Free Disney Dining / Crowds

[embgrl]

Me and DH are heading to the World from 09/15 - 09/23, staying at POR. What kind of crowds can we expect during this time with the free disney dining package? Is it much more crowded than normal?

 

[DanenRox]

Less crowded, line averages 15 minutes (some more, some less), can get very warm, OK, very hot. Plan on afternoons by the pool. You will LOVE the DDP. POR is a beautiful resort. Try to find time to rent a little boat at POR. The bigger boats are nice, but I understand the little one seaters go faster. Have a blast~

 

[soccerchick]

My sister was there during that time last year. She said the weekdays were great - walk on to most rides. Weekends were much busier. I think you'll be there at the perfect time ~ still close to the beginning of school, but not that close to Labor or Columbus Days.

We went Sept 28 - Oct. 4 last year. Beginning of the week was awesome - walked on most rides. As we got closer to Columbus Day and the end of the promotion, it got MUCH more crowded.

 

[NancyT]

Soccerchick, the dates you traveled during the free dining last year are our *exact* dates this year...

Were the end of the week crowds huge? I am gettng a little nervous now

 

[KarenAylwood]

Me and DH are heading to the World from 09/15 - 09/23, staying at POR. What kind of crowds can we expect during this time with the free disney dining package? Is it much more crowded than normal?

We'll be staying the 14th to the 22nd at POR too!!

I think free dining will be a bit more crowded, but if you think about it, there will be much fewer off-site guests because free dining is only with staying on property. I checked our dates online the other day to see how much it would cost to add two more park day tickets, and there were still rooms open at every resort.

I figure, the trip is booked, just hope for the best.

NancyT~ it gets more crowded because of the food and wine festival. There will be on site F&W people, on site free diners and off site F&W people.

 

[soccerchick]

Soccerchick, the dates you traveled during the free dining last year are our *exact* dates this year...

Were the end of the week crowds huge? I am gettng a little nervous now

They were crowded, but certainly doable. Use Fastpass. Get to the parks early. Do your "must see/do" items early in your week. We noticed MK and MGM to be much more crowded than Epcot or AK. Maybe all the people at Epcot were eating and drinking and avoiding the regular attractions. We did a long day at Epcot and the evening was much more crowded than any part of the day.

 

[BCV23]

In general, it must be much less crowded than most of the year otherwise WDW would not be enticing guests with free dining.

Weekends, local guests always play into the equation I would think.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Me and DH are heading to the World from 09/15 - 09/23, staying at POR. What kind of crowds can we expect during this time with the free disney dining package? Is it much more crowded than normal?

September is one of the slowest times of the year at the WDW theme parks. That's why Disney uses promotions such as free dining to fill rooms that would otherwise be empty.

Keep in mind that the majority of guests stay off-site. Although there is significant discounting at off-site hotels in September, the occupancy levels will still be much lower than during high-demand periods such as prime spring and summer weeks.

Also, because school is in session in most of the United States, hotel rooms are more likely to be occupied by couples (or families with only a pre-school child) than by families with school-age children. That also translates to fewer guests in the parks.

I wouldn't worry about crowds in September.

 

[srgibbs]

We went last year in Sept and stayed at POR during free dining. With ADR we always got our table at Rest. within 15 minutes. The parks were not crowded in the morning so I suggest getting there when they open. Fantasyland did get really crowded in the afternoon, but you could walk on rides the first 2 hours. We found it best to leave around 3:00 and go to the pool. I would avoid MK on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Other than that it was great. We will be there this year the same week you are and we are staying at FQ this time. Hope you all have a wonderful time. We cannot wait!!!

 

[Sinderelli]

We were there last year for these dates for our "Hurricane Katrina" surprise trip. That was the best time we ever had in disney. Like I said, it was a last minute trip, booked about a week and a half in advance, and I was able to book all of the ADR's that I wanted, except for CRT. We WALKED onto most of the rides for the entire 8 days. My son went on Splash Mountain 5 times in a row, without waiting in line. If I weren't a teacher, I would go during this time every year!

 

[indigoxtreme]

The unofficial touring plans guide has sept after labor day at 4 mostly except for a few 5's on weekends and 1 6 this being the MNSSHP on the 22nd. Scale is 1 to 10 with 1 being low and 10 highest peak