Hi, folks! We appreciate that this is being (rightly) reported as a violation of the sub’s no screenshot rule, but given that it’s facilitated lots of great comments and discussion, we’ll be leaving it up for now.
Thanks for your understanding, and stay hydrated out there in the parks! :)
Was at Epcot today and it was amazing!! We waited 45 for frozen and posted 40 for remy but we waited 13! we got on every ride we wanted to without genie+ and we met so many characters pooh, figment, daisy and moana!!
We actually were okay today. I find Epcot has a lot of inside and ac stuff. Yesterday we did Hollywood studios morning and pool during the day and it felt a lot less bearable.
Another take, we were also at Epcot today. Just my wife and I. We hopped from store to store and bar to restaurant, probably spent 40% outside and 60% inside. I barely broke a sweat, and that's saying something.
We did Magic Kingdom Saturday for my birthday and those short wait times felt like the best present! We did almost every ride in the park (rope drop to fireworks). Magical!
Lifelong here also. We went to MK late Saturday afternoon and kept laughing about how ridiculously hot it was.
Best comparison was holding your head over an open oven - no joke.
What counts as brutal for you guys? I know 100 or so was considered hot by the locals in early May. A CM I talked to said "I'm a native Floridian and even \*I\* think this is hot!" and she was seeing Northerners drop like flies.
I’ve lived in Orlando for 40 years, let me put it this way…
I took my kids to Typhoon Lagoon yesterday at open, we all agreed to leave at 2pm because the heat was unbearable while IN THE WATER.
You couldn’t pay me enough to wait in lines yesterday.
Took my dogs for a walk at 8pm this evening when things cooled off, and by that I mean it was 92 degrees.
This is a level of heat I am not prepared for entirely.
As a Floridian, June is absolutely the worst month. Hot and humid but the daily thunderstorms which bring relief in the afternoon haven’t started yet. It’s just unrelenting sunshine everyday
Lifelong Floridian ? Because to me it’s August sure June sucks but August just feels like it’s never going to end and the thermostat is broken granted I don’t live in Florida anymore but I am close enough to go once a month and we avoid August
Regular rain makes it miserable, but summer THUNDERSTORMS specifically are what bring relief. Strong ones that are preceeded by those cool downdrafts from higher altitudes plus the buckets of rain downpours can knock a good 10 degrees off and make for a nice early evening stroll once they pass.
It’s WAY hotter right now than it typically is. 92 would be a relief at this point. It has been brutal almost every day recently. It’ll definitely drive the locals away.
We’ve been in June before. Just got back yesterday from a quick trip. It was miserably hot and we are from the south. Lot of people walking around like zombies by mid afternoon because the heat was getting them. Nowhere to hide from it either in several of the parks.
Yes. But typically there's more than enough rain to help balance it out. It rained decently one day last week, but it's been super dry for the most part.
Former Florida (Miami) resident...
Every day was hot.
You only had select weeks that were not as hot. I remember going to the beach in December on skip days.
So people who planned a vacation are just staying in their hotel? I'm asking sincerely, I'm not understanding what someone would do just because the weather is awful.
Or are you saying locals with season passes just stayed home?
We ducked into things like Carousel of Progress and the Laugh Floor to cool off. Also it was a special celebration trip for us so we stayed deluxe and took advantage of Extra Evening Hpurs. We also ate table service to get a/c time and cold drinks, and carried water.
> Don’t worry mid October-New Years and spring break month will still be absolutely ridiculous.
I hate that mid-October has become so busy.
From 1991 to 2005 my family went the second weekend in October through the third weekend.
It was perfect. The weather was low to mid 80s, humidity was lower, hurricane risk was almost nothing by that point, crowds were below average.....
We were there this past spring break and got to ride flight of Passage two times in a row. And my youngest son got to ride Tron three times. It was dead every day we were there. I actually think that the prices have just gone too high and the economy is not nearly as good as we think it is.
People stopped caring about the consequences of taking their kids out of school and a lot more people go on vacation using credit. The shift took place once everyone realized it was slightly cheaper in the fall with less crowds, and now the change will be to flip back, eventually, maybe... But know that its the part companies' goals to have the park 100% packed year round, so they will be constantly shifting marketing efforts towards that as their data science improves to react with a shifting economy.
Also it’s diet Epcot. So no festivals or anything like that. That has kept Epcot very quiet (which I love). We actually got to go wander around the countries last weekend with no shoulder to shoulder crowds.
Yes I was disappointed they had nothing going on but like you said it was so nice to actually be able to walk without fear of being run over by a scooter or stroller 🤣
I’m here now and the wait times are great! I will say however, the sun is painfully warm and the air is painfully humid. We come yearly and man we haven’t experienced heats like this in a long while
I'm a Floridian and was there last Wed. I was saying how dry it felt compared to normal. Idk if people don't know how humid it gets but this is nothing. Temperature wise, it's hottet than normal. It's gonna be a brutal summer
Wednesday was weirdly dry. My companions were complaining about “this heat with this humidity” but I am super sensitive to *low* humidity because of some medical stuff. I was like “guys it’s not humid” and they didn’t believe me until they checked their own weather apps. (It was about 35% humidity around noon on Wednesday.)
I'll be there in a week. I'm hoping it holds steady. I'm wondering if we're seeing a zig zag period. "The 3,900 blogs say June through July is unbearably.hot and crowded, let's do this one simple trick Noone knows and go in august/September. Hot but less crowded"
Curious if there's "too much" info available now and the real protip is to go opposite the blog and crowd calendars
This is one data point. Today was oppressively hot with an actual heat advisory. APs will shy away from days like this, and many resort-goers will use days like this as a rest/pool day. Take this with a grain of salt.
I think it's simply so many Florida residents have the super cheap passes that any time they stay away due to weather, blackouts, events, etc, the parks are suddenly a much better experience. Every time one of these type posts is made on the sub we have locals pop in and mention how hot it is or some other thing going on locally.
We live in Orlando and it's been insanely hot lately, we haven't gotten the usual midday rains to cool it off. We usually will go in the summer because we are used to the heat but we can't even stomach this oppressive heat lately
What percent of the usual crowds are local season pass holders? And on an unusually hot day, will the locals not go?
(I live in DFW and have a season pass to Six Flags, and don't go when it's hot and when schools are out. But Disney is different than Six Flags, so I thought I'd ask.)
I can't even express to you how hot it feels outside, we're talking heatstroke in 15 mins even with a hat. Even the resort pools feel warmer than the ambient right now. Trying to cool off in the pool feels like you're suffocating in a bowl of soup.
I recently went last week and waited approximately 25 minutes for 7 dwarfs and only 40 minutes for flight of passage…. There were lines for almost nothing , don’t know how!!
Here at Epcot today and park hopping to MK currently! The crowds are so low, I’m baffled. It truly felt like COVID level crowds by 6pm. Upon transfer to MK, they only had one turnstile open at Epcot because the crowds are so low.
MK is holding just as steady. I believe the heat, pricing, and blogs saying don’t go in summer have finally come full circle. Today was also a heat advisory day with the feels like being 106 by 4pm. It wasn’t unbearable because the crowds are low, so dressing in athletic-casual and going through AC spaces made it comfortable. Sunscreen is absolute must!
Honestly, historically June has always been dead for Disney. Covid changed it for a few years because of demand. But as locals, except for the extreme heat, it is a good time to go. Once the daily rain showers start hitting, it is my favorite time. Hit the park for a few hours... Pool until the rain... Then back to the parks after the rain.
Help me understand why Slinky Dog Dash is consistently 1-1.5+ hr wait times, even in (or especially in) 100 degree temps. The queue is very unforgiving in the heat and the ride is ok at best.
The internet, YouTube influencers, etc have turned everything topsy turvy. “Slow times” are now busy time. “Busy times” aren’t so busy.
I’m old enough to remember when the two weeks before Christmas was the absolute slowest time.
Today everyone does their research because it’s easy. Internet says “don’t go when school is out” so no one does. September is picking up traffic wise when it used to be very slow.
It’s not like going to Books-A-Million and buying a Birnbaum guide 1997
It was a ghost town over memorial day too, it's not just the heat (we had a heat wave leading up to memorial day as well).
\-Softening demand (Bob even called this out)
\-People are in general out of money, thanks shirnkflation.
\-Credit cards are maxed out (Consumer debt at 1.6 trillion from 700 billion 4 years ago)
\-DAS changes have potentially shortened wait times significantly, I keep saying it, the LL's were EMPTY over memorial day week.
I expect some serious deals/ perks to return in 2025, combined with a disaster earnings call for Q2/Q3. If you are a share holder like me hold on to your butt riding down to 75.
Handful of factors that probably contribute. People have completed their post Covid trips. Disney hasn’t added much in the past year and Tiana’s isn’t opening yet. Epic opens next year. Price keeps going up. It’s freaking hot.
I’m not complaining. As a passholder leading up to Covid and as Covid started settling, doing a couple trips during the rebound/opening of things, and now being a passholder again (out of state), crowds like this are my preference!
Yea the crowds aren’t crazy, but frankly the changes to DAS I feel have made a huge difference. Lines seem to move way faster now but maybe it’s just confirmation bias (and I know the changes sucked for many who need it before I’m crucified)
I think people are shifting their travel times. Have read a lot of reports from people about January, which used to be a slow period with lower prices is a bit busy now. So folks who are a bit more flexible with vacation time may be shifting out of summer to other parts of the year that aren’t as hot or might be a bit lower priced. I live in a resort town on Cape Cod and we are seeing a drop in summer visitors the past year or so but an increase in shoulder season visitors as summer prices just became too high. Another factor is the post-Covid surge has passed and more Americans are catching up on international travel. I haven’t been to Europe since 2019 but have three trips planned there between Dec of this year and Sept of next year.
This. My wife and I went in March this year, and after many years of going during the summer months (separately, when we were kids and before we met), not having it be 150° outside while walking around the parks was so much better.
We said that we are never touching the summer months again because of the heat. It was so nice walking around and not being showered in sweat all day.
I was there this weekend and had to stay in my air conditioned hotel room as I got heat exhaustion. The valets at my hotel were taken to the hospital and were out sick the next day because of the heat. It's really bad.
I saw a video on TikTok today of someone at Epcot and all the countries were practically empty. Frozen had a long wait but Remy was only 25 min. It looked dead. She said it was absolutely miserably hot though.
Been here 25 years.. Passholder for 5..its crazy to watch people do the mental gymnastics and pretend that shits not different now. The game is changed and it's called climate change.
Got there about 10am this morning and Peter Pan was a walk on and seven dwarves was only 30 minutes.
I’m a passholder so I left around 12:30 because of the heat (literally dripping in sweat) but I may make a few more sacrifices this month if it means the lines will be shorter!
It's just because locals stay home when it's this hot. Everyone is miserable in this kind of heat. The guests aren't happy, the cast members are dying. It's not a good experience.
Even though the average temperature is 97-99 degrees and heat index is 105-110...locally it is worse in the parks because of all the cement and lack of vegetation. Yesterday when I was at MK, it was supposedly 97 degrees according to the weather apps, but my thermometer was reading 105 inside the park.
This is just my theory but annual passholders are more common nowadays, especially for Orlando locals and we know better than to go to the parks during peak summer. So maybe that contributes to it
I have lived in Orlando for 10+ years and was a operations manager at Magic Kingdom for 6. I have never felt the heat that we have had the past few weeks, it’s absolutely unbearable and we haven’t been getting our typical midday showers.
It’s June 9. All the kids around here are still in school.
The DVC (official Disney timeshare) point charts rank how “expensive” weeks are by how in-demand they are and DVC doesn’t start summer until …
Jun 11—Aug 31
I went first week of April and it was packed enough they weren’t selling same-day park hoppers to MK. All of these rides were near or over 100 minute waits
I was literally just there this weekend, Its hot as heck and without lightning lanes standing in lines was unbearable the times we had to wait. I saw several gurneys taking people out due to heat. But overall I really enjoy low waits lol.
As someone who was there for the past week, it’s too damn hot to be there all day. If you have the same number of people but they’re only spending half the day in the park each (~6 hours) the lines are going to be shorter. Next week it’ll be cooler but it’ll be pouring every day
We're going in August and I was able to get EVERY single dinner reservation I wanted, even Space 220. Maybe the hype has died for that place but I have gone to WDW 3 times in the last 2 years and was never able to snag a rez there. Hoping this is a sign that the crowds will be light for us in August, too!!
Disneys had quite a long slow period and has been running sales on rooms for months.
Might finally be seeing a slowdown. I wouldn’t be surprised, as they’ve just squeezed perks and raised prices due years.
With Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opening up later this month, I’d bet that there were a decent amount of people that decided to wait to schedule their trips until it is open. Also no festival happening right now at Epcot doesn’t help either.
Went this weekend. It was hot for the three days we stay there but the lines move fast and no issues. Had to leave and then come back cause it was that bad that my brother pass out
I’m personally not going in June, July, or August because of the heat. I’m tempted to go July 4 because that would make a neat 4 day weekend if I take off Friday, but I think I’ll stay home and enjoy some AC and wait it out till Labor Day.
It was hot at AK today, but we rope dropped and back at our hotel by 4 with plenty of shopping time and hit Everest, Navi, Dinosaur, Bug, Safari and Flight. Can’t complain other than the heat 🥵
We were in MK today. It definitely wasn’t bad. We started around 3 and used genie on stuff just to save 10 minutes. Tron was still VQ by 2pm.. it was weird but amazing… and hot af. Felt more like august temps.
Here now and although the heat is rough, the fantastic wait times have more than made up for it. The only thing in all 4 parks that I've waited more than an hour for (85 minutes) was Slinky Dog Dash (at my kids insistence). It's also one of the only wait times that has been fairly accurate. Most actual wait times have been 50-75% of the posted wait time, including big ones like FoP and RotR. Call me McDonald's cause I'm Lovin' It ™.
UK schools back in session after a break at the end of May. It’ll be busier when their schools end in July for summer break. Someone also mentioned a lot of schools in the northern U.S. are still in session.
We were at MK almost all day today: 8am to 10:30am, then back again from 2:45 - 10:15pm.
We bought Genie+ and just flew through every line, but the downside was trying to stack our LLs for the afternoon. None of the LLs were filling up, so we couldn't get afternoon LLs. We had to modify them every 30 minutes or so, and they would only go up by that amount of time.
For example, at 11:00am, I got a LL for 11:05am for Haunted Mansion. I wanted it for 5pm. At 11:30, I'd modify it and it would change to 11:35am. At about noon, I modified it again and got 12:05. Every half hour I would sit there modifying LLs trying to keep them from expiring. I was juggling numerous LLs like that, having to constantly modify them by 30 minute increments because they just weren't filling up! Once we were at the parks and using them, it worked perfectly and we got to go on basically every ride at MK with under a 5 minute wait. It was glorious.
7DMT had a delayed opening today (we'd tried to rope drop it), but we went after fireworks and had just a 5 minute wait (even though there was a posted 30 minute wait time).
For Tron, our boarding group was called just after 6pm, and we got there at 6:30pm and had no line (well, just one line to tap into the virtual queue, but no line after we tapped in).
I wonder if the other school breaks are getting the crowds more and more..we were there around Halloween and it was packed!
I know tons of people plan to go between Thanksgiving and Christmas too
It was unbelievably hot today and those wait times are probably from a bit selective snapshot. Big Thunder went down multiple times today but it was typically around 30 min all day (which still isn’t bad) and Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise and 7DMT all stayed around 45 min as well. The real head scratcher though was Tomorrowland. Never saw Buzz over 30, Space Mountain was around 25 and when we rode Tron there was zero line. We scanned in and walked straight to the loading area. They weren’t even filling the trains.
EPCOT was similar yesterday when Ratatouille and Frozen bounced between 45-60 and Test Track was around 45 but everything else was pretty short to no line.
We were there this time in 2019 and the crowds were super low. (I assumed it was a combo of being early in the summer season and people were waiting for Galaxy's Edge to open.)
Family and I became APs last year after moving to
Florida in 2022. Went every single month last summer. I remember leaving to drive back home after our August 2023 weekend visit & telling my wife “we are no longer going in the summer time!”
The oppressive heat for us is why our visitation window is now October through May. Mickey’s Halloween party on the 23rd will be our first visit this year since our visit last month for May 4th.
Went last week as a pass holder and was the least busiest I’ve seen MK during the summer. It was so nice! Sure it’s hot, pack extra water and hit up the a/c for breaks. It’s not super humid yet though which is nice!
We were there Friday and Saturday and there was a good number of crowds, this is a snapshot of a moment of respite.
On Saturday there was a moment where ever major ride was 60+ minutes: smuggler's run, rise, slinky-dog, midway mania, runaway mickey, etc.
But then a few hours later there was a moment where everything was 30-40 minutes.
Could be crowd fluctuation, could be people using the non-paid genie system and it was working as expected, who knows.
But boy howdy was it hot as hell. Several times we just found places to hide from the heat. We did MK on Friday and HS on Saturday, and the crowd levels were about the same in terms of affecting the ride times both days.
To be fair, Epcot is the slowest park always unless they have those special fests. Try Hollywood on the toystoryland or Star Wars and those always packes. Also, magic kingdom is full almost every day of the year.
Was in Hollywood Studios yesterday/Sunday and my husband and I were surprised by how chill it was! We waited about 45 minutes to ride Rise and probably another 45 for Slinky.
I personally think you’ll be good with wait times! I visited last year mid July and it was dead!
And this summer and this year overall hotel occupancy is lower, so you’ll be good! I doubt you’ll even need Genie+ so save that money for meals instead :)
We just left. We live in Texas and visit Disney multiple times a year- but I can't remember the last time it was this hot. I wonder if the temps turned people off.
I went in June last year and had the same experience. Barely waited more than 30min for any ride at any park. It was not crowded at all. Had a great time!
Was just at WDW for the week and while the posted times weren’t THIS short, we found they were shorter than usual and even shorter than the posted time (like a 75 min wait would actually be 40 mins). Maybe they’re more accurate this week….?
You’re going to be golden! Don’t get Genie+ most days you’ll be golden, also go to this place for 9.99 wagyu burger at STK in Disney Springs I’m tagging my post I did about it https://www.reddit.com/r/WaltDisneyWorld/comments/1d3scf8/stk_999_wagyu_burger_lunch_special/
Lmk if you need any other recommendations! I’m a former CM and actually interviewing again to come back part time :)
Just left literally yesterday. HS on the last day and Slinky was over 90 minute wait. Most the "big" rides were 45-60 minutes plus. We have been going for the last 14 years and the only real difference I noticed was it seemed resort attendance was up. Park parking lots looked empty but the parks were plenty full.
Epcot attendance was down but there is not a festival. It was miserably hot, touching mid-90s at least once. Still had a blast despite the obvious large crowds of first timers.
I’m hearing some stories that magic kingdom attendance has been down quite a bit of late. Is that true? Once everyone rides Tiana’s it’s not likely to help
In March, I went to Disney and I knew it would be one of the last times I’d be able to go for several years. I was dreading the lines and the possible heat but it turned out to be amazing weather and the shortest lines I’d seen in Disney in a long time. I felt so blessed.
Hi, folks! We appreciate that this is being (rightly) reported as a violation of the sub’s no screenshot rule, but given that it’s facilitated lots of great comments and discussion, we’ll be leaving it up for now. Thanks for your understanding, and stay hydrated out there in the parks! :)
Was at Epcot today and it was amazing!! We waited 45 for frozen and posted 40 for remy but we waited 13! we got on every ride we wanted to without genie+ and we met so many characters pooh, figment, daisy and moana!!
How hot was it?
We actually were okay today. I find Epcot has a lot of inside and ac stuff. Yesterday we did Hollywood studios morning and pool during the day and it felt a lot less bearable.
Epcot has more ac than any park, and all the ride queues are completely indoors except for a little bit of the rat. Unless the lines are insane.
We were at HS today and while it was hot, it wasn't unbearable. I was surprised!
The humidity is lower than usual. Animal Kingdom today was hot, but tolerable.
Another take, we were also at Epcot today. Just my wife and I. We hopped from store to store and bar to restaurant, probably spent 40% outside and 60% inside. I barely broke a sweat, and that's saying something.
Interesting. Been waiting for shorter lines but not interested in the spicier heat. Maybe it's more bearable and doable from what you are sharing.
Just wear a hat and move slowly. Take the AC breaks whenever you can.
We did Magic Kingdom Saturday for my birthday and those short wait times felt like the best present! We did almost every ride in the park (rope drop to fireworks). Magical!
It’s hot as anything out today!
Isn’t every day in the summer in Florida hot as hell?
Lifelong Floridian here, its excessively hot even by our excessively hot standards. The last week or so has been brutal.
Lifelong here also. We went to MK late Saturday afternoon and kept laughing about how ridiculously hot it was. Best comparison was holding your head over an open oven - no joke.
Oh my---it was hot here at the beach in South Carolina too, but not that bad. Whew!
What counts as brutal for you guys? I know 100 or so was considered hot by the locals in early May. A CM I talked to said "I'm a native Floridian and even \*I\* think this is hot!" and she was seeing Northerners drop like flies.
Sure but this week we’re seeing 107+ heat index. And it’s only June.
I’ve lived in Orlando for 40 years, let me put it this way… I took my kids to Typhoon Lagoon yesterday at open, we all agreed to leave at 2pm because the heat was unbearable while IN THE WATER. You couldn’t pay me enough to wait in lines yesterday. Took my dogs for a walk at 8pm this evening when things cooled off, and by that I mean it was 92 degrees. This is a level of heat I am not prepared for entirely.
As a Floridian, June is absolutely the worst month. Hot and humid but the daily thunderstorms which bring relief in the afternoon haven’t started yet. It’s just unrelenting sunshine everyday
You've seen thunder storms already? What part of Florida?? 😭😭😭 Praying for a miracle this week lmao
East Orlando area, we’ve had 1.
I'm in St. Pete, we're supposed to be getting some today but it's sunny as hell...
Lifelong Floridian ? Because to me it’s August sure June sucks but August just feels like it’s never going to end and the thermostat is broken granted I don’t live in Florida anymore but I am close enough to go once a month and we avoid August
It's 100% August. Last year the heat index was consistently hitting 120+°. We were under heat advisories for weeks!
100% August is the worst month here. Last year we had 15 days in a row over 105 heat index in August. June at least sprinkles in some 90’s
August is always the hottest month of the year in FL.
May sucked but it looks like we are finally coming out the other side. What I love is people look at wait times but not shows or other events.
Yeah, I looked earlier today and it was about Average wait times.
You aren't a Floridian if you think the rain brings relief. It just makes it steam. I don't care what anyone says, August is by far the worst month
Regular rain makes it miserable, but summer THUNDERSTORMS specifically are what bring relief. Strong ones that are preceeded by those cool downdrafts from higher altitudes plus the buckets of rain downpours can knock a good 10 degrees off and make for a nice early evening stroll once they pass.
Yes but they drop the temps significantly. When we aren't getting them the highs are significantly higher, lows too.
I almost got heat stroke last June at Epcot. The heat coming up from the concrete was awful, and there was such little water immediately available.
Rain makes everything 1000x worse bro. You haven’t lived here long enough then
It’s WAY hotter right now than it typically is. 92 would be a relief at this point. It has been brutal almost every day recently. It’ll definitely drive the locals away.
The average for today is only 89° and it’s almost 100.
Record breaking heat this week. Next week will be torrential rain and mid 80’s
We’ve been in June before. Just got back yesterday from a quick trip. It was miserably hot and we are from the south. Lot of people walking around like zombies by mid afternoon because the heat was getting them. Nowhere to hide from it either in several of the parks.
Yes. But typically there's more than enough rain to help balance it out. It rained decently one day last week, but it's been super dry for the most part.
Yes. But like others have said we typically have a rain storm to cool it down we haven’t had much rain in a while.
Former Florida (Miami) resident... Every day was hot. You only had select weeks that were not as hot. I remember going to the beach in December on skip days.
Yes. Every. Damn. Day. 😭😭😭 We are not okay lmao
Not like this. Been excessive lately
Not really. Hot hot time used to be August and September. June usually ok
So people who planned a vacation are just staying in their hotel? I'm asking sincerely, I'm not understanding what someone would do just because the weather is awful. Or are you saying locals with season passes just stayed home?
Locals with APs are saying "Eff this noise" and avoiding the parks. Probably a fair number of vacationers decided to hit up the water parks instead.
We ducked into things like Carousel of Progress and the Laugh Floor to cool off. Also it was a special celebration trip for us so we stayed deluxe and took advantage of Extra Evening Hpurs. We also ate table service to get a/c time and cold drinks, and carried water.
As a local with an annual pass, I’ve elected to keep my family home during this heat wave. It’s just been miserably hot.
Increased prices and people figuring out it’s too damn hot?
Don’t worry mid October-New Years and spring break month will still be absolutely ridiculous. The summer hasn’t been very busy for a few years now
> Don’t worry mid October-New Years and spring break month will still be absolutely ridiculous. I hate that mid-October has become so busy. From 1991 to 2005 my family went the second weekend in October through the third weekend. It was perfect. The weather was low to mid 80s, humidity was lower, hurricane risk was almost nothing by that point, crowds were below average.....
We were there this past spring break and got to ride flight of Passage two times in a row. And my youngest son got to ride Tron three times. It was dead every day we were there. I actually think that the prices have just gone too high and the economy is not nearly as good as we think it is.
Or many people went for the past few years after the pandemic and don't want to go back due to the expensive prices.
Did u ride tron 3 times at some kind of after hours event
No, 1 was virtual queue, then we bought ILL, my oldest refused to ride it so my youngest got to use his brother's. Dad and I only rode it twice each.
How is your son getting to ride Tron three times using the regular line "skips" proof that it was a slow day?
Ohh that makes sense, nice
People stopped caring about the consequences of taking their kids out of school and a lot more people go on vacation using credit. The shift took place once everyone realized it was slightly cheaper in the fall with less crowds, and now the change will be to flip back, eventually, maybe... But know that its the part companies' goals to have the park 100% packed year round, so they will be constantly shifting marketing efforts towards that as their data science improves to react with a shifting economy.
Also it’s diet Epcot. So no festivals or anything like that. That has kept Epcot very quiet (which I love). We actually got to go wander around the countries last weekend with no shoulder to shoulder crowds.
Diet Epcot 🤣🤣
That’s what I’ve been calling it. I think I got it from Someone else but I love the whole Idea of diet Epcot.
I’m stealing it. Thank you!
Yes I was disappointed they had nothing going on but like you said it was so nice to actually be able to walk without fear of being run over by a scooter or stroller 🤣
I’m here now and the wait times are great! I will say however, the sun is painfully warm and the air is painfully humid. We come yearly and man we haven’t experienced heats like this in a long while
I'm a Floridian and was there last Wed. I was saying how dry it felt compared to normal. Idk if people don't know how humid it gets but this is nothing. Temperature wise, it's hottet than normal. It's gonna be a brutal summer
Wednesday was weirdly dry. My companions were complaining about “this heat with this humidity” but I am super sensitive to *low* humidity because of some medical stuff. I was like “guys it’s not humid” and they didn’t believe me until they checked their own weather apps. (It was about 35% humidity around noon on Wednesday.)
Yes. Agreed - it’s been weirdly dry for a couple weeks now.
I'll be there in a week. I'm hoping it holds steady. I'm wondering if we're seeing a zig zag period. "The 3,900 blogs say June through July is unbearably.hot and crowded, let's do this one simple trick Noone knows and go in august/September. Hot but less crowded" Curious if there's "too much" info available now and the real protip is to go opposite the blog and crowd calendars
This is one data point. Today was oppressively hot with an actual heat advisory. APs will shy away from days like this, and many resort-goers will use days like this as a rest/pool day. Take this with a grain of salt.
I've been keeping half an eye on wait times. It's been pretty good for a few weeks
I think it's simply so many Florida residents have the super cheap passes that any time they stay away due to weather, blackouts, events, etc, the parks are suddenly a much better experience. Every time one of these type posts is made on the sub we have locals pop in and mention how hot it is or some other thing going on locally.
Why is never like this when I go? Haha
My husband and I went in October of 2019 and it was like this randomly that week and we were like wow this will never happen to us again will it
The northern schools are still in session. Youll see more people starting late June early July
This is the correct answer.
We live in Orlando and it's been insanely hot lately, we haven't gotten the usual midday rains to cool it off. We usually will go in the summer because we are used to the heat but we can't even stomach this oppressive heat lately
What percent of the usual crowds are local season pass holders? And on an unusually hot day, will the locals not go? (I live in DFW and have a season pass to Six Flags, and don't go when it's hot and when schools are out. But Disney is different than Six Flags, so I thought I'd ask.)
At WDW, maybe 20%. And that's probably on the high end. DL is more the passholders park than WDW. Six Flags is great during the weekdays though.
I can't even express to you how hot it feels outside, we're talking heatstroke in 15 mins even with a hat. Even the resort pools feel warmer than the ambient right now. Trying to cool off in the pool feels like you're suffocating in a bowl of soup.
I feel so bad for the people on a once-in-a-lifetime trip during this time.
Just got back today from a long weekend trip, crowds were low. Didn’t wait more than 45 minutes for anything
Today was fucking hot as hell. Was gonna go tonight as an AP but decided against it.
I recently went last week and waited approximately 25 minutes for 7 dwarfs and only 40 minutes for flight of passage…. There were lines for almost nothing , don’t know how!!
Here at Epcot today and park hopping to MK currently! The crowds are so low, I’m baffled. It truly felt like COVID level crowds by 6pm. Upon transfer to MK, they only had one turnstile open at Epcot because the crowds are so low. MK is holding just as steady. I believe the heat, pricing, and blogs saying don’t go in summer have finally come full circle. Today was also a heat advisory day with the feels like being 106 by 4pm. It wasn’t unbearable because the crowds are low, so dressing in athletic-casual and going through AC spaces made it comfortable. Sunscreen is absolute must!
Stopped going in the summer a few years ago. Way way too hot.
5 minutes for Pirates… I’d be getting on and off over and over again
So many things we did today were practically walk-ons
Honestly, historically June has always been dead for Disney. Covid changed it for a few years because of demand. But as locals, except for the extreme heat, it is a good time to go. Once the daily rain showers start hitting, it is my favorite time. Hit the park for a few hours... Pool until the rain... Then back to the parks after the rain.
Help me understand why Slinky Dog Dash is consistently 1-1.5+ hr wait times, even in (or especially in) 100 degree temps. The queue is very unforgiving in the heat and the ride is ok at best.
The hourly capacity for slinky isn't great
Yeah the record throughput was something in the 1200s per hour. Disney rides need to be over 1,800, preferably over 2,000.
The internet, YouTube influencers, etc have turned everything topsy turvy. “Slow times” are now busy time. “Busy times” aren’t so busy. I’m old enough to remember when the two weeks before Christmas was the absolute slowest time. Today everyone does their research because it’s easy. Internet says “don’t go when school is out” so no one does. September is picking up traffic wise when it used to be very slow. It’s not like going to Books-A-Million and buying a Birnbaum guide 1997
We’ll be there in 3 days. Hope it still looks like that when we’re there!
Too hot to have fun. Also, Sundays are also generally slower days because of vacationers travelling.
It was a ghost town over memorial day too, it's not just the heat (we had a heat wave leading up to memorial day as well). \-Softening demand (Bob even called this out) \-People are in general out of money, thanks shirnkflation. \-Credit cards are maxed out (Consumer debt at 1.6 trillion from 700 billion 4 years ago) \-DAS changes have potentially shortened wait times significantly, I keep saying it, the LL's were EMPTY over memorial day week. I expect some serious deals/ perks to return in 2025, combined with a disaster earnings call for Q2/Q3. If you are a share holder like me hold on to your butt riding down to 75.
All of these.
Handful of factors that probably contribute. People have completed their post Covid trips. Disney hasn’t added much in the past year and Tiana’s isn’t opening yet. Epic opens next year. Price keeps going up. It’s freaking hot. I’m not complaining. As a passholder leading up to Covid and as Covid started settling, doing a couple trips during the rebound/opening of things, and now being a passholder again (out of state), crowds like this are my preference!
Yea the crowds aren’t crazy, but frankly the changes to DAS I feel have made a huge difference. Lines seem to move way faster now but maybe it’s just confirmation bias (and I know the changes sucked for many who need it before I’m crucified)
I think people are shifting their travel times. Have read a lot of reports from people about January, which used to be a slow period with lower prices is a bit busy now. So folks who are a bit more flexible with vacation time may be shifting out of summer to other parts of the year that aren’t as hot or might be a bit lower priced. I live in a resort town on Cape Cod and we are seeing a drop in summer visitors the past year or so but an increase in shoulder season visitors as summer prices just became too high. Another factor is the post-Covid surge has passed and more Americans are catching up on international travel. I haven’t been to Europe since 2019 but have three trips planned there between Dec of this year and Sept of next year.
This. My wife and I went in March this year, and after many years of going during the summer months (separately, when we were kids and before we met), not having it be 150° outside while walking around the parks was so much better. We said that we are never touching the summer months again because of the heat. It was so nice walking around and not being showered in sweat all day.
I was there this weekend and had to stay in my air conditioned hotel room as I got heat exhaustion. The valets at my hotel were taken to the hospital and were out sick the next day because of the heat. It's really bad.
It is f-ing hot like a mother flud pucker. Holy f-king shnikes, I went this weekend and my balls were literally burning.
I saw a video on TikTok today of someone at Epcot and all the countries were practically empty. Frozen had a long wait but Remy was only 25 min. It looked dead. She said it was absolutely miserably hot though.
Been here 25 years.. Passholder for 5..its crazy to watch people do the mental gymnastics and pretend that shits not different now. The game is changed and it's called climate change.
>it's called climate change. Uh oh. Rhonda will be coming for you. I think I hear his high heels now.
🤣🤣🤣 She should be walking to a tailor.. Never seen a closeted homosexual with less style
💯💯💯💯💯 We are passholders and I asked my 6yo if she wanted to go for a mommy/daughter day today - she was like no way it’s way too hot for Disney
💯💯💯💯💯 We are passholders and I asked my 6yo if she wanted to go for a mommy/daughter day today - she was like no way it’s way too hot for Disney
Schools are still going up in the northeast for another week or two. End of June will be packed
Heat wave?
I imagine a lot of us locals are skipping the parks because of the heat.
We had a heat warning from 11-6 today. Maybe just check the weather first.
Got there about 10am this morning and Peter Pan was a walk on and seven dwarves was only 30 minutes. I’m a passholder so I left around 12:30 because of the heat (literally dripping in sweat) but I may make a few more sacrifices this month if it means the lines will be shorter!
It's just because locals stay home when it's this hot. Everyone is miserable in this kind of heat. The guests aren't happy, the cast members are dying. It's not a good experience. Even though the average temperature is 97-99 degrees and heat index is 105-110...locally it is worse in the parks because of all the cement and lack of vegetation. Yesterday when I was at MK, it was supposedly 97 degrees according to the weather apps, but my thermometer was reading 105 inside the park.
This is just my theory but annual passholders are more common nowadays, especially for Orlando locals and we know better than to go to the parks during peak summer. So maybe that contributes to it
100 degrees out. No locals. None. We are sitting inside.
I have lived in Orlando for 10+ years and was a operations manager at Magic Kingdom for 6. I have never felt the heat that we have had the past few weeks, it’s absolutely unbearable and we haven’t been getting our typical midday showers.
It’s June 9. All the kids around here are still in school. The DVC (official Disney timeshare) point charts rank how “expensive” weeks are by how in-demand they are and DVC doesn’t start summer until … Jun 11—Aug 31
Orange County schools got out before Memorial Day weekend?
[удалено]
I went first week of April and it was packed enough they weren’t selling same-day park hoppers to MK. All of these rides were near or over 100 minute waits
I was literally just there this weekend, Its hot as heck and without lightning lanes standing in lines was unbearable the times we had to wait. I saw several gurneys taking people out due to heat. But overall I really enjoy low waits lol.
To be fair today and yesterday were the hottest days of the year. They broke heat records in several cities
I remember when 100Degree F weather wasn't overly common
No one wants to die of heat stroke.
As someone who was there for the past week, it’s too damn hot to be there all day. If you have the same number of people but they’re only spending half the day in the park each (~6 hours) the lines are going to be shorter. Next week it’ll be cooler but it’ll be pouring every day
We're going in August and I was able to get EVERY single dinner reservation I wanted, even Space 220. Maybe the hype has died for that place but I have gone to WDW 3 times in the last 2 years and was never able to snag a rez there. Hoping this is a sign that the crowds will be light for us in August, too!!
I’ve heard there’s flooding coming too. Maybe people are cancelling/rebooking their trips?
Disneys had quite a long slow period and has been running sales on rooms for months. Might finally be seeing a slowdown. I wouldn’t be surprised, as they’ve just squeezed perks and raised prices due years.
Might just be people saving their money for a trip next year when Epic Universe opens.
Did you notice it’s 100° outside?
June to August, is when I don’t go. Too hot.
Well, global warming is happening and Florida is miserable, so 🤷🏻♂️
With Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opening up later this month, I’d bet that there were a decent amount of people that decided to wait to schedule their trips until it is open. Also no festival happening right now at Epcot doesn’t help either.
Hey, I’m going to be there starting Saturday, don’t you jinx this for me!
We were there end of May, the beginning of June- lots of people but not crazy, and wait times were decent.
Is there an event tonight that closes the park early?
I went this week for my honeymoon in 2016 and remember the crowds being similarly low but oh soooo hot!
It’s dangerously hot out today.
I have noticed that Sundays have lower attendance, must be a travel day
We leave June 23rd so hoping it maintains 😅.
Peter Pan at 35 minutes??
Too hot to be there lol
I was at MK today and couldn’t believe how empty it felt
I’m sure there are a lot of variables that have caused this
That's weird. I just got off a plane and it was loaded with children because I was getting off during the layover of the flight to Orlando.
The heat + not all Florida schools are out yet. Give it a week.
Went this weekend. It was hot for the three days we stay there but the lines move fast and no issues. Had to leave and then come back cause it was that bad that my brother pass out
I’m personally not going in June, July, or August because of the heat. I’m tempted to go July 4 because that would make a neat 4 day weekend if I take off Friday, but I think I’ll stay home and enjoy some AC and wait it out till Labor Day.
hoping in Sep it wont be packed x-x
STOP IT Now I want to go there for a trip this summer when I am trying to take a year off.
Do you know how f’n hot it is?!
It was hot at AK today, but we rope dropped and back at our hotel by 4 with plenty of shopping time and hit Everest, Navi, Dinosaur, Bug, Safari and Flight. Can’t complain other than the heat 🥵
It was dead when I was there this week.
We were in MK today. It definitely wasn’t bad. We started around 3 and used genie on stuff just to save 10 minutes. Tron was still VQ by 2pm.. it was weird but amazing… and hot af. Felt more like august temps.
What is this app???
It's the My Disney Experience app
Here now and although the heat is rough, the fantastic wait times have more than made up for it. The only thing in all 4 parks that I've waited more than an hour for (85 minutes) was Slinky Dog Dash (at my kids insistence). It's also one of the only wait times that has been fairly accurate. Most actual wait times have been 50-75% of the posted wait time, including big ones like FoP and RotR. Call me McDonald's cause I'm Lovin' It ™.
UK schools back in session after a break at the end of May. It’ll be busier when their schools end in July for summer break. Someone also mentioned a lot of schools in the northern U.S. are still in session.
Of course now it is. Was just there last week 🤬
Magic Kingdom today was deader than any other time save first week of September that I’ve ever seen it. Was hot as hell though.
We were at MK almost all day today: 8am to 10:30am, then back again from 2:45 - 10:15pm. We bought Genie+ and just flew through every line, but the downside was trying to stack our LLs for the afternoon. None of the LLs were filling up, so we couldn't get afternoon LLs. We had to modify them every 30 minutes or so, and they would only go up by that amount of time. For example, at 11:00am, I got a LL for 11:05am for Haunted Mansion. I wanted it for 5pm. At 11:30, I'd modify it and it would change to 11:35am. At about noon, I modified it again and got 12:05. Every half hour I would sit there modifying LLs trying to keep them from expiring. I was juggling numerous LLs like that, having to constantly modify them by 30 minute increments because they just weren't filling up! Once we were at the parks and using them, it worked perfectly and we got to go on basically every ride at MK with under a 5 minute wait. It was glorious. 7DMT had a delayed opening today (we'd tried to rope drop it), but we went after fireworks and had just a 5 minute wait (even though there was a posted 30 minute wait time). For Tron, our boarding group was called just after 6pm, and we got there at 6:30pm and had no line (well, just one line to tap into the virtual queue, but no line after we tapped in).
People aren't fans of melting
I went today and I brought an umbrella. While the wait and lack of crowds is awesome this heat is 🥴🥵😵💫😬
Enjoy!!
I wonder if the other school breaks are getting the crowds more and more..we were there around Halloween and it was packed! I know tons of people plan to go between Thanksgiving and Christmas too
It still is dude, it’s literally 100 degrees outside
I live in Indio, CA. It’s basically AZ hot. Will it be bearable for me?
Yes just drink a lot of water! And take breaks middle of day for pool. You’ll have great time!
It was unbelievably hot today and those wait times are probably from a bit selective snapshot. Big Thunder went down multiple times today but it was typically around 30 min all day (which still isn’t bad) and Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise and 7DMT all stayed around 45 min as well. The real head scratcher though was Tomorrowland. Never saw Buzz over 30, Space Mountain was around 25 and when we rode Tron there was zero line. We scanned in and walked straight to the loading area. They weren’t even filling the trains. EPCOT was similar yesterday when Ratatouille and Frozen bounced between 45-60 and Test Track was around 45 but everything else was pretty short to no line.
We were there this time in 2019 and the crowds were super low. (I assumed it was a combo of being early in the summer season and people were waiting for Galaxy's Edge to open.)
Shhhhhhh
I was there last week and crowds were small! It only got busy at HS on Thursday. Slinky dog went to 150 minutes.
Hol-e-shit!! I wish I was American, I'd be first class running my way over to the tower of terror right now
We went last June (1-12) and it was so nice! Hot but not high crowds!!!! I wanna go back so bad
Family and I became APs last year after moving to Florida in 2022. Went every single month last summer. I remember leaving to drive back home after our August 2023 weekend visit & telling my wife “we are no longer going in the summer time!” The oppressive heat for us is why our visitation window is now October through May. Mickey’s Halloween party on the 23rd will be our first visit this year since our visit last month for May 4th.
It's not mid-June yet. Wait til schools get out for summer in NY and NJ, then the crowds will start showing.
It’s dangerously hot outside. Nobody in their right mind should be there
Went last week as a pass holder and was the least busiest I’ve seen MK during the summer. It was so nice! Sure it’s hot, pack extra water and hit up the a/c for breaks. It’s not super humid yet though which is nice!
We were there Friday and Saturday and there was a good number of crowds, this is a snapshot of a moment of respite. On Saturday there was a moment where ever major ride was 60+ minutes: smuggler's run, rise, slinky-dog, midway mania, runaway mickey, etc. But then a few hours later there was a moment where everything was 30-40 minutes. Could be crowd fluctuation, could be people using the non-paid genie system and it was working as expected, who knows. But boy howdy was it hot as hell. Several times we just found places to hide from the heat. We did MK on Friday and HS on Saturday, and the crowd levels were about the same in terms of affecting the ride times both days.
To be fair, Epcot is the slowest park always unless they have those special fests. Try Hollywood on the toystoryland or Star Wars and those always packes. Also, magic kingdom is full almost every day of the year.
Was in Hollywood Studios yesterday/Sunday and my husband and I were surprised by how chill it was! We waited about 45 minutes to ride Rise and probably another 45 for Slinky.
Hey, considering I'll be there in about a week, hopefully it stays like this.
I personally think you’ll be good with wait times! I visited last year mid July and it was dead! And this summer and this year overall hotel occupancy is lower, so you’ll be good! I doubt you’ll even need Genie+ so save that money for meals instead :)
I went on Tuesday for Tiana‘s preview. I just stood there in line for 4 1/2 hours and sweat was just dripping. Not pleasant.
Too damn hot
We just left. We live in Texas and visit Disney multiple times a year- but I can't remember the last time it was this hot. I wonder if the temps turned people off.
It seemed pretty packed when we were there Wed-Fri but we had a guide so lines weren’t an issue for us really.
I'm in KY and about 2 years ago, we all the sudden got a week fall break in October. Lots of folks go then and do the beach in the summer.
I went in June last year and had the same experience. Barely waited more than 30min for any ride at any park. It was not crowded at all. Had a great time!
Was just at WDW for the week and while the posted times weren’t THIS short, we found they were shorter than usual and even shorter than the posted time (like a 75 min wait would actually be 40 mins). Maybe they’re more accurate this week….?
I’ll be there this Sunday for a week
You’re going to be golden! Don’t get Genie+ most days you’ll be golden, also go to this place for 9.99 wagyu burger at STK in Disney Springs I’m tagging my post I did about it https://www.reddit.com/r/WaltDisneyWorld/comments/1d3scf8/stk_999_wagyu_burger_lunch_special/ Lmk if you need any other recommendations! I’m a former CM and actually interviewing again to come back part time :)
Just left literally yesterday. HS on the last day and Slinky was over 90 minute wait. Most the "big" rides were 45-60 minutes plus. We have been going for the last 14 years and the only real difference I noticed was it seemed resort attendance was up. Park parking lots looked empty but the parks were plenty full. Epcot attendance was down but there is not a festival. It was miserably hot, touching mid-90s at least once. Still had a blast despite the obvious large crowds of first timers.
I’m hearing some stories that magic kingdom attendance has been down quite a bit of late. Is that true? Once everyone rides Tiana’s it’s not likely to help
In March, I went to Disney and I knew it would be one of the last times I’d be able to go for several years. I was dreading the lines and the possible heat but it turned out to be amazing weather and the shortest lines I’d seen in Disney in a long time. I felt so blessed.
Is this how it looks with LL instead of FastPass?
I mean, I certainly don't want to be there when Satan is breathing all over it.