Afraid September is going to be PACKED this year

[jpeden]

I had no FP+ issues at 60 days (going Sept 11-15, leaving the 16th) however it's been a bear getting ADR's. Right now there's only one I'd like an earlier time for (pre-park CP - we have 8:40 but I'd like something in the 8:00-8:30 range), but it took me two months of stalking to get Narcoossee's for my wife and I's anniversary dinner at 8:00PM.

 

[lynch34]

People stress about crowds no matter what but just enjoy your vacation! It's totally uncontrollable. I'm going 9/2 to 9/9 and its predicted to be very low but I'm not betting on that. I'm going to have fun whether its busy or not and whether it rains or not.

I would expect a large crowd any day at any time. That makes it so much better when its not bad.

 

[disprincess2213]

Maybe you should check again at 60 days?

J/K.

Lots of reports just like yours. Some say it's because of the shorter park hours. I have a hunch Disney is staffing that meet & greet at a lower capacity because they consider it a lower season. That should not be taken as an indication of how busy the parks will be in general.

I reread your post 3 times like what is she talking about!! before I realized I said 180!!! looollllllll!! Yes I did check at 60 lol!! But still no luck!

 

[lynch34]

Maybe look for a new TA. Then go into MDE and plug in your dates. I just did and it's only pool views that are not available for September 17-26. Otherwise, there is plenty of availability. Maybe she was searching for discounted rooms, but just because all the discounted rooms have been sold doesn't mean a resort is at full capacity.

This is a WDW game. The resorts are HUGE. Change the amount of days you are staying. Magically, I bet a standard view will become available for your entire stay (including 9/17 to 9/26). Book the room. Then cancel the extra days.

 

[lynch34]

I've been to Disney multiple times in September and have never waited longer than 20 minutes for a ride. EVER.

I guess you are saying this because you use FP+ because I've been in September and tracked every day and Mine Train, etc. will never be 20 minutes.

 

[kkdalrymple]

this explanation makes sense! That helps put me at ease with crowd levels. I've had a really hard time getting my daughter a boutique appt also

 

[mom2rtk]

This is a WDW game. The resorts are HUGE. Change the amount of days you are staying. Magically, I bet a standard view will become available for your entire stay (including 9/17 to 9/26). Book the room. Then cancel the extra days.

Disney is all over that. They now say that if you want to drop days, you need to rebook entirely. So if your resort category is sold out for your dates, too bad so sad.

Wanna drop one day because of a schedule change? Better hope your discount is still available for new bookings.

 

[lynch34]

Disney is all over that. They now say that if you want to drop days, you need to rebook entirely. So if your resort category is sold out for your dates, too bad so sad.

Wanna drop one day because of a schedule change? Better hope your discount is still available for new bookings.

Weak. Why play games with saying a standard room isn't available when it clearly is?

 

[mom2rtk]

Weak. Why play games with saying a standard room isn't available when it clearly is?

If it's available (on the discount you had) they will cancel and rebook for you.

I happened to hit this right when they flipped on this new policy in late April. They weren't budging then, at all. Not sure if they have lightened up any. I ended up with a pool view instead of the river view we had booked, even though when I released my room it has to have gone back into the pool of open rooms. I kept checking but we didn't catch it available though, so not sure when it shows back up online.

 

[mommajo143]

Will be there 9/12-9/19, crowd calendar is showing overall 1 and 2's, my hope is that they are right.

We have similar dates of travel. We frequently go during times that are "low crowd" and have noticed over the last several years that we have seen a few days which felt crowded sneak in to our travels but overall found waits tolerable and crowds manageable. Gone are the days when we used to stay on dumbo & ride repeatedly because no one was waiting to board, but since I occasionally get carsick & DS8 obviously outgrew his fascination with the ride (& DS4 prefers people mover) it doesn't bother me ;-)

 

[tlmadden73]

People are traveling again .. and because of the vast information on the internet (and sites like these) .. more and more people read that certain times are "low crowd" times ... which probably makes them a lot busier than they used to be.

I am going in late August (despite the heat) because it was a low crowd time and 'value' season for the resorts. Plus it falls in the dates that had a decent room discount (20%). I fully expect the parks to be a lot more crowded than I expect as other families made the same decision I did based on those factors.

My only saving grace is that my vacation falls JUST before free dining starts.

 

[Buttrcp16]

We went the last full week in Sept. last year and after all the talk of Sept. being the slowest month of the year, I was taken aback by how busy it seemed - at first. Granted earlier Sept. is slower than late, but there were still more people than I had expected. Walking around the parks especially in the afternoon seemed crowded to me. That being said, we had a very strategic touring plan and never waited more than 15min for a ride - and that wait was only once, for Peter Pan at about 9:15am. My youngest was only 23 months at the time so waiting in long lines simply was not an option for us. I find that while the slow times of years past is long gone, you can still see and do a ton during off peak times if you are smart with your planning. And yes, perhaps make a few sacrifices like going to Cape May instead of Chef Mickey's, or doing standby for A&E at the end of the night instead of FP+.

A tip for the FoF parade - we stepped out of the barber shop just as it started to go by, and there were maybe 2 people near us. We had a completely unobstructed view and had awesome character interaction. You don't need FP+ for the parades if you know where to find the secret spots!

Obviously September can't be that bad if we are going again this year!

 

[my2lovedisney]

I guess you are saying this because you use FP+ because I've been in September and tracked every day and Mine Train, etc. will never be 20 minutes.

Actually I rarely use fast pass. I've inly ever used it for Toy Story.

 

[canyoncam]

Actually I rarely use fast pass. I've inly ever used it for Toy Story.

Then I am curious at what time you ride 7DMT? And Soarin? Those are the two rides I do not feel like using my FP+ on but do wish to ride. I am willing to do rope drop for Soarin but not for 7DMT.

 

[my2lovedisney]

Then I am curious at what time you ride 7DMT? And Soarin? Those are the two rides I do not feel like using my FP+ on but do wish to ride. I am willing to do rope drop for Soarin but not for 7DMT.

I haven been back since the mine train opened. It was being built the last time I was there. As far as Soarin, I believe we rode that mid day and waited stand by. There were only 2 riders so maybe that helped? Idk. But, like I said no longer than 20 mins. My daughter was 6 at the time and she wouldn't have lasted any longer. Guess it's just random luck and chance taking.

 

[Jeannie in NJ]

The only way that my daughter and sil got me on BTMRR was because it was a long line. I thought I could not do roller coasters so had never ridden any. I didn't want to wait a long time by myself away from the line so my plan was to wait in line, chatting with dd and sil and then opt out of the ride. But we were so engrossed with our conversation that before I knew it, I was on the ride. Well, I loved it and plan on riding more roller coasters on our next trip (I could not ride any other coasters that trip as it was our last night). If it has been a short line, I never would have even been in line with them.

 

[White Rose]

We are a party of 10 and having no trouble getting or changing our ADRs or FPs. We are in WDW from sept 3rd to the 7th...I just made changes last night canceling one restaurant and booking another, and changing the times on another...all times were available and there was no issue... Also got 7dmt, fireworks and MSEP, fantasmic, tot, star tours, and everything we want at AK.

This is a special trip celebrating my dad's 80th birthday. We are doing a tour guide mostly but I wanted to have options after the tours booked for everyone.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

January is always nice to go too - low crowds.

January has the big tour groups. And the marathon which tends to fill up the resorts. There are issues with any time you might want to go.

 

[andiraye]

One little trick on ADR's... If a restaurant is not actually run by Disney, they often do not show all of the reservations on the MDE system. So if you call up the restaurant directly, you can find availability at all sorts of different times and for all sorts of different parties. You also can cancel the day of and not pay a cancellation fee, just like a regular restaurant, which helps with spontaneity. We've done this with Dinosaur, Raglan Road, Rainforest Cafe and the Swan/Dolphin restaurants.

I say this because this is our second year going during FD in September and both times we've been able to get reservations that were "unavailable" by calling the restaurant directly.

 

[Disneychick75]

FP+has not been a problem. I have to laugh though with ADRs. Our trip starts the weekend F&W open and each day at the MK, the only available had been The Plaza and Tony's. Last night or should I say at 2am, I was finally able to book a BOG breakfast for the last day of our trip.
In the past, and we'll try this trip too, we've walked up to busy restaurants and most of the time, they could fit us in because of last minute cancellations, though not necessarily right then. We have never been during free dining though so we may have no luck. The only reservation I would love is CRT and that's because I'm bringing my cousin who is in her 60's and has never been to WDW. Hoping for some CRT pixie dust but I'm realistic.