If you aren't interested in MNSSHP, is September worth it?

[lynzi2004]

We have a trip planned September 15-22 for our DDs 7th birthday. We are planning to do 1 MNSSHP, but there will likely be 3-4 of them scheduled during our week. Our kids will be 7, 5, and 9months so MK is their favorite park! If we are only able to go to one MNSSHP, is it worth going in September when MK is closed early so many nights? Our kids are nightowls and have no trouble staying up late. Our favorite MK memories are running from ride to ride during EMHs that would go till 1am or later. I'm also afraid that due to so many parties, MK will be packed and no fun on the nights we would be there. With Toy Story opening, I'm sure there will be large crowds at HS and then with Food and Wine, I could see large crowds at Epcot as well. We don't drink and aren't foodies so I'm not seeing much value there for us.

I'm leaning towards picking a different time of year, but I know my DD will be a little disappointed to not get to go on her birthday. For reference, we've always gone in April when the weather is gorgeous! Yes, it can be crowded due to Spring Breaks but we've always taken advantage of the longer park hours and made it great! I'm even contemplating a short trip this spring, but am hesitant as the baby is only 2 months old! lol

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

I think you answered your own question.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

I think you answered your own question.

Yep.

 

[sharonabe]

I'm leaning towards picking a different time of year, but I know my DD will be a little disappointed to not get to go on her birthday

Looking at last year's hours for that week, you'll probably have three nights that have a party, and you're doing one of them. There was also TWO nights that had late EMH. Now, it's not really late, but it does mean extra hours in MK on two other nights. You also need to remember that MK on party days is relatively uncrowded, so you can get a lot done if you make one of those days an MK day.

So spend all day at MK on your party day that keeps you in MK until midnight. Choose one or both of the late EMH days too and you've got THREE full days in MK. OR if you have hoppers, at least plan to hop to MK on one or both of those nights to take advantage of late EMH.

I think it's doable, and it would totally be worth it to me to make it work for my DD (if I had a DD).

 

[lynzi2004]

I think you answered your own question.

Yep.

Haha I know! I was thinking that as I was reading it to myself!

BUT, I'm also curious to hear other people's responses about party season. There is now 3-4 months out of the year that if you aren't interested in parties, but enjoy MK that it can be difficult to go. I would like to know how other people work around it and if they've been if they've opted to go at a completely different time next time?

 

[Iya]

Haha I know! I was thinking that as I was reading it to myself!

BUT, I'm also curious to hear other people's responses about party season. There is now 3-4 months out of the year that if you aren't interested in parties, but enjoy MK that it can be difficult to go. I would like to know how other people work around it and if they've been if they've opted to go at a completely different time next time?

I opt to go at a different time of year when I don't need to work around parties at Magic Kingdom.

 

[Gentry2004]

I really dislike party season. I’m not saying I would never go again during party season, but I find all the early closures obnoxious. And even though the parks are open until 6, the crowds get way worse starting at 4pm. That’s a short day. It’s not like they discount my ticket those days, or give free hopping. I’d rather go with better hours for the same price.

 

[Jewel3k]

We love September and have never been to a party. We get the park hoppers. We spend party mornings in MK and then hop to EPCOT for dinner. Then we reverse that to see the fireworks. The party days are the best for low crowds.

 

[AFwifelife]

We don't mind going in September (and will be taking a weekend trip right around when you are planning) BUT we are Floridians and moving within driving distance to Disney in a month and a half (AF has us in Arizona currently) so it's not like we try to get as much as we can out of each trip. We enjoy the crowd level around that time and it is also my son and I's birthdays so it's always special being able to celebrate with the Mouse.

 

[KT0191]

I don't think MK is going to keep all of those early closings that we see right now. Personally, I think they're just "reserving" those early closings as possible party nights so people can prepare but I don't think they're going to keep them all (there's just a lot of 6p closings right now, IMHO). I would just hold out and wait until Disney officially releases those party dates and see if they'll extend more MK hours.

 

[cindyfan]

I also don't think all the early closes will stand. If she is set on being there for her birthday.... personally, I would go!
There are getting to be more and more events and parties, etc. I think it's still easy enough to work around them!
I love going in Sept!
DD and I went last Sept and we did not do MNSSHP because we did it the year before.
We only had 1 night that MK didn't have a party and they ended up making it an EMH night too!... So we went to MK that night. It was a bit crowded .... but no more than any other time of year that we've gone.
And we had AK and Epcot to visit the evenings of the parties!
We LOVE that time of year.... Food and Wine! And all decorated for Fall.
If you have hoppers.... that is BEST! Do MK early on a party day because MK really isn't that crowded... then hop to something else for the night!
Just to warn you though...... Sept can be very HOT! It doesn't bother us.... but the humidity can be rough!!

 

[disneyvoice]

We've never had an issue with party nights. We purposely go to MK on party days because the crowds are typically quite a bit smaller so we get more done - so in the end it doesn't matter that the park closes early because we have typically already left. We have no reason to stay late at the parks anyway. We typically get to the park early, either at rope drop or shortly after, so we are able to accomplish a lot and leave when we have done everything we want to do or when we get tired. It is rare that we end up at a park until closing. We can take or leave the fireworks/night time shows.

 

[JerseyJanice]

September has always been my favorite time of year to go on vacation, but after my WDW trip this past year, I’m done with going in the fall for a while.

We arrived right after Irma. The parks were slammed the whole time we were there. Only the Studios wasn’t crazy crowded, but it didn’t offer much to do with all the construction.

Between the party nights, thimble-sized wine samples at F&W, heat, and crowds plus the threat of hurricanes (we were there during Matthew in 2016), no more fall for the time being.

 

[lynzi2004]

Thank you all for your replies. I’ve contacted our agent to see about switching times and I’m going to see what she says price and availability wise.

It’s a hard decision to make when your 7 year old is wanting to be there on her birthday but in reality you really want to do something different. But we both love Disney so I can’t blame her . If only I could travel to the future and assure that there will be no hurricanes and at least one night to watch HEA without staking our a spot 2 hrs in advance!

 

[wendow]

We are Sept people and have been for many, many years. We used to be able to plan our trip to just barely overlap with the beginning of party season but Disney keeps bumping it earlier and earlier. The last two years, we have actually arrived in Aug and we still are running into the parties. I know I am in the minority but I don't consider halloween to be that big of a deal to need to start celebrating it in early Sept. The party is too expensive for us to do year after year so we just end up getting kicked out of MK early a lot of our trip. We were there for 9 nights in 2017 and there were parties at MK much of our trip and only one night of EMH. And that night wasn't near as late as it used to be (my kids love the late night too). We don't PH so we usually leave MK at 7 and resort hop around the monorail resorts finding a place to eat dinner and watch fireworks, or head back to the resort and swim.

I'm not sure what to tell you. It is what it is and I think it will continue to be. Bummer for sure but it's still our preferred time due to other reasons. I think we will be evaluating going at different times in future years though.

 

[sharonabe]

I don't think MK is going to keep all of those early closings that we see right now. Personally, I think they're just "reserving" those early closings as possible party nights so people can prepare but I don't think they're going to keep them all (there's just a lot of 6p closings right now, IMHO). I would just hold out and wait until Disney officially releases those party dates and see if they'll extend more MK hours.

Except OP is talking about Sept 15-22. Those hours aren't out yet; we used historical hours, and by that time, there will be parties 3-4 nights each week.