Has anyone done US/IOA in late August

[MouseGirl]

Thinking about doing an on-site trip the last week of August - wondering about crowd levels, heat and how manageable it would be...

I would welcome your thoughts and advice!

Many thanks,
MouseGirl

 

[Bradsdadg]

Well, we went Sept 1st 2010. That is pretty close to end of Aug It's definitey hot in Fla at that time. 90s or so. If you can handle the heat, then you will be fine. The crowds were almost non existent in most parts of the parks. Besides Harry Potter as the day went along. And a couple of other rides had some busier moments, Pteradon Flyers in the Jurassic Park area had alot of foot traffic, where most people were turned away because it is a kids ride. And the two rides we had somewhat of a wait for were, Jaws and Men In Black. We are going again just about the same time this year, I can't wait!

 

[damo]

We went the week before last year. It was still really hot but the crowds were really low. We have pictures of early entry in WWoHP with only us in them.

 

[Planogirl]

We went in early August which was crowded. Make sure it's late in the month! I've heard that it's much quieter.

 

[ChisJo]

I've gone twice at the end of August. Its HOT HOT HOT, humid, and awesome! The crowds are SO low. I was the only one on Jurassic Park once (a solo trip) and also the only one on a Mummy & MIB (the carts I was in anyways). It was weird but no waits = pretty amazing!

 

[SmallWorld71]

We went 2 weeks before Labor Day last year. (18th-26th) The crowds were low to moderate. WWOHP was pretty crowded, but we used the early entry and had no problems. There was one day that Forbidden Journey was down most of the day, which made the rest of it quite crowded and caused a line to get into that section, otherwise it was manageable. Most of the headliners like Spiderman, MIB, the coasters etc... had lines ranging from 20 min. to 45 min. although we stayed on site and using our Front of the Line perk never waited more than 10 min.

The heat was knock you down brutal and it rained/ downpoured for at least a part of every day except one.

 

[Metro West]

The heat was knock you down brutal and it rained/ downpoured for at least a part of every day except one.

Yes indeed which is why I stay away from the parks in the summer.

 

[ChisJo]

The summers I was there I must have been lucky. I don't remember much rain...or maybe it happened when I went back to my room and took a nap! I remember more torrential rain pour in the month of October when I was there then in August. I think that if it would've rained I would've welcomed it. Then, I would've gone on all the water rides and not cared!

 

[schumigirl]

We went last 2 weeks in August 2009 and it was hot..hot....hot......but we just took our time and didn`t rush anywhere, drank lots and lots of water and headed into airconditioned buildings when we could. It took us a few days to get used to the heat coming from the cold NE of England...but when we did it was fine.

Also we tended to be up early to the parks and leave in the heat of the day and either went to a mall or spent time by the pool. But it is bearable if you`re careful. I don`t remember much rain at all.

As for crowds our first week was slightly busier than the second but no real queues to speak of and as you are staying onsite you won`t really need to worry about that......we used the Express lane even if there was only a 5 min queue on anything.

We`re going again this year last 2 weeks in August and can`t wait

 

[MouseGirl]

Thanks so much for sharing your experiences and your advice! We are still discussing it but thinking if we can take our time and know that it will be really, really hot we may go for it.

 

[Schmeck]

We went during the last week of August last year. It was very hot, but not too crowded. WWOHP wasn't bad at all, 20 minute wait for FJ, everything else was walk-on, except Olivanders. That had the longest wait, almost an hour! Shops and restaurants in Hogsmeade were packed, as people soaked up the AC.

The rest of the park was rather empty, but we really didn't linger - the girls only wanted HP, and I don't do the big crazy rides, (except FJ!) so we just wander our way around for a while, until I missed the quiet of WDW, and we went back to our WDW resort.

We found that WWOHP empties out later on in the day, as most people rush to go there first thing in the morning.

 

[nhrenee]

My dd and I went for 4 days last August. Crowds were light except for wwohp. It was very hot so we would break after lunch for an hour or 2 (at the hotel), then return to the parks. We were lucky; it only rained one afternoon for a couple of hours.

FYI: Consider bringing rain ponchos to the park. At WWOHP they were $7 @!