How are the crowds in August, where to stay & Disney Visa?

[zippnby]

We have been to Disney many times but never in August. We are planning a trip the week of August 19th. How are the crowds? Are the parks open late? (We usually go first week of Feb., where the parks are only opened to about 7pm or so.)

Where to stay-
I'd like to get your opnions on where to stay- (we are a family of 5 - 2 adults and three kids 11,8, & 6)
We are thinking about 4 possibilities-
1) A cabin at FW
2) two ajioning rooms at a value resort (All-star Sports or Pop Century)
3) A jr Suite at Coronado Springs - Does anybody know in what section the suites are located?
4) Grand Floridian

The Disney Visa-
I heard that you get a 20% discount, but not sure on what? Does the 20% work for vacation packages or is only on things in the park.

Thanks for your help-

 

[Disney Crazy Debbie]

dddd
We last went to WDW and stayed at Port Orleans in mid-August 2004 but the crowds were not bad and the parks do have the open late/early option. Of course a hurricane had hit the area in August and that may have had an effect on the crowds. Anyway, we are going back this summer in August (18) and are staying at the Beach Club resort.

Have fun!

 

[crazy4disney01]

We stayed at a cabin at Fort Wilderness last Sept. We really enjoyed having the space-full kitchen, bedroom w/ full bed & bunk beds, living room with murphy bed. It was so quiet, no slamming doors, toilet flushing, hearing people talk-BUT, transportation is a pain. You have to take a bus to get on another bus to get to the parks except Magic Kingdom, where you still have to take a bus to the marina and then get on the boat. The bugs were also really bad, but I don't know if that kinda stuff bothers you. One night 2 little frogs hopped in our cabin when we opened the door and my DH had to catch them.
Also, if your kids get hungry there isn't a snack bar opened late to buy food. They do have a grocery store but it would be where you have to fix it yourself at your cabin, and variety is limited...Also a couple of nights we wanted to stop by after returning from the parks and it would be closed.

I don't know about C. Springs but I know it is so big they have internal buses too. We haven't stayed at a value resort but I think if you are thinking of staying at the Grand Floridian I would just because it is the most deluxe resort and it is on the monorail so transportation would be so easy wherever you wanted to go. You can take the monorail straight to Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Also, the monorail will take you to the Ticket Transportation Center where you can then get on a bus to go to Animal Kingdom, MGM, and Downtown Disney.

We went in August on our honeymoon several years ago and crowds were high. Every ride had a wait but when we went in Sept. last year it may not have been as crowded as August but there was still a wait for rides so I don't know if there is a good time to avoid crowds anymore...

There is a website called tripadvisor.com. You can search the resorts you mentioned and read what other guests thought about their stay and it really has helped us in determining a good place to stay.

Hope this helps-sorry so long.

 

[BAST]

We have gone the last two Augusts (first time 17th to 27th, last time 5th to 17th). Both times, the crowds were not bad (and they did get lighter as time went on). We are going back again this August - I think it is the best time to go during summer months.