How crowded is mid Sept? Fri after Labor Day...

[frannn]

We are arriving 9/10, the Fri after Labor Day, and staying thru 9/20. Is that generally the "slow" time in Sept, or will there still be remnants from the Labor Day crowds? Do the parks usually get crowded the days MK closes early for the Night of Joy? When MK closes at 6, will Fantasmic and Illuminations be that much more crowded? How crowded/hot will it be if we go to MK in the afternoon on the Fri we get there? I wouldn't think that flocks of people would be rushing to WDW in Sept for the special rates they are advertising now, but what do you think? Will that affect crowds also?
Thanks!

 

[Jages16]

Hi frann. I have actually responded to a couple of similar posts like this recently and am glad to do so again. This is hands down, the best time in the world to go to WDW. My fiance and I went the Saturday after Labor Day last year for a week (9/6 - 9/13). All I can say is wow !!!! The crowds were non-existent. The longest wait we had was 10 minutes and the weather was absolutely beautiful. I'm not lying when I say it did not rain one drop the entire week. I thought people would flock last September when it was 7 for 4, but they weren't. Great choic to go then. Have a great time.

 

[mkpat]

We are going Sept 16-25. I hope the same holds true!!!

 

[dvcgirl]

We went last year in mid-September. It was *awesome*. My husband just kept saying, "we're always coming in September from now on!!" Just about everything was a walk-on to a 5 minute wait. They had the FAll Fantasy offer last year too, and obviously, it didn't affect the crowd levels. The parks do close earlier, but it doesn't matter because you'll have plenty of time to do everything. I remember being in MK and we walked up to the curb and sat down for a parade spot at 3:00pm....for the 3PM parade! You'll still have afternoon showers so prepare for that, but other than that, you'll have a blast!

 

[B'rer Karen]

I agree, this is the best time to go crowd-wise. I went that same week in 2002 and I was shocked at how low the crowds were. I arrived on the Thursday night after Labor Day and went to the MK on Friday. I did every ride and attraction in the park with the exception of Toontown, Alien Enounter and maybe one or two other attractions by 2:00 pm. (I was traveling solo so take that into consideration). This included eating at Pecos Bill for lunch and I rode Splash Mountain twice in a row because there was no line and they let me stay on in the car by myself! On Pirates (my first ride of the day) I did not see anyone in line, I got into a boat by myself. There was no one in the boats in front of me or behind me. It was kind of spooky actually. I decided to get a Mickey bar and get a spot in Frontierland for the parade. As soon as the parade passed I cut through to Adventureland, up to Main Street, ducking into the stores behind Casey's to make my way down Main Street and head out of the park to go back to my resort to swim. It was the first day of a week long vacation and I had done everything in the MK. It was amazing. Now I did get rain every day for at least 30 minutes, but it was usually around dinner time and if I ducked into an attraction or show it would blow over. Only one night did it rain all night, but it still didn't start raining until 7 pm.

 

[Nicoal13]

Karen - that sounds awesome!

I'm headed there the Saturday after Labor Day and I'm hoping this is how the crowds will be - nonexistant.

 

[sters]

The week of Labor Day (excluding Sunday and Monday) is the empitiest I've ever seen the parks. It was downright eerie! But I sure loved being able to walk on any ride without a wait.

 

[Laney's Mom]

We were there during this time last year. It was the most unbelievable trip! I never expected everything to be so perfect. No lines, not for rides or busses, except for at night after the shows and even then it wasn't too bad. We rode absolutely every ride in every park (that wasn't being refurbished) in the 4 days we were there. We saw every show we could make it to. We actually ate in the Sci Fi Diner at 5:00 with only one other table occupied. We went to DTD on our last night because we had done everything already and ate at the Rainforest Cafe with no wait. The rain showers were minimal. I would suggest using the Early hour so that you can get alot done before the heat. It was my husband and our 2 kids age 8 and 13 and my daughter is disabled and we still did everything. I have friends that have went at other times in the year and think I'm making up stories telling them this but I swear it is true. Have a great time!