Difference in Late August / Early September crowds?

[DrummerAlly]

Is there a noticeable difference in the crowds between late August (say, the last week or two) and early September (say, the week directly following Labor Day)?

I stumbled across a free day by day crowd prediction calendar somewhere in the inter webs at some point but can no longer find it. Can anyone direct me to one?

 

[Weather_Lady]

If you're not a touringplans subscriber, you can find free calendars by Googling yourfirstvisit and wdw magic. According to the former, the crowds do slowly decline between the end of August and beginning of September. In 2016, estimated crowd levels for those weeks are:

8/20 - 4 (out of 10)
8/27 - 3
9/3 - 2
9/10 - 1

As you probably know, a good touring plan will help you more than a drop of 1 or 2 points on a crowd level when it comes to touring efficiently, so choose the weeks that work best for you, and have a good time. (Oh yea, and STAY COOL - it's gonna be hot!)

 

[Disnee4Me]

When my DSs were young, camps closed mid-August, so we had two weeks before school started, so it was perfect to spend those two weeks at WDW. I'm pretty sure I noticed it being a little less crowded the last week vs the third week of August (this is early 2000s, not sure now). I would imagine, September would be even better because not only the local kids, but the kids from the Northeast are back in school too.

 

[FrostyNaples]

If you're not a touringplans subscriber, you can find free calendars by Googling yourfirstvisit and wdw magic. According to the former, the crowds do slowly decline between the end of August and beginning of September. In 2016, estimated crowd levels for those weeks are:

8/20 - 4 (out of 10)
8/27 - 3
9/3 - 2
9/10 - 1

As you probably know, a good touring plan will help you more than a drop of 1 or 2 points on a crowd level when it comes to touring efficiently, so choose the weeks that work best for you, and have a good time. (Oh yea, and STAY COOL - it's gonna be hot!)

I like that rating system, as that is how I would rate the weather at that time

 

[DrummerAlly]

If you're not a touringplans subscriber, you can find free calendars by Googling yourfirstvisit and wdw magic. According to the former, the crowds do slowly decline between the end of August and beginning of September. In 2016, estimated crowd levels for those weeks are:

8/20 - 4 (out of 10)
8/27 - 3
9/3 - 2
9/10 - 1

As you probably know, a good touring plan will help you more than a drop of 1 or 2 points on a crowd level when it comes to touring efficiently, so choose the weeks that work best for you, and have a good time. (Oh yea, and STAY COOL - it's gonna be hot!)

Thank you! That's what I was looking for! I think we are going to stick with our plan of getting there after labor day, but go in a day earlier. Southwest airlines screwed us when they decided they would only have two direct flights out to MCO from Providence during this week - and the first one doesn't get in until 4:20pm. That's like a whole day off my vacation! :O

 

[DrummerAlly]

I like that rating system, as that is how I would rate the weather at that time

We are fine with the heat, so this is really no big deal to us thankfully!

 

[Tinkerbella16]

We will be there that week! Arriving that Saturday before Labor Day. We aren't worried about the heat either, just want lower crowds.

 

[Weather_Lady]

Thank you! That's what I was looking for! I think we are going to stick with our plan of getting there after labor day, but go in a day earlier. Southwest airlines screwed us when they decided they would only have two direct flights out to MCO from Providence during this week - and the first one doesn't get in until 4:20pm. That's like a whole day off my vacation! :O

Ugh. I don't know why airlines do that, when they know most people traveling to a vacation destination want to get there as soon as possible and stay as long as they can! We have the same issue here (with the Southwest flights out of Rochester, NY). For some reason, they like to go TO Florida in the late afternoon and come back early in the morning, which is basically shaving an entire day's worth of park time (half a day on arrival and half a day when we depart) off of our vacation. Fortunately, we have the option of driving a few minutes' further and flying JetBlue out of Syracuse, which typically has a more favorable schedule, arriving in MCO early and leaving MCO late.

 

[TXDisney]

Huge difference in crowds if you're talking September once schools go back. Also before the food and wine festival. If you go opening weeks to that it's crowded again. Bad part of September October is its rainy season.

 

[jenos0524]

Thank you! That's what I was looking for! I think we are going to stick with our plan of getting there after labor day, but go in a day earlier. Southwest airlines screwed us when they decided they would only have two direct flights out to MCO from Providence during this week - and the first one doesn't get in until 4:20pm. That's like a whole day off my vacation! :O

Try Looking for SW out of Boston/or JetBlue out of Boston. I usually fly out of whichever airport i can get the best price/for times I want to fly. it is odd that they only ave 2 flights that day, they usually have 5 or 6 out of Providence direct to MCO. (Maybe earlier ones sold out?)