Website that shows actual historical crow levels? Was Labor Day week really that bad?

[mousefan73]

So we got back from our 4th trip that is annually over Labor Day.. this year from 02-09 September.
This year THE CROWDS WERE NOTICEABLY WORSE!!

I was wondering if there is site that compares actual wait times, historically etc... I know I am a nerd......I just want to check if we planned our days wrong.

We were so frustrasted.. Of course we expected crowds to be heavier over the weekend, but even the Tues, wens. after they didnt seem to drop.. Maybe we are spoiled, but the last 3 yrs.. most day we had wait times of not more than 15-20 minutes(TSM, 7DMT etcc exceptions).. this year 30-40 minutes were average times... for other rides. FPplus is not the reason too. Last year it wasnt like this.. Plus FD is also not a new thing.

Also with LD being so late this year, we had hoped for even emptier parks... We are European, and the usually September crowd for us are non- US or US adult. Not too many US school kids .

One thing we also noticed were A LOT of American school kids.. Noticeably. And they stayed not only the Holiday Weekend. I asked one family. School started mid-aug and they pulled their kids a week... the kids get credit as Disney is a "learning experience" ???? physics for grade schoolers??? The parks seemed full of the typical American families ( who we hoped wouldnt be there, no offense, just crowd planning! )

Anyways.. just pondering if the September low crowds are no longer a thing....

 

[JoeyEmmaMomma]

We were there over the weekend Sept 5-7 and it was busier then we were hoping for. I think this week and next week will be slower for sure.

 

[Alesia]

Would you mind sharing which parks you went to on which days? I'm nerdy about this stuff myself.

 

[mousefan73]

One more thing.. ironically.. we were seated within 5 minutes of every ADR and these included big ticket ones ( BOMO, CM etc...).. In the past we would wait longer.... but yet parks seemed more full? Wonder if more off-sites ( hench typical non-package American families with school kids driving down park goers)

 

[TeamSy]

That's so strange because we were there Aug 30- Sep 7 and we only noticed really low crowds. We couldn't believe it. Aside from 7DMT (which we went on 3 times only because of FP), we didn't wait on any line more than 15 minutes. The highest crowds were definitely MK which we went to on Thursday and then Sat, and even then - we road all the other mountains MULTIPLE times and pretty much walked on. We walked on nearly everything the entire week! We even did A&E without a FP one night during EMH (Sat) and waited only 10 minutes. A lot of times we did notice the high wait times on the app and then when we walked to the ride, the wait was SIGNIFICANTLY lower, and even then, the times were off. The wait was just walking the line to get on the ride.

 

[bc7ate9]

Touring Plans has historical crowd info: http://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/historical-crowds

 

[mousefan73]

02 Sept: MK 4-close (not too bad)
03 Sept: AK ( also not too bad)
04 Sept: EP ( ok our fault EMH in the pm, but still worse than usual and we also noticed that the countries were packed, couldnt walk much. We usually do EP on Fridays anyways but still was worse)
05 Hollywood studios.. Horrible. Even Star wars was 30-40 minutes afternoon.. GMR forget it.. 40 minutes... other rides were never past 30 minutes.
06 MK: heavy crowds, plus it poured but didnt thin crowds out
07 EP: went at 9:30 just to do TT standby with DS.. thinking first hour would be quick.. Nope... when we got there 30 minutes then 40 by 10:30am.. We did single rider ( 10 then 15 ) left. Came back evening.... Soarin and TT never got below 40 I think.. At 8:15 we did TT single rider as stdby was 30... right before close standby was almost walk-on
08MK: heavy day.. this is were I was asking families in line " when do your kids go back to school" ... most took kids out
09 MK: also heavy... at noon BBMR and Splash Mountain were 30 to 50 minutes... only Space Mountain was at one point 20 minutes then 30 plus..

 

[Anesthesia Fine]

Friday night at Epcot seemed empty until after 5. (WS really got crowded after that, though.) MK Saturday was busier than I expected but we got a lot done. (edit: Also I don't really remember a heavy downpour Saturday. Some rain, yes. Sunday at AK we got drenched, but it felt nice!) DHS on Labor Day was nuts (last day of Frozen Summer Fun, so unsurprising) but we got a lot done there, as well.

We did not wait more than 5 minutes at any table service restaurant, though; 4th FPs were readily available; single-rider lines stayed manageable. Definitely heavier crowds than I expected, which I put down to Labor Day weekend being so late this year...but since in the past we've been in June, during Easter, and between Christmas and the New Year, things seemed more than tolerable!

 

[Alesia]

I always recommend using the crowd calendars at easywdw.com to plan your days. You were at the non-recomended parks on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday. I think you would have had a much better experience if that weren't the case.

 

[POOHsie]

Sorry, your title said historical CROW levels. I thought I was going to read about an increase in hotdog and churro thefts!

 

[Wood Nymph]

We were there the weekend before Labor Day and the parks were empty. I think it may have been because of the possibility of Florida receiving a direct hit from tropical storm Ericka. I wouldn't be surprised if the people who cancelled their plans because of Ericka decided to go to WDW on Labor Day weekend instead.

 

[serene56]

Kids up here in the northeast did not go back to school til the sept 8,9th or 10th

 

[MammerJammer]

That's so strange because we were there Aug 30- Sep 7 and we only noticed really low crowds. We couldn't believe it. Aside from 7DMT (which we went on 3 times only because of FP), we didn't wait on any line more than 15 minutes. The highest crowds were definitely MK which we went to on Thursday and then Sat, and even then - we road all the other mountains MULTIPLE times and pretty much walked on. We walked on nearly everything the entire week! We even did A&E without a FP one night during EMH (Sat) and waited only 10 minutes. A lot of times we did notice the high wait times on the app and then when we walked to the ride, the wait was SIGNIFICANTLY lower, and even then, the times were off. The wait was just walking the line to get on the ride.

We were there Aug 25-Sept 1 and the crowds were low IMO.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We were there 8/26-9/5. We really noticed a drop off in crowds starting 8/31. MK on 9/4 was an estimated crowd level 2 but still pretty jammed IMO. Lines were short but still tons of people.. Much higher than a 2 when we went in 2011 but much better than the 5 on 8/28.

I didn't wait in any line longer than 15 minutes. We did all of the headliners multiple times (2-4) per day.

 

[ChimCher-ee]

One thing we also noticed were A LOT of American school kids.. Noticeably. And they stayed not only the Holiday Weekend. I asked one family. School started mid-aug and they pulled their kids a week... the kids get credit as Disney is a "learning experience" ???? physics for grade schoolers??? The parks seemed full of the typical American families ( who we hoped wouldnt be there, no offense, just crowd planning! )

Anyways.. just pondering if the September low crowds are no longer a thing....

In addition to checking the websites recommend here, look into school start dates. As PP mentioned, schools in the northeast started late this year (although it's always right after Labor Day). So, there are more families traveling than just those swapping public school education for a Disney education!

Maybe to be on the safe side, plan your vacation with LD at the beginning, not the end...

 

[elaine amj]

Well, in lower crowd season, it makes a much bigger difference to follow crowd calendars on best days. I use easywdw myself.

The year I was there at the end of August, I noticed a massive difference between my 2 MK days.

One was recommended.
I could sit with room to spare at the Hub for Wishes. Anyone could have strolled in at the last minute for a spot at the Hub (it was reasonably full, but there was plenty of room to squish more ppl in)

A few days later, we went on a non-recommended day
I was squished in so tightly at the Hub during Wishes that I couldn't move. Leaving the Hub afterwards we were at a crowd standstill for a few minutes - very unusual for my family as we are typically very good as working our way through heavy crowds.

This was during the same week.

 

[sharonabe]

Agree with elaine amj. I can't remember how many people post a question like, "crowd levels at 1-3, do I still need to follow touring advice?" It is during low season that you really need to follow the crowd calendars touring advice. When it's 8-10, everywhere is going to be crowded, and you have to deal with it. Recommended parks during low season are where the low crowds are.

 

[mousefan73]

Yeah I need to go back and check how we did it the previous years ( yes I keep everyrhing). I must have messed up somewhere.

BTW This was the first year we've ever waited in line to use bathrooms at MK.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Just to add....on 8/28 when we were in the MK on a level 5 it was the recommended park per easy wdw.

 

[North of Mouse]

LOL - was wondering why the 'crows' were so bad all of a sudden!!