Wondering about visiting in September.

[SnowWhiteMomma]

I chose to visit in September, because everything I have read said it is one of the slowst times of the year.

I might be missing something, but as a piece of my honeymoon we went to Disney and did MK in like 6 hours. That also lead me to believe it was slow.

My Mother in Law went last Sept and said it was so over crowded it was not even funny.

This year a couple of the moderate resorts are completely booked as well as a value. Does this equate into very crowded parks??

 

[Carolyn1717]

If your looking to go in September you'd better do something real fast. Disney has had their "Free Dine" offer going on for quite a few weeks and a lot of the resorts are sold out already. You may find something at one of the moderates or deluxes but I believe the value resort are gone..

 

[SnowWhiteMomma]

I already have my reservations and free dine. I was just wondering if Sept is supposed to be less crowded why are all the resorts full despite the free dining. I was just wondering if this meant the parks would be crowded.

 

[cymbaldiva]

Went last September - parks were more crowded than I care for on the weekend (I have an extremely low tolerance for crowds) but the weekdays were completely crowd free - it was great!

Lines for the buses were a PITA though.

 

[brianheather]

We have gone in Sept for the past two years, and going again this sept. We have never experienced the "crowds" we were ther for Labor day the past two years and it was great. We walked on every of the major rides, Test Track, Soarin, Mission Space with no wait at all.
This year we are going a week later for the Not So Scarey Halloween Party, so maybe it will be a little busier for that.

 

[Tater48]

We were there in September of last year, the week after the Labor Day holiday, and the crowds were pretty light except for the night we went to MNSSHP and hardly any wait times for the rides.

 

[Carolyn1717]

I already have my reservations and free dine. I was just wondering if Sept is supposed to be less crowded why are all the resorts full despite the free dining. I was just wondering if this meant the parks would be crowded.

I wouldn't worry about the crowds too much. If you have a hopper ticket and one park is too crowded, just leave and go back later. We do that all the time. You'll have a wonderful time, really, don't worry about the crowds.

 

[Master Yoda]

Will it be shoulder to shoulder 4th of July busy? No.

Will it be completely dead? No way, and due to free dinning it is essential to make your dining reservations ASAP.

There really are not slow times at WDW anymore. Disney has been very smart to fill in those attendance valleys with special events such as free dining, Food and Wine festival, etc. The best piece of advice I could give you is to get to the parks early (about 1/2 hour before opening). Most people on vacation at WDW will get up a little late have breakfast and roll into the parks around 11-12. If you get into the parks at 9 or even better 8 with an early EMH you will find that you can do quite a bit in that first 2-3 hours. Just a quick example- You can do every attraction in Fantasyland in 1-2 hours at 9 AM. If you try to do it at 1 PM you will be lucky to 2 attractions in an hour.

 

[YankeeMouse]

We've been going in Sept for a while now, including during free dining times in recent years. Have found that weekdays are nice and not crowded, and weekends are more crowded.

 

[Jodileigh]

We did Sept in 2004 and 2006. Both times we missed the Labor Day holiday (yay!) and neither time did it seem terribly crowded. The largest crowds I remember were on the MNSSHP night. In 2004 hurricane Jeanne hit and most folks left, so it was EMPTY! They didn't even open the FP booths!! We walked right on to everything! Now, as the free dining thing gets more and more popular, I would expect to see crowds rise. For me, I'm hoping for that! Maybe folks will wait till later to go and August 7 - 15 will be less crowded! A girl can dream!

Jodi

 

[fosse76]

We did Sept in 2004 and 2006. Both times we missed the Labor Day holiday (yay!) and neither time did it seem terribly crowded. The largest crowds I remember were on the MNSSHP night. In 2004 hurricane Jeanne hit and most folks left, so it was EMPTY! They didn't even open the FP booths!! We walked right on to everything! Now, as the free dining thing gets more and more popular, I would expect to see crowds rise. For me, I'm hoping for that! Maybe folks will wait till later to go and August 7 - 15 will be less crowded! A girl can dream!

Jodi

From what I gathered, full resorts doesn't necessarily mean more crowded parks. Plus I guess it depends on what they mean by full. As someone more in-the-know has mentioned, the free-dining does not apply to every single room on the resort. So let's say they only reserve 20% of the rooms at each resort for free dining. You still have 80% of the remaining rooms that may be available. Not to mention, contrary to most people here, the public at large isn't as picky, so they will pick the most affordable hotel for them. Also, people don't all arrive on the same day, so if you were arriving on a friday and staying until the next friday, there may be a spot at the resort of your choice from sat to friday, but because you arrive friday it won't show the room as available for that week.

I went to Disney World for the first time a year and a half ago in the middle of September (for my b-day). It was empty. The only lines we waited in were for Test Track, Peter Pan (both of which were a half-hour) and oddly, Star Tours (which was about 20 minutes. We walked onto everything else. School's have just started for most kids in the country, so parents won't be as willing to keep them out. The only increase will be a result of foreign tourists, since the dollar is the lowest it's been since the depression.

 

[brucie]

Weekends are crowded, weekdays are empty!! Stay away from the parks on the weekends and you will be happy!!

 

[SchultzFamily]

I already have my reservations and free dine. I was just wondering if Sept is supposed to be less crowded why are all the resorts full despite the free dining. I was just wondering if this meant the parks would be crowded.

We have been there the last three years anywhere from August 28 - September 9. The only day we had problems with crowds was last year on the Sunday before Labor Day...even the extra magic hours in the evening were rather crowded. Other than that, we averaged a 10 minute walk for most attractions with the exception of the mountains--Space, Splash, Thunder and Everest, and Soarin'--where the waits averaged about 30 minutes. We utilized Fast Pass and still rode those attractions more than once. We did find the restaurants more crowded, but we never waited more than 5 minutes past our ADR time with the exception of Boatwright's where we waited over 45 minutes.

 

[bgraham34]

We've been going in Sept for a while now, including during free dining times in recent years. Have found that weekdays are nice and not crowded, and weekends are more crowded.

I would pretty much agree, but I did notice a longer wait time on rides during the week from years past. But still not bad.

 

[barbara]

I've gone the last 3 years during Sept. (this year will be my 4th) Each year their seems to be more people, but its still not bad, waiting in line no longer than 10 minutes. The weekends were the only really busy times. Now dining can be a problem if you don't have reservations.

 

[MissM]

Bear in mind that September is the peak of hurricane season here in Florida. I'm not saying that you'll get hit by one, but it's always best when spending that much money and making such expensive plans during a notoriously fickle weather season, it's best to opt for trip insurance on all or part of your vacation. That way, in the event something does happen (minimal to be sure, but better to have a backup plan) you won't be out money and you won't have to hassle to get your expenses recovered.
-m

 

[RedBaron]

I chose to visit in September, because everything I have read said it is one of the slowst times of the year.

I might be missing something, but as a piece of my honeymoon we went to Disney and did MK in like 6 hours. That also lead me to believe it was slow.

My Mother in Law went last Sept and said it was so over crowded it was not even funny.

This year a couple of the moderate resorts are completely booked as well as a value. Does this equate into very crowded parks??

I think that September used to be a very slow time of the year. My mom and I always used to go in September right after Labor Day since all the kids were back in school and it used to be great. You could almost walk on all of the rides and walk around leisurely. However, I went back for the first time in 10 years last September and it was mobbed (well for us anyway since we were used to no crowds, maybe it is worse in the summer?). Granted it was free dining and all, which was also great, so maybe that is why crowds were up? I was also amazed at how many kids were there. I guess people have no problems taking their kids out of school for vacations now? A friend of ours said that the best time to go is right after Thanksgiving? I cant say that he is right or wrong since I have never been there at that time. I am thinking of taking my kids for the first time right after Thanksgiving his year, or next year (it all depends on them). Even if there are still some crowds, at least the temperature will be better. Maybe I am just getting old, but this last September, besides being more rainy than what I have experienced in the past, it was so hot (upper 90's every day with humidity to match in the 90+% range) that I felt like I needed another shower 10 minutes after leaving my room. I don't mean to discourage you from choosing a September vacation, but this was my most recent experience.