September Crowds?

[profly]

Will be at the Poly. from the 7th -14th wondering what to expect?

 

[traci]

Will be at the Poly. from the 7th -14th wondering what to expect?

We were there last year at that time. The crowds were a little heavier than we expected (not like Christmas or July I hear)! But not just walk-ons. Free Dining brings people in. The restaurants were full. The heat/humidity was unbearable to us (heading back late October this year). The Poly was nice It was still a wonderful trip...I hope you have a fantastic vacation as well!!!

 

[figmentfan0724]

We were there last year at that time. The crowds were a little heavier than we expected (not like Christmas or July I hear)! But not just walk-ons. Free Dining brings people in. The restaurants were full. The heat/humidity was unbearable to us (heading back late October this year). The Poly was nice It was still a wonderful trip...I hope you have a fantastic vacation as well!!!

i tend to disagree, we were there last year from the 10-17th and for us crowds were definatly lite. we walked onto everything with the exception of peter pan.

 

[slo]

We've always gone in September, and have always been happy with the crowds. Now, we have been before, and after, free dining was offered, and the free dining does make the crowds a little heavier, but not enough to ruin our day, or our vacation. When I can't find a seat on the monorail, that's when I know it's crowded, and I have never had that problem in September

 

[cmesq61]

Phew. We are going to be there 9/24-9/30, at the Poly. I was hoping with the wind-down of free dining, we might get the lighter crowds that I've always heard were the norm for September. And I hope the lighter crowds will make up for the heat and lovebugs!

 

[danny1649]

I think you will find though parks not deserted the crowds will will not be bad at all.Have a great time

 

[MrsPiglet]

We were there last year 9/21 - 10/6. All line wait times were under 20 minutes and most just walk ins. We had a fantastic trip and the crowd level was perfect.

Going again this year.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Will be at the Poly. from the 7th -14th wondering what to expect?

Free Dining does bring in the crowds. September used to be empty, but not anymore. It's still better than peak times like Christmas, Easter and 4th of July summer crowds, but there are plenty of people there. Also, you can check out the thread on this board "Late August Crowds" that's active right now. It has a number of people who are in WDW now and are reporting higher than expected crowds. September can be a great time to go, but you must be prepared for the heat. We found the crowds to me more medium-ish than low last year. Here is a copy of our trip report from last September:

We went this past Sept. from 9/14 - 9/22. Now, don't get me wrong, we did have a great time. Afterall, it is Disney World and we are Disney fanatics, but we will probably not go in September again. It was much more crowded than we thought it would be and very hot (I don't mean a little hot. I mean sweltering. When you came out of an air-conditioned ride and walked out in the heat it would take your breath way hot). I live in Alabama, I know what hot is and it was hot, hot hot. Did I mention it was hot?

It rained at least a little bit every afternoon we were there. On one day, without any warning, no menacing clouds or noticeable wind change, the sky just opened up and poured. It poured so hard, it was like the sky opened up and dumped a bucket of water on your head. There wasn't even time to put our ponchos on. By the time we drug everyone's ponchos out and put them on the rain stopped. We then left for our Ohana ADR looking like someone had just thrown us in the hotel pool - literally socked to the bone.

We did have awesome food on our trip. We ate at Chef Mickey's, Liberty Tree, Planet Hollywood, 50's Primetime Cafe, Garden Grill, Cinderella's Royal Table, Ohana (best meal we had), and Crystal Palce. We had ADRs for all and always had to wait at least 20 minutes for our table. Saw them turning away walk-ups at all restaurants. Counter service was not too crowded, but we tried to eat early around 11:30 a.m.

I am a faithful fan of the UG and if it weren't for knowing about their touring plans and knowing how to utilize the Fastpasss system the lines would not have been manageable. There was the occasion that you walked up to something in the late afternoon and there was only a 10 or 15 minute wait, but most of the headliners kept 30 minute or more waits. At MK on our last day Space Mountain had a 75 minute wait at 3:30 p.m! Now, to you Christmas week, Easter week, or July 4th people that probably doesn't sound too bad, but we specifically booked these dates for low crowds, and there were not low crowds, maybe medium-ish.

When we left we had every intention of booking the Free Dining bounceback for next September that they were offering, but after the terrible heat and crowds my husband said he would happily pay the $1300 we saved on this trip and put it towards a slower, cooler time to visit.

We have previously been at the end of January into the first part of February and have also been end of November into first of December and those are the times we will be planning our future WDW vacations.

I don't want to rain on anybody's September Free Dining parade (excuse the pun), but I wanted to be honest about the heat and crowds so others will know what to expect and not be disappointed.