Subway at 8:30am midweek, Busy?

Hi, How busy will the subway be at 8:30am on a Wednesday mid March? 6 of us need to get from the Park Hotel (walk to Shimbashi stn I hope) to Shinjuku to catch the Ltd Exp Azusa9 at 08:54 we will have a suitcase or similar sized bag and a rucksack each? we cant afford to miss the Azusa9 will we find it too busy with our luggage? is there an easier way?

It will be very busy, but the Yamanote Line from Shimbashi to Kanda and Chuo Line from Kanda to Shinjuku are, I believe, not among the "super busy" sections, and I imagine that you should be able to board the trains with some luggage. But I cannot guarantee. You could consider taking a train one hour earlier or later.

What i have experienced is that the peak of rushhour is between 6.30 and 8.00 am
after 8 it's getting less and less
although still busy .. it's do-able ..my experiences are that although crowded it's in a orderly fashion and subways are every 4 minutes (i thought even every 2 minutes during rush hour- but not sure anymroe about that)
so if there's a crowd waiting in line , then you'll be the 1st in line for the next one ..

don't worry enjoy the flow and the white glove =)

If your destination is Shinjuku, take subway Oedo line from Shiodome station. It is a direct line to Shinjuku and compared to JR Yamanote line or subway Ginza line, it is less crowded. And Shiodome station is much closer to the hotel.

The peak in central Tokyo is more between 7:45 and 8:45 than between 6:00 and 8:00. In the suburbs it naturally starts earlier. The other day, when I passed Shinjuku Station around 7am, it still felt "relatively deserted".

But taking the Oedo Line is definitely more convenient than my suggested JR route.

Thanks you for the advice.
When I look on Hyperdia at Shiodome to Shinjuku at around 8.15am I get the Toei Oedo Line come up it shows 18mins to get to Shinjuku(Toei) and then a 6min walk to Shinjuku, are they two seperate places? whilst a 6min walk is probably not a problem will it be obvious where we're heading? and is it going to be practical at that time of rush hour with bags etc?

Yes, it is quite a long walk from the Oedo Line platforms to the platforms of the limited express trains to Matsumoto. It will be crowded, very busy and probably a little bit stressful, but you will survive.

Sounds fun! thanks Uji.
We'll aim to get a train to arrive in shinjuku 30mins prior to needing to leave for Matsumoto. Im sure we'll be fine.