What was your least crowded trip ever?

[Aurora]

Inspired by the "What Do You Consider Busy?" thread, here's an opposing question: What was your least busy/crowded trip ever to WDW -- specifically the month and year?

Ours was in January 2002, a few days after New Year's and several months after Sept. 11. The parks were wide open, Christmas decorations were still up, and there were no lines for anything. The flip side was the parks closed early (6:30 p.m. at the MK one night) and it was chilly -- days were nice but some nights it got down into the 30s.

Main St. Jim has said that was the lowest attendance at the MK. It may have spoiled us a little.

How about your least crowded trip?

[Ian]

September of 1997 ... my brother and I stayed a week at the GF and I'm telling you it was like we had the run of the place.

We did one of the old E-Ticket Nights they used to have in Magic Kingdom and there couldn't have been more than maybe 3,000 people in the entire place. We actually stood outside Haunted Mansion for a good 5-10 minutes just marveling at the fact that there wasn't another human being in sight.

It was awesome ... CM's were letting us ride around and around on the rides without even getting off, no wait time was longer than maybe 10 minutes tops, and you could plop down five minutes before parade time and get a prime spot.

Best trip I've taken ever in terms of crowd levels.

[EpcotFan182]

This past trip - May 2013. I have always gone in either July or August so it was refreshing to see a lower crowd attendance!

[Belle of the Ball 051411]

This past April (week of the 21st).

[waymickey]

Mine least crowded trip had to be the day before Hurricane Charley and the Day after. We were staying on site and the parks were empty. The reosrts did not provide transportation so the only way to the parks was by personal veichle. Most locals were home preparing for the storm and many of the people at the resorts flew in and did not have a way to the parks. We drove so we were able to get to the parks quickly and have a choice of spots to park. Many of the rides were closed but not all and there were no lines, really no lines. You did not even have to get off the ride if you did not want to since no one was waiting. CMs were scurrying around tying down objects around the park the day of and the day after they were cleaning up areas and there were still no lines. We rode things over and over and over to the point my DD and niece got sick riding mission space and test track. Yes they closed early for the storm and we had to be inside the resort during the storm. But we had a blast. The characters; mickey, goofy, pluto, and donald came to the WL and sat on the lobby floor and played games with the kids from the gift shop.
Now that is something that does not happen often and one that I will never forget.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

First week of January 2003. After the 1st the crowds seem to diminish. The decorations were still up and it was very cold if I recall.

[bruin1344]

Mid-May 2005. I think we got done all the major attractions in MK and Epcot done in 1 afternoon/evening.

[Mrs Bus Driver]

Back in end of January 2009 beginning of February. Remember going to DHS and riding ToT several times in a row (walk on) and 10 minute waits for ARR. No waits more then 20 minutes the whole trip. Wow

[tundramom]

September 15-24, 2001 eery and somber
Also there for Hurricane Charlie- parks closed at noon day of (CBR) and we had transportation, day after buses ran to MK and EPCOT just got a little later start (not sure where waymickey stayed).
I would trade either of those trips for a little more crowded days if the events could be negated

[russ57]

October 11, 2001. There was almost no one anywhere in the parks. BWI Airport was not ready with enchanced security, Soldiers with guns in front roaming the airport. High security when we landed in Atlanta, in Orlando soldiers had weapons holstered and not out in front. No lines for any ride, and many of the shows were reduced on numbers of runs. Only area with a crowd was MK night parade. It was somewhat unsettling.

[Opus X]

Going in late April to early May...all our trips are light crowd wise.
September is clearly the best time to go and have low crowds..but, we like spring.

[Terra]

September of 1997 ... my brother and I stayed a week at the GF and I'm telling you it was like we had the run of the place.

We did one of the old E-Ticket Nights they used to have in Magic Kingdom and there couldn't have been more than maybe 3,000 people in the entire place. We actually stood outside Haunted Mansion for a good 5-10 minutes just marveling at the fact that there wasn't another human being in sight.

It was awesome ... CM's were letting us ride around and around on the rides without even getting off, no wait time was longer than maybe 10 minutes tops, and you could plop down five minutes before parade time and get a prime spot.

Best trip I've taken ever in terms of crowd levels.

That is awesome!!

For me, believe it or not, it was just this past Friday night at MK at the MNSSHP! There wasn't more than 5-10 minute waits on anything! They let us go a couple of rounds on Splash Mountain! It was wonderful!!

[The Dad]

Mid December of 2001 (shortly after the murderous tragedy of 9/11). Beginning in '94 with the "Jolly Holidays" promotion we have always planned our visits in early to mid December. Back then (in '94) our son and daughter were 5 and 3 respectively and I must say that first visit was one of the most memorable times of my life.....the kids (now young adults of course) still remember most of it.
However, I digress....in December 2001 the parks were almost like a ghost town and it was an absolutely great time to enjoy WDW!
Our last visit was in '08.....truly looking forward to the Wilderness Lodge this December.......YEE HAW!
Brian
___________________________________
Love all, trust a few, do harm to none.

[bxrluv]

October 2004. Several hurricanes had crisscrossed FL and through central FL. We arrived shortly thereafter to seemingly empty parks. I did run into a very sweet lady who had evacuated to POFQ from gulf coast.

[bxrluv]

Mid December of 2001 (shortly after the murderous tragedy of 9/11). Beginning in '94 with the "Jolly Holidays" promotion we have always planned our visits in early to mid December. Back then (in '94) our son and daughter were 5 and 3 respectively and I must say that first visit was one of the most memorable times of my life.....the kids (now young adults of course) still remember most of it.
However, I digress....in December 2001 the parks were almost like a ghost town and it was an absolutely great time to enjoy WDW!
Our last visit was in '08.....truly looking forward to the Wilderness Lodge this December.......YEE HAW!
Brian
___________________________________
Love all, trust a few, do harm to none.

We did our first trip with the kids Dec 28th that year. On NYE day by 2pm they had closed down entry to everyone but resort guests. It ended up so catastrophic shortly thereafter we had to climb over a wall in Mexico to get out handing over kids/stroller. Awful!:

[bxrluv]

*claustrophobic yes....catastrophic no

[JerseyDad]

.....Aug/Sept 2011 ......in conjunction with hurricane Irene. As we drove down I-95 ....we "passed" Irene on it's northward move (we hit 90 seconds of rain in S.C.). We got to WDW the next day ...and it was empty. The original predicted storm track toward Fla. scared a ton of people away from flying to WDW ...and the Northeast Seaboard airports were impacted heavily ...and it was almost empty when we got there. ....basically walking onto or having less then 5 minute wait for most rides.

....the last 3 days there (10 day trip) and the crowds picked up ...but still really low.

....we were also there ...same time-frame last year ...when hurricane Isaac hit ...and it was low crowds again for about 5 of the 10 days we stayed.

[Susan A]

Our least crowded trip was the third or fourth week in January of 2004. It was after Martin Luther king weekend during the lotusphere conference.

Waits were short and crowds were light.

Boy, was it cold one night! I was glad we had our winter coats when we walked to dinner at the Boardwalk! The wind blowing off the lake was cold.

On a side note, I was able to extend my trip a few days because of snow back home. I was a teacher at the time, so why return when work is closed? A four day trip turned into a seven day one! The room at the Dolphin was paid for since my husband was there for the conference.

Ahhh, memories...

[TheVBs]

It was a September trip, but I can't remember which year. We got there just before Labor Day weekend and after the holiday the resort became a ghost town and the park crowds were really light. I have to admit we were actually just a little bummed. Having more people there fore the dance parties and movies by the pool made it more festive. Although, the crowds in the parks were manageable before the holidays, so I probably wouldn't have been disappointed by the drop in crowd levels if they hadn't been.

[c&d]

Ours was the first week of December 2001. There was no one around. We walked into the food court at POR at dinner time and only about 5 tables were filled.