The absolute least crowded time to go.

[mn51]

None.
Kidding...not kidding.
Anyway, probably February (except around President's Day). First half of Feb.

We have gone the past two years late January into the second week of February. It was crowded in 2017 but much worse this year. My understanding from the cast members we spoke with was that the people from South America are traveling again. I guess their economy was hurting a bit in the past and in 2017 it was the Olympics there (something like that). Honestly, it was extremely crowded. People we met were very nice and many were surprised at how crowded it was. We decided to to Disney After Hours and was so glad we did. It was truly empty the evening we went.

 

[DisneyOma]

One ... it’s a pretty hostile reply .. two .. if you had seen any of my recent posts you would have seen that before our April trip we had decided to let our APs lapse and start more overseas travel for MANY reasons .. also don’t know what “ April break “ is ? I went just last week and did show it was a great week with no crowds .
We are done with Disney PARKS & RESORTS ( will still be doing DCL) for many reasons ... being
To many people makes for a non relaxing vacation , we have been so many times frankly it’s old , the constant increase in onsite hotels that are taking away perks by the minute and I just don’t enjoy having to explain why I don’t want anyone walking in my room at anytime they choose .
I would rather be enjoying a art museum in England or eating pastry in France for a ton less then staying a week at a deluxe Disney Resort , we also enjoy the occasional DCL cruise that is top notch and never feels crowded even when the ship is full . I enjoyed are trip last week .. but it’s are last ... the kids don’t even care for it anymore .

"Of course it's crowded" is hostile? And no, I haven't seen any of your recent posts, LOL. Is that a prerequisite to this one?

BTW, CMs will not walk into your room at any moment. There's the chain on the door to keep that from happening. All you have to do is ask them to wait. They will. You may even get the same treatment in France and England. They've had their share of terrorist attacks as well.

Now saying the kids are done, you've been so often it's getting old - well, that's entirely different.

 

[disney-inspired]

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.

This is good to know, we are planning to go end of January next year for the better weather.

One ... it’s a pretty hostile reply .. two .. if you had seen any of my recent posts you would have seen that before our April trip we had decided to let our APs lapse and start more overseas travel for MANY reasons .. also don’t know what “ April break “ is ? I went just last week and did show it was a great week with no crowds .
We are done with Disney PARKS & RESORTS ( will still be doing DCL) for many reasons ... being
To many people makes for a non relaxing vacation , we have been so many times frankly it’s old , the constant increase in onsite hotels that are taking away perks by the minute and I just don’t enjoy having to explain why I don’t want anyone walking in my room at anytime they choose .
I would rather be enjoying a art museum in England or eating pastry in France for a ton less then staying a week at a deluxe Disney Resort , we also enjoy the occasional DCL cruise that is top notch and never feels crowded even when the ship is full . I enjoyed are trip last week .. but it’s are last ... the kids don’t even care for it anymore .

I totally understand where you're coming from, it's great to visit new places and I've been 'Disney'd out' before. International travel is so exciting!

September is still very hot and humid, pretty much the same weather as August.

i've done two trips in september and while it's hot and muggy as heck, the crowds were so low. I walked onto a lot of things and took a lot of breaks.

We have gone the past two years late January into the second week of February. It was crowded in 2017 but much worse this year. My understanding from the cast members we spoke with was that the people from South America are traveling again. I guess their economy was hurting a bit in the past and in 2017 it was the Olympics there (something like that). Honestly, it was extremely crowded. People we met were very nice and many were surprised at how crowded it was. We decided to to Disney After Hours and was so glad we did. It was truly empty the evening we went.

Oh dear, I'm going to go look for some January 2018 trip reports. We are planning for last week of January next year because of the better weather and what we thought were good crowd levels. I've been in June and September. How would you compare the crowds this January to those months?

 

[Fldisneyfamily4321]

"Of course it's crowded" is hostile? And no, I haven't seen any of your recent posts, LOL. Is that a prerequisite to this one?

BTW, CMs will not walk into your room at any moment. There's the chain on the door to keep that from happening. All you have to do is ask them to wait. They will. You may even get the same treatment in France and England. They've had their share of terrorist attacks as well.

Now saying the kids are done, you've been so often it's getting old - well, that's entirely different.

Funny enough I went to Manchester England in October blocks away from the attack they had in the arena and stayed 10 days and several hotels without one person ever coming to my door , kept the DND sign out and got fresh towels and bedding from front desk to do those myself . The only place that had noticeably higher security was IN the arena area .I felt very safe the entire time and I was traveling alone ( that’s why I kept the DND sign out ) .
I cancelled my sept 2018 disney trip and put that money towards London / Paris ( at half the cost for two including airfare at 476.00 round trip ) . The 10 day trip I planned literally cost less then a 6 day deluxe stay at Disney .
By the way what I took was hostile was the comment of why I would decide to not return after having a good trip previously. If it was not meant that way I apologize, I do understand words and text may come across differently then speaking but that’s how it came across in text.

 

[Fldisneyfamily4321]

This is good to know, we are planning to go end of January next year for the better weather.



I totally understand where you're coming from, it's great to visit new places and I've been 'Disney'd out' before. International travel is so exciting!



i've done two trips in september and while it's hot and muggy as heck, the crowds were so low. I walked onto a lot of things and took a lot of breaks.



Oh dear, I'm going to go look for some January 2018 trip reports. We are planning for last week of January next year because of the better weather and what we thought were good crowd levels. I've been in June and September. How would you compare the crowds this January to those months?

YES ! I took my first trip to the U.K. in October and it was just AMAZING.. the museums, the food .. just everything was great .. not to mention most of the places to see are FREE .. I spent hours in some art museums there .

 

[mn51]

This is good to know, we are planning to go end of January next year for the better weather.



I totally understand where you're coming from, it's great to visit new places and I've been 'Disney'd out' before. International travel is so exciting!



i've done two trips in september and while it's hot and muggy as heck, the crowds were so low. I walked onto a lot of things and took a lot of breaks.



Oh dear, I'm going to go look for some January 2018 trip reports. We are planning for last week of January next year because of the better weather and what we thought were good crowd levels. I've been in June and September. How would you compare the crowds this January to those months?

Found the crowds in later January to be much higher than early September. It's been many years since we went in mid to late September. Just book your dining reservations and fast passes if you go in January (or I guess any time now). We have had very good luck in early September with walking up to a restaurant and getting in. It's just two of us so that might make a big difference. Hope you have a great time whatever time you select.

 

[disney-inspired]

YES ! I took my first trip to the U.K. in October and it was just AMAZING.. the museums, the food .. just everything was great .. not to mention most of the places to see are FREE .. I spent hours in some art museums there .

I went to Europe when I was 9 for my aunt's wedding but we spent almost a month out there. So much interesting history and amazing food.
I want to go to the UK so bad!

 

[North of Mouse]

Early May is also very very slow. I have heard it's mostly walk on. Plus weather is great.

No, not even close to 'slow' let alone very, very!!
We went last year first two weeks of May, and yes, slower, nicer than summer, but not really slow. We left today after 10 days there and the crowd levels were similar to last year early May, (except heavy week ends) but the weather with exception of a couple days, was fantastic.

 

[Fldisneyfamily4321]

I went to Europe when I was 9 for my aunt's wedding but we spent almost a month out there. So much interesting history and amazing food.
I want to go to the UK so bad!

The food was AMAZING !!!! I’m sure I gained 10 lbs lol I think I ate every pastry I came across haha plus the food is so fresh and crazy cheap ... much different from here .

 

[saraheliz]

Sometime around noon , inside AK .. I have a friend there this weekend .. she is “ ITS NUTS here “ so seems just crowded in general from what she said , they also go often so I usually take her judge of crowds .

Interesting. We were there Thursday of last week through Wednesday evening of this week and the only day it felt super crowded was Saturday at MK. Everything else seemed reasonable....AK was packed in the Pandora area on Sunday earlier in the day but was downright empty after the rain. MK felt much lighter on Tuesday and Epcot seemed great on Wednesday (We did HS on Monday but it was hard to gauge as we weren't there for very long). I thought it felt pretty good crowd-wise for April vacation week other than the usual tough spots (like between PP and Small world, etc). We were able to FP probably 75% of what we rode and never waited longer than 15 minutes for any ride....

 

[Disneylover99]

September is still very hot and humid, pretty much the same weather as August.

That's what I figured. I'm not sure why the op thinks that going on labour day is any different than the end of August weather wise.

 

[momimouse27]

We went to London and Paris in 2006 and I have to say London is one of my favorite places I've ever gone. And I really loved the fact that, yes, most of the museums and sights are totally free.My husband took our oldest daughter for her graduation in 2011 as well.

We wanted to go as a family a couple of years ago, but unfortunately the prices have skyrocketed to the point of being un-doable for us. The flight alone for our entire family we priced out at $3500, not including the hotel, food, etc, etc. We went to WDW end of February this year, and the entire trip cost us around $4000. As much as I'd love to go back, it's Disney and the beach for us for a while, and that's okay cause I still love WDW!

 

[Simba's Mom]

January, right after the marathon weekend.

One year after DH ran the marathon, we stayed for an extra few days and the decrease in crowds was amazing. We said the exact same thing as you, that right after the marathon is a great time to go-as long as you can fit in your trip before MLK weekend.

 

[alan68]

Yogi Berra once said, "Nobody goes there anymore! It's too crowded!"
My theory is that with WDW being the country's #1 tourist destination, everybody is looking for the slowest time to go, and they're ALL booking for that same slowest time, so those times aren't slow anymore. It's like Yogi's quote, only in reverse.

 

[quandrea]

No offense taken, believe me. But your comment gives me the impression you're fairly misinformed. It's completely true that there are no "slow" times at WDW. As I've said on many threads about crowds, WDW is the most popular tourist destination in the United States. So anyone expecting to go there and walk around almost by themselves all the time is just setting unrealistic expectations. Having said that, relatively speaking, summer is one of the better times to go. Crowds aren't really all that bad. We've been to WDW in summer many times, including several years straight now...and again this summer. We've had many days where we are surprised how light the crowd is...again, relatively speaking.

And we never...ever...wait 3 hours for Space Mountain...or any ride. That's what FP+ is for. I kid you not when I say on a 2+ week summer trip, we will never wait in a line more than 20 minutes for any ride (shows not included). Summer is the best time for us to get FP+ after FP+...one right after the other, all day. If we feel like it, we literally hop from ride to ride.

Klayfish speaks my language. I didn’t think I’d like the summer, but last August I went for my first summer trip in about 25 years. It was the quietest I’ve seen it. I’ve been every month of the year. I was pleasantly surprised with August. We were up and out early. Took it easy in the afternoon and returned in the evening. The heat didn’t bother us. We never wait in line, just move from Fastpass to Fastpass.

 

[focusondisney]

This is good to know, we are planning to go end of January next year for the better weather.



I totally understand where you're coming from, it's great to visit new places and I've been 'Disney'd out' before. International travel is so exciting!



i've done two trips in september and while it's hot and muggy as heck, the crowds were so low. I walked onto a lot of things and took a lot of breaks.



Oh dear, I'm going to go look for some January 2018 trip reports. We are planning for last week of January next year because of the better weather and what we thought were good crowd levels. I've been in June and September. How would you compare the crowds this January to those months?

We went the last week in January this year & stayed at POR for the first time in several years. I was also expecting lower crowds based on past years. We thought it was pretty crowded for a non school break / non holiday time. The food court at POR was packed every morning. As in, "walk around with your tray of food - looking for a table" packed. We went to breakfast anywhere from 8 to about 9:30 & it was packed every morning. It did not seem to be any school or sports groups but regular families. It was certainly manageable, but I was just very surprised at how crowded it was. We used to stay at POR in late August in the mid to late 90's. Never saw the food court as busy then as it was this past January.

Within the past year, we have been in mid May, mid December, late January & just got home yesterday from another week long trip. I would say there was not much noticeable difference in crowds at MK or Disney Studios for any of the trips. Epcot was certainly busier on the weekends with Flower & Garden. We don't go to AK regularly & have no interest in Pandora so I am not including that in my estimates. Previous years we have also been the second week of a September & even that week was busier in 2016.

Anyone who hasn't been in the last year or 2 will notice the difference in crowds I think. Disney has done a good job of eliminating really slow periods. Comparing crowds from 2009 to crowds now is not realistic.

As for weather, we had temps in the high 30's & low 40's in both Dec & Jan this year. So you won't sweat like you do in September, but you may need to bundle up! We are from Buffalo, NY. I found the temps in the 40's & 50's to feel much colder in Orlando because it is so damp & humid. I had on cuddle duds, long sleeve cotton shirt, jacket & a sweatshirt at the Christmas party. So "better weather" is debatable!

 

[halfpintpeggy]

I have been for 25+ years and just not into the crowds and constant inconsistencies of policies that they make ... everyone has a different experience because the entire place isn’t inconsistent.

Just wanted to say thanks for bringing up this point. I see too many people getting attacked/bullied on these forums if they had a different experience than others.

 

[Ladyandthepuppies]

We went the week after Labor Day last year. That Wednesday immediately following Labor Day the parks weren't crowded but it was 90 mins for 7DMT and 60 for FEA so it's not like it was all walk-ons, either. And then Irma came and we got stuck. That was a really scary experience, I will never forget sitting on a bench calling the airline and panicking that we couldn't change our flights while waving at my kids on the carousel and pretending everything was fine. We kept hearing "category 5 headed for Orlando" and all I could think about was the devastation Katrina left in NOLA wondering if we would be living through something similar. Thankfully everything was fine, we did end up paying for an extra 4 nights at the Contemporary (at "hurricane rates" which, trust me, are still expensive and meanwhile the park was closed!) Anyway, it turned me off Sept trips for a while...

I asked a CM while we were there and she said February is the least crowded time. But like everyone else is saying, they reduce staff so the wait times end up being about the same.

 

[avincent]

We went the last week in January this year & stayed at POR for the first time in several years. I was also expecting lower crowds based on past years. We thought it was pretty crowded for a non school break / non holiday time. The food court at POR was packed every morning. As in, "walk around with your tray of food - looking for a table" packed. We went to breakfast anywhere from 8 to about 9:30 & it was packed every morning. It did not seem to be any school or sports groups but regular families. It was certainly manageable, but I was just very surprised at how crowded it was. We used to stay at POR in late August in the mid to late 90's. Never saw the food court as busy then as it was this past January.

Within the past year, we have been in mid May, mid December, late January & just got home yesterday from another week long trip. I would say there was not much noticeable difference in crowds at MK or Disney Studios for any of the trips. Epcot was certainly busier on the weekends with Flower & Garden. We don't go to AK regularly & have no interest in Pandora so I am not including that in my estimates. Previous years we have also been the second week of a September & even that week was busier in 2016.

Anyone who hasn't been in the last year or 2 will notice the difference in crowds I think. Disney has done a good job of eliminating really slow periods. Comparing crowds from 2009 to crowds now is not realistic.

As for weather, we had temps in the high 30's & low 40's in both Dec & Jan this year. So you won't sweat like you do in September, but you may need to bundle up! We are from Buffalo, NY. I found the temps in the 40's & 50's to feel much colder in Orlando because it is so damp & humid. I had on cuddle duds, long sleeve cotton shirt, jacket & a sweatshirt at the Christmas party. So "better weather" is debatable!

We have been to Disney every year since 2010. I find that the crowds get larger every year we go. This past year we went the week of October 8th which is our fall break with kids getting older it is harder to take them out of school. I personally thought this was the busiest I have ever seen the MK on a Wednesday and we were there Christmas Eve the year before. It was shoulder to shoulder sweaty people and honestly kind of miserable and the fireworks were so crowded I just prayed there was not a medical emergency for anyone but imo Disney creates that because every other day that week was a Halloween party and that was the only day they were open late with fireworks and also the cast members told us it was an excursion day for a couple of the cruise ships. But that being said as busy as that day was and all the times we have been fall break, spring break, Christmas Eve, Halloween day etc I have never waited 3 hours for anything. We don’t wait more than 30 minutes for rides. We go in the morning, I am not going to say rope drop because I don’t think we have ever actually made it there for that but close. We do what we can in the few hours before it gets busy, I do our fast passes for mid day and then we do night time until close or close to it. The longest waits we have had is for characters my kids just had to see and I felt like parent of the year for waiting a hour and half. Out of all the times we have been that week before Christmas is our favorite, the first year it was cold in 2010 but every other year it has been awesome. MK to me has been busier since the opening of The new fantasyland, animal kingdom was a nice leisurely day until this year and it was a mad house with Pandora so imo HS with the opening of Toy Story land and then Star Wars is only going to make the crowds 10 times worse.

 

[sweetnjmom]

If you have not been in August please drink LOTS of water , dress lightly and use sunscreen ... all day long .. I live in Florida and can’t take the extreme heat in August ... it’s just BAD .. feels like your breathing in heat .. it can be done just take lots of precautions

Thanks for the advice. It's been a LONG time, but I've been to Florida in August before (when my late grandparents were alive, they lived in Delray Beach and I visited each Summer). We have decided that with this trip, it's going to be more of an "enjoy the resort (Poly) amenities type of trip" and "see what we see" at the parks. I'm hopeful that if we pace ourselves and take breaks that we'll do OK.