Are the parks packed?

[mostyn17]

I have read a few other posts where they say how busy the parks have been and some others that say they are average. Is the free dining plan bringing in the crowds? We always go at the end of Aug....beginning of Sept. and the crowds were ok....this year we leave Sept 12....I heard that time of year is dead. Will the dining plan make the parks crowded??

Thanks in advance!
Travis

 

[noseybuddy]

I just got back from WDW 8/21. It seem to me that if you got into the parks when they opened there was no problem. The most crowded parks seem to be MGM and MK. By afternoon time, these two parks seemed to be a bit crowded. Best advice is to go early when the parks open, get your fast passes and leave in the hot afternoon, and then go back out later.

 

[phantom728]

We've been to WDW during the middle of Sept and the parks were not crowded at all, pretty much no wait at any parks, except for fantasyland at MK.
The free dining might have an impact, but most people don't want to take their kids out of school this early in the year. We don't have a problem with that because I hate extreme crowds.

The only thing to keep an eye on is the weather. It's generally still pretty humid during Sept and when we were there, had a brief rain shower each afternoon and a hurricane (Izzy) floating nearby. Other than that it was fantastic and I'm sure we'll be there again during that time.

ENJOY! 100 days today till our trip to see the Mouse

 

[mostyn17]

Thanks guys....that makes me feel better. I don't mind a wait of 20 min. or less.....so it looks like we will be fine.

Travis

 

[n2mm]

I just returned and yes they were packed. We were there 8/17-8/21 and other than one morning at MK where everything was quiet, the rest of our trip we experienced long waits. Test track wait times were always above 1 hour, the same for Soarin (we went 3 different times and it was always the same). Fast passes were gone early, usually by 1:00. MK was extremely busy unless you got there first thing in the AM. The wait times for POC was 45 minutes Saturday and about 30 minutes most other times. Got to AK on Thursday 8/17 and could ride nothing without a 45 minute wait at the safari and more than 1 hour at EE--fast passes gone. We arrived at 2:00PM and left by 4:00PM. We actually tried MK during Sunday EMH and that was a zoo. After EMH started the wait times doubled with buzz going from 20 minutes to 45 minute waits. It took 30 minutes to get down mainstreet when we arrived at 9:00PM. We stayed until 10:30PM, after waiting in line at TTC and they had to open the que at TTC to accommodate the line.....

I know alot of folks say they go there during this time in the past, but the past is the past, and things are much different this year than any other year. We don't ever go during the holidays so can't compare it to that. But we do go for 2 weeks every early May and late October where the crowds are moderate. The crowds we experienced during our 5 day trip this past week were much heavier than our spring and fall crowds. The only quiet and easy time we had was Friday morning at MK during tiny tot early morning and we did indeed walk on most rides with no wait. It changed by lunch time and got much more crowded after noon. We stayed until 1:00PM and left.

 

[motofox4]

i'm looking forward to going the middle of september this year and am keeping my fingers crossed that the crowds won't be so bad. waiting 20 minutes or so to get on rides and see shows sounds great to me! the last i was there was in july 2003 and the lines were horrible so i'm hoping this time they'll be much less then they were then!

 

[beattyfamily]

I just returned and yes they were packed. We were there 8/17-8/21 and other than one morning at MK where everything was quiet, the rest of our trip we experienced long waits. Test track wait times were always above 1 hour, the same for Soarin (we went 3 different times and it was always the same). Fast passes were gone early, usually by 1:00. MK was extremely busy unless you got there first thing in the AM. The wait times for POC was 45 minutes Saturday and about 30 minutes most other times. Got to AK on Thursday 8/17 and could ride nothing without a 45 minute wait at the safari and more than 1 hour at EE--fast passes gone. We arrived at 2:00PM and left by 4:00PM. We actually tried MK during Sunday EMH and that was a zoo. After EMH started the wait times doubled with buzz going from 20 minutes to 45 minute waits. It took 30 minutes to get down mainstreet when we arrived at 9:00PM. We stayed until 10:30PM, after waiting in line at TTC and they had to open the que at TTC to accommodate the line.....

I know alot of folks say they go there during this time in the past, but the past is the past, and things are much different this year than any other year. We don't ever go during the holidays so can't compare it to that. But we do go for 2 weeks every early May and late October where the crowds are moderate. The crowds we experienced during our 5 day trip this past week were much heavier than our spring and fall crowds. The only quiet and easy time we had was Friday morning at MK during tiny tot early morning and we did indeed walk on most rides with no wait. It changed by lunch time and got much more crowded after noon. We stayed until 1:00PM and left.

That is depressing.

I am going Friday for my second end of August trip. I hope my week calms down at least a little bit. Fingers crossed.

I found it great last time except for the heat but we did do each park first thing when they opened and left by 12:00p. Then swam and did Fantasmic or something at night.

Oh boy. Here's hoping for the best.