How are the crowds? Has free dining significantly increased them?

[kid4ever]

Just a quick question about crowds. Has there been a huge difference in the crowds over the same time in other years. We are scheduled for Sept 17th-25th, and we picked this time BECAUSE of the light crowds. If anyone with prior years experience at this time is there now or has just returned, I would really appreciate your input. Would be there on DDP also except for the DILs free timeshare. Thanks in advance.

 

[WDW1st-timers]

I'm just bumping this too cause I would like to know if the crowd levels are the same or do you find that there is more people?

 

[NewEnglandDisney]

We'll be there around the same time, and we don't expect major crowds.

The reason they did free dining (and, once the promotion offically ended, started it up again) is because attendance was projected to be so low - most people assume this is because people are scared of hurricanes.

Sit-down dining is going to be mobbed - and if you don't have ADR's yet and are planning to eat anything other than fast food, get on the phone ASAP and make some. But I don't believe general attendance is going to be terribly effected - especially, again, as they renewed the free dining promotion so close to the actual dates.

Good luck, the magic will be there waiting!

N.E.D.

 

[DisneyWisher]

I agree with N.E.D. I don't think it will be too crowded. We are going to be there 9/10-9/16. Even without free dining we would have been there. Though might have stayed a couple days at USO. But decided to make it a Disney only trip. We were there last year from 9/12-9/17 and it was dead. But then again Ivan was under Cuba without a clear projected path yet. Mousesavers and different sites were telling people to cancel (this was after Charlie and Frances had already blown through). I don't expect it to be that slow but still better than March, April, or May.

 

[newholidayx2]

DS & I just returned from two weeks at WDW. Our 2nd wk (Aug 20-27) was definately busier than our first. It was still only 30min waits and those were reduced by using fastpasses. It was a wonderful vacation.

 

[samsmom05]

We are going to be at the WL the 17-24. I think it is really looking good. Some people here were having problems booking tables for 2 at some of the restaurants. When they changed to try to book for 3 they were in most cases able to get ADR's. I agree that the resorts and TS restaurants are going to be busier than usual but I think the parks are going to be about the same if not less. Too many hotels in the area are running great specials. Of course this is all speculation on my part. I would love to see replys of real experience.

newholidayx2, so glad your vacation went so well!!!

 

[Bobbysdog]

We are going to be at the WL the 17-24. I think it is really looking good. Some people here were having problems booking tables for 2 at some of the restaurants. When they changed to try to book for 3 they were in most cases able to get ADR's. I agree that the resorts and TS restaurants are going to be busier than usual but I think the parks are going to be about the same if not less. Too many hotels in the area are running great specials. Of course this is all speculation on my part. I would love to see replys of real experience.

newholidayx2, so glad your vacation went so well!!!

We're going down from 9/15-10/1, and regretfully we think it's going to be a lot busier than we were hoping for. (The point of pulling DD11 from school for two weeks was to tour the parks at one of the quietest times of the year!)

Here's what we're basing that on;
-Even with the modified way of predicting crown levels, the Unofficial guide is calling for larger crowds than they were a few months ago.
-Tour Guide Mike has bumped up his crowd predictions.
-By all accounts, WDW has been the busiest it's been since 9/11 over the last 6-8 months.
-We are a party of three, and although we had no problems getting any ADRs at the 90 day window (including three different days for CRT breakfast-don't worry, we only kept one), whenever we've called since then to modify something it's been hit and miss.

We're keeping our fingers crossed, and hoping that the crowd levels are the same with everyone is merely staying on WDW property with free dining instead of being elsewhere off site. At this point, we think the best case realistic scenario is that the parks are somewhat quiet but not dead, and the table service restaurants are where the crowds are. But there's a lot of signs that point to the fact that this may not be the case!

 

[noseybuddy]

I'm going Sept. 2 - 5. We just called last week for DR's and had no problem getting what we wanted. Good times also. I thought this weekend would be crowded but now I am thinking maybe it won't be too bad.

 

[poohfan]

I've heard the mornings aren't bad at all (especially when the parks first open) but it gets busy as the day goes on. Recommendation is to get to the parks as early as you can and take a break mid-day.

 

[joeyrulesall]

I just got back . We stayed at the pop century from august 22 to august 27. the pop was beyond crowded at times. The parks were very full, and during extra park hours it wasnt even worth going because the park was so crowded. The dining plan was amazing but reservations were hard to get and the lines for counter service meals were long almost anywhere. My last morning there i decided to get breakfast at the hotel and i have never seen so many people fighting over danishes and pancakes. It was disgusting. Other than that it was an amazing trip, despite the overcrowding and the high temperatures.

 

[WeluvDisney2]

I just got back . We stayed at the pop century from august 22 to august 27. the pop was beyond crowded at times. The parks were very full, and during extra park hours it wasnt even worth going because the park was so crowded. The dining plan was amazing but reservations were hard to get and the lines for counter service meals were long almost anywhere. My last morning there i decided to get breakfast at the hotel and i have never seen so many people fighting over danishes and pancakes. It was disgusting. Other than that it was an amazing trip, despite the overcrowding and the high temperatures.

Wow, I am hoping that the crowds were due to many places not having started school yet. ???

 

[xxtinkxx]

I just got off the phone with Disney Reservations and all of the moderate resorts are book with the exception of a few executive suits. When I asked her why she said the last week of september and early part of october was all booked due to it being the last week of value season. She went on to say that it would be an extremely high traffic weekend. I decided to change my trip to mid october but Im not sure if that will be much better.

 

[goodferry]

We were there the week of 8/13-8/18, after southern schools started and before free dining and it was relatively slow, the slowest we have ever seen it. The BWI was at 40% occupancy, but a cm said things would be picking up significantly within a week, so I have to assume that free dining has had some effect on the scheduling of vacations and I would expect it to be busier than usual, especially in the onsite resorts.

 

[zak'smom]

I just got back . We stayed at the pop century from august 22 to august 27. the pop was beyond crowded at times. The parks were very full, and during extra park hours it wasnt even worth going because the park was so crowded. The dining plan was amazing but reservations were hard to get and the lines for counter service meals were long almost anywhere. My last morning there i decided to get breakfast at the hotel and i have never seen so many people fighting over danishes and pancakes. It was disgusting. Other than that it was an amazing trip, despite the overcrowding and the high temperatures.

Whoa! I can't believe we were there the same week! We stayed at Sports and had very little wait for anything there - busses or food court. Check-in took 10 minutes. We got an early start each day and practically walked on everything we wanted, longest wait time was a listed 10 minutes at Jungle Cruise. It takes that long to walk from the ropes to the boat. We only used FastPass three times - Stitch, Soarin and Test track and even then the stand-by times were only 30 to 40 minutes. We got the Soarin FastPass at 3:30 in the afternoon with a return time of 5PM!!! We avoided EMH using the dis strategy of going to the evening EMH the next morning. We ate lunch between 11 and 11:30 and had no lines. We we seated for our PS within 10 minutes of check-in. I have never had such a relaxing trip! HOT but relaxing!

 

[c.w.e.m.]

My family and I just arrived home from a week in the world. We were amazed at the lack of crowds! We normally go the first week of August. We delayed our trip to take advantage of free dining. My husband and I agree that we have found a new week to travel! We were very happy with lack of lines and crowds. The only time that that crowds were bad were during the night parades and fireworks. That is to be expected. We were pleasantly surprised! Here is some pixie dust for light crowds for you!

 

[WeluvDisney2]

Here is some pixie dust for light crowds for you!

Thanks c.w.e.m! You're so sweet!

 

[sunnygirl]

I was just at Epcot Wed and MK yesterday. I thought there seemed to be a lot of people walking around, especially in the afternoons, but the waits for rides were not that long. We followed the UG touring guides from the book and had virtually line-free mornings on both days. We took a break at lunch and returned to longer lines in the afternoons. But again, the standby times were not bad - at one point, I saw 20 minutes for Splash Mtn and 30 for Space Mtn. By hitting most of the popular rides in the AM and using fast passes in the pm, we avoided just about all lines. And using a fast pass to walk past all those people in the standby line gives you such a heady feeling! Gotta love fast-pass!

 

[CarolynNC]

I was at Pop August 22 - 25. My touring style would make the UG folks cringe! I'm rarely in the parks at opening but try to make it by 1pm. I do try to follow their best park recommendations. I didn't think the parks were too crowded. I expected much longer waits. The only fast pass I got was for Soarin. When I showed up with my fast pass standby was posted as 70 min. The standby line was just about empty when I got down to load. After I rode I walked around and wait time posted was 60 minutes. I went in standby and was through riding in less than 30 minutes from gate to exit. I checked the posted standby time and it was then posted as 55 minutes. I found many of the standby times in all the parks were less than posted. I had planned on attending evening EMH but was able to do all I wanted during normal touring hours. I had a great trip with great food. It was so much fun I'm trying to figure out when I can go back again.

 

[slk537]

We'll be there 9/16 - 9/25...we just extended it back from 9/20 to 9/16 last weekend and shockingly I was able to get ADR's for all 4 extra nights with only a 10 minute change from what I wanted on one of them - Chef Mickeys dinner. I wanted 6:30, we got 6:20. The rest I got exactly what we wanted. I was stunned. I was positive that with the free dining, there was no way I could get in.

I have decided, realistic or not, to believe that this is a sign that the crowds will be manageable. And if I am deluding myself...well...at least I'll be happily deluded for 19 more days

Here's hoping!!!

 

[indigoxtreme]

I would expect last week and this week to be heavy. After Labor Day when the other schools start, even with free dining, I would think it would not be as crowded. Perhaps by the end of Sept. and October due to the Halloween celebration it will have more people than the 1st 2 weeks of Sept. Hope everyone has a great time either way.