Mid - Late August Crowds

[Maverick]

I know it's hot. Very hot. Sticky hot. It can be miserably hot in August.

I also know it's getting harder and harder to find off-peak times to go to WDW that do not affect my son's school schedule. He starts 9th grade this Fall and I cannot take him out of school for a week at (what I feel) is a critical juncture in his education.

This leaves me with few options for a trip to WDW that do not include 'larger than off-peak' crowds, so I'm trying to find the least of the evils....

I think we can manage the heat with rest at the resort in the afternoon (we do this on trips in off-season now), so I was wondering how crowds are at WDW in the August 16-28 time frame?? Are enough schools back in session to reduce the crowds some? significantly?

Is it close enough to the start of school for others to keep them from WDW?

We've gone Thanksgiving week the last 3 years and have been pleased with the crowds until the day before Thanksgiving and then it's a zoo the rest of the weekend.

My son gets the whole week of Thanksgiving off, so we are modifying our dates slightly this year and are heading to WDW the Wednesday before Thanksgiving week, taking him out of school for two days and will head home on Thanksgiving day.

For those that have been the last couple of weeks of August, what is your perspective of the crowds?

Also, If you have attended around Thanksgiving and the August dates and could compare, that would be AWESOME!

Thanks in advance for your replies!

Maverick

 

[Selket]

I haven't been in November but was there last year August 16-23rd and it seemed quite doable. It is hot and humid but I don't remember it being overwhelming. I have 2 young children and we managed quite well. We used FPs and the advice on the Tour Guide Mike site (http://www.tourguidemike.com - you have to pay for it) and we did quite well with lines. Some lines got long for the most popular rides but I did not ride them without a FP (like ToT, Splash Mountain, and so forth - no way am I standing in line 90 minutes with little kids). I didn't find the pool at AKL to be overly crowded - just average it seemed. We got a lot of thunderstorms and rainy evenings so be prepared for that. We also caught the last 2 eride nights of the year - not to be missed if you like the MK!

I think you'll just have to try it and see how it compares to your other choices. I would go back that time of year. I've also been in early January (still had some post-holiday crowd it seemed) and early May and it compared with early May.

Have fun!

 

[PRaffen]

We have been to WDW seven times including three trips at Thanksgiving time.

Our last trip we went the last week of August and it was without a doubt the best trip ever. Yes, it's hot. But the summer we went to WDW it was just as hot back home here in the Northeast (and at home we didn't have a pool available). What made the trip so great was the lack of lines.

Having only been during holidays (Easter or Thanksgiving) we were used to hour waits for just about everything, but in August we pretty much walked on to most of the rides/attractions. We would tour in the morning; rest at the hotel and swim in the afternoon and then enjoy the parks in the evening. We are going again this August before our cruise.

 

[Maverick]

Thanks for the input folks. I'll just keep weighing my options and see what happens!

Any other thoughts or repies?

Thanks again,

Maverick

 

[Selket]

Mav,

Check out this post on the Resorts board:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=565425&perpage=15&pagenumber=1

The person asked a similar question and most folks posted about their experience of crowds at the parks as well as the hotel.