End of September?

[rndmr2]

How are the crowds at the end of September? We are going 9/25 to 10/2. I have been many times but never late September.

 

[Aggiegrl]

We've gone this week for the past 3 years and will be going again this year.

Low to moderate. The mornings are generally very low crowds, but by lunch the crowds build (as they do any time of year). Some days are worse than others, particularly days that have MSEP and Wishes at MK. Since these are limited due to MNSSHP, it can be very crowded for viewing on those nights. Likewise at Fantasmic, since there is only one show a night. Food and Wine is at Epcot, so that brings weekend crowds there.

It is very manageable is you plan well and do rope drop. We rope drop, eat lunch, take a break at the hotel, and come back around dinner time. The afternoons can be VERY hot and humid. Also, this week is during free dining, so don't expect to eat table service in the parks without an ADR. The restaurants will be very busy.

 

[JennyDrake]

Aggiegrl pretty much summed it up. If you don't do RD, they can be about "medium" on the Scale of Misery. I was very taken aback at the crowd levels.

 

[nkereina]

Echoing PPs. We did 9/24-10/1 back in 2011 and crowds were great. I definitely agree with doing parks at rope drop, breaking around lunch, and going back at night. It gets you out of the park during the hottest/busiest time of day, and the heat/humidity took so much out of us that we really needed that rest.

 

[Nohal]

We've been doing Sept for the last 12 years. It seems to be more crowded every year since Free Dining started. It is still less crowded than the summer. As everyone has said doing Rope Drop you should be able to do most everything before the parks start getting crowded.

 

[Aggiegrl]

I would think the crowds would be much less considering so many kids are back in school at that time. First week back isn't the best time to go on vacation with the kids

There are plenty of kids when we've gone. A lot of schools around the country start much earlier. Our old school district in Texas starts Aug 25 this year.

 

[Gottahavemorecowbell]

In 2012, we were there from 9/21-9/29. The crowds were larger than what we had been expecting but overall it wasn't that bad. September is getting more crowded but it's still very manageable. When we look back at that particular trip, the only thing that stood out as a negative was the oppressive heat/humidity combination. Of course, we still had a very good time.

 

[*pixie*dust*]

I would think the crowds would be much less considering so many kids are back in school at that time. First week back isn't the best time to go on vacation with the kids

It used to be much less crowded at that time, but now with F&W Festival, MNSSHP and a Free Dining Promo-- it draws quite a few people. Not crazy crowded, but not as empty as one might think....

 

[rndmr2]

Thanks for the responses everyone!

Seems about what I was thinking, We do have ADR's made (We do NOT have free Dining, unfortunately) some of the ones we wanted we were unable to get but we got most of our wish list.

We do hope to do Rope drop or as close as we can get to it. I get to make FP+ choices in 5 days I think it is.

 

[Raenstoirm]

We go for our anniversary (Sept 25) every year. It gets more and more crowded every year sadly. We are actually a bit concerned about the crowds this year because Disney moved MNSSHP and Food and Wine up two weeks. It will still be relatively quiet, but Epcot in particular might be a disaster.