Has anyone been to the Magic Kingdom on Labor Day?

[pwillin]

I know that with school starting up, most out-of-state folks will be home during this week, which is why we chose it. But is the local crowd out in force? I have seen the previous Threads on this subject, but they were posted back in 2011. A ton has changed in WDW since then, so I was wondering if anybody has been in the past couple of years. This year they announced that the Not So Scary Halloween Party will be moved up to include Labor Day week, so I know that'll influence more folks to travel down.

We will be arriving on Sunday, Sept. 4th ("the busy day" as noted in the other posts), and are staying until the following Sunday. I really like to take first timers to the Magic Kingdom for the first full day in WDW, so I'm really hoping that it won't be miserable. In my previous trips to WDW, I've only been during the first and last weeks of May. So I'm not quite sure what the crowd levels look like in the Summer/Fall transition.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[anniemae]

It will be busy but not crazy busy. The northeast, and many mid-western states start the day after LD, so they will clear out that weekend usually. There will be a lot of locals. Canadians also start school late, so there may be a lot of Canadians there too.

 

[pwillin]

It will be busy but not crazy busy. The northeast, and many mid-western states start the day after LD, so they will clear out that weekend usually. There will be a lot of locals. Canadians also start school late, so there may be a lot of Canadians there too.

Awesome. I know there isn't an "Off Season" anymore, so I wasn't sure. That and the growing number of changes to the parks, rides, etc. I figured threads posted in 2011 might not apply anymore lol.
I've also seen conflicting info around the various WDW info websites about when the crowds cut out and come back.

 

[JimmyV]

The last time we were there on Labor Day was in '01, just a week before 9/11. It was really crowded, and really, really hot. Africa Hot. Get pulled from the game of "Survivor" hot. Wear a dampened wash cloth borrowed from the hotel on your head at all times hot. While I can appreciate the desire to start your vacation off at the MK, the following day and Thursday are projected to be as uncrowded as the MK ever gets nowadays. I would take Tuesday and/or Thursday over Labor Day every time, even if it means starting your vacation off in Epcot or Hollywood Studios which seem to be the consensus picks for the crowd prediction services.

 

[lynch34]

I went last year. The park was basically empty.

I posted this at the time on my FB with caption "Labor Day at Disney World and it feels like just us."

 

[pwillin]

The last time we were there on Labor Day was in '01, just a week before 9/11. It was really crowded, and really, really hot. Africa Hot. Get pulled from the game of "Survivor" hot. Wear a dampened wash cloth borrowed from the hotel on your head at all times hot. While I can appreciate the desire to start your vacation off at the MK, the following day and Thursday are projected to be as uncrowded as the MK ever gets nowadays. I would take Tuesday and/or Thursday over Labor Day every time, even if it means starting your vacation off in Epcot or Hollywood Studios which seem to be the consensus picks for the crowd prediction services.

Haha! We definitely have MK slated for multiple days using Magic Hours, just in case it was bad. That and we are going to be attending the Halloween Party on Thursday, so figure we can pick up any missed or repeat attractions on the other days. I was mainly worried that it would be shoulder to shoulder in Fantasyland, starting to turn people away like it was on our 2014 trip on Saturday in early May.

 

[pwillin]

I went last year. The park was basically empty.

I posted this at the time on my FB with caption "Labor Day at Disney World and it feels like just us."

SWEET! I'm hoping for the same this year!

 

[JimmyV]

Average wait times last year were in the mid to high 20 minute range for most rides, with Peter Pan being about and hour and Space Mountain being around 40 minutes. Two days after Labor Day last year, those wait times were pretty much shaved down by 10 minutes per ride. Neither scenario is a problem. But one is better than the other.

 

[KT0191]

I went last year. The park was basically empty.

I posted this at the time on my FB with caption "Labor Day at Disney World and it feels like just us."

What time was that at? We hopped over to MK last year on Labor Day and it was definitely not like that.

 

[Hikergirl]

The last time we were there it was 2013. I think the Saturday before was very busy but I don't remember Labor Day being crazy.

 

[21stamps]

Haha! We definitely have MK slated for multiple days using Magic Hours, just in case it was bad. That and we are going to be attending the Halloween Party on Thursday, so figure we can pick up any missed or repeat attractions on the other days. I was mainly worried that it would be shoulder to shoulder in Fantasyland, starting to turn people away like it was on our 2014 trip on Saturday in early May.

We took advantage of the splash areas! It was a great cool off! Also, I invested in one of those wdw fans with the water- best $20 I ever spent, kept kiddo from complaining about the heat.
Also did mid day pool time everyday.

 

[Accident]

I know that with school starting up, most out-of-state folks will be home during this week, which is why we chose it.

There are at least 5 states, including New Jersey who loves to fill the park when off, that are not back in school until after labor day.. It can go either way, the weekend itself will be very crowded, the week after it really depends on when that school year starts..

Most years there is 1 park (usually MK) that is really packed tight and the rest are a dream to be in. It's also hurricane season which one almost hit near labor day and it was a wonderfull week.

 

[21stamps]

The last time we were there it was 2013. I think the Saturday before was very busy but I don't remember Labor Day being crazy.

There are at least 5 states, including New Jersey who loves to fill the park when off, that are not back in school until after labor day.. It can go either way, the weekend itself will be very crowded, the week after it really depends on when that school year starts..

I'm really worried now. If I thought the week of Labor Day was crowded last year, am I going to be miserable on Thanksgiving?

 

[Dentam]

I went last year. The park was basically empty.

I posted this at the time on my FB with caption "Labor Day at Disney World and it feels like just us."

Hmm... we were there that day also last year and definitely didn't experience low crowds like this.

 

[Accident]

I'm really worried now. If I thought the week of Labor Day was crowded last year, am I going to be miserable on Thanksgiving?

I've always been told (don't know how accurate) that thanksgiving weekend is second most crowded resort wise only to xmas - new years but the week after thanksgiving weekend is the least crowded (I agree with this and love that week)

 

[Accident]

What time was that at? We hopped over to MK last year on Labor Day and it was definitely not like that.

We hopped out of MK because it was nowhere near that..

EDITED: Actually I just checked my own trip report and we actually left during the weekend and it was really packed then and weren't at WDW. Turns out we picked well seeing some of these photos.

 

[21stamps]

Hmm... we were there that day also last year and definitely didn't experience low crowds like this.

We did our resort day on Labor Day itself, but here is a photo of part of the line for the boat very early, before our 8am Ohana reservation. We left to play mini golf, but I noticed long lines most of the day at the launch. Can't speak for the park itself, but that was the most people in line out of every day of our trip. Most of the days we could walk right up.

 

[Mom2Stitch]

We were there last year 9/12-9/19, so weekend following labor day I think. Seems like the week of labor day last year there was a hurricane scare that kept folks from showing up--I think they must have all decided to come the next week because to us it felt very crowded.

This year we are there 9/2-9/11, hoping for light crowds!

 

[ols386]

I was there once on Labor Day, and it was packed.

 

[Dentam]

We were there last year 9/12-9/19, so weekend following labor day I think. Seems like the week of labor day last year there was a hurricane scare that kept folks from showing up--I think they must have all decided to come the next week because to us it felt very crowded.

Yep, the hurricane scare was right before we got there and I heard it was much less crowded during that week. I also heard that it rained quite a bit so a trade off for those who braved it. We lucked out with pretty decent weather - a few cloudy days which kept the temps down a bit. The crowds were a bummer though.