Are all weeks in September created equal?

[Informer1906]

I have decided to take the family in September as I have heard the crowds are lighter and the rates at the resorts are at their lowest. So my question is; are certain weeks better than other (i.e. is the week of Labor Day better than the last week of the month)? Please share any personal experiences or just what you know from word of mouth. Thanks.

 

[KatMark]

I think it depends on IF and WHEN free dining is offered. We have gone the last two years from around September 1 - 9 and will do so again this year. We arrived the Saturday before Labor Day this past year. It was crowded on Sunday and Monday (Labor Day), but by Tuesday and the rest of the week, it was great. We never waited more than 10 minutes for any attraction with the exception of the mountains and Soarin'--and those were at most 40 minutes and we used fast pass and also did standby. The restaurants seemed more crowded...probably because of free dining...but we never waited more than five minutes past our adr time.The weather was very warm--average 94 or 95 each day with 100% humidity. We handled this by drinking lots of water and taking afternoon breaks at our hotel by either swimming or taking a nap.

 

[EMom]

We went Sept. 22- Oct. 1 and it was great. We walked on rides or waited just a few minutes at most. However, the week before was apparently very crowded. Much longer waits.

Why? Free dining ended Sept 22. Sort of...... The ads said it ended Sept. 22, so a lot of people pushed their trip as late as possible, hoping for the heat to break a bit. That meant making Sept. 22 the last day of their vacation since free dining ended Sept. 22.

But....There was an out. If you booked your vacation to start on the last day of free dining (Sept. 22) you still got free dining. I figured most people wouldn't realize this and that Sept. 14-22 would be swamped, with lots of check outs on Sept. 22 and the crowds would thin as of Sept. 22. I was right.

There was a world of difference. Start your trip on the last day of free dining if you want free dining. If you don't care about free dining, make it early Sept. or the last week, but avoid ending your vacation on what APPEARS to be the last day of free dining at all costs. (In our case, it appeared to end Sept. 22, but did not.)

 

[RMulieri]

We went Sept. 22- Oct. 1 and it was great. We walked on rides or waited just a few minutes at most. However, the week before was apparently very crowded. Much longer waits.

Why? Free dining ended Sept 22. Sort of...... The ads said it ended Sept. 22, so a lot of people pushed their trip as late as possible, hoping for the heat to break a bit. That meant making Sept. 22 the last day of their vacation since free dining ended Sept. 22.

But....There was an out. If you booked your vacation to start on the last day of free dining (Sept. 22) you still got free dining. I figured most people wouldn't realize this and that Sept. 14-22 would be swamped, with lots of check outs on Sept. 22 and the crowds would thin as of Sept. 22. I was right.

There was a world of difference. Start your trip on the last day of free dining if you want free dining. If you don't care about free dining, make it early Sept. or the last week, but avoid ending your vacation on what APPEARS to be the last day of free dining at all costs. (In our case, it appeared to end Sept. 22, but did not.)

Good point but may not be an issue this year.Disney now "Requires" that in order to be eligible for a promo or discount all days of trip must fall within the dates of said promo ir discount.Otherwise each night will be billed at its own rate outside of the discount....hopefully this is true.My trip is at the end of September.