Sept 08 trip questions.

[crock]

So from what I have heard I may have dropped the ball on our trip. We are taking a trip to DW arriving Sept 21-28th. When I booked I was told that the free dining was until Sept 20th and so we didn't qualify. I now see that is only have true and many have free dining (due to the length of stay, booking date, arrival date etc etc. Free dining although certainly a perk is not end all be all for me, but I want to be prepared for how crazy the crowds are going to be because of the free dining. I am kinda kicking myself for missing out on the dining but not the crowds. Can anyone prepare me just how crazy its gonna be?
Also, seeing as this is going to be presumably last big "child" trip he turns 10 on Tuesday and I am guessing we won't be returning before he's a 12-13yrs, any tips/tricks/ideas on how to make it that much more memorable? We have been several times and each time has been memorable and special on its own, but so many of you posters have such wonderful tips I thought it would be worth a shot.
Thanks

 

[katied]

I was there in 2006 during free dining (but did not have free dining myself). The crowds were actually not bad at all. The only issue was you needed to have ADRs for any TS meals or you were out of luck, because lots more people were eating TS every day due to free dining.

To make it special for DNiece and DNephew on the 2006 trip (since we didn't know when they'd be making it back) I made custom autograph books for them. I also made them special journels to make notes about their trip. There a lots of good pages you can print for kids journelling or autographs - so you don't need to be creative - you just need a color printer. I put all of this in a scrapbook and left space for pictures. Then, once I printed all the pictures from the trip, the kids could put them in their books and have great memories of their trip.

 

[wifey1220]

This will be my fourth year to go for the free dining in Sept. We love this time of year. Some Florida relatives recommended the best time for us to go would be Sept and we have been going ever since.The crowds are not bad at all. You don't even need fast passes most of the time. We went once on the weekend and the crowds were busy. Friday and Saturday had lots of people in the parks.

 

[DisneyWalle]

I would agree with the previous posters. The crowds are not that bad in September even with free dining. My family and I went to Disney for the first time in July 2006 when free dining was not taking place - and it was unbearable crowded everywhere you went. However, last year we went in September during free dining and compared to July 2006 it felt like the parks were empty.

Now, with that said, you will need to have ADRs because the TS restaurants will be full from the number of people that have already booked ADRs because of the free dining.

GOOD Luck!