Are the parks really crowded at end of Aug?

[thebeanster]

We're leaving on Wed. for our family's 1st summer trip to disney. We have always been able to go in the fall, but with oldest entering 8th gr....we were concerned about missing school. I have heard from a few people that if you must go in the summer, than the last week of Aug is a good week to go....the parks are not crowdwd. Still, I am nervous that we will get there and find otherwise. Anyone know if the parks are pretty empty this time of year? Love to hear .....can't wait!!

 

[riopooh]

Hi neighbor - We were there last year at this time - the parks weren't empty but no terribly crowded. We definitely took advantage of fast pass to cut line time and we did encounter some crowds. The thing that sticks out most in my memories were the afternoon downpours. For an hour or so every day, it just poured. That had an effect on the crowds too.

 

[RyMickey]

I would agree that the parks aren't empty, but they are definitely manageable. We've found that the last week of August and the first and second weeks of June are both great times to go.

RyMickey

 

[magicmouse2]

Thats good news we are going at the end of August in 2005. Also cant ake the kids out of school, and I dont like the idea of the spring break crowds at Easter time.

 

[Cinderpals]

This will be our first trip to DW. My kids start school late this year, so I'm taking them for a week at DW. We're going back again Oct/Nov (teacher workdays 2 days, 2 days miss) and Dec (winter break) **

I really hope that I won't have to fight through big crowds, since this will be our 1st trip there and my DH is staying home. I have an 11yr old and 3 yr old. The 11 yr old is very easy going and will gladly ride the rides that my 3yr old can. I do want him to be able to go on some big kid rides too. We can do more with him in Oct/Nov and December's trip. I'm planning a trip for Spring too around my son's school vacation. We're thinking about trying out one of the villas for that trip.

Here are the resorts that we're staying at this year:
CBR, AKL Savannah, CR, WL, POFQ Maybe BWI and BC too

 

[Leota]

We have to go during school breaks now also. Kids in High School will do that.... Anyways, we discovered that after the third week in Aug., the crowds diminish considerably.
Magicmouse2 - we are going the end of Aug. again next year also. I loved it that time of year when we went last time. It was great having those long, summer hours. E-Nights are particularly magical when they run til 1:00 am!

 

[lsyorke]

We just got back on the 20th and the parks weren't crowded at all! We used fast pass for the usual high volume rides, but other than that it was really quiet. This may have been caused by Charlie, but other late august trips in the past have been just as quiet.

 

[chach]

This is the first trip we have taken in the Summer. We have been here 2 weeks and head home on Friday. Getting to the parks when they open and using fastpass for the longest waits has made the park touring easy. The crowds are not as bad as we thought they would be but some of the lines tend to get a little crowded later in the day.

 

[maggie g.]

We're leaving tomorrow too. we were there last August and the crowds were very manageable, hoping for the same this year. the challenge for us last year was the rain in the afternoon. you really have to be flexible. we were also there in April when the weather is usually perfect and were able to stick to most of our plans. We went to plan B alot last August like when we were headed to the pool and the thunderstorms closed the pools. Maggie

 

[MyboysluvBuzz]

We just got back on Sunday. I did not find the crowds to be that bad. We arrived on Wed. and headed to Magic Kingdom around 5pm and stayed to close(9pm) The only long wait we had was about 25 minutes for the Speedway. We used fastpass for Buzz and then walked on Pirates, Haunted Mansion and Aladin. Fantasyland was a little crowded, so we decided to do that during EE the next day. We did EE on Thurs. We did all of Fantasyland and rode Buzz, Speedway, Pirates and Haunted Mansion by our noon PS. We got a fast past for Splash and did that after lunch. We headed back to the Poly. at about 2:30 and spent the rest of the day by the pool. We went to Disney Studios on Friday morning. We were there for the opening. Everyone made a mad dash for Tower of Terror and Rock and Roll Roller Coaster, the rest of the park was empty. We did Great Movie Ride, Little Mermaid, Indiana Jones, Muppets, and got lots of autographs by noon. We headed back to the resort for swimming and a nap. We went to Epcot that night and there were very little crowds. We hit Animal Kindgdom Sat morning. We did Kali Rapids, the safaris, Lion King show and TTBAB, and dinoland(minus dinosaur) by noon. We went to MK that night. It was a little more crowded because it was the only night for Spectro. My boys decided that they didn't want to see the parade, so we were able to do all the fantasyland rides with no wait during the parade.

It was less crowded then I expected. We went the beginning of May a few years ago and I thought the crowds were about the same. It was really HOT though. We had a cool summer here in Chicago, so my boys were not used to the heat. We found that as long as we went to the parks in the morning or evenings we were fine. By the middle of the day it was just too hot to be there. I was really suprised by all the people that came into the parks between 10-11am. If you go early, you can get a lot done.

As far as the rain, it sprinkled a little Wed. night and then it didn't rain again until Sat. around 3pm. There were very heavy showers, but it was only sprinkling when we went around 5pm.

 

[dzneelvr]

School session has already begun for several states so the crowds should really by tapering off over the last week into next. My niece and nephew in southern Indiana have been in school for 2 weeks; the schools around here started yesterday.......summer vacation is officially over for most of us in the midwest.