Advice on a Trip in Sept

[DisMomOfTwo]

So I've been to WDW more times than I can count growing up, but it's been 16 years since I've been there now. My parents just booked a trip for themselves, my family and my sister's family for Sept 2015. There will be three generations going, including kids aged 4, 2 and 1. We booked 8 nights; but will only be going to the parks for 7 days.

Since it's been awhile I was looking for some thoughts on how crowded it will be during that time and how much pre-planning do we really have to do. I've looked up the crowd levels already and they'll be anywhere from a 1-4 depending on that day and park, but I'm trying to understand how bad/good is a "3" or "4" day or even how empty will it really be on a "1" day. I don't know if a "1" day means some crowds still, or a pretty empty park and we'll be able walk on everything.

I want to know because I don't like the idea of having to plan everything in advance now with dining reservations 6 months out and fastpasses 3 months out! With little kids and a group this size we honestly don't want to make any plans in advance, what if someone needs to rest a little more one morning or the kids really want to go on the same ride two or three times. I don't want a fight to start because we have to stop what we're doing to use our fastpass that we booked 3 months ago!

Sorry that was long, basically I want to know from anyone who has gone during the last week of Sept recently, did you plan out everyday before you left? Did you feel it was necessary and glad you did it or was it not worth the time and effort of preplanning everything because it's not crowded?

 

[rachael95]

We just went in September and thought it was a bit busier than I remember it being when we were actively going years ago; but it was not terrible. Some rides had wait times of 10 minutes, others up to 60. Anna and Elsa meet and greet was 2 hours, Mine train was about 80 minutes. We had a rule that we did not go on any ride where the wait was more than 20 minutes unless we used a Fast Pass.

For the crowd calendar, I planned our days in the parks based on which one was green that day. It worked out well for us. But during the week, we decided to not go to Hollywood Studios and do an extra MK day, that still was fine crowd wise. I’d avoid any place that was red.

I would suggest not planning on everyone staying together at all. That large of a group would be better to split up and meet for meals, parades, etc. Not everyone is going to want to go at the same pace or ride the same rides. They may not even want to be in the same park at the same time. So I’d definitely take that into account.

For dining reservations, I would definitely make a reservation if there is a place you ABSOLUTELY must eat at. I’ll tell you that for a couple of our days, we decided we wanted to go back to Liberty Tavern and the Plaza Restaurant and were not able to get a seating. I would make at least one table reservation per day if you plan on eating sit down meals. That’s also if you plan on staying on property. Some of our best meals were when we went off property. Just remember that if you decide to cancel, you need to do it the day before or you will be charged a fee per person for many of the restaurants.

For FastPasses, I would make the FP for the rides or meet and greets that you ABSOLUTELY must have first. You can always change them up to the hour of the fast past. You are not tied to these if you change your mind. If your plans change, whip out your cell phone and use the My Disney Experience app to change your FP. There is free wifi in the parks, so you’re not even going to be using your own data plan to do it. We used our FPs for meet and greets and then once we found out which rides our DS loved the most, we adjusted the fast passes on the fly the day of. If you miss a FP – who cares. You can reuse it for something else later in the day.

I will say that my DH was glad for the effort I put into planning. Especially with knowing which parks to go to, that we had at least one meal planned and that we had FPs (if we decided we really wanted to use them). I truly thought I’d hate this new FP system, but I actually really liked it.

Good luck!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

It will be very hot so plan to take afternoon break back at the resort pools.

 

[DisMomOfTwo]

Thanks for the feed back. I think I'll try to get my family on board to make a plan attempting to go to the least or at least one of the lesser crowded parks each day so we can make some dining reservations. Then maybe I'll use a touring plan for kids as a guide on what fastpasses to pick, because I'm not sure what to pick for those yet.

I'll simply tell everyone that it's just a general plan and we're free to change it at any point. This way, just in case it's busier than expected we have a guaranteed sit down meal each day.

And yes, if there's one thing I've learned from my bit of research so far, is that the afternoon break with kids is probably the most important part of the day

 

[MommyMK]

I think your best bet is to make the plans now and then you can always cancel later on if you need to. If you want to eat in a table service restaurant with a group that large you are going to need a reservation, even in Sept. I'd plan one meal a day for everyone and then have the rest of the meals be counter service on your own. If you find that the meal reservations aren't working for you, cancel them. As long as you cancel before midnight the night before or at least 1 person shows up to eat you won't be charged a cancellation fee. I made a ton of reservations 6 months out and then cancelled the ones I didn't think we'd make 24 hours to a week out from our trip.

Same with the fast passes. Plan them out, but you don't have to use them. If you don't need them or folks don't want to walk across the park to use them then just don't. But better to have them and not need them vs the opposite.

 

[kreckl]

The biggest issue for us in September was the weather! It is hot, and rains a lot. We found that the rains came through in the afternoons for some reason and were happy that we had done our usual sit down table service lunches. That helped to avoid some of the rain and the worst of the heat for a few days. We were able to recharge that way and I would recommend planning a midday break. Then you can decide what you want to do for the rest of the day after a big(her) meal. So I would recommend choosing your park based on TP, considering a table service lunch rather than dinner- at least for some days-and choose FP in the morning at your preferred park ( or early afternoon after your lunch break).
So-yes. I would plan your parks and meal reservations. And fast passes. Although you may get lucky and have relatively short wait or walk on times, the restaurants are busy always.