Free dining crowds question

[Nickmom522]

I have my trip booked for 8/26-9/1. I picked this week because I read that the last two weeks in August weren't as busy as the rest of the summer because a lot of schools are back in by then. Schools here go back after Labor Day. So, do you think this week will be significantly more crowded because people feel they can take advantage of the promotion before school starts for those who go back after Labor Day? Or that people going the week before would now switch to the last week of August to take advantage? I just don't want to have it be as crowded as the beginning of August! Is that possible? I mean, I know anything is possible but now I am getting worried the crowds will be unbearable.

 

[MzDiz]

Whoa! Not only do we share the same first name, but we'll be in WDW on the same dates. Crazy.

 

[JVL1018]

I think it will be more crowde for sure.
It's sort of irritating(very irritating) that there is ONE week during the whole free dining where it is the only week people have off of school in that time period..I know a lot of people go back before Labor day, but a lot of people go back after.
Us included, so guess where we'll be Aug 24-Sept. 1st. Battling the crowds.

The only good thing, is we are taking a non DVC vacation for the first time in years because we booked the free dining bounce back promotion last December.
So at least we are also one of the hordes of people not paying for the didning plan. I just thought free dining would be more spread out and wouldn;t impact that one week so much..

 

[JimMIA]

There were a lot of complaints about crowding last year during free DDP. Even without free DDP, you really have to make your ADRs or you're not going to get the restaurants you want.

 

[twinspluscade]

There were a lot of complaints about crowding last year during free DDP. Even without free DDP, you really have to make your ADRs or you're not going to get the restaurants you want.

Really? We were there last year Sept 10-14, and the parks were seriously dead. .

Probably way busier before schools start back up though, during free dining. So far our kids are only 4,4, 3 so we don't have to worry about the pulling-out-of-school-or-not- issue....yet!

Kelly

 

[Nickmom522]

It's sort of irritating(very irritating) that there is ONE week during the whole free dining where it is the only week people have off of school in that time period..I know a lot of people go back before Labor day, but a lot of people go back after.

Thats exactly how I feel. I think so many people are going to decide on the last week of August. They could have at least done the last 2 weeks.

 

[Zooey72]

Me and my family are showing up on labor day this year for that reason. We are estimating that we are going to be spending around 6-8k on this vacation and want it to be really great. So I think I speak for all children when I say "SCREW SCHOOL! I WANT TO GO TO DISNEY WORLD!"

It may be irresponible to a degree, but 2 of them have never been there before, and they are both teenagers. This may be the only chance they get to see it and still be "kids".

 

[disneyjunkie]

We'll be there as well. (August 22-September 4)

It's the only time during free dining that I can go without my son missing school.

 

[Donold_Fan]

We went during the free dining period last year, and although the restaurants were pretty crowded, the parks were dead. We rode Exp. Everest 6 times in an hour in late September last year.

 

[Nasus]

Totally agree with PP. We were there Sept 22 - 26 last year. The parks were dead but the CS locations were swamped. AND if you want any sit down meals make your ADRs now! We were all set, but we saw many people turned away because there was no seatings available!

 

[auntie]

Okay..probably in the minority here..but I acutally cancelled our trip because it was during the free dining promotion. Now..no I haven't hit the lotto..but I didn't want to deal with the crowds. I had a package booked at the WL and frankly if you are staying Deluxe it's not as free as it seems because you are paying full rack rate for the room. I think it's a better deal if you are staying moderate or value. It was three months out and I wasn't able to secure ADR's for anywhere. I'm not a huge fan of making them to begin with..but knew with the promotion it was a must. However three months out apparently was far enough in advance to secure ADR's. It was very discouraging..and I felt so stressed before we even went on this "vacation". I didn't want to have eat counter service for table service credits. Not that I even mind the counter service, but I felt as if I were wasting the TS credits. Got to be too complicated. Disney called several times, indicating they were keeping the restaurants open later and starting dinner times earlier to accomodate the need for ADR's. Mind you we are not picky people about the time we eat either...but dinner at 10 pm..that's kind of late to eat and then go to bed. I don't have little ones that are going to be whining(okay..big ones whine too..only it's easier to ignore!). So..that's my story. I know there are others that swear by the plan. I might even try it for our schdeduled May trip. I have a room only at this point..because we received a pin code mailer. I still have some time to decide to change to include dining..but of course we will be paying for it. I have made ADR's for our May trip..and had NO problem securing any of them. So I can see a distinct difference between the promotional free dining period and when it's not running.

 

[lisaanddenny]

not purposefully working around free dining, nothing is FREE! There are many codes out there that equal to free dining! I can't believe the lengths that people are going to, to get this plan and booking in case it really comes out.............WOW.

 

[disneyjunkie]

not purposefully working around free dining, nothing is FREE! There are many codes out there that equal to free dining! I can't believe the lengths that people are going to, to get this plan and booking in case it really comes out.............WOW.

For some of us, free dining is better than the room only discounts.

 

[Camilo]

We were there September 10-17 and I can't agree more.
The parks were empty (I've posted some pics on the "Empty Pictures Thread").
The restaurants were another story. We only went to 2 of them (50's Prime Time Cafe at MGM and Liberty Tree Tavern at MK) and they were packed because of the free DDP.

Really? We were there last year Sept 10-14, and the parks were seriously dead. .

Probably way busier before schools start back up though, during free dining. So far our kids are only 4,4, 3 so we don't have to worry about the pulling-out-of-school-or-not- issue....yet!

Kelly

 

[MEK]

I have my trip booked for 8/26-9/1. So, do you think this week will be significantly more crowded because people feel they can take advantage of the promotion before school starts for those who go back after Labor Day? Or that people going the week before would now switch to the last week of August to take advantage? I just don't want to have it be as crowded as the beginning of August! Is that possible? I mean, I know anything is possible but now I am getting worried the crowds will be unbearable.

To answer your original question - I have been to WDW 3 times during the last week of August. The last 2 years were with free dining. The parks were very quiet. It was not crowded. This is not a popular week. Although your kids don't go back to school until after LD, most kids (and I mean most) - DO! NY state is one of the few that return that late. There aren't many school age children there during this week. Don't be worried about everyone switching their dates - they can't. This is not a popular travel week. I learned this very early on by having school age kids who never had child care that week. I learned to take vacation and now I always take this week. You will need ADR's for dinner, but the parks are not crowded.

 

[ReneeA]

We've went the last week before Labor Day the past 2 years. Parks were completely dead (other than MK on a Saturday - that was pretty busy, but ALWAYS avoid MK on a Saturday!). We did not wait in a line longer than 15 minutes the entire trip.

TS restaurants were very, very busy though. Make sure you get ADR's if you decide to go.

 

[disgram]

We went last August 21- 28. I had booked at that time because the DKs were not in school at that time. FD was an extra surprise! There were not alot of people there as I thought there would be. Although we used FS as much as we could, the longest we waited for anything else was 15 minutes.

This year, I did book in hopes of FD, but from what I am reading, my dates won't coinside and I cannot change the dates. I am still looking forward to the trip and am paying for the DP. To be there without so many people is worth the money and the heat, at least as far as we are concerned!!!

 

[Nickmom522]

To answer your original question - I have been to WDW 3 times during the last week of August. The last 2 years were with free dining. The parks were very quiet. It was not crowded. This is not a popular week. Although your kids don't go back to school until after LD, most kids (and I mean most) - DO! NY state is one of the few that return that late. There aren't many school age children there during this week. Don't be worried about everyone switching their dates - they can't. This is not a popular travel week. I learned this very early on by having school age kids who never had child care that week. I learned to take vacation and now I always take this week. You will need ADR's for dinner, but the parks are not crowded.

Oh, you just made me feel better. I figure a lot of people can't just switch dates especially if airfare is booked. I already have my ADR's which I got exactly as I wanted when I booked them a month ago. Now, that you made me relax a little on that issue, now I can move on to worrying about a hurricane!

 

[Rustysmom]

I'm going the week of 8/26 because my DS doesn't start school until after Labor Day, and I'm glad to hear that in the past the parks were dead during this week. I hope it's the same this year because my DS has PDD and doesn't do well with crowds or if he gets overstimulated.

 

[smartestnumber5]

We are planning to book for Aug 26-Sept 2nd or so if the free dining rumors turn out to be true. (Even if the free dining didn't happen, we'd probably still go around these dates...but maybe a few days earlier.)

Last August we went Aug 24-31 during free dining and we were also there in mid-January. We didn't notice any real difference btw August and January in terms of crowds or ride wait times (and I believe mid-January is supposed to be one of the slowest times of year). In both cases we never waited ore than 20 minutes or so to get on a ride (I believe that was only for Expedition Everest). We did see some longer wait times--45 to 60 minutes for Soarin or Everest--by mid-afternoon but had no problem avoiding them. Both times we walked right on to Tower of Terror and (in Aug only, it was closed in Jan) Rockin Roller Coaster.