Labor Day Week Crowds? Any advice?

[QTMichele]

My family and I are headed to Disney for Labor Day week - we're so excited! I am curious and a little concerned about the crowds during this time. It's "value" season and school's in session for most of the country, but this is also during the "free dining" promotion and a holiday weekend. What kinds of crowds should we expect based on previous years? Any comments and advice is appreciated!

 

[bettyann29]

I have traveled to WDW the last 2 years for Laborday weekend.. arriving Friday night and leaving Monday.. Me and DD15 are having a mom and daughter trip this time and again are arriving Friday early evening and leaving early evening on Monday..

I wont lie to you and tell you its not crowded.. because it is!! However you just have to learn how to use things to your advantage.. Use Fastpass as much as you can!! Basically what I do is get to the park early.. go to a ride, get a fastpass.. go to another nearby ride and ride it.. Usually we can walk right on another ride in that vacinity.. then its usually time to go back to the fp ride.. once we are off that ride, we head to another ride and get a fp.. we then go to another nearby ride and ride it.. usually either little to no wait.. if time permits, we ride another ride and head back to fp ride.. we do this all morning.. then we stroll around a bit and then leave the park early afternoon most times and head to DTD or back to hotel.. rest, swim and then go back to the park and spend the rest of the day.. again using fp where we can.. We try to ride fp rides early in day before we leave for rest period as the fastpasses may all be gone for the day when we get back.. Also we use the EMH benefit and get to parks early and stay late.. but it isnt a problem since we take a midday break

I promise that only one time have we waited more than 15 minutes in any line and that was for Testtrack and we had fastpasses and still waited over an hour..

Not sure how long you are staying and if you are staying after LD.. but if so, I hear the crowds really lighten up on Monday and beyond..

We are also taking advantage of free dining this year.. I dont know why I didnt do it last year as we went in the free dining period, but I think I ended up booking after the promotion was over.. but we ate at several sit down restaurants and it wasnt that bad.. we of course had ADR's..

Take it in stride and you will be fine.. You'll have a great time!

 

[QTMichele]

Thanks so much for your reply, bettyann29! Our reservation begins on Sunday and lasts through Friday so it sounds like we may have some crowds the first few days. I suppose we'll find out for sure once we get there! I don't want to sound overly "worried" about the crowds, but I am trying to get a basic plan down for our trip since my DH and I will be travelling with our 7 year old and 3 year old daughters. (A handful in itself! LOL)

 

[stm61]

we were there the same time last year. Don't worry about the crowds. It was busy Sun night, but most folks are checking out on Mon to get back to work and school. By Mon afternoon the parks were empty! Do make ADR's, the restaurants are busy with free DDP. Most places were turning away walk-up diners.

 

[PA Princess]

We were in WDW Labor Day week last year for free dining and it was awesome. We arrived on Sunday and stayed a week, and we really found crowds to either be manageable or non-existant. It was such a good week for us that we have another trip planned for this year the exact same week

We also have daughters about the age of yours (just turned 7 and 2 1/2) plus two boys ages 11 and 12, so I know travel with kids can be stressful. In all honesty for us the reason we keep going back to WDW is that we find it one of the least stressful places to travel with kids. Hope we all have a great week

 

[QTMichele]

Do make ADR's, the restaurants are busy with free DDP. Most places were turning away walk-up diners.

Already done!

We also have daughters about the age of yours (just turned 7 and 2 1/2) plus two boys ages 11 and 12, so I know travel with kids can be stressful. In all honesty for us the reason we keep going back to WDW is that we find it one of the least stressful places to travel with kids. Hope we all have a great week

I agree that Disney's great with kids! The last time we went my youngest was 6 months old & breastfeeding... NEVER again! LOL This trip should be much, MUCH easier.

Now I'm getting VERY excited about going to Disney in September. I was hoping the crowds would be manageable so we could fit more into our day - it sounds like our wish may come true. THANKS so much for your comments.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

We're going at the same time and I'm really hoping it'll be pretty low. The UG predictions are mid-range. I called for extra ADRs only a month ago and had no trouble getting popular places at good times, even with everyone on Free Dining (us included! )

We arrive on Labor Day Monday and stay until Sunday at CSR! Can't wait!

 

[chimchim8470]

We arrive Sunday and stay the week. We are really hoping it's a nice as it was last time we traveled. We LOVE this week timeframe!