Commenting on the Illuminations thread about my strongest memories of ROE made me think back to some of the slowest times I've been in the parks. I'm wondering what others have experienced.
The slowest time I spent in the parks was definitely Christmas Week 2001. The country was still very much reeling from 9/11 and places like WDW (especially flying there) were feeling it. We were in WDW 12/21 through 12/27, and I vividly remember the entire trip feeling as if we were some of the only people in the parks. The "shoe bomber" incident happened while we were there, too, which didn't help matters, I'm sure.
In particular, I vividly remember Christmas Eve at Epcot. There was NO ONE there. I'm sure I'll never see this again (well, especially since it seems that Electric Umbrella is going away):
Our family of 5 was having a blast and enjoying the world. All of us were adults, with my twin brother and I having just turned 21 and my sister 25, so we were free to do whatever. We had just ridden SSE and it was about 11:45 so we headed to the Electric Umbrella for lunch.
We were the ONLY people in the Electric Umbrella. At noon. On Christmas Eve. It was honestly very spooky. That night, we found a bench right on the lagoon (I want to say we were around Japan but I can't remember exactly) a few minutes before Illuminations, and watched it feeling like we had the place to ourselves.
Since then, I remember being in WDW the day after Labor Day in, I believe, 2007 or 2008 (solo trip, before marriage or kids!). I remember walking by Peter Pan and it was a WALK ON. Never happened before (at least not since FP), and has never happened since. I remember seeing Lou Mongello heading into a meeting in Liberty Square (which I found interesting at the time), and saying, "Oh hey, Lou Mongello -- hey did you notice there's no line at Peter Pan?" An hour or two later, I saw him post on Twitter to get to MK and ride Peter Pan, since there was no line.
Random memory there
The slowest time I spent in the parks was definitely Christmas Week 2001. The country was still very much reeling from 9/11 and places like WDW (especially flying there) were feeling it. We were in WDW 12/21 through 12/27, and I vividly remember the entire trip feeling as if we were some of the only people in the parks. The "shoe bomber" incident happened while we were there, too, which didn't help matters, I'm sure.
In particular, I vividly remember Christmas Eve at Epcot. There was NO ONE there. I'm sure I'll never see this again (well, especially since it seems that Electric Umbrella is going away):
Our family of 5 was having a blast and enjoying the world. All of us were adults, with my twin brother and I having just turned 21 and my sister 25, so we were free to do whatever. We had just ridden SSE and it was about 11:45 so we headed to the Electric Umbrella for lunch.
We were the ONLY people in the Electric Umbrella. At noon. On Christmas Eve. It was honestly very spooky. That night, we found a bench right on the lagoon (I want to say we were around Japan but I can't remember exactly) a few minutes before Illuminations, and watched it feeling like we had the place to ourselves.
Since then, I remember being in WDW the day after Labor Day in, I believe, 2007 or 2008 (solo trip, before marriage or kids!). I remember walking by Peter Pan and it was a WALK ON. Never happened before (at least not since FP), and has never happened since. I remember seeing Lou Mongello heading into a meeting in Liberty Square (which I found interesting at the time), and saying, "Oh hey, Lou Mongello -- hey did you notice there's no line at Peter Pan?" An hour or two later, I saw him post on Twitter to get to MK and ride Peter Pan, since there was no line.
Random memory there
