It is HOT and CROWDED

[JennyDrake]

I am just back. It is HOT and CROWDED. Thickest crowds I've ever seen in 10 years of going in August (first or second full week). Rope Drop is still your best friend; but wait times for standby are ridiculous very early. Yesterday at AK stand by for ExE was 60 minutes and Kali was 90 minutes at 11:00 am.....

Heat index hit 107-111 (according to my phone) Saturday-Tuesday. I live in the south without a/c and I work outdoors, but this August heat and searing sun kicked my patootie. AK and MK were PACKED every day by noon.

LOTS of international visitors which really surprised me--so it's not the last minute before school starts crowd. Many visitors from British Isles.

All Star Music continues to not disappoint. Good bus service, mousekeeping, friendly CMs, etc.

 

[jerseygal]

Went mid August for many years when our kids had summer sport commitments and was always hot and crowded when we went too. GUESS if you either choose or must vacation during August, only strategy is try to pace yourself and plan lots of resort time. Hope you managed to enjoy.

 

[asta]

I am just back. It is HOT and CROWDED. Thickest crowds I've ever seen in 10 years of going in August (first or second full week). Rope Drop is still your best friend; but wait times for standby are ridiculous very early. Yesterday at AK stand by for ExE was 60 minutes and Kali was 90 minutes at 11:00 am.....

Heat index hit 107-111 (according to my phone) Saturday-Tuesday. I live in the south without a/c and I work outdoors, but this August heat and searing sun kicked my patootie. AK and MK were PACKED every day by noon.

LOTS of international visitors which really surprised me--so it's not the last minute before school starts crowd. Many visitors from British Isles.

All Star Music continues to not disappoint. Good bus service, mousekeeping, friendly CMs, etc.

We were there in July and noticed more British visitors than any other trip. I read here that Disney has been offering great deals in Great Britain.

 

[limabeanmom2003]

We were there last week and found the crowds to be manageable. Not bad at all! Weather wasn't too bad either for us, but we are from NC and use to the heat. Wore our Frogg Toggs in the heat and drank lots of water. Had a great trip.

 

[jerseygal]

We were there in July and noticed more British visitors than any other trip. I read here that Disney has been offering great deals in Great Britain.

Don't British guests always get great deals as Disney knows these folks spend longer vacas on property. Seems like the "average" stay is about 14 days based upon what I've read.

 

[jennimed89]

Im British and can vouch for long stay everyone i know goes for 2 weeks minimum.

In dollars, my 2 weeks at disney (spending money not inclusive)= $3500ish. Staying off site with 2 week park tickets for WDW and Universal. These tickets are effectively "park hoppers". Dont know how that stacks up compared to you guys?

Crazy amount of WDW advertising over here this year which may have effected the increase. Kids are mid way through the 6 week summer vaca. My trip is planned for first 2 weeks in sept when most are back at school.....hope the crowds die down a bit by then.

 

[GreatLakes]

I can't imagine a scenario where I would enjoy Disney in August. I have been to Florida in the summer, even lived there for a while, and can deal with heat but I wouldn't want to spend much time in a park in August. Our June trip this year just reiterated to us that we need to go in the winter and only when school is in session which is our usual plan.

 

[tlmadden73]

Going at the end of the month (26-30) and expect the heat .. but hopefully we can handle it (used to it living in NC) ..

Worried the extended family going will be grumpy and not like I planned the trip during the summer heat (but I planned it because my son will be turning 3 during the trip) (and thus is still free) ...

 

[loves to dive]

Used to always go August/Sept. because of DS school schedule, after he got out of school we just kept going since there were discounts. Now I go during spring for F&G but still go to F&W as well. Could be because I'm used to the crowds but it never seems overcrowded to me and the heat doesn't bother me. I live in Georgia and have lived here most of my life with a few years in NM and Saudi Arabia so it's not big deal. Drink loads of water, wear a hat, ice cream is your friend.

 

[LaurenT]

going from the 20th to Sept 5th. I'm used to the heat and humidity from past trips. we'll spend most afternoons by the pool and I expect the crowds to get lighter as each day passes.

 

[heidijanesmith]

We went in Aug a few years ago. Aug temps were intense! We hit rope drop, back to the hotel for a cool down/nap/swim when the crowds and heat were at their worst and then back out when the sun went down.

Crowds were definitely better as our trip went on.

 

[Praying Colonel]

TP.com projected a 9 level for AK yesterday, so sounds about right, unfortunately.

The August heat/humidity is almost like a living thing, especially at AK. It's like they pump extra humidity in there--brutal.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

It's still nothing on KY heat. Not even close. I only got to go to EP last week (boo, I would have gone all weekend, stupid virus...) but it was fairly empty around 11-2. Now that I'm finally starting to ditch this cough, I'm going to give myself one more night of vitamins and then I do have two HS nights planned finally! I'm sure MK is the busiest. I think MKs crowds were the best immediately after July 4 week this yr. Third week of July was packed insanely.

This is the coolest summer I can remember in years. FL is way better than the TN valley...

OP hope you had fun!

 

[AngiTN]

I am just back. It is HOT and CROWDED. Thickest crowds I've ever seen in 10 years of going in August (first or second full week). Rope Drop is still your best friend; but wait times for standby are ridiculous very early. Yesterday at AK stand by for ExE was 60 minutes and Kali was 90 minutes at 11:00 am.....

Heat index hit 107-111 (according to my phone) Saturday-Tuesday. I live in the south without a/c and I work outdoors, but this August heat and searing sun kicked my patootie. AK and MK were PACKED every day by noon.

LOTS of international visitors which really surprised me--so it's not the last minute before school starts crowd. Many visitors from British Isles.

All Star Music continues to not disappoint. Good bus service, mousekeeping, friendly CMs, etc.

I made that comment last week several times. It was like a British Invasion. I know I talked to one family who had just gotten out of school about 2 weeks ago. Odd to us as we go back tomorrow but it was the start of their summer. Maybe that's why there were. But we saw way more this year than we have on the same week in past years

We actually didn't find the heat so bad last week. It's been hotter here in SE TN.

 

[Kandiwilde]

I made that comment last week several times. It was like a British Invasion. I know I talked to one family who had just gotten out of school about 2 weeks ago. Odd to us as we go back tomorrow but it was the start of their summer. Maybe that's why there were. But we saw way more this year than we have on the same week in past years

We actually didn't find the heat so bad last week. It's been hotter here in SE TN.

British schools break up for summer around the last week of July and go back around September 5th, so many family's go on holiday during this time as schools fine parents for taking kids out of school during term time. My parents work in a school so August is the only time that we can visit. We check in to BC tomorrow for 14 nights.

 

[Julylady]

We recently returned from a two week stay in late July. It was HOT and WET. I will be honest, the heat wears you out! Michigan was also experiencing a heat/humidity wave at the same time so on several days, it was actually hotter and more humid in Michigan than in Orlando. The difference is that if I was home, I would be spending the day in my nice air-conditioned office instead of outside in the blazing heat. We purposely planned to only spend 5-6 hours each day in the theme parks to combat the heat. The rest of the time was spent at the pool or doing other "inside" activities. I think we did okay with the heat, but the rain (very rainy our 2nd week) almost did us in. I expected rain and I read lots of reports where people said, "Just put on your rain coat and go." It didn't work out that well for us. Along with the rain was lightening and I didn't want to put the kids in danger by having them outdoors during an electrical storm. We got pretty good (with the Weather Channel app) at predicting when the rain/storms would hit and adjusting our plans accordingly. But it did interfere with our plans. If I had any other options, I would not plan a July or August trip to WDW again. In fact, since our return we have been planning a summer 2016 trip to the upper peninsula of Michigan! I think that is partly a reaction to how hot we were!!!

 

[AngiTN]

British schools break up for summer around the last week of July and go back around September 5th, so many family's go on holiday during this time as schools fine parents for taking kids out of school during term time. My parents work in a school so August is the only time that we can visit. We check in to BC tomorrow for 14 nights.

Yeah, we can't take our kids out of school either. We don't get a fine (at least not right away) but they will fail the child. So we are limited to summer too.

That Holiday thing really tripped DGD up. She and a little girl were chatting at the Nemo show. The little girl asked if she was on Holiday too. DGD looked at me with a puzzled look on her face. The other little girl's mom chimed in and reminded her in the US they call it a vacation.

 

[Kandiwilde]

Yeah, we can't take our kids out of school either. We don't get a fine (at least not right away) but they will fail the child. So we are limited to summer too.

That Holiday thing really tripped DGD up. She and a little girl were chatting at the Nemo show. The little girl asked if she was on Holiday too. DGD looked at me with a puzzled look on her face. The other little girl's mom chimed in and reminded her in the US they call it a vacation.

Haha i always forget that you say vacation instead of holiday. It does get confusing sometimes especially when us Brits use completely different words and keep getting confused looks from other guests.

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

I can do Disney when it's hot or crowded but not both, especially the August/summer heat and humidity. Our first family WDW trip was in August and DH and I still joke about how the humidity slaps you in the face as soon as you walk out the door - at 9am!
The positive was that it was late August and the crowd level was reasonable and we had both value season rates and the kids stay/play free discount promotion.

 

[old lady]

I don't know what is worse the heat, sun or going their during hurricane season.