WDW Crowds

[njm]

I have always been to WDW at peak times Easter/Christmas etc.

I have read a lot about attendence being very low. This year I am going in November, which is usually quiet anyway.

In short, I wanted the opinion of you guys whether the lack of crowds spoiled the experience in any way, or does it make it better because you can see more?

 

[SpongeScott]

It doesn't spoil the experience at all, but you find you have a lot more time on your hands after you've done everything you had planned to do.

 

[Erika]

I agree with Scott- you end up with TONS of extra time on your hands, which is nice because you can explore the little things you would normally pass by.

If you're a person who takes a lot of pictures, you'll appreciate having less people to shoot around. I have also noticed that guests tend to be less crabby when the parks are not as crowded.

Have a fun trip :wave:

 

[Joalovar]

Originally posted by SpongeScott
It doesn't spoil the experience at all, but you find you have a lot more time on your hands after you've done everything you had planned to do.

That's true, on our last trip we planned a 5 day visit, and we ended doing all the 4 parks in just 3 days, plus 1/2 a day in Typhoon Lagoon.

It was one my best trips to WDW, no crowds and a beautiful weather without any rain!

We went on september 8-11.

 

[Kenan]

We at Test Track have been running 10-20 minute lines. Epcots attendance is pretty well, but at least the waits arent 75-90 minutes long. Fastpasses dont run out early anymore either, that is for the time being, until the holiday season or weekends are upon us.

 

[Woody13]

Visitation is very low right now. We normally visit WDW about 4 to 6 times a year and our year "starts" during the third week in September. When we visited just after 9/11/01, the crowds were very small. What surprised us was that during our visit this September, crowds were even smaller than after 9/11!

We found all the attractions to be walk-ons with the exception of Peter Pan and Pooh so we fast-passed those two. I was really surprised (and pleased) that Mission Space had no wait. The longest wait time we had during the entire trip was 4 minutes for the Monorail.

 

[SpongeScott]

Originally posted by Woody13
What surprised us was that during our visit this September, crowds were even smaller than after 9/11!

Exactly the same thing we found. We have been the last three Septembers (last week of the month) and this one was the least crowded of the three, hands down. I thought with the Fairytale Package that it would have been heavier, but this was not the case.

 

[Woody13]

Originally posted by SpongeScott
I thought with the Fairytale Package that it would have been heavier, but this was not the case.

I thought the same thing! I booked our September trip back in March, 2003 and when the Fairytale Vacation Package came out, I thought that I had made a mistake. Plus, I booked a bunch of really low cost rooms ($20.03 per night) at the Courtyard by Marriott on Hotel Plaza Blvd. I figured the entire hotel and the parks would be swamped with people. However, the hotel had only moderate visitation and the WDW park visitation was very low. We're going again in a few weeks!

 

[SpongeScott]

Originally posted by Woody13
I thought the same thing! I booked our September trip back in March, 2003 and when the Fairytale Vacation Package came out, I thought that I had made a mistake. Plus, I booked a bunch of really low cost rooms ($20.03 per night) at the Courtyard by Marriott on Hotel Plaza Blvd. I figured the entire hotel and the parks would be swamped with people. However, the hotel had only moderate visitation and the WDW park visitation was very low. We're going again in a few weeks!

Now that you mention that rate, I tried for the $20.03 rate the first of September from them and they couldn't book me. So, I again figured on heavier than usual crowds. I guess Courtyard only releases so many of those rooms at that rate.

 

[wdwhoneymooner]

Going during off peak times is great if you're a return visitor and don't want too much of a crowd around you. As mentioned, wait times are way down with many being walk ons. One down side is that attractions are usually under renovations during the slow periods so First Timers may miss some things.

 

[Momx3]

I highly recommend off season. Just came back and as said before the crowds were very light. We didn't feel like we missed out on anything except long lines. The hours are shorter which is the only negative I can think of. Test track had the longest line of all the rides on our trip and was one of the very few fastpasses we had to use. 15 min. wait for MS and hardly any lines for anything else. Even rode Dumbo 3 times in a row at the end of the day!