crowds won't drop until the Tuesday)
-first week of February & last week of February (Anything near President's Day is bad)
-Early Sept and sometimes late August depending on when school starts (As an FYI school is starting in early Aug this year in much of Florida so you won't have to deal with us locals who have school age kids. :) )
-Week before Thanksgiving.

March & April are totally dependent on Easter. If Easter is in late April, early March can be okay. If Easter is in early March, late April can be okay.

Just remember these are LESS crowded times not NOT crowded times.

Two other things to consider- popular events like fireworks and parades are almost always crowded and parties are always oversold.

[baldburke]

March & April are totally dependent on Easter. If Easter is in late April, early March can be okay. If Easter is in early March, late April can be okay.

Except when school trips kick in!

[ginger19]

We're in the same boat. We've tried different times of the year and found January to be slow but the weather was too unpredictable for us. We are trying 2/27-3/6 this year to see how that time is but it seems like there is an event every weekend at Wide World of Sports that increases crowds when you'd least expect it. We know which weeks to avoid for sure but it's almost impossible to find the perfect week for low crowds now.

[SBETigg]

The difference between you and your wife's outlook on crowds might not have to do with family atmosphere at all. It's quite possible that she's an introvert and you're an extrovert. Personality type could have made her as uncomfortable growing up in a crowd as you were acclimated to it. If that's the case, most introverts (like me) do develop strategies to get used to crowds, and I'm sure it can work out for both of you, too. Mornings and late evenings, with afternoons enjoying resorts. Eating at off times. Doing careful research into which parks are less crowded by days of the week. Park-hopping. Using FastPass wisely (and planning in advance). You can find ways to make the most of WDW in crowds. Unfortunately, it requires a strategic mix of planning ahead and being spontaneous. I hope you find your balance.

[Basket Mommy]

-Week before Thanksgiving

Last year we practically had the parks to ourselves the week before T'giving. This year, it was awful. We tried Magic Kingdom twice. If it hadn't been for our FPs, we wouldn't have ridden anything. We didn't even get to ride Peoplemover. There was a 30 (THIRTY!) minute wait. We decided that the week before Thanksgiving is no longer the time to go. Like you, though, we don't know when to go anymore. Our kids are almost too old to miss school without serious makeup work, but I refuse to stand shoulder to shoulder with people & stand in lines for an hour or more. Sadly, our Disney days might be ending, too.

[Stu29573]

Yeah, I NEVER want to go through what we did on those last four days. We had an hour wait for the Astro-Orbiter! We flat ran out of time to do the CoP, Small World, Test Track, RnRC, Tower of Terror. We also missed the Maharaja Jungle Trek because we got there right when it closed. I usually try to hit favorites like Haunted Mansion and Pirates twice...forget it on this trip.
In my opinion, Disney has crowded me right out. They want the money, but they can't (or won't) do anything to handle the crowds effectively. FP+ is a bad joke, by the way. It in no way helps the situation. I'm not going to throw thousands of dollars at them to have them treat my family like cattle. I'm done at least until 2019...maybe forever.

[Bass T-bone]

I sometimes think that they would have been better off if they had put the up coming "Avatar" & "Star Wars" attractions in it's own separate park all together. As it stands now, I think that's the problem... too many people, not enough area to spread everybody out.

[#1donaldfan]

We love the crowds and the heat. How we beat the lines and craziness is getting up early to rope drop. It works best for us as we typically do the things we want, then around noon when the park is reaching it's zenith, we exit to go play at the resort or shop. We schedule our FP's for the evening hours and head to an already packed park and get to ride those rides, then it's off to dinner. That plan has worked for us for years. .... but for this discussion, as mentioned, there are no exacting times that it's a given to be slow, those years are gone forever .....

[TheVBs]

We used to always hit the traditionally slow times too. Last year we went in late August. Schools don't start here until early Sept. We used to take the girls out of school for the Disney trips, so that it was more affordable and less crowded. But, with our oldest in high school now, we wanted to try something outside the school schedule and that time worked out nicely. Of course it wasn't anywhere as slow as the genuine slow times used to be, but it was very manageable and we had a great trip.

[Tearin_it_up]

I sometimes think that they would have been better off if they had put the up coming "Avatar" & "Star Wars" attractions in it's own separate park all together. As it stands now, I think that's the problem... too many people, not enough area to spread everybody out.

This is true for the Studios for sure, but I don't think Animal Kingdom has been effected really, Lion King just moved to another area which is new space anyway, I think it is the best park these days for wait times. The new fastpass plus system is also not helping anything

[MrPeetrie]

... I'm not going to throw thousands of dollars at them to have them treat my family like cattle. I'm done at least until 2019...maybe forever.

This is almost verbatim what my DW said!

[AndrewJackson]

Its definitely not like it used to be. You can find a few days in early September that are low crowds. Other then that, everything is average or above in terms of crowds.

[Mendelson]

I love going in early Jan (before MLK weekend) but my wife and son both want to swim and you usually can't at that time. All "slow" times are relative now. I think we've settled on mid-May, and we'll just use our considerable expertise to minimize wait times to the extent that we can.

[Park Hopper]

In my opinion, Disney has crowded me right out. They want the money, but they can't (or won't) do anything to handle the crowds effectively. FP+ is a bad joke, by the way. It in no way helps the situation. I'm not going to throw thousands of dollars at them to have them treat my family like cattle. I'm done at least until 2019...maybe forever.

I agree with much of what you are saying. I think Disney has done a great job (from their perspective) of drawing people to the Parks and maximizing the money they get from visitors while there. This has been discussed in other threads, but the question is, does Disney really care about the repeat customer (especially those that are visiting every year or every other year). At times it seems that they do not care about this dynamic. I am not a business major, but that seems like a dangerous policy.

Unfortunately, it will probably take them being hit financially before they change - they are far more reactive than they used to be. I really hope Universal starts hurting Disney's market share and financial numbers enough that they start paying more attention to the repeat customers. I think this has started, but then you hear disparaging news about how Disney World is cutting staffing and hours because of troubles with their China parks. This does not give me a warm and fuzzy feeling!

I love Disney World - I know it does not seem like that from my posts, but I really have not been happy with how they are going about their business lately.

[DisneyDINK]

Yeah, I agree with MrPeetrie, There just isn't a time when the parks are dead. The best you can hope for is relatively slow. I still target the least crowded times, but I have to concede that Disney has marketed the heck out of the place and there aren't any predictable slow times anymore.

If you change the way you tour the parks you will be a lot happier. #1DonaldFan sums it up well. Never miss a rope drop! Do as many rides as early as you can from opening on. When noon rolls around get back to the resort have a leisurely lunch and hit the pool. A crowded pool is better than a crowded park. Take a nap, watch some TV, relax and then maybe hit the parks a hours before closing and you can do a bunch of rides in a row too.

Have you ever looked at you ever checked out yourfirstvisit.net? They have a free crowd calendar you might find helpful.

[BrerGnat]

Just find a time that is not summer, Spring break, Christmas break, any Run Disney week, any "festival" weeks, any "sports tournament" week, any large tour group months, and any "party" weeks. That leaves you about 3 weeks spaced throughout the year. ;)

But on a serious note, mid April to mid May is a lovely time to go, weather wise, and besides the Flower and Garden Festival, nothing MAJOR is going on and it's far enough removed from spring break to be manageable.

[thejens]

Universal is pretty great if you stay at one of their resorts. The onsite pass assures that you don't have to wait and I've never found it ridiculously crowded like WDW. It's a much more relaxing trip and their hotels are very nice.

[CanadaLovesDisney]

We don't mind the crowds so much but the bus system was a mess in September 2015. We were expecting a "quieter" trip in mid September and were surprised to have to stand on almost ever bus. We are all able bodied adults so it wasn't that big of an issue but it's nice to sit after so much walking. We visited a previous September and everything was quiet so I guess you just never know! There were lots oh wheel chair guests stuck having to wait great lengths of time due to full buses already occupied by assistance devices - felt sorry for them! One particular night we waited an hour or more from Disney springs for a bus!

[MrPeetrie]

CanadaLovesDisney, we were there in September '15, as well. We chose that time because we expected light crowds. It was very busy. And as you say, bus lines were long, but moved efficiently. Still, we stood almost every ride back to resort at night, as did many others.

[Basket Mommy]

Universal is pretty great if you stay at one of their resorts. The onsite pass assures that you don't have to wait and I've never found it ridiculously crowded like WDW. It's a much more relaxing trip and their hotels are very nice.

My 17 year-old daughter, who is a size 18, went to Universal for a day with her younger brother. She was exceptionally disappointed to find that she did not fit in any of the cars for the most popular rides (both Harry Potters, the Hulk, etc.) She's not huge by any means, and has never had a problem fitting in any Disney rides. She was so brokenhearted.