Mid-late August Trip ?

NEL

NEL

Active Member
Ok, I have just booked a last minute long weekend trip to WDW for August 17-20. Its the weekend right before school starts here in Florida. I was able to get a Value Season rate on the All Star, $81 per night. I assumed since I was able to get that low rate, and its the weekend just before school starts that the crowds would already be down from their summer break highs. However I checked touring plans and it is showing crowd level 9 for the weekend. This seems a little odd to me, especially since they show the weekend before with lower crowds. It just doesn't make sense, why would Disney give these Value season rates on hotels if crowds are still high season level. Well has anyone gone around this time, and if so how was it?

Also I am a little lost on how I should plan. So far we are going to arrive on Friday early morning and head to Epcot, then a mid afternoon break to hotel, then to DHS at night for Fantasmic. Saturday all day at MK, and Sunday morning throuogh mid afternoon at DHS and then back home. How does that sound? Do you think this is best plan for crowds and whatnot?

All comments,suggestions, tips, and reviews are welcomed and encouraged !!
THANKS !!!!:)

PS... I miss the waving hand smiley face.
 
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spacemt354

spacemt354

Chili's
My family and I usually go every year around the middle of August. We like that time because the Flordia schools go back, so we know that really any kids who are in the parks are tourists so to speak. We always like it because Disney does give away some special value offers because technically it is Disney's Value season since Florida and much of the south is back in school. But that doesn't mean the crowd levels will be on par with the value season. It depends on when you hit the parks. I'll try to give you some feedback on crowd levels for the places that you are going to based on what we have experienced, but again it could always vary.

For Friday morning, I think it's a great idea to hit Epcot for the morning extra magic hours. Usually there are not a lot of people there in the morning, so you should be able to hit all of the rides you want to. We try to take advantage of the morning hours as much as possible because the evening ones tend to get crowded. Anyway, the mid-afternoons tend to get very hot in August, so it's great that you're take a break at the hotel. That's always our stradegy, because usually our grandparents come with us, and the afternoon is when both the crowds and the heat are at their peaks. So we just feel it's more relaxing to avoid that. Also, expect a typical August Florida rain shower to occur between 3-4 pm. It doesn't last long, but when it rains, it pours, so it's good you're at your hotel. And DHS shouldn't be too much of a crowd issue. And since you are going back to the park later in the trip, you can always hit the stuff you missed next time and just enjoy Fantasmic.

Saturday at the MK might get crowded. But I doubt the crowds will be equal to Christmas time crowds though. I would guess the wait times mid-afternoon for the mountains, Splash, BTM, and Space, would be 80 min, 60 min, and 70 min respectively. Peter Pan's Flight and Winnie the Pooh would probably be the next highest at around 50-60min each at peak times. I would try to either a) get a fastpass for your favorite or b) hit those rides either in the morning, or c) ride them during one of the afternoon/evening parades to cut down on wait times. But other than that the longest we have waited for Pirates or Haunted Mansion or any of the other popular rides at their peak wait times would be 30 mins. And others like it's a Small World and such shouldn't be any more than 10 min on average based on what we have experienced.

Then on Sunday DHS is a good choice. If you get there early and one of the rides on your list is Toy Story Mania, ride that first or grab a fastpass because they run out by 11am in August and then it's a 100-120 min wait by the afternoon. Other than that Tower of Terror might be 30-40 min, Rockin Roller Coaster will be 50-60 min, and Star Tours will be 20-30 min on average.

I wasn't sure if you were at Disney for the whole day on Sunday because your trip is from the 17-20th, and the 20th is a Monday, but you said you were going home on the Sunday. If you are there on the Sunday, the Magic Kingdom has Extra Hours I believe in the evening, and unlike the other evening hours, that one tends to disperse by around 11pm and and the wait times after that are no more than 15-20min. We usually do the Sunday MK extra hours because if you're lucky and stay till the park closes, the cast members tend to let you stay on and ride the attractions 2 or 3 times in a row because there isn't a line.

But if you are leaving the Sunday afternoon, I still think that the plan looks great. I hope I could help! We always enjoy going down in August and I'm sure you'll like it too.
 
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DizneyPryncess

DizneyPryncess

Well-Known Member
NEL said:
Ok, I have just booked a last minute long weekend trip to WDW for August 17-20. Its the weekend right before school starts here in Florida. I was able to get a Value Season rate on the All Star, $81 per night. I assumed since I was able to get that low rate, and its the weekend just before school starts that the crowds would already be down from their summer break highs. However I checked touring plans and it is showing crowd level 9 for the weekend. This seems a little odd to me, especially since they show the weekend before with lower crowds. It just doesn't make sense, why would Disney give these Value season rates on hotels if crowds are still high season level. Well has anyone gone around this time, and if so how was it?

Also I am a little lost on how I should plan. So far we are going to arrive on Friday early morning and head to Epcot, then a mid afternoon break to hotel, then to DHS at night for Fantasmic. Saturday all day at MK, and Sunday morning throuogh mid afternoon at DHS and then back home. How does that sound? Do you think this is best plan for crowds and whatnot?

All comments,suggestions, tips, and reviews are welcomed and encouraged !!
THANKS !!!!:)

PS... I miss the waving hand smiley face.
Click to expand...

I was there Aug 18-25th a few years back & found it very light in crowds. Definitely not a 9! Maybe it was a week later than you're going and that's where the crowd difference is. I remember it being the hottest vacation I've ever been on though.

I think your plan sounds great! Arriving at park opening is always a great time to find small crowds - and breaks mid-afternoon to avoid the peak of the heat is also a great plan. I hope crowds aren't as large as touring plans is predicting!

I miss the waving hand smiley face too....:D
 
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HouCuseChickie

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
We went last year from Aug 14-18. I was terrified of the crowds b/c Touring Plans was listing each day as a 9. Touring Plans couldn't have been more wrong. I lost complete faith in their figures with this trip. We had gone in Dec 2010 and most of our days were between 1s-5s. I remember a 5 day from that Dec trip and thinking- wow if this is a 5 I don't think I can handle a 7 or 8. Well, none of our Aug 2011 trip felt even close to as crowded as that 5 day on the Dec 2010 trip. DH even agreed that mid August was far less crowded than that early Dec trip. So, basically Touring Plans' lvl 9 days felt more like 3s.

So, based on my experiences...I would take Touring Plans thoughts on this with a grain of salt. Easy WDW usually has better crowd predictions and better recommendations for parks. :)
 
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NEL

NEL

Active Member
Original Poster
HouCuseChickie said:
We went last year from Aug 14-18. I was terrified of the crowds b/c Touring Plans was listing each day as a 9. Touring Plans couldn't have been more wrong. I lost complete faith in their figures with this trip. We had gone in Dec 2010 and most of our days were between 1s-5s. I remember a 5 day from that Dec trip and thinking- wow if this is a 5 I don't think I can handle a 7 or 8. Well, none of our Aug 2011 trip felt even close to as crowded as that 5 day on the Dec 2010 trip. DH even agreed that mid August was far less crowded than that early Dec trip. So, basically Touring Plans' lvl 9 days felt more like 3s.

So, based on my experiences...I would take Touring Plans thoughts on this with a grain of salt. Easy WDW usually has better crowd predictions and better recommendations for parks. :)
Click to expand...

Glad to hear you had low crowds, I hope I have the same luck. Will also check that website and compare it to touring plans.

Thanks for all the great info !!!!!
 
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MorganKelly

MorganKelly

Active Member
IMHO I would "fear" the weather over heavy crowds LOL. We have found mid to late August crowds to be mostly moderate. For sure you may hit a bad day (weekends come to mind here), but on the whole our experience has been fine.
 
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EvilQueen-T

EvilQueen-T

Well-Known Member
we're floridians too and went the week right before they started school last year too and it was still crowded imo. a lot of schools up north don't start until a week or two after us and i noticed a lot of tour groups. they still had emh and the afternoon rains ran people out of the parks to some degree. we've done that time of year mainly because we were seasonal pass holder and at least it's a discounted rate time for rooms.
 
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