Is There A Slow Time At Walt Disney World?

[DVCOwner]

I just returned from Walt Disney World and the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend. It got me thinking. I have been at Walt Disney World the first weekend after the New Year before and there was almost no one in the parks. This weekend the hotels where full, the parks where full and the restaurants where booked. With the Flower and Garden, Food and Wine, etc., is there every a slow time at Walt Disney World?

 

[luv]

The cooler temps keep the locals away ( too cold for them..) so the Parks are rather sparse.
Only *tourists* are there...and not many of them.

I'm not sure where you got that info, but many locals prefer to visit during the less crowded, cooler time of year.

For many of us, going to a theme park when it is so hot and crowded seems less preferable than when it's cooler and less crowded. Lots of locals use passes that have blackout dates, too, so they can't go when it is crowded (not that they want to, lol.)

I am not a fan of July, August and September in the parks, lol. But now? Now is good.

 

[SMS55]

Historically January and February is one of the slowest times as long as you stay away from the Holiday weekends, MLK and President's Day, and even then they are very manageable. The only negative is that park hours tend to be shorter and there are more rides down for refurbs (Splash is currently down) as they get ready for the Spring Break rush.

 

[Leo!]

- September before F&W festival.
- Late May.
- Early June.
- November after F&W, before MVMCP and avoiding US holidays.

Not absolutely empty, but "slow".

 

[SMS55]

January has more tolerable weather if you are not a fan of sweltering FL temps.
The cooler temps keep the locals away ( too cold for them..) so the Parks are rather sparse.
Only *tourists* are there...and not many of them.

Kids in school is more of a reason that some locals stay away but this time of year Disney tries to entice Florida residents by offering discounts on hotel rooms and ticket discounts with 3 and 4 day promotions. We're pass holders but my parents are coming along because they are buying the 3 day ticket promotion when we go in two weeks.

 

[DVCOwner]

But although I wouldn't say that it was "slow" at the parks it was by no means crowded, there were lots of cheerleader groups there

I guess this is the kind of thing I am talking about. Walt Disney World as done a great job at getting something happening all the time. Cheerleaders, youth football championships, races, etc. etc. I can remember going to the parks in one of the slow times and walking onto any ride in any park without waiting at all.

 

[Figments Friend]

I'm not sure where you got that info, but many locals prefer to visit during the less crowded, cooler time of year.

For many of us, going to a theme park when it is so hot and crowded seems less preferable than when it's cooler and less crowded. Lots of locals use passes that have blackout dates, too, so they can't go when it is crowded (not that they want to, lol.)

I am not a fan of July, August and September in the parks, lol. But now? Now is good.

Indeed it is.
Yes indeed!

Ya*all are smart.
Who likes to sweat it out in the humidity of Summertime with the big crowds ( equally sweating..) ?

My comment related to some firsthand experiences, and observations over the years. I used to live in FL, too !
Of course it is not just *all tourists..* but i found the concentration high during the January time slot being discussed.

January is a great time to visit...crowd-level wise....regardless of where you originally arrived from.

 

[luv]

I've been at the parks so much lately that I'm almost parked-out, lol. You won't hear me say that in August, lol.

 

[Wikkler]

I did the entire epcot in a few hours.

All of Epcot? The exhibits in the countries? Imagination pavilion? Innoventions?
Or did you just do what you wanted to do

 

[disney4life2008]

All of Epcot? The exhibits in the countries? Imagination pavilion? Innoventions?
Or did you just do what you wanted to do

All of what I wanted - which was all of Future World crowds were low. And then went to WS - I do not spend an enourmous amout of time here but I did what I wanted which was eat in every country

 

[ILDisneyFan]

Actually, because everyone tells when the slow times are it's probably best to go when they say it's the busiest! LOL! No, for real in my opinion it's hit or miss! Just pick a date and hope for the best!

 

[Joey Stiltner]

I was there this year January 3-9 and expected crowds to disappear after the 5th when students starting going back to school but it never happened it was very crowded everyday of my trip I am not sure if it was the fact that the marathon fell so quickly after the New Years break or what. Also and I am not sure the dynamics of this but I have never been in the park when so many people seemed to be speaking languages from Eastern Europe it seemed as though over half the people in the parks were doing so I thought maybe that week happened to fall in line with a school holiday of some sort for that area as well.

 

[DVCOwner]

I was there for Marathon Weekend and it seemed that everything was crowded. Long waits for checking in at the resorts, could not get some reservations for dinner I want and everything else was busy. Like I said, Disney has been filling down time with events that bring in the crowds.

 

[ILDisneyFan]

It seems like there are TONS of marathons now too! I'm not bashing the people who run in them and not all of them act this way but some of them are complete babies! One year we had this family ahead of us in line for the bus from Magic Kingdom and the Dad had ran in the marathon that day and he acted like he was dying. He and the family were rude to cast members and said that he HAD to have a seat on the bus to sit in because he ran a marathon. Really? Who cares? If you act like that after you run a marathon maybe you shouldn't be running marathons or maybe you shouldn't go to a park after you ran in a marathon? It was ridiculous!

 

[PHS79]

We have friends that are at WDW right now, it is the first trip for all 3 of them. He called me on Thursday with a couple little questions about the parks and transportation. I asked him how busy they were, he said that longest wait they had so far was 45 mins on Soarin (on Wednesday) but he said that is was raining (on Thursday) and MK was pretty dead.

 

[disneyfan56]

We'll be going from 4th-14th Nov this year, and now I'm reading about something called 'Jersey Week'. Coming from the UK, I have no idea about this at all. Are the parks really going to be crazy busy? Have I totally screwed up by booking this time of year?!

Don't worry about Jersey Week. The crowds are manageable and not that bad. It's just called that because we have our teacher convention that week in November. Schools are closed on a Thursday and Friday. Some districts close for the entire week. So families and school employees tack on extra days off and go to Disney. Really, don't worry. It's nothing you would notice if you hadn't read about it here.