Parks in September

[LJP]

DH and I are currently booking a last minute visit to WDW from the 12th September - I know it's been probably asked so many times before - but can anyone give me an idea about crowds, weather etc during the middle 2 weeks?

We've been twice before but both times have been the beginning of December. So this is a real change and am panicing that it will be as wet as it usually is here in Scotland!

Thankd for any info.

 

[penel3]

We went the week of Sept 9th or so last year. The crowds were minimal EXCEPT in Fantasyland. I could not believe how many kids there were under 5!! Waits for Peter Pan, etc. were 30-45 minutes on average, which is long if you are anticipating no crowds. But compared to other times of the year, it is empty!! The crowds were mostly of families with kids under 5, so all the other areas of MK and other parks were great! No lines, no waiting!! As far as being wet, YES, we had a daily rain shower (drenching) and one day it rained continuously. It is so warm that it doesn't really matter, anyway. You dry quickly, just protect your camera, etc., bring a poncho. Ponchos sell out quickly at customer service, so you end up getting soaked trying to find a shop that still carries any. They are about $6 in the parks, even if they do not have any character decal on them.
ENJOY!!

 

[skoi]

We've been in early September-- around the same time you're going-- the last two years. Crowds have been very light, much lighter than the first time we went in Sept. 1997, but even then, the longest we waited in line was maybe twenty minutes.

It's still very hot and humid, so be prepared for summer-like temperatures and weather. Also, like someone else mentioned, watch the rain. It's sudden and heavy. Last year we had a day of constant rain, and the year before we had Tropical Storm Gabrielle to deal with, but everything was open and running except the boats from WL to MK.

We'll be there 9/11-9/12 this year. Enjoy your visit.

Julie

 

[Blueberry]

Yes it is a great time of year to go..Having been in early December also many years, I can tell you lines are shorter in September than in December if you can believe that...it is wonderful.

As a previous poster stated most of the familes who are there have pre-schoolers and the rides they enjoy are the only ones with lines.

Dumbo, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh had lines of maybe 45 minutes but Space Mtn, Splash Mtn, Thunder Mtn and Alien Encounter were pretty much walk ons all day long

You do get a daily thunderstorm, but it does not seem to last long..except Hurricaine Gabrielle in 2001 that lasted a bit...

 

[propchick]

I agree. December's lighter than summer, but definately busier than the other off-peak times. Septmeber, on the other hand, is wonderful. You'll walk right onto most rides.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Sept weather averages


http://www.weather.com/outlook/driving/climatology/daily/32830?climoMonth=9

And attendance

http://wdwig.com/attend.htm

I have been there several times mid Sept. As said, low crowds, hot, humid, some rain almost every day. Enjoy.

 

[WeLuvBuzz]

We went in early September last year. There were no real crowds to speak of. The longest we ever waited in line was 15 minutes and that was rare.

It is hot and very humid. I pretty much sweated all day and had to take a lot of showers. It rained every day around 2 or 3 in the afternoon for about 10 minutes and then would stop. Between that and the humidity, I remember feeling wet to the bone every night when we returned to the hotel.

 

[obnurse2003]

But don't forget that this year has the FTP which will increase the crowds at the otherwise "not so crowded" fall times. That's what I have been hearing anyway! We will be there too.

 

[LJP]

Thanks for all the comments guys - but forgive me for being slow - what is the FTP? We hadn't planned on visiting WDW this year so I haven't been on the site as often as usual so I think it souns as if i've missed something big?

 

[Msslaydbug]

The Fairy Tale Package (FTP) is the promotion Disney used earlier this year - it was a great deal and it looks like it boosted their resort occupancy and theme park attendance like they had hoped.

We are also going in September and hope it won't be too crowded !!

 

[Dad]

We are also going Sept. 14th thru the 21st.

The last I heard Disney hotels were at 90% occupancy so I would plan on crowds being much higher than normal for Sept.

 

[alvernon90]

Originally posted by Dad
We are also going Sept. 14th thru the 21st.

The last I heard Disney hotels were at 90% occupancy so I would plan on crowds being much higher than normal for Sept.

Hi, Dad, would you mind telling us where you heard this? It seems odd, because 90% occupancy would be in line with some of the busiest times of year, so that number would be outrageously high for September.

Moreover, at the quarterly conference call with Wall Street analysts less than two weeks ago the company announced that WDW attendance is down 7% from the same period last year and hotel occupancy is down 13% from last year, and that there is no recovery expected in the near term. If the president of Disney was expecting big crowds in September, he probably would have said so.

My source is the Orlando Sun-Sentinal story at:

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/lo...ug01,0,6091560.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines

Can you tell us where you heard your numbers?

 

[therealgoofy]

You never know what kind of 'fuzzy math' people are using to get their figures. My girlfriend works as a leasing agent in an apartment complex and there's some shady things going on with their occupancy percentages too. I'm not saying that's what is happening, but there is a potential to make any number look good. For example, they may have set aside a certain block of rooms for FTP and those are 90% occupied. Secondly, they may have certain buildings closed down and the ones that are open may be 90% full. You just never know.

It could be that the entire resort is 90% full and those of us travelling in Sept are in for a nightmare from hell. Hopefully, that's not the case.

tRG

 

[Dad]

Actually I read it in one of the threads on this forum. They very well may have been talking about the FTP. They got their info from a Disney Travel agent when the dates they were trying to get were not available.

 

[WDWorBUST]

I think the FTP may have a slight increase in crowds for September but I truly think that most people were planning on going anyway and just couldn't pass up the package to stay onsite OR they upgraded to a moderate or deluxe hotel that they normally wouldn't stay at. I know I have friends that want to go that I told about the FTP that they still weren't interested since they hadn't been planning on it. Hope that I'm not just fooling myself. Of course I have absolutely no doubts that Labor Day weekend will be crowded - but even that we went on Labor Day itself before and didn't have horrible crowds....but you could definitely see the attendance drop on Tuesday

 

[therealgoofy]

Originally posted by WDWorBUST
OR they upgraded to a moderate or deluxe hotel that they normally wouldn't stay at. I know I have friends that want to go that I told about the FTP that they still weren't interested since they hadn't been planning on it.

That's exactly what happened with us. We were planning on going initially, but when we saw the FTP surface, we chose to upgrade to a moderate resort.

tRG

 

[CWIPPERMAN]

We went last year under the "Fall Fantasy Package" and were there Sept 8-13. The crowds were very low - and it was a great time to go. We only got poured on one time - and had one morning of light rain for several hours.

We weren't planning on going back until NEXT year - but when we saw the Fairytale Package - we couldn't pass it up. (So you know what the "FTP" was - you bought 4 nights and got 3 nights FREE - so 7 nights for the price of 4). Well.... we went ahead and decided to go back this year and booked for Sept 13-20. We originally booked the All Star Movies - but decided to upgrade to the Port Orleans Riverside.

So.... thanks to the Fairytale Package - there is going to be at least a few more folks there this year.

As far as the "Occupancy Rate" figure. Remember - that the folks staying "on property" only make up a percentage of all visitors. I'm not sure how many - but I'd guess that depending on the day and the park only 25 - 50% of the folks visiting are "on site" guests (this is strictly a guess... I have NO hard numbers but I seem to remember someone giving this figure in some post last year). So... even a 90% occupancy rate - compared to a 40% occupancy rate (last year when we were there - they said the resort was at 39% occupancy) won't necessarily overload the parks. So theoretically speaking - even if the resorts were at capacity - it may only increase the overall park attendence 25-50%. (Not sure if that made sense).