And I tought September was THE month to visit (also trip report)

[Javier Boughton]

currently on my 3rd day in Orlando and the parks i've visited are more packed than on my previous visits..

• magic kingdom
  • had lines of 20-30 minutes..i know, its not that much, but 2-3 years ago they were 10-15 or less..
  • was anyone on Sunday 19? at the end of wishes we were trying to get out of the park and we just couldn't. for 10-15 minutes the crowd was stuck at the bridge that connected to main street. there was nothing on main street as you could see people walking by from the shops or Casey's corner. suddenly, everything started to flow, very weird.

• Epcot (sept 20) had a LOT of people.
  • and the sun was really burning you up, we had to leave because of our children (boy 6, girl 4, girl 2). I heard some say that you couldn't find a shade anywhere, and it was true, Epcot is really spread out and you could really feel it with the sun.
  • Spaceship earth was down in the morning and so was Test track.

• Disney Hollywood Studios was packed...
  • Toy Story Mania was out of fast passes by 10.30 am..incredible. but then we went to ride it at 4 PM and saw less than 10 people using the fast pass line. maybe is like the Wii when it first came out..keep the supplies low at the stores and the demand hi.
  • Indy is still as great
  • in Rocknroller coaster we were about the be launched, but nothing happened, then a cast member approached the people on the front row and asked them to store their video camera

tomorrow is islands, then universal, then animal kingdom and then we are gonna repeat all Disney parks..

and as you can see, no acronyms

 

[thelookingglass]

Seems like you had some bad luck with crowds. The parks have been pretty quiet since after Labor Day!

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

Ironically it was packed exactly around the same time I went last year..It was crazy!
I still think it's due to the free Dining and no one passes that up to keep the guests in during those times...But, then they say it's not and the wait times are 20 mins long...IMO it's reversed that answer with 40-50 min wait times...

 

[star77kc]

I completely feel your frustration. I was at Hollywood Studios today and it was PACKED. I read beforehand on touringplans.com that it would be dead, but alas, it was the opposite. I still had fun, but was disappointed.

 

[CP_alum08]

I completely feel your frustration. I was at Hollywood Studios today and it was PACKED. I read beforehand on touringplans.com that it would be dead, but alas, it was the opposite. I still had fun, but was disappointed.

Its never dead. You may get a day here and there that are really quiet, but there are always people, and sites like touringplans are just approximations (but generally pretty good ones). Generally Sept. is pretty slow but obviously there will be days when lots of people are there for some reason or another. Weekends get pretty busy during 'downtimes' because thats when the locals go too.

I don't think having a 10 minute stand-by time expectation for WDW is reasonable whenever you go. And obviously it's going to be hot! Temps are still close to 90 in Sept. and with the humidity can bring 'feel-like' temps to mid-90's, thats just Florida :sohappy:

 

[thelookingglass]

Hint:

Fantasmic night = DHS packed.
No Fantasmic night = DHS crowds light to moderate.

 

[smk]

I am here now and I can tell you it is packed. Full on crowds, but not long wait times, strangely enough. Lots of issues with transportation and many issues with our resort, more on that later in a long trip report. All that aside, we are having a good time and have met some wonderful cast members.

 

[Erin_Akey]

I just got back last night and strangely enough, I was excited at how low the crowds seemed. I can say they were MUCH lighter than when I was there in July and then in May. Our of my three trips in the last four months, this was by far the best.

TSM had long waits of course, but the rest were not bad at all. We walked onto Test Track with no wait, same thing for Spaceship Earth, Great Movie Ride, Buzz Lightyear, Haunted Mansion, and many others.

We got a FP at about 945 that was for 1255. Space Mountain- longest wait we saw was 21 minutes, Soarin'- 35.

I guess it is a matter of comparison- we go often at Christmas, in July, etc., so the crowds this past weekend seemed awesome to us.

I DEFINITELY wouldn't call it dead by any means, but I also wouldn't call it crowded compared to what I am used to seeing. We walked right into several restaurants with no reservations too.

Hollywood Studios did seem a bit packed on Monday to me, but that was the only time it felt crowded to me at all.

And YES it was hot. We usually have no problems jogging at 8am, and Saturday when we did our jog around Boardwalk, I was DYING after the first mile! Where is fall???? :veryconfu

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

And YES it was hot. We usually have no problems jogging at 8am, and Saturday when we did our jog around Boardwalk, I was DYING after the first mile! Where is fall???? :veryconfu

I think that starts around January...It seems to get cooler alot later out there.:lol:

 

[Disney Dawg88]

Seems like you had some bad luck with crowds. The parks have been pretty quiet since after Labor Day!

I agree with you. I was there on Sunday the 12th and I walked on all of the rides. I didn't end up going to DHS or AK though, but all the other reports I've read have said the parks are pretty quiet.

 

[Spike-in-Berlin]

You really seem to have been a little unlucky going in the second week of September because we stayed there in the first week (and the last week of August too) and it was nothing less than perfect. I will mention it in my trip report too, we had nearly NO waits at all. The combination of FP, extensive use of the EMH (I LOVE EMH) and short lines at most non-FP-attractions made it possible. The parks were the emptiest I ever experienced and our longest wait was at TSM. And we HAD FP, never the less it was still a 20 minute wait. The longest wait at another attraction was around 10 minutes (GMR on a weekend), most attractions however less than 5 minutes and a lot walk-ons.
We loved it.

 

[elisatonks]

Wierd you seem to be having this experience, i've been in and out of the parks for the last 2 weeks, plus working at the TTC and I have seen how quiet it is. I have been in the parks these two weeks of september for the last 4 years and it is alot quieter this year than the last 3 years. Enjoy the crowds you do see, i can assure you that the were 4 times bigger only 4-5 weeks ago.

 

[bladerunner]

I was at the world this Sunday through Tuesday.

Sunday at Epcot was fine - most rides were walk-ons and I did not feel it was too crowded. I was able to get a fastpass to Soaring at almost 5pm. Captain EO looks great!

Monday at MK was crowded however the lines were fine compared to other times of the year. Waited 20 minutes for SM, but Peter Pan fast passes were gone early in the afternoon. Fantasyland has a serious under construction look to it - I hope this is finished soon. Also in there afternoon there must have been problems at BTMRR since the fast pass line extended out of the entry and many people in the fastpass line were upset. I watched the MSEP in Frontierland and it was packed. Finally rode JC at night after the parade - that was fun!

Tuesday at DS at 9:30 am TSM fastpasses were already being given out for 3:30pm and the line was at 60 minutes. After countless of trips and seeing how poorly this ride handles crowds I think it wasn't well planned. Everything else at HS was walk-on and the park felt empty.

Overall had a great time. Oh, lovebugs are everywhere and it was hot!

 

[bgraham34]

I have noticed the crowds have increased in Sept but if I wait less than 20 mins for an attraction I am very very happy.

 

[WishIwasThere]

We were at the parks about this time last year for a week, and it as hit or miss. TSMM, still relatively new and with Star Tours closed you will have a little longer lines elsewhere.

Everything we saw last year, even on the MNSSHP night were pretty light crowds (even with Space Mt closed last year). Walk on to 10 min at worst. TSMM had 30-60 min waits most times we saw it.

 

[Epcotian]

I agree with you. I was there on Sunday the 12th and I walked on all of the rides. I didn't end up going to DHS or AK though, but all the other reports I've read have said the parks are pretty quiet.

Sounds like some bad luck to me from what I've experienced and read this month. For example, Sept 8 was an extremely quiet day at MK! Walked on Space Mountain in the middle of the afternoon, no lines around that I saw. Per the Haunted Mansion CM: "It's dead today!" All 6 of us heading into the stretching room got a good laugh out of that!

 

[WDW-Crazy]

I just got back last night and strangely enough, I was excited at how low the crowds seemed. I can say they were MUCH lighter than when I was there in July and then in May. Our of my three trips in the last four months, this was by far the best.

TSM had long waits of course, but the rest were not bad at all. We walked onto Test Track with no wait, same thing for Spaceship Earth, Great Movie Ride, Buzz Lightyear, Haunted Mansion, and many others.

We got a FP at about 945 that was for 1255. Space Mountain- longest wait we saw was 21 minutes, Soarin'- 35.

I guess it is a matter of comparison- we go often at Christmas, in July, etc., so the crowds this past weekend seemed awesome to us.

I DEFINITELY wouldn't call it dead by any means, but I also wouldn't call it crowded compared to what I am used to seeing. We walked right into several restaurants with no reservations too.

Hollywood Studios did seem a bit packed on Monday to me, but that was the only time it felt crowded to me at all.

And YES it was hot. We usually have no problems jogging at 8am, and Saturday when we did our jog around Boardwalk, I was DYING after the first mile! Where is fall???? :veryconfu

That sounds similar to our Sept 2007 trip. Waits were low but seemed like there were people in the midways. We are planning on doing DHS twice for this trip coming up, one of them being there at opening so we can do TSMM at least twice...get there and get a Fastpass, then immediately get in the stand-by line. The day before, we're coming to that park later so we're not even going to bother going over there lol.

I think for a lot of people here who go in Sept and no other time, they may be disappointed if crowds have thickened (I'd say mainly the free dining is to blame, but hey who can't resist free food....we're doing it for our first time this trip and it's saving us money) but I must say that I've been there in June of 1989 and 1995. Even on our last trip, the crowds were not like they were those two times, at least from what I can remember (and watching home videos to also prove it).

For the Sept people here.....try going during the middle of summer or at a peak time and I bet you'll agree, Sept and Oct are both still slow times to visit, regardless.

 

[blackthidot]

It was DEAD when I was there. Out of 16 days there were 3 days total that were busy and it was Fantasmic and EMH nights. Other than that I can't tell you how many times we WALKED onto Space, Tower, RnRC, Thunder, Splash, even Soarin.

 

[WDW-Crazy]

^ Good to hear! We're leaving this Friday night and arriving at Pop on Saturday afternoon in time for check-in. By the way, since I believe you stayed at Pop, how were the crowds there?

 

[blackthidot]

We did not like Pop at all. I don't wanna get TOO much into it as I will in my report but it's just too big. The layout is very confusing.