Follow up question on crowds/hurricanes please!

[Booknut]

Hi ya

I have a question about crowds in September. We are in Orlando for the first time (am too excited for words!! ).

We have read that this is a good time to go, low crowds etc but seeing as we've never been there we don't know what that means in relation to other times. Is it possible to just walk onto certain rides? Is it possible to do a ride more than once or is it a bit busier than that?

We also know its hurricane season (eek!) and hope our villa has a sturdy roof! Have any of you had to cancel days out because of Hurricanes?

Thanks!

Eloise

 

[Shooby doo]

Sept is a good time crowds wise,early in the day you can more or less walk on,by lunch time exlect to wait 30-40 mins on the popular rides.Hurricane season is May - Nov but they do seem to get more in Sept. It all depends on whether they come inland,we were there during Jeanne ,last year,confined to the hotel for 2 days but there wasn't anywhere open anyway!!The weather has to be seriously bad for them to close the parks,some outdoor ones get closed but on the whole they open-how else would they be able to sell us all Mickey Macs!
SD aw:

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Hi Eloise.

In our experience and we have been at several different times of the year certain parks, for example Magic Kingdom are always pretty busy.
It's just that how crowded they actually become depends on the time of year you are there, December for obvious reasons is extremely busy, as is Easter and July through early August.
September although the weather will still be very hot should be a decent time as there are no school holidays.

You can always walk on certain rides, but the most popular one's you can wait for up to an hour or more during peak times.
However, you should for certain be able just to walk on a lot of rides in September as well as ride some more than once.

The general guide for beating any possible crowds and also applies with the hot weather too is to get to the park early in the morning have a break for lunch and then return (or go to a different park) late afternoon or early in the evening, thus beating the heat and high crowds - although in September I really think it will be fairly quiet.

As for the hurricane question I am not sure - we go on Monday and hope that we do not have any problems with one of these!

 

[arieljasmine]

Hi Eloise

Congratulations on your first Orlando trip!! September is a really great time to visit the World because the weather is generally still very hot without being unbearable, and crowds are definitely smaller. There does tend to be a few huge downpours in the afternoons/evenings, but being British you will cope with this just fine. (Not like the agitated American woman I saw at MK demanding her poncho from her partner because it was spitting! I called in her direction "Try being British!!")

It is hurricane season which has one advantage - cheaper holiday! We were in Florida during hurricane Jeanne last year, and had to stay in for one day. When people ask me what hurricanes are like I always say, very noisy! We were wandering around US the day before it hit and there was some strange apocalyptic weather. It hasn't put me off going at that time of year though, the cheaper prices and lower crowd advantages outweigh the chance of a hurricane to me.

When we've been to WDW in September the most we've waited for a ride is about 30 minutes. Smaller rides you can easily get on in 15-20 minutes and less. Take advantage of touring the parks during rain storms too if you can handle being a bit soggy as you will get on rides quicker than usual.

Have a great trip!

ArielJasmine

 

[Booknut]

I don't mind getting wet at all (although i'm Canadian, DH is British!). We plan on going at park opening and then heading home for lunch and a swim in the pool (we've paid for it so might as well use it!), then maybe a nap or a bit of shopping and then back to the parks around 4-5 for another 3-4 hours.

Where I come from in Canada we get tornadoes (huge ones) and I imagine the hurricanes are probably similar, high winds, darkness etc. Fingers crossed we're all spared this year!

I hope to meet lots of fellow Brits out there Thanks again.

 

[daveyoghurt]

Hi Eloise, September is a great time to visit, the weather is still hot and though it may rain, these are usually only short bursts. We were there through Hurricane Jeanne last year and we only lost 1 day, to be honest to witness such a ferocious hurricane was awesome.

As for the rides, if you get to the parks early, you can be doing your second visit to the 'big' rides before the crowds arrive, at US IoA last year we rode Hulk and Spiderman two or three times before we had to queue.

 

[arieljasmine]

Oops, sorry for assuming you to be British, Eloise!

I've never seen a tornado, thankfully, but your description does make it sound a lot like a hurricane. I'll never forget the sky going dark in the afternoon and asking my DH if it was the end of the world!

AJ

 

[wicket2005]

We have just been in a busy time, July and managed to do everything we wanted just fine, by getting up early so I would imagine you won't have too many problems in September.

The main tip is to get to the parks 1/2 hour before opening, get all the rides done that you want to and pick up Fast Passes. Use askdaisy.net (under park updates) to plan your itinerary and visit parks on their quieter days. Avoid EMH like the plague, they are extremely busy days with all Disney onsite guests hitting the park on that day.