The absolute least crowded time to go.

[Holly]

We went at the end of June last year and while I planned for large crowds, it wasn’t bad. It was crowded, certainly, but everything ran smoothly and efficiently. Good planning really is the key.
The heat is another story. We’ll be returning to our “only visit Florida between a November and March” philosophy.

 

[Haley R]

We went at the end of June last year and while I planned for large crowds, it wasn’t bad. It was crowded, certainly, but everything ran smoothly and efficiently. Good planning really is the key.
The heat is another story. We’ll be returning to our “only visit Florida between a November and March” philosophy.

We thought it was hot the first week of March lol. Maybe it’s because we came from snow but we all lathered ourselves in sunscreen.

 

[Greg Lembrich]

We have been the week after Thanksgiving and during the first half of December. Especially on weekdays, that period has seemed very low crowd. I have also been in mid-May and things were very calm during the week.

 

[rpb718]

There use to be several times during a year that you could plan your trip way ahead of time and pretty much count on lower crowds. Based on a variety of factors, some say staffing related and others say economy related, those days are now gone.

Sure there are probably still times that may end up being slower, but now you have to count on luck being at WDW during those times because they are unpredictable. Odds can be in your favor if you are planning a short trip (4 or less days) and you only go weekdays. But any trip longer than 4 days or includes weekend days will lessen the odds considerably. And if you're planning any trip 8 days or longer, chances are now you will hit high crowds during a good portion of your stay.

Weather is definitely a factor that can reduce crowds, but aside from the months with higher temps and humidity, it's also unpredictable. If there has been any recent trend it's that the summer crowds last year seemed lower than in the past - as if many folks who use to only go in summer are now looking at other times of the year to go to avoid the summer heat.

As for looking at past crowd calendars - I would not place much faith now in looking at historical data. You can't compare pre-Pandora AK crowds with post-Pandora AK crowds. With TSL opening up soon you wouldn't be able to compare pre-TSL crowds to post-TSL crowds. And when SWGE and M&MRR open up in HS, I can't even imagine what it will be like - but I do know that looking at historical crowd calendars would be a fruitless exercise. And at the current rate of new attractions, resorts and capital improvements being worked on in EPCOT, MK and elsewhere on property that are planned to open by 2021, I don't see where any historical data can provide any insight for the next 4 years.

 

[bmbmd]

It's like fishing. You should have been here last week.

 

[jaceraden]

2008.

 

[dreiwhit]

We went from Feb 4-8 and all the parks were the most crowded that I have experienced on our three recent trips. Many times, we had 20-30 minute FP waits. Sometimes, standby was excessive - 45 minutes for Spaceship Earth and 3 hours for Space Mountain. Figment actually had rope queue lines setup along side the building, and they were full of people!

There were a lot of reports on Disboards about January and the rest of February being crowded as well.

Most of the crowd we experienced was speaking Spanish or Portuguese. I suspect that Disney may have been making special promotions to South America, but i'm not sure. We also had to deal with the South American teenage tour groups.

FWIW, we had no problems getting ADRs at 180 days, and when I booked our FPs at 30 days out, there were plenty of FPs for the Tier 1 rides. I thought that would mean empty parks, but I was sadly mistaken.

And, the only downsizing of staff that I noticed was that they weren't running the second track of Dumbo. Everything else seemed to be staffed fine.

There were just a lot of people there.

 

[Fldisneyfamily4321]

I Am a Florida resident and AP holder .. there are still slower times , right after Easter and spring break ( we just did that and had ZERO waits all week .. even had re ride offers ) and also we normally go the first week of may with slow times . We are done with Disney parks as of now but there are still times when it’s very manageable.
We had several rides where we had whole cars to ourselves .. it was great .

 

[anniemae]

I Am a Florida resident and AP holder .. there are still slower times , right after Easter and spring break ( we just did that and had ZERO waits all week .. even had re ride offers ) and also we normally go the first week of may with slow times . We are done with Disney parks as of now but there are still times when it’s very manageable.
We had several rides where we had whole cars to ourselves .. it was great .

Yup, this is when I heard is the best. Around end of April beginning of May. Someone posted photos last year and I couldn't believe how empty it was. I checked the time on MDE and everything, except the big rides, were under 20 mins with many 5 to 10 mins.

 

[Greg Lembrich]

It's like fishing. You should have been here last week.

Last week actually was pretty great, in fact

 

[Fldisneyfamily4321]

Yup, this is when I heard is the best. Around end of April beginning of May. Someone posted photos last year and I couldn't believe how empty it was. I checked the time on MDE and everything, except the big rides, were under 20 mins with many 5 to 10 mins.

And this was not even right after rope drop .. it was crazy

 

[Runner225]

We always go in the summer as the operating hours are longer than most other times. On our last visit, we rode Space Mountain 4 times in 35 minutes just by waiting until near the end of the day.

I can’t imagine waiting 3 hours either, but that’s not necessary if you have a good plan and know how the crowd patterns flow.

This is sooo good to hear! I've only gone in Feb, early June and November...so I was a bit apprehensive about us taking a trip in late July- Early August. Hopefully it won't be too bad!

 

[Runner225]

I will also say that I traveled to Disney somewhere around Nov 10-15 and the crowd levels were pretty low despite Christmas decorating and MVMCP starting up. It was great (just a bit chilly at night)!

 

[SaintsManiac]

We are booked 9/1-9/8 for various reasons. The airfare and hotel costs were lower, it's my daughter's birthday and we want to test out this low crowd theory before our APs expire. Coming off of Thanksgiving and MLK weekend I am sure anything less would be noticeable. We aren't bothered by crowds, but when looking at options for our 3rd AP trip we figured why not?

I usually take notes and write in a trip journal every night when we return to the hotel room. I can't wait to compare!

 

[SarahC97]

The last three trips I've taken I've been on the search for the elusive slow time myself. I've come to the conclusion that -- as much as I don't want to believe it -- there really isn't a slow time anymore. I mean, sure, there are times that are slower than others, but it's unpredictable. Even if there are actually fewer people, Disney shifts the opening/closing times and staffing so that it feels as crowded as it does any other time of the year and the waits remain pretty constant. I'd rather go during a time with longer hours and higher staffing. Even if there are more people, you can spread out your time in the parks a bit better and go later in the day when the crowds actually do thin out. I guess what I'm saying is -- pick a time that works for you and just go. It's probably going to feel the same no matter when you go, so don't drive yourself nuts trying to find the absolute lowest crowds of the year.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Wait times are looking awesome right now. TP predicted 6s for the parks today and I'd hazard a guess they're going to come in lower than that (although who knows, it could change this afternoon). TP looks to have generally overestimated crowds this week. Fingers crossed that that trend holds for two more weeks.

 

[Nerissa]

I have hunted around to find the best time to go in terms of crowds and have found some dates are better than others. When we go our family goes pretty much on the same month/day every time. We show up on Labor Day and stay the week. Most people it seems use labor day as their last day and than head back home. We learned this by staying at Disney over Labor Day and seeing much higher crowds, but than right after Labor Day they drop to nothing. We tried going once in Feb. and it sucked with the cold weather and it was like an hour wait for many of the rides (with the exception of 'Soar'n we have never waited more than 15 minutes for any ride going after Labor Day). When you throw in free dining and weather cooler in comparison to July/August, but not so cold you can't swim. The only bad thing is that it is hurricane season and we never know if mother nature is going to end up canceling our vacation for us.

All that being said, are there any SLOWer times to go to Disney, and what is the absolute slowest in terms of crowds?

No offense to anyone but to me going in the summer is just crazy. If it were reversed and Disney was paying me to go to their parks during that time I would say no. Standing in line for 3 hours to go on Space Mountain is not fun for me.

I have heard Superbowl Sunday is a great day to check out the park....if you are not football fans

 

[disneydreamer1980]

We always go the 2 weeks after thanksgiving, used to be a slower time but getting worse every year. We still love it though, but debating on finding a new time of year to go after our upcoming trip.

 

[sponica]

Buy a time machine, travel to August 2010, or January 2013....Everything was a walk on those trips.

As far as a slower period to go in this current timeline, I'd deal with the heat and go in the second half of August.

 

[RocketCityMama]

I think your mileage will vary, what you (collectively) consider busy is not busy to someone else. I have been done WDW last week of May in 2009, done Universal last week of May (2015), first week of June (2016) and now coming back for late May and early June (2018) for WDW again, I have been pleasantly surprised. Is it hot? Yes. Is it humid? Yes. I am from N. Alabama so that part does not really bother me. Crowds are not horribly bad except the middle of the day, IMHO. We hit rope drop, stay til lunch, head back for a midday break and then go back in the evening. We ride what we want, never wait more than 30-45 mins, except in case of a ride break down and are unaware (happened at USO for a water ride). Utilize emh's, fp+ and plan accordingly and I think you'll be fine. We did a quick Dec 2008 trip a few days after Christmas and holy cow, I will never, ever do that again! Only perk was we got to see the Osborne Family Lights. That was worse than any Summer trips we have taken!