Is summer the new low season?

Obi

Obi

Well-Known Member
this year, for our disneymoon, we will be going in October. We check in on the 14th. Not sure, but I think this is during the f&w festival? Would guess Epcot would be packed for that.
 
TeamRodriguez

TeamRodriguez

Member
Obi said:
this year, for our disneymoon, we will be going in October. We check in on the 14th. Not sure, but I think this is during the f&w festival? Would guess Epcot would be packed for that.
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We have been twice to F&W. Love it!! Your going to have a blast!! :DCrowds are there at night. We try to hit Epcot WS right when it opens to avoid the crowds.
 
Redsky89

Redsky89

Well-Known Member
I've been a few times so far this Summer and it didn't seem too bad. Last time I was there was maybe two weeks ago and Soarin was about a 45 minute wait and Space Mountain was about the same. I was surprised. Still quite a lot of people but the times waiting in line didnt seem so bad to me.
 
Gullywhumper

Gullywhumper

Well-Known 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. 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?
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If you go at the start of Summer all of the Brazilian tour groups are there, which makes the wait times SUPER long, so that is not a good time to go.
 
Takeitforgranite

Takeitforgranite

Active 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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I agree with this. Over the past 5 years, we have been in late May, late June, Early Feb, Mid Oct, and the week between Christmas and New Years. I also watch wait times regularly as I daydream about the next trip. I definitely have to say that crowds are evening out more outside of the peak seasons (summer, christmas, spring break). There isn't a traditional spring break anymore, so it effectively goes through most of March and April. Tour groups are big now in the late winter and spring, and then there's the cheerleaders. These people make it FEEL more crowded. Then, you have several fall and spring holidays that push up crowd levels for stretches on the front and back ends. That really only leaves a few blocks of days sprinkled here and there that aren't crowded. That is now offset with early closing times, so it partially evens out. It's pretty depressing when everything closes by 9:00.

Bottom line: Summer isn't the nightmare it once was. More and more parents are taking kids out of school to beat the crowds and many others are trying to do the smart thing and go some other time. We went the last week of May, and it was great.
 
bethymouse

bethymouse

Well-Known Member
It's nice if you can go when kids are in school. Summers are very hot & humid! Crowds come and go. But, I have never known a very uncrowded time at WDW anymore, sadly.:arghh:
 
HatboxGhost

HatboxGhost

Well-Known Member
PrincessNelly_NJ said:
Give September another chance! LOL We arrive on labor day and it is always hot but the lines are short. Even space had a high of 25-30 minutes during our trip.
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Really give it another chance right after labor day. No later than the 15th or so. We were able to deal with the heat and a lot of the rides were walk on. Not too many kids and I would be surprised if parents would take their children out of school that quick after just going back.
 
enough

enough

Well-Known Member
HatboxGhost said:
Really give it another chance right after labor day. No later than the 15th or so. We were able to deal with the heat and a lot of the rides were walk on. Not too many kids and I would be surprised if parents would take their children out of school that quick after just going back.
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While I'm sure I'll be judged by all the high and mighty folks on here, I am doing exactly that - taking my kid out of school a couple weeks after she starts so we can have a trip down to WDW when the crowds are the lightest.
 
Roakor

Roakor

Well-Known Member
alissafalco said:
no, it was Sept.14th-22 HORRIBLE
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We went last yer sept 22-28 and there was no problem with crowds. Our longest wait was for BoG at lunch. We did get rained out at AK (not the normal 30min shower it lasted 4-5 hours). But it didn't start until about 2 and we were pretty much done with the park by then anyway. the weather was very nice (aside from that rain storm). We have always gone that last week of sept and always had a great time both weather and crowd wise. Although I will say it seems the crowds did seem a bit heavier than past years.
 
Roakor

Roakor

Well-Known Member
enough said:
While I'm sure I'll be judged by all the high and mighty folks on here, I am doing exactly that - taking my kid out of school a couple weeks after she starts so we can have a trip down to WDW when the crowds are the lightest.
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This is what we do however schools around here are cracking down on this. they only allow 5 missed days and then they threaten to fail your kid. So it doesn't look like we will be able to take the kids anymore. As I refuse to go in the summer as much because of the heat as the crowds.
 
Aurora1

Aurora1

Well-Known Member
We sort of noticed the same thing in early July... We've been the week after July 4th before and it was much more crowded than it was this year. Longest wait we had was 20 minutes, but again we are pros at avoiding the 1hr + waits...
 
BufordTJustice

BufordTJustice

Member
Perhaps those of us who like to go in September should delete our positive posts or join the bandwagon of September bashers in order to deter others from visiting that time of year? Now that I recall it, every ride was at least 60+.
 
enough

enough

Well-Known Member
Last time I went in September every park closed mid-day due to capacity issues, and believe it or not even the gift shops had 10 minute wait times to get in.

Don't get me started on the 120min wait for pirates, or the 3 hour wait for Splash
 
Wall-e

Wall-e

Well-Known Member
dmw said:
FWIW, some schools in the Atlanta metro area started the week of July 28. Others will start on August 11. The school year also ends early - before Memorial Day.
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Yeah that just sounds crazy to me because our schools here in New Jersey don't start til a couple days past Labor Day but then again they also run all the way to the end of June.
 
PrincessNelly_NJ

PrincessNelly_NJ

Well-Known Member
DfromATX said:
My cousin lives in Indiana and her daughter went to school year round, then she moved just to another town and that school didn't follow the same schedule. I thought that was weird. They also say "spelling bowl" instead of "spelling bee" but that's a different subject...
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LOL. Maybe they don't like bees. I don't like bees either, they sting.
I like bowls... they hold cereal and I like cereal.

jk... that is weird though.
 
BufordTJustice

BufordTJustice

Member
DfromATX said:
My cousin lives in Indiana and her daughter went to school year round, then she moved just to another town and that school didn't follow the same schedule. I thought that was weird. They also say "spelling bowl" instead of "spelling bee" but that's a different subject...
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And here I thought my kids only having two months off for summer was short!!
 

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