Is summer the new low season?

SCB502

SCB502

Member
Original Poster
We just returned from a week in the world and I was very pleasantly surprised at how manageable the crowds were. This was our first summer trip since 2005 and the crowds definitely were bigger back then. Granted, the majority of our trips lately have been during Spring Break, Thanksgiving and Christmas so just about anytime would seem slow compared to that. However we have also gone a couple times in May, October and early November and the crowds at those times also seemed bigger than last week.
There were only two really hot days last week so that should not have kept crowds down. We got some wait times during the middle of the day of 30 minutes for Splash Mountain, 40 for Test Track and only 45 for Toy Story. So, is it possible summer is the best time to visit now?
 
disney4life2008

disney4life2008

Well-Known Member
Wait times (more so than crowds) seem to be a positive to FP+. It seems that the crowds are consistent with previous years but now FP+ has leveled the playing field and there is a more even distribution of wait times across all 4 parks (excluding the major ones). I will be there next week and looking forward to seeing how things pan out.
 
AndyS2992

AndyS2992

Well-Known Member
Um, no not really. If you want low season then go late August, September, November, late January, early February etc and you won't have much of a wait at all.
 
Tom Morrow

Tom Morrow

Well-Known Member
The crowd levels have definitely evened out over the last 10 years or so. Summer is no longer unmanageable and peak crowds are mostly confined to holidays. Conversely, though, there are no longer "dead periods" outside of a couple days here and there.

Andys2992 said:
Um, no not really. If you want low season then go late August, September, November, late January, early February etc and you won't have much of a wait at all.
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No, not anymore. You might get lucky here and there, but whereas before you would have whole months of low crowds, it is now confined to a few days.
 
disney4life2008

disney4life2008

Well-Known Member
Tom Morrow said:
The crowd levels have definitely evened out over the last 10 years or so. Summer is no longer unmanageable and peak crowds are mostly confined to holidays. Conversely, though, there are no longer "dead periods" outside of a couple days here and there.


No, not anymore. You might get lucky here and there, but whereas before you would have whole months of low crowds, it is now confined to a few days.
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January "used" to be dead - literally the day after NYE the parks would be walk on for everything. But this past January the parks were crowded (thanks to the tour groups, sports and cheerleaders) - waiting for POC for 45 minutes was a first ever.
 
ImagineerDude

ImagineerDude

Well-Known Member
Are you sure you were at Disney World? :confused: haha, but summer is NOT the new low season (at least not when I went again this year). Solid 80+ minute waits for Toy Story, Soarin', Splash, and Space. We had fun nonetheless, but I'm glad you got lucky!
 
Tom Morrow

Tom Morrow

Well-Known Member
ImagineerDude said:
Are you sure you were at Disney World? :confused: haha, but summer is NOT the new low season (at least not when I went again this year). Solid 80+ minute waits for Toy Story, Soarin', Splash, and Space. We had fun nonetheless, but I'm glad you got lucky!
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That's not low, but that's maybe only a little above average. Peak crowds is when the wait times exceed two hours.
 
slappy magoo

slappy magoo

Well-Known Member
One thing I didn't know before frequenting WDW (and I think I learned it here) was how many states' schools end their summer break in August. New Jersey is one of those states where school doesn't start up again until a day or two or three after Labor Day. I don't know how "common knowledge" that is, but I wonder if people from my neck of the woods and the other states that have a later start date for school are becoming increasingly aware and as a result wait until late August to hit the parks, which at the least will dial back crowds during the rest of the summer.

But really, what probably makes the most difference are a: the promotions they run during the school year and b: people looking to beat the heat. My wife, a school librarian, has gone over the years from "I can't imagine taking time off during the school year and taking our kids out of school for a WDW trip, we're only in school 180 days out of the year after all" to "hmmm, maybe I CAN imagine it, I'm tired of being drenched in sweat just walking from the car or bus stop to park entrance before we do anything fun.?
 
ImagineerDude

ImagineerDude

Well-Known Member
Tom Morrow said:
That's not low, but that's maybe only a little above average. Peak crowds is when the wait times exceed two hours.
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I understand that, as we have been lately during Christmas (specifically in MK too). Soarin', Seven Dwarfs, and Toy Story reached 2 hours or more during our visit, but the majority of the time they were 60-90 minute range.
 
ImagineerDude

ImagineerDude

Well-Known Member
slappy magoo said:
One thing I didn't know before frequenting WDW (and I think I learned it here) was how many states' schools end their summer break in August. New Jersey is one of those states where school doesn't start up again until a day or two or three after Labor Day. I don't know how "common knowledge" that is, but I wonder if people from my neck of the woods and the other states that have a later start date for school are becoming increasingly aware and as a result wait until late August to hit the parks, which at the least will dial back crowds during the rest of the summer.
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The school in our area started Monday. And some started the previous Wednesday (yes in July!)
 
llrain

llrain

Well-Known Member
Maybe its people finally realizing what a daunting task it is to plan a trip now with MM+ and all the leg work you have to do...perhaps just giving up and going elsewhere.
 
Tom Morrow

Tom Morrow

Well-Known Member
llrain said:
Maybe its people finally realizing what a daunting task it is to plan a trip now with MM+ and all the leg work you have to do...perhaps just giving up and going elsewhere.
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No. The crowds this summer are on par with the last few summers, as far as I know and can tell.
 
SagamoreBeach

SagamoreBeach

Well-Known Member
BuddyThomas said:
I went last September and it was MOBBED, not to mention the temperature of a summer week in the hottest corner of Hell.
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I always planned on retiring to Florida when the time comes. Until I visited Florida during the month of September. The heat was unbearable. The plan is now the island of Faial.
 
Annalise Davis

Annalise Davis

Member
SCB502 said:
We just returned from a week in the world and I was very pleasantly surprised at how manageable the crowds were. This was our first summer trip since 2005 and the crowds definitely were bigger back then.
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Even though Disney has fared pretty well through the recession, I think crowds before the recession were much larger, and generally can't really be compared to anything after 2006/2007.
 
ninjaprincesst

ninjaprincesst

Well-Known Member
slappy magoo said:
One thing I didn't know before frequenting WDW (and I think I learned it here) was how many states' schools end their summer break in August. New Jersey is one of those states where school doesn't start up again until a day or two or three after Labor Day. I don't know how "common knowledge" that is, but I wonder if people from my neck of the woods and the other states that have a later start date for school are becoming increasingly aware and as a result wait until late August to hit the parks, which at the least will dial back crowds during the rest of the summer.

But really, what probably makes the most difference are a: the promotions they run during the school year and b: people looking to beat the heat. My wife, a school librarian, has gone over the years from "I can't imagine taking time off during the school year and taking our kids out of school for a WDW trip, we're only in school 180 days out of the year after all" to "hmmm, maybe I CAN imagine it, I'm tired of being drenched in sweat just walking from the car or bus stop to park entrance before we do anything fun.?
Click to expand...

For me it's not as much the crowds as the heat , it's so much easier to handle the crowds when it is not sweltering.
 

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