Disney world in early September

[Robvilla123]

Hello everyone looking to visit DVC poly and animal kingdom in end of August and first week of September. How’s the weather and crowds levels during this time? Or should I wait for late September?

 

[Barbydoll8]

Hi, I live here about 75 miles due west of WDW. End of Aug/early Sept is the height of the hurricane season. You can expect temps near 95 degrees with oppressive humidity each day with an afternoon thunderstorm daily. It doesn't really start to "cool off" here until after Halloween.
Labor Day is busy of course but FL local schools start in August so you'll be jockeying around less locals. End of August can be very busy though with everyone else trying to get in their trip before the kids go back to school.

 

[Robvilla123]

Hi, I live here about 75 miles due west of WDW. End of Aug/early Sept is the height of the hurricane season. You can expect temps near 95 degrees with oppressive humidity each day with an afternoon thunderstorm daily. It doesn't really start to "cool off" here until after Halloween.
Labor Day is busy of course but FL local schools start in August so you'll be jockeying around less locals. End of August can be very busy though with everyone else trying to get in their trip before the kids go back to school.

Would you say go mid October? Or wait for end of January/ February 2021?

 

[KaylaBreanna]

I went last September sometime around the 14th. The heat was pretty brutal, but that would be because we were in AK. We only did the one day at a park because I was going back in November. That being said, on hot days like that, get yourself a nice cooling towel that can be wet down all day long. Having that wrapped around the back of your neck is so helpful. Also, you can purchase a small handheld fan off amazon for less than 10 bucks! Add these two things with the free ice water they have in park, and you'll be set!

Now for crowd levels, I was WOWED! Kids here on the North East Coast go back to school around 4th or sometimes as late as the 8th. Since we were practically the week after, no parent would want their little one missing the first few days of school, and oh boy did that show! To give you and idea of how low crowds were, the longest line we waited on was Flight of Passage and we waited 40 minutes.

I'm going again this year, same week, so I can see if maybe I got lucky last time.

 

[Scubadaddy32]

Hello everyone looking to visit DVC poly and animal kingdom in end of August and first week of September. How’s the weather and crowds levels during this time? Or should I wait for late September?

We go every Sept. some years it's been really hot, other years like last year, we caught a cool front for most of our trip and it was in the mid 80's and low 70's at night. We are from the Gulf Coast in Texas so our weather is exactly the same in Sept. so it doesn't bother us that much.
In Sept. you are basically trading the heat and the chance of a hurricane for the lowest crowds of the year. October actually is pretty busy and Jan. and Feb. some of the rides tend to be down annual maintenance.
What we do to take some of the heat of the day out of the equation is attend the Halloween and After Hour events at AK and MK.
There are plenty of ways to beat the heat like saving indoor activities and water rides for the hotter parts of the day.

 

[a742246]

Would you say go mid October? Or wait for end of January/ February 2021?

For us we like early-mid November and mid-late March the best! January February can be very cool, mid October is still very warm but the nights are nice.

 

[Calee]

It is hot, but the crowds are good. Later September and October it picks up due to Halloween and Food and Wine.

 

[mamamelody2]

Early September is definitely the best for crowd levels. It is very hot, but I think it's worth it for the low crowds!
We just went last week (never been in January before) and it was WAY busier than the last couple of Septembers.

 

[Brett Wyman]

September is our favorite month of the year to visit the World. Cheapest rates and lowest crowds and you can attend MNSSHP. Hurricane fear is way overblown. It is hot and potentially rainy then though.

 

[Timothy02359]

Hot and humid usually til October.

 

[Dingdingding]

We come from a cold country (the Netherlands) with a temperate sea climate (average temperature in September around 55 Fahrenheit and below 40 at night but we didn't find the heat and humidity that awfull last September. It took a day or two to get used to it but the low crowds and air cooled buildings made up for it.

 

[amilli12]

We visit every year the beginning of September and absolutely LOVE it! Yes, it is very hot (although last year because of Dorian the weather was cooler than previous years!) But we live in Kansas City, and it's blazing hot here in August/September so I'm still hot, just happy and hot at Disney.

 

[Kdeutsch]

It’s hot! But there Is a lot of indoor ride lines which helps.it seemed last year in September when we went the parks had a ton of extra magic hours so we got to the parks at 7 am most days. the longest we waited was fop for 30 minutes. Although we did Have to alter the days of our trip because of hurricane Dorian. I was beyond stressed watching that hurricane and I’m traumatized to ever book in hurricane season again. But crowds were very low if you use the Extra magic hours. It did seem busy at 11:00 or so which is when we would head back to the resort.

 

[Bellhop97]

I went in Sept the week after Labor day.. and it was still crowded.. and it was hot..

 

[FireflyTrance]

Don't do it. The one time I went it was so hot and humid that I really didn't enjoy the trip much. We would leave the parks by around 3-4pm because it got unbearably hot. Now I only visit Nov-Feb. Makes for a much nicer trip. The crowds don't bother me that much but the heat and humidity definitely does. You spend a lot of time walking outdoors, many areas in all parks have don't have shade.

 

[Nox]

As a Floridian (45 minutes east of WDW), agree with the following from above:

Early September crowds are better. Combination of weather and kids have generally just gone back to school.
It IS hurricane season, but we don't get them often, and when we do they generally aren't strong by the time they get to us. I was actually at EPCOT the day Dorian was originally anticipated to make landfall.
Early September IS very hot and humid - I personally love this weather (that's why I live here) and think it can be easily handled if you are prepared. Light clothing, umbrella for shade, battery-operated fan. (But still make sure you wear sunscreen even with an umbrella - the sunlight bounces off the pavement and it WILL fry you like an egg.)

In my opinion, late September/October is still just as hot. Florida is just hot. It pretty much always is. Hot and high humidity. We get days of 90+ degrees in December. If weather is a concern for you or anyone in your party, I'd hold off until January/February, which tends to soften up a little on the heat (but not always - last week was in the 90s).

 

[littlemermeg]

I've only been to WDW twice but both times in mid September, 2017 and 2019.

2017 our departure was delayed by 3 days because of a hurricane (both Disney and our airline were super accomodating though) and in 2019 we arrived just after Dorian. That was bonkers in terms of crowd levels - a cast member told us there were only like 500 people in MK that day! Crowds picked up fairly quickly but it didn't look anything like pictures I've seen of busier times. Totally still manageable!

I'm from Ireland so we found it hotttt. Unreal though. We stayed for 14 nights both times, got caught in one rain shower in 2017 and two or three in 2019 and still warm?! Very welcome though, which is not something you hear from somebody from a country that is all rain all the time! Just make sure to screen cream out the wazoo; I'm practically transulscent I'm so pale, but didn't burn.

I think it's such a great time though, with Food and Wine and MNSSHP.

 

[mathhouse88]

Our best trip ever was Sept. 4-11, 2018. Crowd levels were amazing. It was definitely hot, but there are plenty of places to go to cool off. And I honestly remember being just as hot during April in 2016 (and crowds weren't as low). Wear cool clothes (I'm not a hat person, but a baseball cap helped so much), drink plenty of water, reapply sunscreen, and plan for breaks indoors. It's just going to be hot in Florida unless it's Nov-Feb. And even then it's a toss up.