Crowds Free Dining Offer

[DisneyMomJen]

We go this time every year. Since they started the free dining 2 years ago it has definitely gotten busier, but still ALOT better than other times of the year. Last year they started the free dining around August 16th. It was very crowded the first week which was expected, since the earlier you go in August the slower it gets. It seemed like every day the crowds were less and less. The last week in August is still pretty good, even with free dining. The week of Labor Day used to be dead. We'll see this year.

 

[Robin Hood]

We planned a last minute trip last year for the third week of Sept. We didn't know about free dining last year but thanks to this board we were able to get free dining and going the exact same dates this year.

Anyway, the crowds were very light, the longest we had to wait was for Ariel's grotto and that was like 25 minutes. Everything else was 5 minutes. My 2 year old at the time rode Winnie the Pooh 3 times in a row without a wait. It was very very very hot but it was worth it not having to deal with the crowds.

 

[Pirate at Heart]

Hey,
We started our vacation on August 18th last year. It was H-O-T and crowded at times. The pool was like warm bath water and my Dole whip was reduced to a sloppy goop within 5-minutes.

Did I mention that it was H-O-T?

 

[Judge Fudge]

Went last year, late in Sept. It was hot, crowds were very moderate. I was at Epcot last Wed...150 minute wait for Soarin. Now that's crowded.

 

[PortieOwner]

2005: late Sept.-early Oct. Very crowded. I was disappointed with the lines. Some of this was because I didn't follow the Crowd Blog closely enough; also Food and Wine really packs people into Epcot.

2006: Tuesday-Monday after Labor Day. Smaller crowds but Friday-Sunday was much busier because of Night of Joy. These folks must be from south Ala, south GA, and north Fla because they were all gone by Sunday at noon. Three day weekend for them I suspect. I sort of don't like that week because of the crowd the NOJ brings it.

ETA: I suspect one or two hurricane scares come August or early September will knock down attendance some.

 

[Cupmom]

We went last year during the second week of free dining Aug.18th.-23rd. and it wasn't bad. We FP when we could but the TS places were packed. This year going 8/27-9/3 staying at the Pop. Hoping crowds are even less due to the fact that more kids are back in school by then. I am a little worried about labor day weekend though.