Epcot, AK and DHS have been slow all summer?

[Minniesgal]

I just returned from a brief trip September 26 - 30th, opening weekend of Food and Wine. I had ADR's for all four nights, but really wouldn't have needed them. First night, we ate at The Wave @ 5:00 pm. We literally (no exaggeration) were one of only five tables throughout THE ENTIRE RESTAURANT upon walking in! Guests were outnumbered by servers at least 5:1, half of them standarding around with nothing to do. By the time we left around 6:15, things started to get a little busier, but you still would have had no problem walking up to get a table. Second night Friday, 9/27, we ate at Chefs de France in EPCOT, opening night of F&W. We had another 5:00 pm ADR, which is the only time I was actually glad that we had an ADR. We waited about 10 minutes before being seated. World Showcase in general was pretty crowded this evening (much of which I attribute to local Orlando residents). This was the busiest night of the trip, but still a far cry from what I have seen at other times of the year. Third night, Saturday 9/28, was a split day between AK and MK. While Everest was not a "walk on", the Standby wait was only 20 minutes. We grabbed a FP, decided to go on via Standby, and by the time we got off the first time, we jumped right on with our FP. By this time, the standby line was only 10 minutes. If we were willing to do Single Rider, we could have simply kept riding over and over. MK was open until Midnight, and as a result, was rather crowded. Last night, Sunday 9/29, was a 3 park day (crazy, I know). We snuck into MK around noon just to get some last minute Photopass pictures on Mainstreet. I have never seen Mainstreet so empty! We have pictures of the castle with only a handful of people in the background. We then jumped over to EPCOT via monorail (almost an empty train - maybe 15-20 people tops waiting in line at TTC). We found many walk-on's throughout Future World, and finally sat down for our 5:00 pm ADR at San Angel Inn - Mexico. Essentially, we had a pick of almost any seat we wanted throughout the restaurant. I asked our server if they were expecting to be so slow. He claimed that they were shocked by the low turnout, and were anticipating a much larger crowd for opening weekend of F&W. After Illuminations, we finished the night at HS, as they had exteneded hours until 11:00 pm. We walked right onto RR, and could have continued to do so the remainder of the night. But we wanted to scope out a few other things before the night ended. Monday, 9/30 was our travel day home, but we had a few hours to kill at DTD before catching our M.E. bus back to MCO. I have a picture that I will have to upload of the main strip of West Side Disney - The street was virtually EMPTY (I have never seen this before). In summary, I know that September is usually a slow time at WDW, which is why we chose to travel at this time. But being the first weekend of F&W and with MNSSHP's in full swing, I couldn't believe that we didn't run into more crowds!

Isn't that pretty much what you would expect for September though. I've never seen the Wave packed even during he summer.

 

[Andrew015]

Isn't that pretty much what you would expect for September though. I've never seen the Wave packed even during he summer.

While I wasn't expecting it to be an hour wait, I wasn't expecting the restaurant to be virtually empty, either. We also spent 10 days at WDW this past May, which is similiar in crowd level to September (kids are still in school, Spring break crowd has already come and gone, etc.). When we ate at the Wave in May, the restaurant was packed. We had ADR's and still had about a 25 minute wait to sit down at our table. I was expecting to waltz right in like I owned the place, but I must say, I I enjoyed it

 

[usacanada2008]

We were there June 10-16 and it was packed! Waited almost 2 hours to ride The Little Mermaid and we waited for all of our ADR. Also the buses were packed and we had to watch them pass by our stop at Coronado Springs bc they filled up before reaching us

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

We were there June 10-16 and it was packed! Waited almost 2 hours to ride The Little Mermaid and we waited for all of our ADR. Also the buses were packed and we had to watch them pass by our stop at Coronado Springs bc they filled up before reaching us

@usacanada2008

Thanks for that observation. I only wonder if it was "packed" at other parks than MK. We all know that the MK is sizzling...but the purpose of this thread is to find out how "busy" the other three parks have been(in all due respect). Most reports have the other three parks(AK, DHS and ESPECIALLY Epcot) as near empty throughout this past summer.

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

We were there during July 13-21 and all parks(other than MK) were not busy at all.

Restaurants were half empty and the flagship Grand Floridian Resort appeared to be vacant.

 

[usacanada2008]

@usacanada2008

Thanks for that observation. I only wonder if it was "packed" at other parks than MK. We all know that the MK is sizzling...but the purpose of this thread is to find out how "busy" the other three parks have been(in all due respect). Most reports have the other three parks(AK, DHS and ESPECIALLY Epcot) as near empty throughout this past summer.

Where did I say "only MK was packed?"... All the parks were packed and we waited on all of our ADR in every park. We waited over an hour for Test Track at Epcot and Soarin.

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

Where did I say "only MK was packed?"... All the parks were packed and we waited on all of our ADR in every park. We waited over an hour for Test Track at Epcot and Soarin.

Okay...well the only examples of how packed it was pertained to the MK.

Yes...while we were there Test Track and Soarin' also had long waits...but the park(in general) was desolate. Hardly anyone sharing the walkways with us and really empty restaurants.

 

[mrsmomo]

I was in Epcot on the soft opening for f & w it was a zoo! It was very hard to walk through the crowds in the world showcase and test track took over 40 mins wait w a fastpass, we didn't even attempt soarin because it had a 50 min wait I will say nemo was walk on but the park itself was packed!

We went to AK on two separate days that wk, Wednesday not to bad Saturday there was a significant increase in ppl 40 mins for dinosaur for this being the "slowest" park I thought that was significant in slow season.

HS was packed we did that two days also the second day it wasn't so bad

I guess my point is it depends on when your there and what your opinion of crowded is

We need factual information and even then ppl are obviously not going to believe it

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

I was in Epcot on the soft opening for f & w it was a zoo! It was very hard to walk through the crowds in the world showcase and test track took over 40 mins wait w a fastpass, we didn't even attempt soarin because it had a 50 min wait I will say nemo was walk on but the park itself was packed!

We went to AK on two separate days that wk, Wednesday not to bad Saturday there was a significant increase in ppl 40 mins for dinosaur for this being the "slowest" park I thought that was significant in slow season.

HS was packed we did that two days also the second day it wasn't so bad

I guess my point is it depends on when your there and what your opinion of crowded is

We need factual information and even then ppl are obviously not going to believe it

mrsmomo...I agree...it "depends on when you are there and what your opinion of crowded is".

We were at WDW for a week smack dab in the middle of July...that is supposed to be "peak season", right? Well, our experience was pretty empty parks(except for the MK which was CROWDED).

My "opinion of what 'crowded' is" would be sharing walkways with a lot of other people and full restaurants. At AK/DHS/and especially EPCOT, we experienced the opposite...a few people here and there...lots and lots of breathing room and half-empty(at best) restaurants. Basically what I would expect in January or Feburary or September....NOT July.

 

[CaliBear]

@usacanada2008

Most reports have the other three parks(AK, DHS and ESPECIALLY Epcot) as near empty throughout this past summer.

This is very true. Most reports in this thread are that those three parks are dead. Of course, most of the posts in this thread all come from one poster so...

 

[Suger Mag]

We went to Epcot for the day before our Fantasy cruise on July 19.. crowds seemed quite normal for that time of year...very full, lots of people, the usual mix:families and a few tour international tour groups. All the major rides had long standby times and the quick service restaurants in the World Showcase seemed to be doing a brisk business. I don't buy this doom and gloom rumor of low attendance everywhere except MK of course WDW it is going to be slower in off seasons, that is why it is the off season, but it certainly was not slow while we were there in July 18, 19 and 26.

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

We went to Epcot for the day before our Fantasy cruise on July 19.. crowds seemed quite normal for that time of year...very full, lots of people, the usual mix:families and a few tour international tour groups. All the major rides had long standby times and the quick service restaurants in the World Showcase seemed to be doing a brisk business. I don't buy this doom and gloom rumor of low attendance everywhere except MK of course WDW it is going to be slower in off seasons, that is why it is the off season, but it certainly was not slow while we were there in July 18, 19 and 26.

Well, of course these are anecdotal observations we have been posting. It will be interesting to see how the *Official Attendance Numbers* play out when they are released next year. All I can say is that when we were there in mid-July it seemed that Epcot was REALLY empty and AK and DHS wasn't far behind in emptiness.

Dustin West even mentioned how EMPTY Epcot was on a Saturday night this past summer.

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

For the record...I will *once again* make the prediction that (at least) Epcot saw an overall decline in attendance for 2013 when the numbers are released next year.

 

[klk77]

We visited epcot in August, and I can't say it was overalls busy. Just comfortable. Hard to compare to MK as it is so big. It doesn't fell as cramped when there is so much space at epcot.

Wonder if there are stats on age group attendance at parks. For little ones, MK is so much better than the rest.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

For the record...I will *once again* make the prediction that (at least) Epcot saw an overall decline in attendance for 2013 when the numbers are released next year.

I would predict that three of four parks are flat or down...and revenues are way up.

Who cares about more people if you charge/make more on less. That equals more profit.

 

[lugnut33]

Aaaand, there are reports coming out that people have never seen it so busy in October.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Aaaand, there are reports coming out that people have never seen it so busy in October.

No doubt travel patterns have shifted... Those that travel not only do it more frequently...they also do it whenever they want.

For me, I don't particularly care about a week of school here or there, the weather in Orlando in July and August isn't exactly appealing, and I'm as much or more busy with work in the summer...

But that's just me

 

[SoScary'09]

Aaaand, there are reports coming out that people have never seen it so busy in October.

Yep. Last MNSSHP, even into Nov. it was crowded everywhere. So much for that lull between Halloween and the Christmas parties. People have 'caught on' to those "slow/great times of year to visit".

Hey, I'm not complaining. At least I'll be there in a few days!

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

Yep. Last MNSSHP, even into Nov. it was crowded everywhere. So much for that lull between Halloween and the Christmas parties. People have 'caught on' to those "slow/great times of year to visit".

Hey, I'm not complaining. At least I'll be there in a few days!

Oh...sooo jealous. Hope you have a lot of fun!

In all fairness, though, I started this thread as a spotlight on how empty the three *non-MK* parks have been *this* year. Hope that doesn't make me sound too particular, but I acknowledge that MK continues to do terrific business. Now...AK/DHS/Epcot...they appear to be struggling.

Can you report back to us about what *you* observe about crowd-levels when you are there in a few days?

Enjoy your trip!

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

Aaaand, there are reports coming out that people have never seen it so busy in October.

Lugnut...what are the reports about specifically? F&W Festival...MNSSHP? As for Food And Wine...I'm hearing that turnout has been a bit underwhelming compared to previous years. Most of the YouTube videos I have seen appear to confirm this(although I know it's in no way scientific). You're hearing differently?

Please don't think I'm being contentious...I'm seriously curious about exactly what you are hearing about crowd-levels.