Summer crowds changing?

[Hudmaster]

I've read quite a few articles now and talked to several people who have mentioned that June and July crowds, while still busy, are not nearly as packed as they used to be (in other words before the tiered pricing based on season). I am a teacher and have usually made my past family trips in July. However, its been some time (since FP+ was first introduced) since our last trip. We are planning a week trip in 2019 and was wondering anyone's thoughts on the matter, and if June is better than July. Thanks!

 

[RLGNC]

I don't know about June vs July, but we just returned from a July trip and found the crowds very manageable. To me the worst part is entering the park (bag check, magic band scan), but once past that it's not too bad. Crowded of course (and FPs are essential), but definitely manageable.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We like lat May/early June, as soon as school is out, but this year we had to go June 8-17, and it wasn't bad. Crowded maybe, but not terribly. We only waited more than 30 minutes for FoP, and that was at the end of a 4-parks in 1 day. I would avoid the large tour groups, if you can find out what part of July they usually come.

 

[DLgal]

We were there July 3-14 and never encountered even large crowds. Medium crowds were what we saw, although we didn't go to the parks until July 5.The South American tour groups were there but didn't impact us at all.

 

[Newsies]

My family has always done either the last week of July or the first week of August, and the crowd levels throughout the week have historically been pretty scattered. We'll have a day where Magic Kingdom is packed shoulder-to-shoulder, and then the next day, we'll go back and walk onto Mine Train at 12:30 PM. Epcot was dead last year every single day we went. When I worked in Magic Kingdom (fall 2016), however, the crowds only got progessively worse as we moved from September to October to November to December, with the first week of January being the worst.

I would try the first or second week of June, you should have good luck with the crowds.

 

[gillep]

We had never been in the summer before but just returned from a mid-July trip and found the crowds very manageable as well.

 

[heatherly]

We just returned yesterday from a week long trip. As pp stated, entry/bag check was sometimes crowded but other than that it was very manageable. We used our 3 FP+ then added more 1 at a time. We rode everything at MK except Tomorrowland Speedway and never really had to wait over 15/20 min. Our longest wait was our 3rd ride on FoP...we waited 1.5 hr at park close but it was worth it. Also with mobile order we didn’t even have to wait too long for food. Good luck!!!

 

[SarahC97]

I just went for the first time in the summer last week and found it to be very manageable. In fact, I remarked to my family that not once on a bus to the parks in the morning or back to the resort in the evening were the buses packed. In past trips, including January/February this year, the bus has always been packed full like a sardine can, but this trip we got a seat each time we took the bus and it was never crowded. The wait times for rides everywhere we went were also very reasonable. It wasn't crazy at all - easy to navigate the parks. Certainly less crowded than my past two trips in Jan/Feb this year and October of 2016. I'd give summer a shot for sure, but I'd probably pick July.

 

[georgina]

I've read quite a few articles now and talked to several people who have mentioned that June and July crowds, while still busy, are not nearly as packed as they used to be (in other words before the tiered pricing based on season). I am a teacher and have usually made my past family trips in July. However, its been some time (since FP+ was first introduced) since our last trip. We are planning a week trip in 2019 and was wondering anyone's thoughts on the matter, and if June is better than July. Thanks!

Isn't tiered pricing just for 1 day tickets? I don't really see that as the driving force. I think more folks are willing to travel during the school year, and Disney has a lot of extras such as the Halloween and Christmas parties, Food & Wine, etc, to attract guests other times of the year. Plus the weather is better if you can avoid summer. My perception is June is cooler than July, but that could just be my perception.

 

[fractalpotato]

We just returned from a trip last night and we were remarking the same thing all week. It was certainly busy, but not all that bad and we had no trouble getting in all the rides, with careful usage of FPs the longest wait we had was just under an hour for SDMT, with a group varying from 4 to 8 in size and liberal use of rope drop. Yesterday in Epcot, where we spent the morning and early afternoon before the airport, it was so dead we rode nearly every ride in the park, Frozen and Soarin' multiple times, we could have easily fit Mission Space in if we were interested. It was weird.

Matt

 

[Aurora0427]

We went last August and it was very manageable. I’m interested to see how busy it is this fall.....

 

[Christine]

This is the second time I've done a July trip. I am here now and we are all finding in to be VERY crowded. Granted, it seems fine in the morning but around lunchtime it has been WALL TO WALL people. We aren't tolerating it well at all. I don't ever remember it being this bad on any of my trips, but maybe I'm just getting too old for this!!

 

[Floridagram]

I believe that crowds are not as much this year. There are annual passes with black out dates that start the beginning of June. A friend of mine has one and a few days after the black out date they got an email extending their pass until the end of June. To me that meant there were not as many people coming and perhaps bookings were down at Disney resorts so they did not expect as many people. The longest I have seen the wait for Slinky Dog Dash is 90 minutes except on the first day it opened. But we leave and go back and it is often just an hour wait. I have been able to do Toy Story mania often for only a 45 minute wait, which is much better than earlier this year when there was only one side. I believe crowds are lower this year, although it is always still crowded.

 

[tinkerhon]

I've read quite a few articles now and talked to several peosple who have mentioned that June and July crowds, while still busy, are not nearly as packed as they used to be (in other words before the tiered pricing based on season). I am a teacher and have usually made my past family trips in July. However, its been some time (since FP+ was first introduced) since our last trip. We are planning a week trip in 2019 and was wondering anyone's thoughts on the matter, and if June is better than July. Thanks!

We just returned (7/10-24) and we were shocked at how empty the parks were ! With the exception of Pandora and TSL, the parks seemed empty - MK was the only park that was somewhat crowded - but nothing compared to last year at the same time - Epcot was a ghost town !

 

[Jim Shuler]

I've read quite a few articles now and talked to several people who have mentioned that June and July crowds, while still busy, are not nearly as packed as they used to be (in other words before the tiered pricing based on season). I am a teacher and have usually made my past family trips in July. However, its been some time (since FP+ was first introduced) since our last trip. We are planning a week trip in 2019 and was wondering anyone's thoughts on the matter, and if June is better than July. Thanks!

We went June 9 thru 21. Crowded but was not a problem. Use fast passes on the right rides and the rest kind of takes care of itself.

 

[Klayfish]

We've been to WDW many summers, including the last 4 straight. This year was actually busier than '15-'17, but it still isn't bad.

 

[WEDWDW]

We were there July 3-14 and never encountered even large crowds. Medium crowds were what we saw, although we didn't go to the parks until July 5.The South American tour groups were there but didn't impact us at all.

Totally agree.

We go every July and this July is the least-crowded July we have ever seen.

And the SATGs are the "best-behaved" we have ever seen them-very little Chanting/Chant Singing or Chant Dancing.

(The biggest "problem" with the SATGs we have seen is that some Guests continue to complain about their "swimwear"-when we go to Blizzard Beach we joke that we are going to "THE THONG SHOW"!lol

 

[icc2515]

We go several times throughout the year and find that the summer has become the new "slow" season. Notice the quotes there. The fall, which used to be slow, is now insanely busy. 15 years ago the time in between Thanksgiving and Christmas used to be the slowest time of the year with most rides being walk on. Now it is one of the busiest.

I think that so many people have been told by others that the summer is the busy season and they should go during the fall that now the fall is the busy season. I also think that many Disney veterans talk themselves into believing that the fall is slow. If you can tolerate the intense heat and humidity, the summer is the time to go. We were able to get fast passes in the morning at HS then made afternoon FP's at Epcot for TT and Soarin with no issues. I think that the only rides we could not get a 4th FP for were Frozen, 7DMT, Slinky, and FOP. Never could do that in the fall. Also had very little problems getting same day reservations for most places we wanted to eat.

 

[SarahC97]

Totally agree.

We go every July and this July is the least-crowded July we have ever seen.

And the SATGs are the "best-behaved" we have ever seen them-very little Chanting/Chant Singing or Chant Dancing.

(The biggest "problem" with the SATGs we have seen is that some Guests continue to complain about their "swimwear"-when we go to Blizzard Beach we joke that we are going to "THE THONG SHOW"!lol

I agree that in the parks they were not an issue at all- very well behaved. But I happened to be staying in the same section of a resort as they were and it was a friggin' nightmare. Never again! They were incredibly loud and rude to the guests around them - kept us up until after 3 am the first night, then we switched hotels because of it.

 

[McKelly]

Isn't tiered pricing just for 1 day tickets? I don't really see that as the driving force. I think more folks are willing to travel during the school year, and Disney has a lot of extras such as the Halloween and Christmas parties, Food & Wine, etc, to attract guests other times of the year. Plus the weather is better if you can avoid summer. My perception is June is cooler than July, but that could just be my perception.

I agree with this. I work in a school and this past year I had many, many families pulling kids out for a week's vacation during scheduled school times. I have worked in the schools for 10+ years and have never seen that many families take vacation during a school year. And I would say 1/3 of those families went to Disney.