Last Week of August Experiences Please!

[cd&kids]

We have always done our Disney trips during the slowest times of year...pulling the kids out of school. But we are thinking of going the final week of August (from the last Saturday of the month until the Saturday of Labor Day Weekend).
Here's what we're expecting:
- moderately heavy crowds
- pretty oppressive heat and humidity
- a thunderstorm virtually every day (but no rainfall lasting more than an hour or so)

Does this seem on target? Has anyone experienced really, really crowded parks that week? Has anyone experienced LOTS of rainfall....as in day-long rain that just made going to a park ridiculous? All in all would you recommend this time period?
Thanks for any help!!

 

[CamColt]

We went that week in 2002 and 2003. We would have gone then again this year but we werent renewing our APs and they expired before then(we went in July instead).

Both times we had hot and humid weather, but its bearable. You spend a lot of time going in and out of AC and we usually take a midday pool/shower break which really refreshes us. The first time we had a lot more than the daily thunder shower(a few days it rained from like 5:00pm-through the night), but we threw on the ponchos and got through it with only a few wrenches in our plans. The second time the showers seemed to work around our schedule and didnt affect us much at all.

Crowds were fairly low. In 2002 they were very low. 2003 was a little more crowded, but with using FPs, EE, and arrivig to the parks for opening, we waited in very few lines.

With all that said, we will go back that week again. Im looking at 2006 to start up APs then again.

 

[PrincessCandaceMarie]

August is hot, and yes it does rain off and on, but it's always a warm rain and if you throw on a cool Mickey poncho and trek across the parks you'll be fine! It'll be humid too, so keep that in mind, but heck, you're in Florida so its all good! Don't forget to use the pools, water rides and water parks, and showers are good too! LOL and utilize the EMH and FP and PS so you can really enjoy your time!

 

[Noah122898]

We were there this past August 28 through September 9th and the crowds were way low, we walked onto everything at every park. BUT.... that was during hurricane Frances so I'm sure that is not the norm. Since many kids go back to school by then the crowds should be low. Even though we were disrupted by the hurricane I would definately go that time of year again. The weather was not unbearable. There was a storm every day from about 3:00 to 4:00 which did not inconvernience us at all.

 

[queenmichelle]

We have always done our Disney trips during the slowest times of year...pulling the kids out of school. But we are thinking of going the final week of August (from the last Saturday of the month until the Saturday of Labor Day Weekend).
Here's what we're expecting:
- moderately heavy crowds
- pretty oppressive heat and humidity
- a thunderstorm virtually every day (but no rainfall lasting more than an hour or so)

Does this seem on target? Has anyone experienced really, really crowded parks that week? Has anyone experienced LOTS of rainfall....as in day-long rain that just made going to a park ridiculous? All in all would you recommend this time period?
Thanks for any help!!

You got it just about right on. I've been 3 times in late August. The crowds are quite managable. The heat is intense!! The rain is a welcome relief from the heat. I've only experienced 1 day where it rained longer than I wanted it too. Mainly because we wanted to go swimming but the pool was closed due to lightning. Late August is a great time to go!

 

[DisneyMim]

We've been at least 10-12 times during this time and love it. Crowds are not as bad as most people think. We've had to move up our vacation to mid-August for the past 2-3 years because of school schedules, both hubby and kids (UGH!) and have still had a great time, but would go again the last week of August in a heartbeat if we were able. Yes it is hot, but not that bad (I do love the heat though so I'm not the one to ask!!), it does rain, but I only remember one year when it was really bad and even then it never rained for the whole day. Heck, we were there last year during the hurricanes and still had a wonderful time! We will be back again this August.

Have Fun!!

 

[Goofy's Muse]

We went 8/22 - 8/29 this past August, just between two hurricanes. Yes, it was hot and humid everyday. Do plan for lightening alerts even if it doesn't rain every afternoon (that closed the pool for us on two different occasions). We kept our fingers crossed that our one scheduled Fantasmic evening would not get cancelled due to rain/lightening -- we were lucky that night, though we did have to wear our ponchos!

Crowds were very reasonable we thought, though expect the water parks to be crowded. We were also there the second week of December this year and the parks were far more crowded than late August. I found that while my kids weren't thrilled with the hot weather, they had far less tolerance for crowds so August worked well for us! Do expect park hours to be a bit shorter in late August and SpectroMagic may not run every night...

 

[twinsmom&dad]

We also were there during the last week of 8/04. The crowds were not as bad as we imagined, We did crt one morning and after breakfast we were thinking of going to mgm as it was on monday morning and thought it would be crowded, but we walked right onto mickeys philharmagic. So we stayed at mk for the day and did everything we wanted to. We used fastpass when we could and it worked out well. Tuesday blizzard beach was extremely crowded ( we thought if we got there early it would be better, but the line was already longggggggg). In the afternoon bb was closed down for a thunderstorm for about 1 1/2 hrs. MGM on thursday and we again used fastpass and we did everything we wanted to in good time(ds 4yo rode tot 4 times!!!!!!!). The only weather we had was on tuesday, lucky I guess!! We missed 2 hurricanes, Lucky again!?!?!? Overall we really had a goodtime and the crowds were manageable.We did one day in march while visiting parents and the crowds were unbearable. We usually go in sept, but the friends we went with did not want their children to miss school. We stayed offsite in davenport home w/pool and swam everynite after parks.

 

[Disney Dee]

We have been to DW last week of aug and it wasn't to bad. It was hot, but not as bad as the yr before when we went in june. The crowds were not to bad either. We did EE most days and spent some afternoons around the pool or in our room to cool off, then went back to the parks for the evenings.

 

[dcg0317]

I've been reading this thread and happy to see how many like going in late Aug. DS and I are going 8/18 thur 8/28 and can't wait. When I tell friends we are going in Aug they give me this funny look like I'm crazy, I can stand the heat and rain crowds just have to work around that and from the sounds of it it's not that bad, just have a good plan.

 

[goofy4wdw2]

we went the last week of august 2002. it was hot, but it wasn't crowded at all, so that made up for it. we got into most attractions with less than a 15 minute wait (although i don't remember all of the specifics). we used fastpass for anything over that. i'd say typhoon lagoon was th most croded place! if that time of the year works for you, i'd say go for it!

 

[Dopey's twin Dippy]

we have been going the last 3 - 4 summers cause of dd school to. i think 2 summers ago (FTP?) was packed and rainy. last summer wasnt bad with the rain, we had a few afternoon storms that were bad. it is def. very HOT. but we usually take our time, go back to swim or have lunch somewhere so its not bad for us. last summer dd had 2 friends with her, which was great, cause we like to hurry and they dont. all in all, take your time, get FP , take a break if you can , you should be fine.