Does the concept of "off-season" still exist at WDW?

[Jonfw2]

So it's February. Every kid on earth is in school, and there's a rut of major time off now between New Year and spring break...this is universally considered one of the best times to go to Orlando to avoid crowds and wait times...and yet at this moment there are 15 attractions at the parks with at least a one hour wait and 6 with at least a 90 minute wait. And that's obviously not including RotR.

So my question is: should we all just forget about the idea of a "slow season" at Disney World? Is this just the new normal where there will literally never again be a time you can go and expect to wait less than an hour for basically everything good?

I'm tempted to say that this will die down once Galaxy's Edge loses its shine...except that will likely not be for years. And in the meantime, several MORE e-ticket attractions will open.

So what are your thoughts? And what- if anything- can/will Disney do about it?

 

[SaintsManiac]

Labor Day week should still be pretty slow.

 

[tsme]

There’s no such thing as a slow season anymore, IMO. There might be a slower week or two here & there, bu that’s about it.

 

[yulilin3]

From my personal experience I would say Yes.
Disney is more than happy to have full parks every day of the year, so they will do nothing
What you can do is plan on a busy, crowded day, and if you happen to stumble upon a lower crowd week/day you will be pleasantly surprised. If it's crowded then you have planned for it

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Part of the problem stems from the fact that Disney cuts capacity when crowds go down, which can make the lines longer. I've gone the week before Christmas, and while it might seem counterintuitive, I've consistently experienced short lines during the morning because of expanded park hours and increased capacity.

 

[2Lunds]

We always go mid-September. It's about the only time of the year that the crowds are even remotely manageable. I can't even wrap my brain around going during the holidays, spring break etc...

 

[Upatnoon]

So it's February. Every kid on earth is in school, and there's a rut of major time off now between New Year and spring break...this is universally considered one of the best times to go to Orlando to avoid crowds and wait times...and yet at this moment there are 15 attractions at the parks with at least a one hour wait and 6 with at least a 90 minute wait. And that's obviously not including RotR.

So my question is: should we all just forget about the idea of a "slow season" at Disney World? Is this just the new normal where there will literally never again be a time you can go and expect to wait less than an hour for basically everything good?

I'm tempted to say that this will die down once Galaxy's Edge loses its shine...except that will likely not be for years. And in the meantime, several MORE e-ticket attractions will open.

So what are your thoughts? And what- if anything- can/will Disney do about it?

The slow season is at the end of August and September. But slow doesn't mean walk-on attractions. People are using FP+, ride capacity and hours are reduced, etc. This is the slow season because of the hot, humid weather and peak hurricane threat. Even with all that, the parks are still drawing crowds. That's why Halloween parties start so early.

Disney wants its parks filled. It doesn't want a slow season. It created FP+ so you don't have to wait in line. If the parks get more crowded, Disney will raise prices and offer more hard-ticket events to bring demand in-line with capacity.

Some day, the economy, which is doing great for Disney's target audience, will weaken. A recession will thin the crowds.

 

[gharter]

There’s no such thing as a slow season anymore, IMO. There might be a slower week or two here & there, bu that’s about it.

Agree. Disney has been very good at booking large group activities and adding festivals, etc during what used to be slow periods.
Now, at best, there are a few slow weeks.

 

[PaladinButters]

Disney is more than happy to have full parks every day of the year, so they will do nothing

I was going to say exactly this but I'd like to amend it to "Disney will find something to draw bigger crowds into that last two weeks of September that are 'kinda' slow"!

 

[Micca]

There might be a slower week or two here & there, bu that’s about it.

I think you'd be lucky to string together a couple of slow days now & then. This is why it is important for us to be Jedi Masters of rope drop and FP+:

 

[babydoll65]

I've always found the first few weeks of September a great time to go. I did the first week of February and the weather is great but the first two weekends are major cheerleading competitions and the third week is winter break in New England.

 

[DISdreamer42]

It seems like they just keep adding more and more hotels instead of more parks ... I don't see park visitation getting any lighter in the near future unless Disney does something like creating 2 new parks.

 

[DebbieB]

One important thing is managing fastpasses. I'm a fan of "pound the app", especially same day. As soon as you "tap in" your third fastpass, get on there to find another one. Another tip is they inflate the wait times close to closing time. We were at DHS in December and Slinky showed a 50 minute wait. Considering the queue was halfway full, I knew that wasn't right. Turned out to be 25 minutes.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

And what- if anything- can/will Disney do about it?

CAN they do anything? Of course they can. putting the economy aside (which is outside of their control), they purposely make the slow seasons busy by doing things like discounts and deals (the so called "free" meal plan which isn't really free, for example). They also reduce ride capacity and throughput, but they certainly don't have to. They do special events (like RunDisney). All of these things are designed around slow times to entice crowds to come into the parks.

The question isn't can they do anything, but why on earth would they? Crowds are good for business. Good business is good for investors. Investors happy means big bonuses for CEO's, Executives and the Board. This is the new norm as long as Disney has anything to say about it. That is to say as long as the economy supports flexible vacation money in the middle class. If / when the economy doesn't. they increase advertising in other global economies (like Brazil). If there is a global economic crisis, Disney is vulnerable and the crowds will go down, but Disney will be fighting with every idea they have to combat it.

 

[mkla2015]

Part of the problem stems from the fact that Disney cuts capacity when crowds go down, which can make the lines longer. I've gone the week before Christmas, and while it might seem counterintuitive, I've consistently experienced short lines during the morning because of expanded park hours and increased capacity.

This!

We've gone when it's supposedly a slow time but you can see the capacity decreased and it creates long lines. We've completely given up on trying to go at a "slow time"... now our trips are planned around school breaks and nice weather. We enjoy going in Feb so this year we'll be there President's Day week and yes it'll be busy/crowded (expected level 8-10) but we'll still have a great time.

 

[TinkerbelleMom]

Labor Day week should still be pretty slow.

Nope. It used to be but in recent years theyve done the free dining promotion

 

[SaintsManiac]

Nope. It used to be but in recent years theyve done the free dining promotion

It was pretty slow in 2018.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

It created FP+ so you don't have to wait in line. If the parks get more crowded, Disney will raise prices and offer more hard-ticket events to bring demand in-line with capacity.

I was going along with you until this sentence. I don't think Disney created FP+ so we don't have to wait in line.

I think they created FP+, so we feel like we've won the lottery, and our brain reward chemicals are triggered when we get a FP.

Part of the addiction aspect of slot machines is that gamblers don't win every time they pull. You have to have the non-win pull in order to feel the thrill of the winning pull. Getting a great FP is addictive like winning the lottery, and the more we do it the stronger we feel the reward of the lucky draw.



Disney's also gotten a bit more aggressive about limiting/controlling park hours, and ride capacity. Changing from FP- to FP+ gives WDW much more data to use to their benefit.

In a way, though we like to complain about busy parks, part of us also wants WDW to be busy. We are social beings, and we want to be around other people. We want to be in a place that is popular.

An empty theme park is a creepy theme park.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

So it's February. Every kid on earth is in school, and there's a rut of major time off now between New Year and spring break...this is universally considered one of the best times to go to Orlando to avoid crowds and wait times...and yet at this moment there are 15 attractions at the parks with at least a one hour wait and 6 with at least a 90 minute wait. And that's obviously not including RotR.



So what are your thoughts? And what- if anything- can/will Disney do about it?

Yes, but for every person that waits an hour, there are also people who pull a FP- and thus wait far less than an hour for the same attraction. Standby wait times are a bit deceptive in that regard.

[And per my prior post, isn't it a bit interesting that we call theme park activities "attractions"?]

Further, not every kid is in school right now. Many schools get time off for President's week, others are now on non-traditional schedules, many kids are home schooled, or are preschoolers. Many schools also have professional days with parents willing to pull their kids out of school 1 or 2 days. Also, not every at WDW is a family with kids. Also, other countries have their summer breaks during our winter months.

A 3 day weekend + one extra day + afternoon/PM flights = (leave Thursday afternoon) and get 1 PM, 3 full days + 1/2 day.

If WDW needs to fill rooms on any given week, all they have to do is offer a promotion deal, and folks will suddenly pick that week.

 

[WEDWDW]

So it's February. Every kid on earth is in school,

excepto los 15 argentinos!