Starting to Think Disney in Sept was a Mistake

[MissingDisney]

Everyone told me "Go in September, there's no one there" so we booked a trip and will be there next week but I hear all the values and moderates are FILLED TO CAPACITY. I'm not sure this is true but when I call to try to get one more night at POP (and have been calling for 3 months) there's "no room at the inn". Reservations tells me all resorts are filled except for deluxe. Has anyone been there this week? Is is packed? Are my kids going to be in lines for hours? I'm starting to think I should have waited and gone later in the year. Too bad the airfare is non-refundable. The upside is we are going to MNSSHP. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.

Still looking forward to the trip and very excited, just a bit worried.

 

[miles1]

I wouldn't panic. If the Disney resorts are full, chances are it's due to the specials (ie free dining) that Disney is offering to keep them that way. BUT, at the same time the off-property hotels probably aren't anywhere near as full as usual due to the economy , and because many people that would have stayed off-site are now on-site due to free dining. Most of the reports I've seen here say park crowds are light currently despite the discount specials.

Specials or not, September is classically one of the slowest times of year. I don't think you will have any big issues with crowds. Have a great trip.

 

[LivFreeorDisney]

I went in September a couple years ago and we had a great time. the ride waiting time was 15 minutes or less for most rides. The weather is great so don't worry, you'll have a great time.

 

[Computer Magic]

I just returned from 9/9 - 9/16. It was not busy. Sorin had a 5 minute wait time on 9/9 at 4pm. We got a lot done. I even rode Speedway for the first time and dragged my wife to see CBJ :lookaroun She returned the favor and made me ride JC. We both resisted the urge to see the Tiki Room. Pirates was walk on with 10 minute ride.

TSM was walk on 9/12 in the morning after EMH ended. With our fast pass, we rode twice in 45 minutes.

I don't think the entire time, we had to wait more then 20 minutes for the most popular rides. I think we used FP about 10 times and mostly to ride a 2nd time after we walked on.

disclaimer: Things change quickly at Disney. The day before we checked in 600 guests checked out of AKL and only 100 checked in. I think it will be slower this year because the free dining plan goes until Dec.

 

[disneytopdog]

I have gone 4 septembers in a row with free dining, the crowds are no problem. The evening EMH's may be crazy but you need to remember you ar dividing all those people in all the on site resorts into 4 parks. Your weekends of course will have more of a crowd than weekdays.

 

[disneygirl1]

You got to realize, with the free dining, more people are staying at a Disney resort as opposed to a non-Disney resort... Meaning Disney is booked but the rest of the Orlando hotels are not. I think you will be fine. Been hearing crowds are managable.

 

[thetodd]

That's why there is Fastpass. Don't even give it a second thought, a few years ago we went for 3 days on a whim over Christmas, the busiest time of year and we still had a blast, got on plenty of attractions etc.

 

[donsullivan]

I was in and out of the parks throughout the last week and i've never seen them so low in attendance. Magic Kingdom on Wednesday, the only attraction that was not a walk-on (under 10 minutes) was Peter Pan and I never saw it above 30 minutes all day. Epcot later that same day as well as Thursday was exactly the same. I didn't see Soarin get above 30 minutes throughout the day. We started a running joke the the average wait time was the equivalent of 'How fast can you walk?'.

You won't have to worry about crowds in the parks at all.

 

[blackthidot]

They only reserve a certain amount of rooms per resort for free dining as well. I always go in September, and the only thing with a stupid wait time was the most overrated attraction to date...TSM...

 

[Computer Magic]

I was in and out of the parks throughout the last week and i've never seen them so low in attendance. Magic Kingdom on Wednesday, the only attraction that was not a walk-on (under 10 minutes) was Peter Pan and I never saw it above 30 minutes all day. Epcot later that same day as well as Thursday was exactly the same. I didn't see Soarin get above 30 minutes throughout the day. We started a running joke the the average wait time was the equivalent of 'How fast can you walk?'.

You won't have to worry about crowds in the parks at all.

I'm going to have to review all the trip reports over the last 14 days to see if I show up anyone's pictures:lol:

 

[Tom]

Everyone told me "Go in September, there's no one there" so we booked a trip and will be there next week but I hear all the values and moderates are FILLED TO CAPACITY. I'm not sure this is true but when I call to try to get one more night at POP (and have been calling for 3 months) there's "no room at the inn". Reservations tells me all resorts are filled except for deluxe. Has anyone been there this week? Is is packed? Are my kids going to be in lines for hours? I'm starting to think I should have waited and gone later in the year. Too bad the airfare is non-refundable. The upside is we are going to MNSSHP. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.

Still looking forward to the trip and very excited, just a bit worried.

Don't worry 'bout it!

Values are the least expensive resorts, and therefore first to fill up.

Kids are in school. We're between holidays. Hurricane threats scare people away. Great time to go.

Just know that weekends in the parks are awful during the off season. That's when locals go. We've been on weekends during various "off seasons" and thought it was the 4th of July.

 

[mickey7879]

We leave tomorrow and after reading the op question I started to panic a little. So glad to hear everyones report on how light the crowds are. This is our first time going in September. We were planning on going on a cruise (and not doing Disney) with another couple and their kids, but found out I was pregnant:sohappy:, so chose to just do Disney by ourselves instead. I don't know if it's the smartest thing I've ever done (going to Disney 7 months pregnant :brick but I'm sure we'll have a great time. Can't wait to start our last vacation as a family of 3 before Baby Jackson arrives December 1st!:sohappy:

 

[foreverbelle]

Agree I wouldn't worry to much about it we are planning a trip for February and it seems like whenever we call they say they are booked up as well. So just go and have a good time.

 

[nepalostparks]

Along with what the other posters have said, here's the low down on September:

- Disney Resorts will be more crowded as people have to stay on site for Free Dining. You may notice the levels in the food court, busses, around the pool, etc. We generally spend most of our times out at the parks and get a rental car, so it didn't bother us.

- Restaurants: Generally, they will be busy. As long as you have your ADRs for table service, you will be fine. For counter service, try eating at off peak hours - try to avoid standing in the longest lines right around noon and 5 - 6 p.m.

- Parks: Crowds will be light! Last September, we enjoyed walking on some rides, and except for the big headliners, we almost never waited more than 15 minutes for an attraction. And for the big ones, like Soarin, etc - use FASTPASS, and save yourself the wait. Honestly, the whole week we were there, the longest wait we ever had was about 25 minutes one night for Peter Pan.

And of course, it all depends on what you compare it to. Some people will call it busy, but have never seen it around the week of Christmas, or during the summer months when schools are out. There is no 100 %guarantee of how crowded it will be any given day, but overall, September is not nearly as crowded as many other times of the year.

Enjoy your trip! :wave:

 

[KingStefan]

I have to agree with what most posters have said: free dining is booking up the mods and the values, but the parks will be moderate to light. If you have a good touring plan, you will not have a problem. I recommend consulting the touringplans.com calendar to see which parks are the best to attend each day.

We were there this year the last two weeks of Aug. Some crowds, but very managable. Early and late in the day was a pleasure at ALL the parks.

The only problem you may encounter is with dining. You don't say in your post whether you are on the dining plan. If you are, and you haven't already done so, make reservations NOW for TS restaurants. CS restaurants will be busy, but manageable.

Have a magical trip!

 

[davidpw97]

I was also down there the last week and spent 3 days in the parks and they were about as slow as I've ever seen them. I didn't have much trouble finding a place to eat either. I didn't make any ADR's and was able to walk into Liberty Tree around noon on Monday and get seated within 5 min and 50's Prime Time around 2 on Tuesday and was seated right away.

 

[GymLeaderPhil]

What you have to understand is that the first week and the last week of the Free Dining promotion are the busiest of the special deal.

The closer it is to summer or the closer it is to the holidays/special events, you're going to end up having a hard time booking anything on property.

However, what is lacking is the off-property guests as this is still a typically slow period for Orlando. The only reason why it might seem that the parks will be crowded is because Disney is artificially "padding their numbers" before the end of their financial year with this special (among others.) If there wasn't free dining and the amazing offers for passholders/cast members then there would not be the amount of difficulty in booking dining/rooms on property.

Hope you enjoy your trip!

 

[want2betink]

My best friend is there as I write. She said that longest wait is Toy Story Maina, which has been as high as 70 minutes. She said everything else is about 5-20 minutes. You will have a great time. I went one year over Easter break and had a great time. I will never go at that time again because the the crowds were worse than the first week of June. BUT, I was in my happy place and loved every second of it

 

[Loretta]

I have a friend that just got back and said everything was walk on. Very hot, but low crowds.

 

[wendysmom]

We've gone down for a few days in September for about four years now. I like it because you get the warmth of summer, without bad weather (usually!) and the crowds are down. I'm going down tomorrow with a friend who's anxious to see the Food Festival on Friday! And it's never a mistake to go to Disney!!:sohappy: