Crowds around Labor Day???

[Bama_C]

OK... for the past four years we have been to WDW during the FD promotion dates. However, these have all been post Labor Day vacations with some days right after Labor Day. I know that the crowds have been virtually non-existent. But I haven't been on the few days just before LD and am considering doing that this year. For those of you who have been then, or even better who have been both before and after, can you tell me your experience with crowds during those few days as compared to after. We are really spoiled and love not having to stand in long lines or race around getting FPs. Are there any hidden advantages to going earlier in the fall (pre LD)?

Thanks!

 

[Bama_C]

Anyone??? I know someone out there has some experience with this... too many of you have been during FD.

 

[KatMark]

We have arrived the Saturday before Labor Day the last three years. We usually don't go to the parks on the Saturday (we check into the CSR, take a walk around the resort to feel "home" again, then we shower and go to CityWalk to have dinner at Emeril's). On Sunday, we usually go to Epcot in the morning and then go to the MK in the late afternoon/evening for extra magic hours. It's been a little crowded the last two years on the Sunday before Labor Day at the MK, but we still got quite a bit done. On Monday, Labor Day, we always go to the Animal Kingdom and we have walked on to almost every sngle ride...even EE. We got fast passes for EE, rode it, rode it again, walked over to Dinosaur, rode it, then went back on EE with our fast pass. So I guess the worse day we experienced is the Sunday night before Labor Day.

 

[Bama_C]

We have arrived the Saturday before Labor Day the last three years. We usually don't go to the parks on the Saturday (we check into the CSR, take a walk around the resort to feel "home" again, then we shower and go to CityWalk to have dinner at Emeril's). On Sunday, we usually go to Epcot in the morning and then go to the MK in the late afternoon/evening for extra magic hours. It's been a little crowded the last two years on the Sunday before Labor Day at the MK, but we still got quite a bit done. On Monday, Labor Day, we always go to the Animal Kingdom and we have walked on to almost every sngle ride...even EE. We got fast passes for EE, rode it, rode it again, walked over to Dinosaur, rode it, then went back on EE with our fast pass. So I guess the worse day we experienced is the Sunday night before Labor Day.

Great info! Thanks so much

 

[jjhardy]

We were there last year and arrived on Aug 31st and went to MK and it was PACKED!!!!! We didn't get there until the around noon after we checked in and everything but I've never seen it so busy! The next day was Monday and things were crowded but not bad. By Tuesday it was back to normal

 

[catne]

We were there last year and arrived on Aug 31st and went to MK and it was PACKED!!!!! We didn't get there until the around noon after we checked in and everything but I've never seen it so busy! The next day was Monday and things were crowded but not bad. By Tuesday it was back to normal

Yep, we arrived same day (Sunday of Labor Day weekend) MK was insanely crowded -- was an EMH night until 2:00 A.M. -- at 8:00 p.m., Peter Pan was at 120 min. stand-by; at 9:00 p.m. the fastpass return time for Space Mountain was showing as 1:30 A.M. and the standby was 90 min. We left about halfway through Spectromagic...the busses full of standing-room-only guests were pouring into the park....lined up all the way back to in front of the Contemporary. All the bag-check lines were staffed, and huge lines waiting for bag check. And this was shortly before 10:00 p.m.

Monday (Labor Day) was really busy until early afternoon, then the crowds dropped a lot as weekend/day guests went home.

The rest of the week the crowds were very low at most times...except we noticed that since the park hours get much shorter after Labor Day then you see a huge crowd-swell at whichever park has evening extra magic hours. Probably because the other parks are closing early, so almost every Disney hotel guest will go to the evening EMH park. So we avoided them. Morning EMH, on the other hand, seemed empty. As did rope-drop time at all the parks. We had great times in the morning after Labor Day.

Restaurants, however, were very busy from the Free Dining crowd

 

[jana616]

This is great info, thanks! We're arriving Sunday afternoon (the day before LD). I've been trying to figure out where to go Sunday and Monday. It will be my kids' first trip, so I'd really like to do MK on Sunday for a few hours (we won't get there til early afternoon), but I don't want their first experience to be mayhem and crazy crowds. What park will be best for Monday? Touring Plans says EP, has anyone found a park for Monday that didn't seem so bad? We'll have park hoppers (I think) and are planning after lunch breaks, so maybe we could do Epcot in the morning and MK again in the afternoon/evening? Will it be quieter then or should we head back to EP? Sorry for the dumb questions!

 

[KKB]

Pick up the Unofficial Guide at your local bookstore (or on the web, or possibly your local library), and you can log onto their website and check their suggested parks. I found these to be DEAD ON for our last trip--we were only disappointed when we veered from our plans that we based upon their suggestions (we devised our own based on Passporter & their suggestions, edited for what we did or did not want to do). The overall suggestion is to entirely avoid any park w/ EMH. Have heard Labor Day weekend is the slowest of the holida weekends.

 

[catne]

Pick up the Unofficial Guide at your local bookstore (or on the web, or possibly your local library), and you can log onto their website and check their suggested parks. I found these to be DEAD ON for our last trip--we were only disappointed when we veered from our plans that we based upon their suggestions (we devised our own based on Passporter & their suggestions, edited for what we did or did not want to do). The overall suggestion is to entirely avoid any park w/ EMH. Have heard Labor Day weekend is the slowest of the holida weekends.

you can also go to the website touringplans.com to view the current month. Since you're going at the end of May, that will work to look at the website at the beginning of May

You know, I think I'd go to Epcot on that Sunday...even if you just wander around looking at the countries you'll get a little Disney immersion. Get your dinner reservation for an Epcot restaurant. And it's a huge park, so even if it's crowded, it should still be manageable. Besides, by evening most Disney resort guests will be heading over to MK for the evening magic hours, so Epcot should be comfortable. Monday morning -- go to Magic Kingdom for rope drop (should be 9:00 a.m. opening) Since that park had the late hours the night before (until 2 a.m. if they follow last year's pattern) that huge crowd of people who stayed extra late at MK will all be sleeping in so MK should be pleasant on Labor Day morning.