Mid-September what's it like?

[DISForumMember]

Definitely see a consensus about the weather. I can tolerate humidity for less wait times. The idea of going before the Food Wine Festival makes sense. I was wondering why the rates jumped mid-September. Appreciate the details everyone!

 

[DISForumMember]

I like the free dining plan. Alas, we had planned to stay at Ft. Wilderness Resort and the bounce back offer has that resort black listed for the free dining plan. :-(

 

[texasroni75]

Our two September trips were great. Chances of rain nearly every day, and two days ended in deluges so big we were up to the tops of our ankles in water in some areas of MK. But, it didn't stop the fun - bring ponchos and extra footwear.
It wasn't that hot in my opinion, but we live in Central TX where we get many days over 100 degrees all through September. So, you might feel differently about the heat.
Love bugs are around, but we compare them to ladybugs, since they don't bite, they are just annoying and you hardly see them in the parks - just some areas of the resorts.
Wait times were good, but park hours are short. We also made use of the Free Dining promotions during our September stays, which was a nice perk. If you time it right, you can arrive during soft opening of F&W so you get to enjoy some of the food, without the huge crowds.

 

[Xennia]

Whats the park attendance and weather like Mid-September?

I understand kids are back at school...is that a huge factor?

What about weather?

We checked online booking and rooms were different prices for the two weeks we're looking to go.
I have no problem adjusting from one week to another to save a few dollars on the room at the resort.

Other factors?

Thanks!

This annual pass holder says book it. Go. Go .goooooooo. I love that time. Not too busy. Hot yes. Not crazy and I go myself. I recommend it.

Weather? Hot as you can imagine. All day all night. Wear cool clothing.

 

[mousefan73]

Noticed over the last 4 years Sept has gotten like May crowded. Last year noticed so many families who pulled kids out. Guess FD too good to pass up. Betting if sept keeps going at this rate FD will eventually die out

 

[mousefan73]

And park crowd figures did not match my experiences. Lots of threads last year asking where did these crowds come from. Sept people were spoiled in the past. 45 min for Space mountain you never saw ( ex weekends). For us we saw 20 min finally near close

 

[tinkerbella16]

We usually go every November, during the first 2 weeks and the crowds have just gotten crazy.. so we are doing the first week of Sept this year. We booked that week because F&W won't be starting until after we leave - YES! I really am not crazy for the crowds during the festival, so I enjoy Epcot much more when it is not going on. We'll take the heat/rain for the lower crowds any day!

 

[2009CAN]

I thought the weather was very miserable during our Sept. Trip. We went the third week and it was VERY humid/sticky, hot and rained every day. The crowds were light but not worth it with three kids 4 and under. Now, if it had been just an adult trip, it would have been slightly better. But trying to keep little people cool, carry them in the humid weather, keep strollers dry, etc ... not work it, imo

 

[BuckeyeBama]

And park crowd figures did not match my experiences. Lots of threads last year asking where did these crowds come from. Sept people were spoiled in the past. 45 min for Space mountain you never saw ( ex weekends). For us we saw 20 min finally near close

We were there the week after Labor Day - Avoided EMH parks - over the course of our trip we saw standby wait times posted on every ride at 15 minutes or less - every ride, including 7DMT, Soarin', TSMM, Splash, Space. We saw most posted at 5 minutes.

 

[woodynjessiesmomma]

We were there September 18-26th last year and it was miserably hot and humid, like so humid I felt like we were swimming through the air and its somewhat humid in the summer where we live. Crowd calendars had predicted 2-4s but Touring Plans reported 7-8s after the fact. My best friend was with us and she had been the previous two years around that same time and said this was much more crowded. Dumbo was 40 minutes our night at MK and we waited 35 for VotLM, only ever FP'd 7DMT, BTMRR was 20-60 minutes. Between the humidity and the crowds we will not go in September again. DH and I went back one month later and the humidity was noticeably less and crowds seemed more tolerable. We are doing October again this year and are looking at March or Christmas season of 2017.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I've gone in September quite a few times. It's hot, humid and for me has been rainy - as in all day rainy for several days of my trip. I decided not to go in Sept. 2015 so I could get a September rain break.

Crowds weren't too bad though - they'll probably be higher this year since that seems to be true all the time now.

 

[SirMickey]

September is my preferred month to go because, as others have already pointed out, the crowds are indeed lower. I've gone on some attractions two and three times in a row with virtually no waiting during September. It's a great time to go. One low point going in September: you chance missing some attractions as that's a time when Disney tends to shut some of them down to refurbish.

 

[Chappy5]

Hope to go this September to Fort Wilderness! Just not going to let the rain change my plans!! Planning time has started

 

[DisneyArie]

I booked my family's trip based on crowd calendars. September was the lowest crowds of the entire year so I'm going to pull the kiddos out of school.

It's unfortunate to hear about the weather though. I was expecting it to be around 70 degrees? I guess I was very wrong. I'm super excited about the trip so I won't push it back. I'm hoping the crowd levels are low as predicted. Food and wine festival will start half way though our trip, but we will not be visiting Epcot during that time.

 

[momimouse27]

Boy, 70 degrees would be awesome!!! But, sadly, no.

I grew up in the south, where heat and humidity are just part of life. Still, its the sticky hot kind of heat. I will be bringing my squirt fan thingy during my Labor Day trip.

We have been many times in September, however not in recent years, so I'm wary on what to expect crowd wise after reading the boards. I have not ever been Labor Day week, oddly enough. Our go-to time was always mid to late September. You would think Labor Day would have ppl pulling their kids out of school, but the crowd calendars say no. What's the theory on this?? Just curious.

 

[disneymom0104]

Boy, 70 degrees would be awesome!!! But, sadly, no.

I grew up in the south, where heat and humidity are just part of life. Still, its the sticky hot kind of heat. I will be bringing my squirt fan thingy during my Labor Day trip.

We have been many times in September, however not in recent years, so I'm wary on what to expect crowd wise after reading the boards. I have not ever been Labor Day week, oddly enough. Our go-to time was always mid to late September. You would think Labor Day would have ppl pulling their kids out of school, but the crowd calendars say no. What's the theory on this?? Just curious.

We have been twice the week after Labor Day, although most recently 2010 so a lot has changed since then. We have found the weekend leading up to Labor Day to be pretty crowded, then half way through Labor Day Monday the crowds would disappear, the days following we have had literally near empty parks. The headliners had waits- 20-40 minutes at times, but many of the smaller rides had 0 or 5 minutes posted- all day. I have pictures of walkways in MK and Epcot, mid afternoon, and literally no other person in the pic. I think a lot of east coast schools start the day after Labor Day, and while people are willing to pull their kids out- many don't pull them the very first week of school. I feel like I am definitely jinxing myself by posting this, and obviously a LOT has changed in 6 years- including the number of people going to WDW. I'm hopeful it will still be manageable for us and after 3 trips to Disneyland and experiencing shoulder to shoulder, unable to move in some places crowds, that we will do okay that week at WDW. My DH and I have even used the word eerie to describe those Sept. crowds during one of our trips- but with a hurricane warning I think a lot of people cancelled. None of the special activities had been pushed up into the middle of the month yet, either.

 

[Robertfam08]

Boy, 70 degrees would be awesome!!! But, sadly, no.

I grew up in the south, where heat and humidity are just part of life. Still, its the sticky hot kind of heat. I will be bringing my squirt fan thingy during my Labor Day trip.

We have been many times in September, however not in recent years, so I'm wary on what to expect crowd wise after reading the boards. I have not ever been Labor Day week, oddly enough. Our go-to time was always mid to late September. You would think Labor Day would have ppl pulling their kids out of school, but the crowd calendars say no. What's the theory on this?? Just curious.

As the previous poster mentioned, a lot of schools start up the week of Labor Day, so it's much less likely parents are going to pull their kids so soon. By mid to late September though, crowds do start picking up. It's really the first couple of weeks that are still worth going for lower crowds.

We always go the first week in September and LOVE it. I guess we're odd...we find it hot, but not unbearable. We are used to HUMID summers in the St. Louis area though, so it's not very different from what we're accustomed to. Free dining and low crowds trump the heat and a little bit of rain for our young family. I guess we've gotten lucky there, too. We've had many days in early September with no rain at all. But it's welcome when it comes...it does temporarily cool things down a bit and doesn't usually stay for long. It typically comes when we're ready for an afternoon rest anyway.

 

[svecchitto]

We love our September trips we have been twice and are gearing up for our third. It's hot... Like for us it's need a mid day break hot. (But we are traveling with a toddler) crowd levels were great (well to us at least) and I love the Halloween decorations. Mnsshp is a big draw to us! I say go!!

 

[bobbiwoz]

Food and wine starts so early this year. I have a vacation planned beginning Sept 11, and I think it's going to be more crowded this year than when I went a few years ago at that time. F&W begins on that Wednesday.

 

[emilymad]

We usually go mid September. After last year we have said never again. The crowds were insane last year. Way worse than previous years. There were articles on Touring Plans about how crowded it was. I don't think September is a low crowd time anymore.

This year we are going in August since it fits our schedule better and the difference in heat and crowds is so small.