misery at DHS

[marni1971]

Not this year, at least for us. But again, we still had fun. I think September as "quiet" has been discovered.

It was definately quieter than late September. Or October. Or July.

The MK got busy as the days wore on, by virtue of its name and capacity. Other parks were far quieter.

15 min TSMM at 10am. Everest 10 minutes at noon. For example.

 

[Clamman73]

Uh Oh - we picked the 2nd week of Oct because we heard it was quiet and decent weather. I checked some of the other sites and they had it as a lower than normal week. Are we looking at crazy crowds that week in your opinions? (Pls no!)

I'm there the second week because there is no free dining that week. Here's to hoping for walk-on Soarin'

 

[deanaandrich]

Like I said earlier, the parks have been empty up until the start of this week.
Labor Day weekend we were at Epcot. Got a fast pass for Soarin and only had to wait 30 minutes for our return time. Test Track we walked right on the single rider line.
The second weekend we were at animal kingdom and Hollywood studios. Expedition Everest was so slow they didn't have fastpass or single rider line middle if the afternoon. We walked on 4 times in a row. Safari was only 10 minutes. At DHS, we waited 10 minutes for rockin roller coaster and TOT.
Minus DHS on the 13th (which BTW we walked right on the coaster and TOT after the fireworks), parks still empty. Went to MK on the 14th and didn't wait more than 30 min all day.
Last weekend we were back to MK and Epcot. My in laws rode space mountain 6 times in a row.

 

[G00fyDad]

Uh Oh - we picked the 2nd week of Oct because we heard it was quiet and decent weather. I checked some of the other sites and they had it as a lower than normal week. Are we looking at crazy crowds that week in your opinions? (Pls no!)

That is when we go and it has gotten progressively busier each year. A lot of it has to do with the Free DDP promo that they offer, but as they have neglected to offer that for the second week of October, it may be slower this year.

I'm there the second week because there is no free dining that week. Here's to hoping for walk-on Soarin'

I doubt Soarin will be a walk on. I have seen some low crowds at EPCOT before and Soarin was still at least 25 minutes. But that's better than 60+ minutes.

 

[Maelstrom Troll]

October has been good for us, but the time we went it was over 100*, a record setting week. Our favorite time is February. It's cooler, quiet, and the crowds are very manageable.

 

[Allygator]

H

Hey guys. First of all, I would like to say that I am brand new here. I was on another Disney board that shall remain nameless, but while there, never have I encountered such a smug, pompous, condescending group of know it alls in my entire life. I figured there must be another Disney board, did a search and found you all. Having read posts for a week or so, I decided to join. You all seem to be really smart and level headed, and retain a sense of humor and good will, which is sorely lacking on this other board.

Annnnnyway, back to the point:

I was at Disney from September 14 to 18, after having been told by many smug know it alls on the other board that this was the perfect time to go.

It was MOBBED!!!

I am wondering of there are any holidays in Brazil at this time of year because honestly, the majority of the crowd seemed to be Brazilian and we encountered countless groups traveling in packs of ten to twenty or more......

Maybe Disney is doing a marketing blitz there? Who knows. Anyway, the parks were just packed and even the extra magic hours at MGM were not doable. 40 minute waits for everything.

Plus, the temperature was about a thousand degrees.

Don't get me wrong. We had a great time. How can you not? But these stories of it being empty in September seem not to be so true anymore.

Is there any time of the year any more with light crowds?

Sigh.

Welcome! Thanks for that update. That was originally our vacation date but had to change it for April. What a rough week knowing I could have been in Disney! We went a few years ago in Swptember and the parks were empty. I guess our secret got out! Glad you enjoyed your trip.

 

[ginadee]

We have our snarky moments, but mostly this is an awesome board of people and I've made some cool friends out of it : )

This has been the best forum ever. I have learned soooo much since joining and it has made my trip completely, coming up first week of dec. supposed to be one of the slowest of the yr. Cant wait even more now because of this forum.

 

[ginadee]

H

Hey guys. First of all, I would like to say that I am brand new here. I was on another Disney board that shall remain nameless, but while there, never have I encountered such a smug, pompous, condescending group of know it alls in my entire life. I figured there must be another Disney board, did a search and found you all. Having read posts for a week or so, I decided to join. You all seem to be really smart and level headed, and retain a sense of humor and good will, which is sorely lacking on this other board.

Annnnnyway, back to the point:

I was at Disney from September 14 to 18, after having been told by many smug know it alls on the other board that this was the perfect time to go.

It was MOBBED!!!

I am wondering of there are any holidays in Brazil at this time of year because honestly, the majority of the crowd seemed to be Brazilian and we encountered countless groups traveling in packs of ten to twenty or more......

Maybe Disney is doing a marketing blitz there? Who knows. Anyway, the parks were just packed and even the extra magic hours at MGM were not doable. 40 minute waits for everything.

Plus, the temperature was about a thousand degrees.

Don't get me wrong. We had a great time. How can you not? But these stories of it being empty in September seem not to be so true anymore.

Is there any time of the year any more with light crowds?

Sigh.

I hope your reading the trip reports. They are fantastic. I didnt discover those until bein on for a month or so.

 

[copcarguyp71]

I'm currently at DHS (Wed 09/25) and its absolutely miserable. I thought this was the slow season. I got here at 10 and toy story was already at 70 and fast pass return of 655-755pm. Tower of terror and Aerosmith are around 45min. Is something going on here that im missing?

WOW...we were there 9/18-9/25 and ToT was never more than 10 minutes. RnR was as high as 60 minutes but we rode four times when the wait was less than 30. TSMM...well, honestly we skipped it because it was never less than 60 minutes and with the usual breakdowns and delays that means something closer to 90 minutes...it just isn't worth the wait for that ride IMO.

On the plus side the fire on TGMR western scene was working for the first time EVER while we rode.

 

[Matt_Black]

i notice that they are showing red for a lot of May 2014 weekends but we have never experienced huge crowds in May (two weeks after the first weekend).
Is there something happening next year or have we just hit the parks lucky ?

In addition to Star Wars Weekends, May 1 2014 marks the 25th anniversary of DHS. While nothing special has been announced yet, to my knowledge, people are expecting some hullabaloo and festivities for that.

 

[Hot Lava]

I would think it would be slower in Sept and Oct simply because of school, but I don't know if other states have as strict attendance rules as Texas does. In Texas if you take your kid out of school for a week for vacation you get five unexcused absences and atomatically fail the semester, so all us Texas people are stuck with big crowds because we can only go when school is out.

This chaps my hide. A school system has no right to dictate such harsh terms. Hopefully I never encounter this, but I would be inclined to sue. Yeah, that is a lot of hubaloo for a vacation, but when certain things raise my hackles, I tend to really take off. It is the principle of a school running a family's life.

 

[Vader2112]

Dunno.... last week was dead...

Agreed ! I was there on Saturday and it was quiet then a few claps of thunder and a little wind and rain...It was paradise.

 

[dicksonthunder]

When you only have 3 main attractions, Toy Story, TOT, and RNRC everybody flocks there. The other attractions were probably in single digit minute wait times.

 

[ChevisMickey]

I was at Hollywood Studios on Monday in the evening with EMH. We hit AIE, ST, the Muppets, Mermaid, drawing class, and then headed to RNR and ToT. Walked on Tower practically, but RNR was down. They did not have it up in the 30 minutes we were down that way, so we stood in a moderate (30 mins) line for TSMM and that was the day. We were only in the park for about 4 hours, so 7 attractions in 4 hours was not bad. It must have picked up as the weather cleared Tuesday and Wednesday.

 

[dhsaddict83]

Not this year, at least for us. But again, we still had fun. I think September as "quiet" has been discovered.

In April, I asked some fellow passholders when the slow season was, and they tried to tell me it was July because it's just "too hot for most people." After talking to more people, after all that, then I knew the July answer wa trying to keep September a secret lol

 

[Figaro928]

so if not Septmeber, then when?

 

[Nemo14]

so if not Septmeber, then when?

If we tell you, then everyone will go then....

 

[Figaro928]

If we tell you, then everyone will go then....

Whisper it...

 

[armyfamilyof5]

I would think it would be slower in Sept and Oct simply because of school, but I don't know if other states have as strict attendance rules as Texas does. In Texas if you take your kid out of school for a week for vacation you get five unexcused absences and atomatically fail the semester, so all us Texas people are stuck with big crowds because we can only go when school is out.

That a pretty unfair across the board policy for the schools. We have taken our kids out of school for a week at a time 3 times to go to WDW. DH was on leave after returning from 15 month deployments to Iraq and we took time off school and work to be a family and celebrated the birthdays. anniversaries, Thanksgivings and Christmases we had missed. Failing the children in school because they took time to reunite as a family would be pretty unfair, especially since all three children are straight A students. We are originally from Texas born and raised but I'm sure glad we haven't lived the for years and years!

 

[armyfamilyof5]

Whisper it...

SO FUNNY!!!!!!