I Fear The Week Of Aug. 16th

[lugnut33]

Just looking at the new room specials available from aug. thru oct. and the only time period where no discounts are available is the week of Aug. 16th!! Of course, that's the week we are there.

Now, I know the park will be crowded (first week of free dining) and I can deal with that, but what I don't want is a repeat of what happened last April with the parks going Level 4 on their shutdowns due to crushing crowds (I wasn't there and I don't want to be anywhere close when that happens).

We have the THV for that week, so I guess if worse come to worse we can ride the boats up and down the Sassagula River. LOL

 

[JACKie SPARROW]

We are checking in at BWV for 10 nights on Aug. 16. I like the August crowd levels-not a problem. Maybe it will be really, really hot and most people will stay back at the resorts so we can have the parks all to ourselves Yeah, I know, wishful thinking

 

[Anal Annie]

We are also going on August 16. We have gone that week before and it was quite bareable. It was NOT free dining that year tho. I think it WILL be busy but I do not expect "crowd crushing levels". Schools in the south go back in session that week. That's why the "season" changes from Magic to Dream...it SHOULD be slightly less busy than the rest of the summer.

Dining will be busy at peak times. For any meals that we don't have a ressie for we will try to dine slightly off-peak, which we usually do when it's crowded anyway. We will eat a light breakfast in our villa and then stop for an early lunch (11:30ish). NORMALLY we would eat a much later lunch. This will require some strategy to not hate everybody else in the parks tho. I especially hate the "table hawking" you have to do when you eat at peak times. We have 1 TS lunch scheduled and 3 TS dinners....so we will just wing it at the CS places for the rest of our meals. Likely we will snack at the pools in the afternoons and grab a very late dinner somewhere our "free" nights.

 

[lugnut33]

I planned NO meals inside WDW because I don't want to contend with the Free Dining people. I didn't have to spend an hour making ressies.

 

[supersuperwendy]

We booked our arrival date of Aug. 16 months before free dining was announced. I too am concerned that it's going to be mobbed.

 

[monorailmom]

We're arrriving on Aug 16th also, and had booked before the whole free dining thing was announced--and I'm really not that worried. Part of the reason of doing DVC was the ability to relax and enjoy, knowing that whatever we don't get to this year, we'll get to next year. Being able to slow down and just enjoy is such a benefit. I know it will be hot, but that's what the pools are for. It may be more crowded than when we have usually travelled in Nov. but that's okay. As they say, a "bad" day at Disney is better than a good day anywhere else!!

 

[gk90]

We're also checking in on Aug 16, a date we decided on in Nov 2008...and while there are lots of possible worries, I'm trying to look at the positives as monorailmom is doing. Whatever happens we'll be in Disney.

I thought that many schools (including the ones in Fla) would be back in session but according to this poll, http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2158057 only a quarter of schools around the country are back and most Fla schools don't open til the week of the 24th.

Surprised to hear from lugnut33's 1st post thar there are no discounts available--I heard last month that the Free Dining offer hadn't sold as well as expected but maybe it's done well for the week of the 16th...

There was a thread on crowd estimates on touringplans.com for August and numbers were revised downward, mostly 5s with a couple of 7s for our week. I hope they're right! Their July numbers are down too--all 8s except for the 4th which is a 9, not a 10 as in previous years. I'm interested to hear comments on crowds for next week to see if the 4th really is lighter and that may mean that they're right about the crowds for our week?

 

[lugnut33]

We're arrriving on Aug 16th also, and had booked before the whole free dining thing was announced--and I'm really not that worried. Part of the reason of doing DVC was the ability to relax and enjoy, knowing that whatever we don't get to this year, we'll get to next year. Being able to slow down and just enjoy is such a benefit. I know it will be hot, but that's what the pools are for. It may be more crowded than when we have usually travelled in Nov. but that's okay. As they say, a "bad" day at Disney is better than a good day anywhere else!!

In our case we are paying for all the grandparents to come down, so for the almost 1,000 in tickets I've spent already I don't want to slow down too much. We'll just have to power through the early mornings.

 

[Anal Annie]

I planned NO meals inside WDW because I don't want to contend with the Free Dining people. I didn't have to spend an hour making ressies.

We use DME and do not waste money on a rental for the week so we eat onsite all week. We also feel like we lose a lot of our time when we try to go from one park to another or back to the villa so we just eat in whatever park we're in when it gets to be mealtime. Then we finish up our time in the park before heading back to the villa. I don't like to spend time coming & going. The whole coming & going process takes much more time than just spending 30 min. or so to make ressies if you're looking to do that many TS meals (which we only do about 3, maybe 4 during a week).

 

[gianna2006]

Have no fear!! We're checking in on August 15th and are also staying at THV so maybe we'll be neighbors!!! We're staying for 11 days total and plan on taking this vacation in slow-mode. We made ressies for every day that we're there because of the free dining. At least if we have a reservation, we won't have to worry too much. Lots of pool, breaks, and patience...it's gonna be a hot one!!!

All that being said, we'll be in Disney!!!!

 

[lugnut33]

Have no fear!! We're checking in on August 15th and are also staying at THV so maybe we'll be neighbors!!! We're staying for 11 days total and plan on taking this vacation in slow-mode. We made ressies for every day that we're there because of the free dining. At least if we have a reservation, we won't have to worry too much. Lots of pool, breaks, and patience...it's gonna be a hot one!!!

All that being said, we'll be in Disney!!!!

How will I know it's you?

I'll be the guy with a worn out grey (used to be black) "Pete's Speed Shop" (Remember Mickey's original nemesis?) ballcap that I picked up on our first trip to Disneyland about 6 years ago. It's old, dirty, smelly, and nasty but I love the hat.

 

[eggnmel]

We are checking in the 16th at SSR for 6 nights. We are planning to do one day at a water park. Do you think the crowds at the water parks will be worse than the other parks? I am starting to think that another day at the pool might be more enjoyable than the crowds at a water park. Anyone with August water park experience?

 

[edk35]

We were there 2 Aug. ago ..same time frame. It was a great time. However...free dining started like the end of Aug. that year. I wouldn't think that it would be too bad.

 

[lugnut33]

I just looked at the Unofficial Guides crowd calendar for that week and they have back off on the expected crowds. They now have basically the whole week down to 5's & 6's, which if that holds true are very very manageable.

Last year we went to both waterparks the third week of August and they were almost empty..... of course we were there during Tropical Storm Faye. We figured, whats the difference if you get wet in a pool or from the sky?

 

[goofy4tink]

I also booked my stay, BWVs starting on the 16th, back in Dec...long before any thought of free dining came along. Figured we were safe...free dining usually starts the weekend we will be leaving..but not this year. I'm not really concerned with the park levels....I've been to WDW during free dining...twice last Sept...and I didn't think the levels were bad at all.
It was just hard getting the ADRs I needed since everyone who was going for the start of free dining was calling the same day I was...not a good thing.

 

[iluveeyore]

We arrive on August 22 and aren't bothered by the whole free dining thing at all - we are there for two weeks with another family and I have a couple of ressies I made last month - otherwise we are going at our own pace and buying groceries to enjoy for meals in our villa without the hassle of lines, pagers and lost ressies at the restaurants. So instead of free dining, I have 'cheap' dining at whatever time I choose instead of whatever time is available!

 

[lugnut33]

That's right iloveeyor, a spoon full of sugar.

 

[tubtruck]

We will be arriving on 16th August too. We have free dining and got all 14 of our ressies fine, including California Grill and Le Cellier. We didn't even bother to make the until the second day after we could have made them.

 

[DebbieB]

The offsite resorts are probably pretty empty. During peak times, people staying offsite or local people makeup a big part of the crowds.

 

[n2mm]

We'll be there too. Aug 16 at the BCV. We had no problem making our few ADRs for that week, but we do plan to just zip up to Publix for some quick meals will help. I just made an ADR at Trails End yesterday for that week for a party of 9. While TE's isn't high on the list of places to eat--it was high on ours since we are traveling with 3 15yo boys! We have an ADR for lunch at LeCellier during that week too. So there will be someone paying cash at LeCellier that week for sure. We'are actually arriving Aug. 14 and plan to stay at a value or mod -- just haven't made the ressie yet. (tried yesterday but didn't get through, checked online and lots of availability for those nights for AP holders.)