disney in august

[edshane]

my family and i usually go to disney in early nov. which is great as far as weather and crowds. this year we have to attend a wedding in aug in fl. so we are making a stop at disney(of course). we have never gone in the summer. i am hearing HORROR stories. how bad is it? not the weather, we can tolerate the heat, i'm more concerned with the crowds. also, can anyone give me an estimated time(s) that Fantasmic, Illuminations and the mk fireworks happen being as i am traveling with little ones. in the fall the excitement is over by 9:30 or earlier. i just don't want to regret going in the summer.

 

[rkrivas]

When in August are you going? Towards the end of the month, many of the schools in Florida are back in session, so the crowds die down. We've gone a couple of times at the end of August and it's not too bad if you can deal with the heat!

 

[scanne]

Usually in the summer months, they show Fantasmic and Wishers 2x a night. Of course, the earlier shows are more crowded, but I totally can relate to wanting the earlier excitement having 2 little ones myself. When we were there in Aug. 03, Fantasmic was held at 7 or 7:15, 9:30 and sometimes they've even had a 3rd show at park closing. (on one of our summer trips they had an 11pm show).

Illuminations is always only once a night - 9pm when World Showcase closes.

Crowds are crowds as far as I'm concerned - and Disney ALWAYS has them! I just go with the flow, don't expect people to be considerate (even though they're at WDW and on vacation!) and that way I am usually happily surprised. I learned this from my hubby. Just go with a strategy, such as going to the parks first thing in the morning, relaxing at your hotel in the heat of the day, then going back to the parks in the afternoon.

Have fun!!!!!!!! Hope this was helpful.

 

[Leota]

When in August are you going? Towards the end of the month, many of the schools in Florida are back in session, so the crowds die down. We've gone a couple of times at the end of August and it's not too bad if you can deal with the heat!

Absolutely - The beginning of August is a whole different story than the end. We were there one year the 2nd & 3rd weeks in Aug & the difference between week 2 & week 3 was astounding. Week 3, everything was practically a walk-on, where week 2 was one of our most crowded WDW experiences.

I do recall that there were twice nightly showings of Fantasmic & of the MK Parade (I think it was still ELP in 2001 when we were there) with the fireworks in between.

We don't mind the heat either & are planning a quick week in late August this year.

 

[bethbuchall]

This is good news to me...I told my daughter I'd take her for her 13th birthday at the end of August 2006. Now I have to save up some cash!

 

[Goofy's Muse]

We found the end of August (8/22 - 8/29) this year to have lower crowds than the second week of December -- go figure! Be prepared that as August wears on, the lower anticipated crowds also means earlier park closings (e.g. 8:30 at MK except for the 2 nights they had SpectroMagic; Fantasmic was also one showing at 8:30 only). Park hours are announced AFTER your 90-day PS window opens up, so you might need to adjust depending on your plans. The advice about hitting the parks early is right on -- both for low crowds and relatively "cooler" temps. Be sure to drink lots of water, plan shade or A/C or pool breaks -- preferably all three. And expect the traditional afternoon thunderstorm -- we were lucky not to get them everyday, but certainly plan for them!

 

[MaryKatesMom]

We were there the end of August 19-26 and again in Dec 9-17 and I think the secret of low crowds in Dec. is out. The crowds were much lower in August to my surprise then December.

Goofy's Muse is right. I was surprised that Spectro ran only twice in August, the same as December.

Many schools and activities, socccer, gymnastics already start up here the third week of August, so maybe that might have something to do with the lower than expected crowds.

 

[gallaj0]

We've been in the last week of Aug for the last 3 years, and we love it. We don't mind the heat, that's just part of the vacation experience.

It will rain every day in the afternoon, but don't let that stop you, it's a good time to do the indoor shows and rides.

The parks do close earlier (7-8 PM) but there's usually 1 or 2 nights during a week they stay open for the later shows, fireworks, etc. so you need to plan in advance.

 

[deltachi8]

The later in August the better - crowds are very manageable, the heat can be an issue, but you can be smart with that. Its the time of year i love going becuase i would rather deal with heat than massive crowds.

 

[rkrivas]

Has anyone who's gone in late August also gone in mid February (before President's Day weekend)? We're accustomed to the late August crowds and wanted to know how they compare to mid February crowds.

Thanks!

 

[eeyore45]

We went, first time! It was HOT HOT HOT! But we were prepared, for after all we were in DISNEY, and that in and of itself made it magical!! With our package we stayed in the Poly, we had the Princess package which came with PS for some of the shows we were hoping to see,our dd didnt want to do the fast rides Tot, RnR etc so we took advantage of FP - AK was our favorite park, and it was definately the HOTTEST park, so we took advantage of the free ice water... and at AK only one rest. had a/c if i recall, it was wonderful, and dd got ice cream across the street, but we ate in the a/c.. Epcot had the most a/c, so that helped! We ate at LE Cellier in the pm, which was a wonderfule respite from the heat!

So it was HOT, it was crowded, but we didnt know any better, I just read read read, and i feel prepared, I dont think we waited any more than 20 min for rides, even with a fp the safari we waited, but dd wanted to do it 3 times!! lol

Now I'm planing our next trip, and I keep hesitating about the month we should go!! Not that I'm obsessing or anything, but you cant beat the Value price of the resorts, and that is part of my descion!!

 

[Harambe]

You guys are making my day! It is the first August trip for us this year, and I'm a little nervous about the crowds. We'll be there from 21 - 29, so looks like the crowds are doable that week.